SMS Notifications
This help document is applicable only to Zoho Books - Indian edition.
SMS Notifications allow you to send SMS messages to keep them informed about the invoice and payments. This is one of the fastest ways to update your customers.
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Enable SMS Notifications
You can enable SMS notifications for your organisation by one of the following methods:
- Use the free SMS messages option
- Buy SMS credits from Zoho Books (Recommended)
- Integrate with Twilio, a third party SMS service provider
To enable SMS Notifications for your organisation:
- Go to Settings on the top right corner of the page.
- Select SMS Notifications under Reminders & Notifications.
- Click Use Free SMS to get three free SMS messages and test the feature.
OR
Click Buy Credits to purchase SMS credits from Zoho Books. Each credit costs ₹75 and you will be able to send 300 messages for one credit. When you purchase, you’ll have to purchase a minimum of 5 credits.
OR
Click Configure in the Twilio band under External Service Providers and integrate with Twilio.
SMS notifications for your organisation will be enabled as soon as you perform any one of the actions mentioned above. Next, you can configure the SMS notifications that can be sent from your organisation.
DLT Registration and SMS Template Configuration
Distributed Ledger Technology also known as DLT, is a block-chain based registration system. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), it is mandatory for businesses to register with DLT to send SMS to customers in order to avoid spam.
To send SMS notifications to your customers, you will have to:
- Register with a DLT operator
- DLT Configuration in Zoho Books
- SMS Template registration in DLT
- Configure SMS Template in Zoho Books
Note: This is not applicable for users sending SMS using the Twilio integration.
Register With a DLT Operator
You will first have to register yourself as an enterprise with any of the following DLT operators: Vodafone Idea Ltd, Videocon, BSNL, Jio, Airtel or Tata Teleservices to send SMS notifications to your customers. Here’s how:
Note: The below steps might vary based on the DLT operator you choose.
- Login to the preferred DLT operator’s website.
- Select Enterprise.
- Choose No if you have not registered with any other DLT operators.
- Enter the necessary details.
- Upload the documents requested by your DLT operator in the portal.
- Click Submit, and you will receive an acknowledgement that the details have been correctly entered.
- You will receive an email with the approval status.
Insight: If the registration is rejected, you will receive an email with the reason for rejection. You can make the necessary changes in the portal and re-register.
On successful registration, you’ll receive your DLT Registration Number and Sender ID in your email.
DLT Configuration in Zoho Books
Once you have successfully registered with a DLT operator, you’ll have to configure the DLT details in Zoho Books. Here’s how:
- Go to Settings on the top right corner of the page.
- Select SMS Notifications under Reminders & Notifications.
- In the Overview tab, click Configure DLT Registration from the banner.
- Enter the DLT Registration Number and the Sender ID in the following pop-up.
- Click Save.
The details entered here will be cross verified with the details provided by you in the DLT platform. The status of the application will be Pending until it is verified. You’ll receive an email informing if the configuration has been approved or rejected.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Pending | The configuration is yet to be verified. |
| Approved | The details have been successfully verified with the details in the DLT platform. |
| Rejected | The configuration has been rejected due to invalid or missing details. |
If you want to edit or make any changes to the DLT registration details after approval, you can do it by clicking the Edit DLT configuration option from the top right corner of the SMS Notifications page.
SMS Template Registration in DLT
To send SMS to your customers, you’ll have to register the SMS templates with DLT. If the SMS sent to your customers does not match the template registered in the DLT platform, the SMS will be barred. Here’s how you can register your SMS template in DLT:
Note: The below steps might vary based on the DLT operator you choose.
- Login to the DLT website where you had registered for your Entity ID and Sender ID.
- Go to Templates and click Add New Template.
- Enter the necessary details.
Insight: Choose whether the content type is Transactional, Promotional, Service Implicit or Service Explicit. Based on the content type, the list of approved headers will be auto-populated. You can select as many headers as necessary.
- Enter or paste the message content.
If you want to use a template from Zoho Books, you can do so by copying the content from the Message text box in the Configure Template pop-up. To send dynamic content, add variables.
