Texts sent to your own phone number can arrive in the Inbox next to your other channels, and you answer them there. The number stays with MirageTEL or Twilio, and they bill the texts — nothing is added to your MirageCHAT bill. Owners, admins and managers can connect a number.
Connect a number
- Open Channels › Connected and press SMS. The Text from your own number window opens.
- Choose where the number lives:
- MirageTEL (Recommended) — press Connect MirageTEL. At MirageTEL, sign in or create a free account, pick a number and press Allow. You come back to Channels.
- I already use Twilio — press Continue. In Twilio, open Console › Account Info, copy the Account SID and Auth Token into the window, and press Load my numbers.
- Developer? Use a MirageTEL API key instead — make a key in MirageTEL under Developers › New key with access to texts, paste it, and press Load my numbers.
- With Twilio or a key, choose the number under Pick the number and press Connect this number.
- Text the number from your own phone. The message appears in the Inbox within seconds.
Answer texts
- Open the conversation and write as usual. Under the reply box, a line shows the number your reply goes from and what the text costs, for example «57 / 160 · 1 part · Plain text».
- To let the AI answer texts, set the number to Suggests or Replies in AI › Channels, as for any other channel.
Good to know
- An SMS carries text only, up to 1,600 characters. A photo, file, voice note or location is refused: «SMS can't carry this file — SMS sends text only.»
- A plain text holds 160 characters, and 153 per part once it is longer. A letter outside the SMS alphabet, or an emoji, makes the whole text Unicode (special letters or emoji): 70 characters, then 67 per part. Your provider bills each part.
- SMS has no 24-hour window: you can answer at any time.
- Someone who replies with just STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT) gets no more texts until they text START (or UNSTOP, YES).
- The Inbox’s New conversation starts WhatsApp chats only, so an SMS conversation begins when the customer texts you. After that, Follow-up › Scheduled message and Customers › Follow-ups can text them too.
- Automation rules don’t run on SMS; the AI does.
- In an SMS conversation the customer panel offers Copy number and Call.
- If a Twilio number shows Used by another app, tick Move this number’s texts to MirageCHAT first. A number in a Twilio Messaging Service of its own asks you to tick Point the Messaging Service “…” to MirageCHAT; a service shared with other numbers or senders is never changed, and the window says what to change in Twilio. Disconnecting points the texts back.
- A MirageTEL number’s card shows its Balance and Top up at MirageTEL ↗. Every number’s card has Disconnect: its texts stop arriving here, and the history stays.
- Each number counts as one connected account in your package, and a number can be connected to one workspace only.
- In the phone app, an SMS conversation shows the same parts line and has no attach or voice buttons. Connecting a number opens Channels on the website.