Sending texts requires the Business plan. Every plan receives them, and receiving is always free.
What works where
Texting is live on numbers in five countries.
A text goes to a number in the same country as your Allo number, so a French number texts French numbers. Swiss numbers on Allo are landline numbers, and a landline cannot carry text messages.
Set up texting
The one-time registration your number needs, and how long it takes
Automatic replies after a missed call
Never lose a lead to a call you could not take. Allo texts the caller for you, so they know you will get back to them.
- On the If missed branch of Ring this line, for calls missed during business hours, for example “Thanks for calling, I’ll get back to you within the hour”
- On the Closed branch of Business hours, for calls that come in outside business hours, for example “Our office is closed, we’ll call you back tomorrow morning”
1
Open your line's call flow
Go to web.withallo.com, then Settings and Numbers, and pick the line. Scroll to Call flow and select Open designer.
2
Add a Send SMS step
Add a Send SMS step on the If missed branch, the Closed branch, or both, and write the message for each one.On a French number, the Send SMS step sends from the sender name (Sender ID) linked to that number, not from the number itself. A sender name is one-way, so the caller cannot reply to that text.
3
Save
Select Save in the top right. The reply goes out from the next missed call. It works from every device, because Allo sends the reply, not your phone.
An automatic reply is a message Allo sends on your behalf, so it needs whatever registration your country asks for: 10DLC on a US number, a Sender ID on a French one. See Set up texting.
Sending limits
The same limit applies in every country, and texts sent through the API count against it.
The limit is a cap on volume, not an allowance. Texts below the limit still use credits, except the ones SMS rates lists as included.
The limit counts segments, not messages, so a long text uses more of it than a short one. SMS rates explains how a segment is counted.
Where to go next
SMS snippets
Save a text you send often and insert it in a couple of taps
Set up texting
10DLC, Sender ID, and what each one costs in time and money
SMS rates
What a text costs, and why one message is not always one billed unit
SMS in France
ARCEP, CNIL and AF2M rules, short codes, and consent
SMS troubleshooting
Texts that will not send, will not arrive, or come back failed