.. done

Texting from TouchPoint - Overview
==================================

.. glossary::

    Integrations
        Texting via TouchPoint uses an integration with one of two third-party texting services -
        Ministry By Text (MBT) or Twilio. This integration allows you to send texts directly from
        your TouchPoint database. You can then follow up the text with an email, so that
        anyone in your targeted group who has not opted-in for texting or does not have a
        cell phone on his record will still receive your message.

.. important::
    Your MBT or Twilio account is totally separate from your TouchPoint account. You pay MBT/Twilio directly.
    TouchPoint has no financial interest in either company and the relationship between your church and MBT/Twilio
    is managed by your church.

.. note::
    Setting up your TouchPoint database to use MBT or Twilio for texting must be done by your Admin user.
    There are several steps involved, so please follow the steps closely.

Benefits
--------

-   It is so **easy** to text to any group in your TouchPoint database. Wherever you see the blue toolbar,
    you can send a text.
-   Texts to groups of people **go as individual texts, not as group texts**.
-   You ensure full coverage by being able to easily **click a button and follow up a text with an email**,
    so no one will miss out on your message.
-   **TouchPoint tracks all your texts**. You will have a list of your texts and a report of those who were
    sent the text. If they were not sent the text, you will see the reason - either they have no cell phone
    on their record or they are unsubscribed from that group.

How Quickly Are Messages Sent?
------------------------------
As a basic rule of thumb, **Twilio** messages are sent at a rate of three messages segment per second
for each Toll-Free Twilio phone number. A message segment is approximately 153 characters.
(Remember that texts sent to a group of people are sent as individual texts, so one message sent
to 50 people counts as 50 messages in this discussion.) So if you send a message to 900
recipients, assuming it is short (only one segment) it will take about five minutes
(300 seconds) for all the messages to be sent to the various carrier networks for delivery. Be
aware that this is a general guideline and not an SLA that Twilio is bound to.

If you will be sending SMS messages to hundreds (or thousands) or recipients, or if your messages are
time-sensitive and must be received soon after they are sent, you can contact `Twilio's Sales
team <https://www.twilio.com/help/sales>`_ about increasing your throughput.

**Ministry By Text** recommends using short codes instead of local or toll-free numbers. You may provision your own short
code or use a shared short code with other churches. Short codes have a throughput of 150 messages per second whereas
local and toll-free numbers have a throughput of 1 message per second. Additionally, Ministry By Text finds that local
and toll-free numbers have lower successful deliverability rate (50%) compared to deliverability of messages using
short codes.

Getting Started
---------------
Step 1 - Establish an account with one of the SMS providers.
    The first step is to create a MBT/Twilio account and find your account numbers. Start with one of the following
    help article for instructions. To help figure out which SMS provider is right for your church, check out :doc:`TextingMBTAndTwilio`.

    .. seealso::
        | :doc:`TextingTwilio` or
        | :doc:`TextingMBT`

    .. important::
        Be sure to configure only **one** of the SMS providers in TouchPoint. Do not try to use both MBT and Twilio at the same time or you will encounter issues sending text messages.

Step 2 - Set Up TouchPoint for Texting
    After you establish your Twilio or MBT account, you can now finish the texing setup on your TouchPoint database.

    .. seealso::
        :doc:`Texting in TouchPoint <../Administration/TextingBVCMSSetup>`

Step 3 - Setup Additional Features *(optional)*
    - Attendance Reminders

      .. seealso::
          :doc:`Attendance Reminders <../Organizations/SendLeadersAttendanceReminder>`
    
      .. note::
          **Twilio:** One of your *Twilio* groups set as System SMS/Quick Sign-In.

          **MBT:**  One of your *MBT* groups set as System SMS.

    - Text Parents from Classroom Dashboard

      .. seealso::
          :doc:`Classroom Dashboard <../Checkin/ClassroomDashboard>`

      .. note::
          **Twilio:** One of your *Twilio* groups set as System SMS/Quick Sign-In.

          **MBT:**  One of your *MBT* groups set as System SMS.

    - Quick Sign-In

      .. seealso::
          :doc:`Quick Sign-in <../MobileApp/QuickSignIn>`

      .. note::
          **Twilio:** One of your *Twilio* groups must be set as System SMS/Quick Sign-In. 
          
          **MBT:** One of your *MBT* groups must be set as Quick Sign-In.

    - Reply Words*

      .. seealso::
          :doc:`SMSManagement`
      .. note::
          **Twilio:** Reply words can be used for all *Twilio* groups.
          
          **MBT:** One of your *MBT* groups must be set as Quick Sign-In. That is the only *MBT* group that will be able to use Reply Words.






+--------------------+------------------+
| **Latest Update**  |  **12/5/2022**   |
+--------------------+------------------+

Add note about choosing only one provider