When it comes to sending manual SMS within Microsoft Dynamics we would strongly recommend using our Synchronisation service and Chrome extension. The reason for this is that it allows you to have a natural and quick SMS conversation with your contacts. Exactly how you would do on a mobile phone. If the use of this service isn’t an option to your organisation then you can still send SMS manually through the CRM interface.
This guide will take you through setting up the components required for sending SMS directly through Dynamics.
Please note in this guide we have assumed you have gone through the Getting Started Guide to get TxtSync installed and configured. 👍
Phone Number Permissions
When sending SMS manually through the CRM you need to specify the number to send from. For security and integrity reasons we only allow you to send from numbers that you have access to in TxtSync. By default you will have access to the TxtSync shared numbers, but you can also apply for free branded Sender IDs or purchase your own dedicated numbers.
To grant access to your owned numbers in CRM you must create them as Phone Number records. Once created, you can use the standard Dynamics security roles and share permissions to determine which users can use which numbers.
To create the Phone Number records follow the steps below:
- Navigate to Settings > TxtSync > Phone Numbers
- Click New
- In Phone Number Enter the number or Sender ID you wish to grant access to. Please note that this number must directly match the number in TxtSync.
- Set the Owner according to the permissions that interest you.
Sending Permissions
Included with the TxtSync solution is a Field Security Profile that grants access to the send SMS trigger field. In order to send an SMS this field must be set to true when creating the SMS record. The TxtSync Manual SMS field security profile is used to determine which users can an can’t send manual SMS.
To apply the field security profile to your users follow the steps below:
- Navigate to Settings > Field Security Profiles
- Open TxtSync Manual SMS
- Then select rather Teams or Users and associate the relevant people to the profile.
SMS Security Roles
Included in the TxtSync solution is a Security Role called TxtSync User that is used to grant access to reading SMS, TxtSync Configuration and Phone Numbers. You will need to make sure that this is assigned to the relevant users in your organisation. If not, your users will not be able to read the TxtSync credentials required to send out an SMS.
To add this role to your users follow the steps below:
- Navigate to Settings > Security > Users
- Select your users
- Click Manage Roles
- Make sure TxtSync User is checked and click OK
Sending an SMS
Now that you have configured your CRM for manual SMS you are ready to send out your first SMS.
Please follow the steps below:
- In Dynamics navigate to TxtSync > SMS
- From the menu click Other Activities > SMS
- Now you will need to fill out the SMS record.
- Within the recommended To field locate your Account, Contact or Lead record. TxtSync will automatically pull in a phone number from that record. TxtSync will also inform you at this point whether the “contact” has given you consent to contact them by SMS.
- Now select the From Number you wish to send your SMS from.
- In the Message section enter your message.
- Finally set the Trigger Send SMS to Yes. Please note if you fail to do this on create your SMS will not be sent out.
A workflow will now run which will send out your SMS!
Hopefully you found this guide helpful.