How can we help you?

Getting started takes under 3 minutes. Here's how:

Once your account is set up and you have at least one contact, here's how to send your first campaign:

When you sign up, IgniteSMS assigns you a dedicated 10-digit long code (10DLC) local US phone number — like (512) 555-0182. This number is yours exclusively. Customers will see this as the sender and can reply to it directly.

• Your number supports both inbound and outbound SMS and MMS.
• You can enable two-way texting so customers can reply and start conversations.
• Need multiple numbers? You can add numbers from the Settings → Phone Numbers section to scale sending throughput.

Go to Settings → Business Profile to configure:

• Business name — used in default message footers
• Timezone — ensures campaigns and scheduled messages fire at the right local time
• Quiet hours — set 8AM–9PM (default) to comply with TCPA; messages scheduled outside this window auto-delay to the next open window
• Default opt-out language — customize the STOP/HELP reply text customers receive
• Logo & brand colors — used in web opt-in forms you embed on your website

Yes — when you first log in, a Getting Started checklist appears at the top of your dashboard. It walks you through:

• ✅ Complete brand registration (10DLC)
• ✅ Import or add your first contacts
• ✅ Set up a keyword opt-in
• ✅ Send your first campaign
• ✅ Set up a welcome automation
• ✅ Add a team member

You can dismiss the checklist at any time from the dashboard. It will still be accessible under Help → Getting Started.

To edit or cancel a scheduled campaign, go to Campaigns → Scheduled and click the three-dot menu next to the campaign.

Yes. When scheduling a campaign, toggle on Recurring and choose a frequency:

• Daily — e.g., send a daily special every weekday at 11AM
• Weekly — e.g., every Tuesday at 10AM
• Monthly — e.g., the 1st of every month

Recurring campaigns continue until you pause or delete them. You'll receive an email summary after each send with open/click stats. Recurring campaigns are ideal for weekly specials, monthly newsletters, or loyalty reminders.

Media Library: Upload and organize all your images, coupons, and GIFs under Content → Media Library so they're reusable across campaigns.

Templates save you time on repeat campaigns. To create one:

Canned Responses are a similar feature for the Team Inbox — type / in any reply box to search and insert a saved response instantly.

Browse 100+ industry-specific ready-made templates on our SMS Templates page.

Use merge tags inside any message or template. Available tags include:

• {{first_name}} — Contact's first name
• {{last_name}} — Contact's last name
• {{business_name}} — Your business name (from Settings)
• {{opt_out}} — Auto-inserts your configured opt-out text
• {{custom_field_name}} — Any custom attribute you've added to contacts (e.g., {{appointment_date}})

If a contact doesn't have a first name on file, you can set a fallback value: {{first_name | default: "there"}} — which sends "Hi there!" instead of "Hi !"

After a campaign sends, go to Campaigns → [Campaign Name] → Analytics to view:

• Delivered — Messages confirmed received by carriers
• Failed — Undelivered (with reason codes — see Troubleshooting)
• Clicked — Link clicks if you included a URL (tracked via our link shortener)
• Opt-outs — Subscribers who replied STOP
• Replies — Inbound responses to this campaign

You can export any report as CSV from the analytics page. Reports are retained for 12 months.

10DLC (10-Digit Long Code) is the carrier-mandated standard for business SMS in the United States. Since 2021, all businesses sending application-to-person (A2P) messages must register their brand and messaging use case with The Campaign Registry (TCR).

Without registration: Your messages will be silently filtered or blocked by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile — and you'll have no error to show for it. Deliverability can drop below 20% for unregistered senders.

With registration: Higher throughput, full deliverability, and carrier trust — plus you're legally compliant. See our full guide: 10DLC Registration: What It Is and How to Get Approved Fast.

IgniteSMS handles the submission for you. You just provide the required information:

The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) requires you to have prior express written consent before sending marketing SMS to any US number. Key rules:

• Written consent — A checkbox on a web form, a keyword opt-in text, or a signed form. Verbal-only is not sufficient for marketing SMS.
• Clear disclosure — The opt-in point must state who is texting, how often, and that consent is not required to buy.
• Honor STOP immediately — You must stop texting within 24 hours (IgniteSMS handles this automatically).
• Quiet hours — Never send before 8AM or after 9PM in the recipient's local time zone.
• No purchased lists — You may only text people who explicitly opted in to your specific business.

See our full guide: Complete TCPA Compliance Guide.

IgniteSMS processes opt-outs automatically and instantly:

• When a contact replies STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, or QUIT, they are immediately flagged as opted-out and removed from all future campaigns.
• They receive a compliant auto-reply confirming their opt-out.
• Opted-out contacts appear in your Contacts → Opted Out list. You cannot manually re-add them without a new valid opt-in.
• To re-engage an opted-out contact, they must text your keyword again or fill out a new opt-in form.

