TutorCruncher’s SMS functionality allows you to send customisable text messages to a user’s mobile phone when a certain action is triggered. By saving a user’s mobile phone number to their profile, you can automatically have SMS reminders go out to your users from your company.
Navigate to Communications > Outbound SMS to find a list of your previously sent SMS notifications.
Note: SMS functionality is disabled by default for all new users - to activate SMS messaging in TutorCruncher, please reach out to support@tutorcruncher.com.
Once enabled, your SMS Definitions are all inactive by default - they will need to be individually enabled in order to behind sending.
SMS Definitions refer to the templates of any automated SMS text messages that are sent via TutorCruncher to your users. Whenever a specific action is performed on your platform, such as an Invoice being raised, a Tutor applying to a Job, or a new Client joining your platform, a specific SMS Definition will be triggered.
You can view a categorised list of all possible SMS Definitions and their triggers via System > Settings > Communication Settings > SMS Definitions - here you can also view and edit the contents of the SMS Definitions respective SMSs, and see which SMSs are enabled or disabled. Note that, while most SMS Definitions are triggered automatically, it is also possible to trigger them manually in some instances.
How do I edit the contents of an SMS Definition?
Navigate to System > Settings > Communication Settings > SMS Definitions before clicking ‘View’ on the row of the SMS Definition you would like to edit.
Previewing the ‘A Report was created for a Lesson’ SMS Definition.
Click the Edit button to make changes to the content of the SMS Definition. Here you can change the SMS Definition’s SMS text.
Editing the ‘Interview Invitation to Tutor’ SMS Definition.
Note: if the variable you are trying to call is not listed under the ‘Available Variables’ list, you won’t be able to use it in the SMS Definition’s body.
When editing an SMS definition, you will see words enclosed in curly brackets (also known as Mustache templates), for example:
###{{ recipient_first_name }}These allow the system to retrieve information from the system to be placed in the SMS - the example here is for the name of the person receiving the SMS. Therefore, you will want to avoid changing or editing anything within these brackets, but you can move them around.
Note: One SMS is 140 characters long, so if your SMS exceeds this length you will send (and therefore pay for) multiple messages. This can also occur if your curly brackets variables are fed a long value with many characters, for example,
###{{ Company Address }}.
How much does it cost to send SMS notifications?
Per-SMS pricing varies by country - to see the price per SMS that will apply to your country, please refer to our SMS pricing page.
We will add the total cost of your SMS usage to your monthly Invoice.
Why is there an SMS cap?
We have an SMS spending cap in place so users are aware that they have hit their threshold for sending these notifications. You could be liable to be charged an additional fee if you were to go over this cap, so we have this in place to stop that from happening. If you would like to increase your SMS cap, simply reach out to us as support@tutorcruncher.com and we can make that happen.
Note: We raise SMS caps incrementally at the beginning of each month only when requested, as we don't want you to incur any unnecessary charges.
Can I set up my mobile phone to receive replies to SMS notifications?
You cannot assign a mobile number to your TutorCruncher account to receive replies to automated SMS notifications.