Manage text message conversations

Article
04/23/2024

You can manage customer conversations through incoming and outgoing text messages as a part of your sales outreach.

Prerequisites

Before you start using the inbound text message feature, verify that the following prerequisites are met:

The text message feature is enabled with the callback URL configured in your SMS provider settings to receive incoming (replies) messages. For more information on the callback URL, see step 4 in Set up the SMS provider in Dynamics 365 Sales.
Contact your administrator to enable the In-app notifications option in Power Apps portal for your organization. Also, verify that you have the necessary permissions to view the in-app notifications. More information: Enable the in-app notification feature
You must have the Salesperson privileges to receive incoming messages. If you have insufficient privileges, you're notified about the same through the in-app notification center. Contact your administrator to get sufficient privileges to use the text message feature. More information: Salesperson permissions for the SMS feature

How incoming text messages are routed

The incoming messages (replies) are attached to a record with the phone number from which the outbound message was sent. If the same phone number is associated with multiple records, then the incoming messages are routed to the record in the following priority order:

Contains most recent conversation between the seller and the customer.
Owned by a seller to whom the incoming message is addressed.
Owned by a seller who belongs to the team owning the phone number.
Record entity type in following order:
- Contact
- Account
- Opportunity
- Lead
Active record receives the message over the inactive record.
Updated most recently.

When you receive a message from a number that isn't associated with a record, a new lead is created with the number and the incoming message is linked to that lead.

Open text message conversations

You can only view conversations if the outbound phone number or record is assigned to you or your team. To view the conversations, use one of the following:

Activities grid:
1. Go to the Activities grid and select Conversation > My text messages from the view selector.
  
  A list of conversations that are related you is displayed.
2. Double-click a conversation.
  
  The conversation pane opens on the right side of the page.
Record:
1. Open a record (account, contact, lead, or opportunity).
2. Select the message icon corresponding to a phone number (Business Phone or Mobile Phone),
  
  Note
  
  For opportunity records, open the Activity tab and then double-click a conversation that you want to view.
  The conversation pane opens on the right-side of the page.
Notification center:
1. Open your sales app and, on the navigation bar, select the bell icon.
  
  The in-app notifications are displayed.
2. Select the notification.
  
  The conversation pane opens on the right side of the page.
Sales accelerator workspace:

Open the text message step from the Up next widget or the work list item. More information: Send a text message to customers

Move conversations to a different record

The inbound text messages are connected to the record that has the most recent conversation between the seller and the customer. If the conversation is related to a different record, you can move the conversation to that record. Also, you can move conversation from one record type to another. For example, if the conversation related to a contact record is associated with an account record, you can move the conversation to the contact record.

From the conversation window, select the conversations.
Select Change.
Use the lookup field and select the record to which you want to move the conversation.

The conversation are moved to the selected record. To verify, go to the target record and open the conversation pane.

Understand the conversation pane

The conversation pane is where you, as a seller, interact with your customer. You can do the following tasks through the conversation pane:

Send and receive text messages.
Choose templates to send personalized messages.
Choose a phone number to send a message.
View the history of the conversation related to the record.

The following image is an example of the conversation pane.

Related conversation to the selected phone number: This option is available only for contact and opportunity records. When you open a contact, the drop-down list displays opportunities that are related to this contact. You can choose an option from the list to view the history and manage conversations related to that record.
Manage templates: Choose templates to send personalized messages to customers. Also, you can choose to create templates if any of the existing templates don't meet your requirements. More information: Personalize text messages through templates
Choose phone numbers: When there are multiple phone numbers are assigned to you or your team, you can choose a number from which you want to send and receive the message. Similarly, you can choose a phone number to send a message to the customer. More information: Set up the SMS provider in Dynamics 365 Sales
Delivery report: Delivery report of the text message is displayed below the message. It's displayed only if the SMS provider supports it. More information: Configure SMS provider.
If the message is undelivered, hover over the delivery message to view the reason for the failure. Take appropriate action to resolve the failure. For example, if the message is sent to an invalid number, the reason for the failure is displayed as InvalidSendingParameters. To resolve the failure, ensure that the number is valid and is in the international telephone numbering plan (E.164 format).

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