You can customize the STOP confirmation message under Settings → Opt-Out Response.

The Team Inbox is a shared view of all inbound SMS conversations from your customers — like a shared email inbox, but for texts. Every reply a customer sends appears here in real time.

• Assign conversations — Click the assign button on any conversation to route it to a specific team member. They'll get notified.
• @mention colleagues — Type @name in the internal notes field to flag a conversation for a teammate without the customer seeing it.
• Conversation status — Mark conversations as Open, Pending, or Resolved to track what needs attention.
• Canned responses — Type / in the reply box to search and insert a pre-written response.

All team members share the same phone number — customers always see one consistent business number.

You can modify roles or remove team members at any time under Settings → Team Members. Removing a member doesn't delete their message history.

Canned responses let any team member send a pre-written reply with a single keystroke — eliminating repetitive typing for common questions.

Canned responses can include merge tags like {{first_name}} and are shared across all team members.

IgniteSMS offers several notification options:

• In-app notifications — Real-time alerts appear in the bell icon at the top of your dashboard whenever a new inbound message arrives or a conversation is assigned to you.
• Email notifications — Configure under Settings → Notifications. Choose to get notified for every new message, only assigned conversations, or only unread messages older than X minutes.
• Mobile push — If you access IgniteSMS from your phone's browser and have added it to your home screen (PWA), you'll receive push notifications.

To customize notification preferences per team member, each user can configure their own alerts under Profile → My Notifications.

Tags are manual labels you assign to contacts — like VIP, Event-Attendee, or Loyal Customer. You can tag contacts in bulk after importing, or automatically via keyword opt-ins or automation rules.

Segments are dynamic lists built from filter conditions. Examples:

• "Contacts who opted in via keyword PIZZA in the last 30 days"
• "Contacts tagged VIP with no campaign interaction in 60 days"
• "Contacts who clicked a specific campaign link"

Create a segment under Contacts → Segments → New Segment. Segments update in real time as your contact list changes.

When creating a campaign, you can select any tag or segment as your audience — so you only reach the right people.

Yes — Custom Attributes let you store any data on a contact profile that's relevant to your business. Examples:

• birthday_month → for birthday campaign targeting
• loyalty_tier → Gold, Silver, Bronze for segmented messaging
• last_appointment → for win-back automation triggers
• preferred_location → for multi-location businesses

Create custom attributes under Settings → Custom Attributes → Add Attribute. They can be populated via CSV import, Zapier, API, or Square/Clover sync.

Once created, use them as merge tags in messages: {{loyalty_tier}}.

For a full growth playbook, see: How to Build Your SMS Subscriber List from Zero to 1,000.

IgniteSMS automations work on a Trigger → Action model. Available triggers include:

• Keyword opt-in — Customer texts a keyword to your number
• Contact added — A new contact is imported or created
• Tag applied — A specific tag is added to a contact
• Date-based — X days before/after a custom attribute date (e.g., birthday, appointment date)
• Inactivity — Contact hasn't engaged in X days (for win-back flows)
• Zapier / API webhook — Trigger from any external system

Popular automations:

• Welcome message on keyword opt-in
• Appointment reminder 24 hours before (date-based)
• Post-visit review request 1 hour after appointment
• Birthday offer 5 days before birthday month
• Win-back offer 60 days after last visit

Appointment reminders require storing appointment data in IgniteSMS. There are two ways to do this:

Option A — Zapier integration: Connect your appointment system (Calendly, Square Appointments, Acuity, etc.) to IgniteSMS via Zapier. When a new appointment is booked, Zapier updates a custom attribute (e.g., appointment_date) on the contact. Then your automation triggers X hours/days before that date.

Option B — Manual + CSV: Export your appointment list weekly, update the appointment_date field via CSV import, and let the date-based automation handle the rest.

Option C — API: If you have a custom booking system, use the IgniteSMS API to push appointment data directly. See Settings → API Keys for documentation.

Yes. Within a single automation, you can chain multiple Send Message steps with Wait/Delay steps between them. Example drip series for a new subscriber:

1. Immediately: Welcome message + 10% off offer
2. Wait 3 days: "Have you tried our [product/service]? Here's what customers love…"
3. Wait 7 days: Social proof / review highlight
4. Wait 14 days: Urgent follow-up on the 10% offer ("Expires Sunday!")

A contact exits the drip automatically if they opt out (STOP) at any point.

IgniteSMS uses a simple two-part pricing model:

• Platform fee: $15/month (billed annually) or $30/month (billed monthly). This covers your account, phone number, team seats, and all platform features.
• Per message cost: $0.01 (1¢) per SMS, $0.03 per MMS. Deducted from your prepaid wallet as messages send.

There are no hidden fees, setup charges, or per-contact limits. See the full breakdown on the Pricing page.