- Click Submit.
On successful registration you will receive the Template ID and the SMS Template via email.
Configure SMS Template in Zoho Books
Once the DLT registration is configured and the status is approved, you’ll have to configure the registered template in Zoho Books. Here’s how:
- Go to Settings on the top right corner of the page.
- Select SMS Notifications under Reminders & Notifications.
- In the Overview tab, click Configure Templates from the banner.
- Enter the Template ID and SMS Template that was approved in the DLT platform. If you have not registered the template in DLT, you can do it now and continue configuring the details in Zoho Books.
Note: Please make sure the selected template is approved with the DLT operator.
- Click Save.
Configure SMS Notifications
In Zoho Books, you can configure three types of SMS notifications for your customers. You can send them to your customers manually or automatically based on your settings.
| SMS Notification | When can you send them? |
|---|---|
| Invoice Details |
|
| Payment Reminder |
|
| Payment Thank You |
|
You can enable each SMS notification to send them to your customers. Here’s how:
- Go to Settings on the top right corner of the page.
- Select SMS Notifications under Reminders & Notifications.
- Switch to the SMS Templates tab.
- Click the toggle next to the notification to enable or disable the corresponding notification.
Note: At the moment, you’ll not be able to edit the SMS that will be sent to your customers.
By default, SMS notifications will be enabled for all your customers’ primary contact.
Enable SMS Notifications for Contact Persons
SMS notifications are not enabled by default for contact persons of a customer. You have to enable them manually. Here’s how:
- Go to the Contacts module in the left sidebar.
- Select the customer with the contact person, for whom you want to enable the SMS notification.
- Click the Gear icon next to the contact person’s name in the Overview tab.
- Select Enable SMS Notifications.
If you want disable it, you can do so by repeating the above steps.
Disable SMS Notifications for a Contact
You can disable the SMS notification for individual customers if you don’t want to notify them via SMS. This will prevent you from sending an SMS to the primary contact or any of the contact persons associated with that customer.
To disable SMS notifications:
- Go to the Contacts module in the left sidebar.
- Select the contact for whom you want to disable the SMS notification.
- Click More > Disable SMS Notification.
If you want to enable it, you can do it by repeating the above steps.
Disable SMS Notifications for Primary Contact
If you want to disable SMS notifications only for the primary contact, follow the steps below:
- Navigate to Contacts module in the left sidebar.
- Select the customer whose primary contact’s SMS notification you want to disable.
- Click Disable SMS Notification below the primary contact name under the Overview tab.
Send SMS Notifications
Based on the SMS notifications you’ve enabled and the contact preferences, SMS will be sent automatically to the respective customers and contact persons in the following cases:
- When you’ve configured the ‘Create and Send Invoice’ or ‘Create, Charge and Send Invoices’ preferences for recurring invoices, Invoice Creation SMS will be sent.
- When you receive online payments from your customers, a Payment Thank You SMS will be sent.
SMS will not be sent if you have not recorded any phone number for the customer or contact persons.
Apart from SMS notifications being sent automatically, you can send them manually. Here’s how:
- Go to the Invoices module in the left sidebar.
- Select the invoice for which you want to send an SMS.
- Click the More option in the top-right corner and select Notify via SMS. You’ll find this option, only if you’ve enabled the invoice creation notification and have not disabled SMS Notification at contact level.
- Check the phone numbers to which the SMS is sent and preview the SMS message.
Note: If your SMS contains special characters, then each SMS notification will be considered as two messages.
- Click Send SMS.
The SMS notification will be sent immediately and the status of the SMS will be updated in the transaction history and contact activities.
Also, you can send the Payment Thank You SMS manually, if you’ve collected the payment offline and are recording it manually. Here’s how:
- Go to the Invoices module in the left sidebar.
- Select the invoice for which you want to record the payment.
- Click the Record Payment button in the top bar.
- Check the option Notify via SMS to thank the customer via SMS for the payment.
- Click Record Payment and the SMS will be sent.
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