# Messaging Group Support Participants via SMS

Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/messaging-group-support-participants

> Send a one-off SMS to everyone booked on a group support, personalise it with placeholders, and check who will and won't receive it before sending.

Scheduling add-on - This feature requires the Scheduling add-on, which is available on Astalty Premium. See How to enable Scheduling.

Send a one-off SMS to everyone booked on a group support - for example to let the group know a session has moved, or that a Support Worker is running late.

> **Requires two-way SMS**
>
> Messages are sent from your provider's dedicated SMS number, so you'll need [Two-Way SMS](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/two-way-sms) enabled first. The current per-segment SMS rate shown in **Settings > SMS** applies, and every Participant you message is a separate outbound message.

## Overview

This is a manual, one-off send: you write the message, choose who gets it, and send it yourself. It is different from [SMS Reminders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders), which go out automatically ahead of a scheduled support, and from [Bulk Communications](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/communications/bulk-communications), which emails Participants across a whole date range their schedule as a PDF rather than texting one support's group.

Astalty pre-selects every Participant booked on the group support, so you remove anyone you don't need rather than adding people one at a time. Each message goes to the Participant individually - nobody can see who else was messaged - and replies land in your [SMS inbox](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/two-way-sms#using-the-sms-inbox) in that Participant's own conversation.

The message goes to Participants only. Their nominated reminder contacts are **not** included, even if those contacts receive [SMS Reminders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders#nominating-contacts-to-receive-reminders) for the same support.

## Before You Start

You'll see the **Message participants via SMS** action only when all of the following are true:

- Your provider has [Two-Way SMS](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/two-way-sms) enabled with a dedicated number you can access.
- You have the **Can access the SMS inbox** permission. By default, only Admins have it. See [Granting access to the SMS inbox](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/two-way-sms#granting-access-to-the-sms-inbox).
- The group support has at least one Participant who hasn't cancelled.

## Sending a Message to the Group

1. Go to the [Schedule](https://app.astalty.com.au/scheduling/schedule) and open the group support.
2. Open the **Actions** menu and select **Message participants via SMS**.

![The group support Actions menu with Message participants via SMS highlighted at the bottom of the list.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/messaging-group-support-participants-actions-menu.png)

3. In the **Participants** field, remove anyone who shouldn't receive the message. Everyone booked on the support is selected to begin with.
4. Type your **Message**, using **Insert placeholder** to add any personalised fields.
5. Check the preview and the **Will not receive** list, then click **Send**.
6. Confirm on the **Send this message?** prompt, which repeats how many Participants will and won't receive it, along with the preview.

![The Message Group Support participants via SMS drawer showing the pre-selected Participants field with four Participants, a Will not receive list with Brice Morar marked no valid mobile and Coralie Doyle marked opted out, a message with placeholders, the rendered preview for Jean Keebler, and the character and message counters.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/messaging-group-support-participants-drawer-guide.png)

Once the messages are queued, the drawer confirms how many Participants are being sent the message and offers a **Go to SMS inbox** button so you can follow the conversations and any replies.

> **Sending happens straight away**
>
> There's no scheduling and no undo. As soon as you confirm, the messages are queued and sent, so check the preview and the recipient list first.

## Personalising the Message

Placeholders are replaced with each Participant's own details as the message is sent, so one message can greet everyone by name. Insert them with the **Insert placeholder** button above the **Message** field, or type them exactly as written below.

| Placeholder                                   | What it inserts                                                                          |
| --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `${Participant_PreferredName}`                | The Participant's preferred name, falling back to their first name when none is recorded |
| `${Participant_FirstName}`                    | The Participant's first name                                                             |
| `${Participant_FullName}`                     | The Participant's full name                                                              |
| `${Support_Name}`                             | The group support's name                                                                 |
| `${Support_StartDate}` / `${Support_EndDate}` | The support's start and end date, e.g. "Tuesday 1 September"                             |
| `${Support_StartTime}` / `${Support_EndTime}` | The support's start and end time, e.g. "9:00 AM"                                         |

Dates and times are formatted in the **group support's own timezone**, not your provider's - which matters when you roster across states.

The preview under the message box shows the message exactly as one recipient will receive it, with the placeholders filled in, so you can check the wording before you send. It is for whoever comes first alphabetically among those who will receive it, and it names them.

> **Fewer placeholders than SMS Reminders**
>
> Only the placeholders in the table above are available here. Reminder placeholders such as `${Business_Name}`, `${Support_Type}` and `${Support_Worker}` are specific to [SMS Reminders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders#customise-the-message) and won't be replaced in a group message - type the detail into the message instead.

## Checking Who Will Receive It

Anyone who can't be messaged appears under **Will not receive**, with the reason. They're never silently dropped.

| Reason               | What it means                                                                                              |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **no valid mobile**  | The Participant has no mobile number, or the number isn't a valid mobile                                   |
| **opted out**        | The Participant has replied STOP (or similar) and opted out of SMS. They can opt back in by replying START |
| **archived**         | The Participant has been archived                                                                          |
| **shares a number**  | Two Participants have the same mobile number, so only one message is sent to it                            |
| **message too long** | Once this Participant's placeholders were filled in, their message went over 1,600 characters              |

You may also see a **not visible to you** count. These are Participants on the group support that your access doesn't let you see - they're counted so the totals add up, but they're never named and never messaged.

> **Fix a missing mobile before you send**
>
> A Participant with no valid mobile stays excluded until their mobile is added to their [profile](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/participants/profile). Update the profile, reopen the drawer, and they'll be included.

## Things to Keep in Mind

- **Cancelled Participants are excluded.** A Participant whose place on the group support has been cancelled isn't offered as a recipient. A group support that has itself been cancelled can still be messaged, which is how you tell the group it's off.
- **1,600 characters is the limit.** It applies both to what you type and to each Participant's message once their placeholders are filled in, so a message that's within the limit for one Participant can still be too long for another with a longer name.
- **Long messages cost more.** SMS is billed per segment, and the counter under the message box shows both the messages per recipient and the total messages to send. Non-GSM characters - emoji, curly quotes, em dashes - cut a segment from 160 characters to 70, so a short message with an emoji can cost double.
- **You can message up to 200 Participants at once.**
- **The Send button waits for the preview.** It stays disabled while the preview is catching up with your latest edit, and while nobody in the selection can actually receive the message.
- **Sends aren't all-or-nothing.** If one Participant can't be reached, the rest still go out. The confirmation counts only the messages that were queued, so if that number is lower than you expected, check the [SMS inbox](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/two-way-sms#using-the-sms-inbox) to see who was sent to before you try again.
- **Replies go to the SMS inbox**, not to you personally. Anyone with inbox access can see and answer them, so make sure somebody is watching after a send that invites a reply.
- **Consent still applies.** As with any SMS from Astalty, you need valid consent from each recipient - see [Two-Way SMS](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/two-way-sms).

> **Related**
>
> For automated reminders ahead of every support, see [SMS Reminders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders#on-a-group-support). To email support notes to Participants and their contacts instead, see [Emailing Support Notes](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/emailing-support-notes).