Your wallet balance is visible in the top bar of your dashboard at all times. You'll receive an email alert when your balance drops below your configured threshold (set this under Billing → Low Balance Alert).

Auto-recharge ensures your campaigns never stop mid-send due to an empty wallet:

All invoices and transaction history are available under Billing → Transaction History. From there you can:

• Download individual invoices as PDF (suitable for expense reports)
• Export your full transaction history as CSV
• View itemized message usage per campaign

Monthly subscription invoices are also emailed automatically to your billing email (update this under Settings → Billing Email).

Go to Billing → Subscription → Change Plan to upgrade, downgrade, or cancel.

• Upgrade: Takes effect immediately, prorated for the current billing cycle.
• Downgrade: Takes effect at the end of the current billing period.
• Cancel: Takes effect at end of period. Your account and data are retained in read-only mode for 90 days. Any remaining wallet balance can be requested for refund within 30 days of cancellation.

If you're on an annual plan, cancellations don't receive a prorated refund for unused months per the Terms of Service.

Common use cases: auto-text new Shopify customers, send confirmation texts from Calendly bookings, text customers when a Square payment is completed.

IgniteSMS integrates directly with Square and Clover to sync your customer contact list automatically:

The IgniteSMS API lets you programmatically send messages, manage contacts, and trigger automations from any custom system.

Core endpoints:

• POST /messages — Send a single SMS or MMS
• POST /contacts — Create or update a contact
• POST /campaigns/{id}/send — Trigger a campaign
• GET /contacts/{id}/messages — Retrieve message history

Full API reference is available in your dashboard under Settings → API Keys → View Documentation.

Webhooks let IgniteSMS push real-time events to your server when things happen — like a new inbound message, opt-out, or delivery status update.

Webhook delivery is retried up to 5 times with exponential backoff if your endpoint returns non-200 responses.

Check the following in order:

• 10DLC registration status — Go to Settings → 10DLC. If your brand or campaign is "Pending" or "Rejected", messages may be filtered. Registration must be approved before full delivery.
• Wallet balance — A zero balance pauses all outbound messages. Go to Billing → Wallet and add funds.
• Contact opted out — Check if the specific contact has STOP'd in the past. Opted-out contacts cannot receive messages.
• Invalid phone number — The number may be landline, VOIP, or incorrectly formatted. Check the delivery report for error code 21614 (not a mobile number).
• Carrier filtering — If using an unregistered number, carriers may silently block. Complete 10DLC registration and try resending.
• Message content — Certain URLs (URL shorteners, suspicious domains) or words can trigger spam filters. Avoid using URL shorteners not on the approved carrier list (IgniteSMS's built-in link tracker is approved).

View per-message error codes in Campaigns → Analytics → Failed Messages.

• Forgot password: On the login page, click Forgot Password. Enter your email and check your inbox for the reset link (check spam if not received within 2 minutes).
• Email not recognized: You may have signed up with a different email address. Try other emails you use, or contact support with your business name.
• Account locked: After 5 failed login attempts your account is temporarily locked for 15 minutes. Wait and try again, or use the password reset link.
• SSO / Google login issues: If you signed up via Google OAuth, click Continue with Google on the login screen instead of entering a password.

Large campaigns (10,000+ contacts) can take 15–45 minutes to fully send due to carrier throughput limits. This is normal. The Campaigns list will show a progress bar — refreshing the page updates it.

If a campaign has been stuck for more than 2 hours without progress:

• Check your wallet balance — a depleted wallet mid-send will pause the queue.
• Check if your 10DLC campaign registration was recently changed or expired.
• Contact support with your campaign ID (visible in the URL of the campaign page) and we'll investigate.

Go to Billing → Transaction History to review all charges. Each transaction shows what it was for (subscription, wallet top-up, auto-recharge, etc.).

Common reasons for unexpected charges:

• Auto-recharge triggered — Your wallet fell below the threshold and refilled automatically. Adjust the threshold or turn off auto-recharge under Billing → Wallet → Auto-Recharge Settings.
• Annual plan renewal — If you're on an annual plan, the yearly subscription charge recurs on your anniversary date.
• MMS messages — MMS counts as 3 credits each, so large MMS campaigns may consume wallet credits faster than expected.

If you believe there's a billing error, contact our billing team with the transaction reference number from your transaction history.

Once a contact opts out (replies STOP), they cannot receive messages from you until they actively re-opt in. You cannot manually re-enable them — this is a legal requirement under TCPA.

How they can re-subscribe:

• Text START, YES, or UNSTOP to your number. IgniteSMS will process this as a new opt-in and remove the opt-out flag.
• Fill out a new opt-in form on your website with their number.
• Text your keyword (e.g., PIZZA) again to your number.

You can tell opted-out customers: "To rejoin our text updates, text START to (your number)."