# Two-Way SMS Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/two-way-sms > Enable two-way SMS, provision a dedicated number, configure inbound notifications, grant inbox access, receive photos and files, and disable SMS. Two-way SMS gives your provider a dedicated Australian mobile number so you can send and receive text messages with Participants (and their contacts) directly inside Astalty. Inbound replies land in a shared **SMS inbox**, and you can use the same number to send Participants automated [SMS Reminders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders) ahead of their scheduled supports. > **Paid add-on** > > Two-way SMS is a paid feature that requires an active paid subscription. It is billed for the dedicated number and for outbound message segments. Review the current amounts and billing period shown under **Pricing** on the SMS setup screen before enabling it. > > When a Participant has [nominated contacts](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders#nominating-contacts-to-receive-reminders) for SMS reminders, each recipient is a separate outbound message - so a Participant plus two contacts is three billable messages per reminder. > **Consent is your responsibility** > > Before you message anyone, you must obtain valid consent from each recipient in accordance with the *Spam Act 2003 (Cth)* and the Australian Privacy Principles. Astalty automatically processes standard opt-out replies (e.g. **STOP**, **UNSUBSCRIBE**) and blocks further messages to recipients who have opted out. A recipient can opt back in at any time by replying with the word **START**. ## Enabling SMS Only the Account Owner can enable SMS, and your provider must be on an active paid subscription. ### Open the SMS settings page Select **Settings** in the left-hand menu (under **Configure** when your menu is grouped into sections), then select [SMS](https://app.astalty.com.au/settings/sms). ![The Settings page with SMS highlighted in the settings menu between Chat and Reminders, and Settings selected under Configure in the main menu.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-settings-menu.png) ### Read and agree to the terms Enabling SMS provisions a dedicated Australian mobile number for your provider. Before you can continue, the page shows your **Pricing** - the dedicated number's cost (per month, or per year on an annual plan), and the per-segment cost for outbound messages - so you know what SMS will cost before you agree to the terms. You must then read and agree to the terms shown on the page, which cover: - You have read and agree to our **Terms and Conditions** and **Privacy Policy**. - You are responsible for obtaining valid consent from each recipient before sending them SMS messages. - You will not send content that is unlawful, misleading, or prohibited under Astalty's Terms and Conditions. - Message content, recipient phone numbers, and related metadata are transmitted through Astalty's messaging infrastructure and third-party carriers to deliver your messages. Delivery is subject to carrier availability and cannot be guaranteed. - The dedicated phone number and SMS usage will be billed to your account at the prices shown above. Once you're happy, tick **I have read and agree to the above items**, then click **Enable SMS**. ![The Enable SMS screen showing Pricing of 15.00 dollars per month for the dedicated phone number and 0.10 dollars per outbound message segment, above the five terms, the I have read and agree to the above items checkbox and the Enable SMS button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-terms.png) ### Choose your number You'll then be prompted to **Choose your SMS number**. Pick the number you'd like to use from the list, then click **Confirm Number**. ![The Choose your SMS number screen listing ten available numbers, with 0491 570 157 highlighted, above a disabled Confirm Number button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-choose-number.png) ![The Choose your SMS number screen with 0491 570 157 selected and the Confirm Number button highlighted.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-confirm-number.png) > **Setting up your number** > > Provisioning your number usually takes under a minute. You can leave the page and come back - once it's ready, your dedicated number is shown on the SMS settings page and you can start messaging. > **You can't use your existing number** > > SMS always uses a dedicated Australian number provisioned by Astalty. You can't port across or connect an existing business mobile or landline number, so pick the number you'd like to keep using from the list - it's chosen once during setup. > > Only team members with billing access can confirm the number. If you don't see the list, the screen will ask you to contact your account owner to finish setting up SMS. ## Configuring inbound notifications Once SMS is active, you can choose who gets alerted whenever an inbound message arrives. On the **SMS** settings page, click **Edit** next to the **Settings** section. ![The SMS settings page showing the number 0491 570 006 and the Settings section, with Admin listed under Notifications and its Edit button highlighted, above the Disable SMS section.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-settings-guide.png) Under **Notifications**, choose which [User Groups](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/users-settings/user-groups) should be notified - by email and in-app - each time an inbound SMS arrives. You can select more than one group. ![The Update Settings panel with the user group selector open under Notifications, Admin already selected, and the highlighted list showing All Users, Manager, NSW Team, QLD Team, Support Worker and Team Member with their member counts.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-notify-groups.png) > **Notifications vs. inbox access** > > Choosing a notification group only controls who is *alerted* about new messages. Being able to *open* the SMS inbox is granted separately, per user. See [Granting access to the SMS inbox](#granting-access-to-the-sms-inbox). ## Granting access to the SMS inbox Access to the SMS inbox is controlled per user. To grant it, head to the **Users** page from the left-hand menu and click into the relevant user's profile. ![The Users page listing team members with their status, name, email, phone, 2FA and role, with Helena highlighted to open her profile.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-users-list.png) Click the **Permissions** tab on the user's profile. ![The profile of Helena Grimes with Permissions highlighted in the profile menu.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-user-permissions.png) Click **Edit**, tick **Can access the SMS inbox**, then click **Update User**. You can give inbox access to Admins, Managers and Team Members. ![The Update User Permissions panel with the Can access the SMS inbox checkbox ticked at the bottom of Available Permission Changes, and the Update User button highlighted.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-permission-edit.png) ## Using the SMS inbox Once a user has inbox access, the **SMS inbox** icon appears at the top right of the screen, next to the chat and notification icons. A badge shows the number of unread conversations. ![A user profile page with the SMS inbox icon highlighted at the top right of the screen, beside the chat and notification icons.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-inbox-icon.png) From the inbox you can: - Read inbound replies and see the full two-way conversation thread for each contact. - Reply to a message, or start a new conversation with a Participant, a Participant's contact, or any mobile number. - See delivery status on outbound messages (sent, delivered, or failed) and mark conversations as read or unread. > **Messaging a whole group at once** > > You can also send one SMS to everyone booked on a group support, straight from the group support's **Actions** menu. See [Messaging Group Support Participants via SMS](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/messaging-group-support-participants). Conversations from contacts who have opted out (for example, by replying **STOP**) are clearly flagged in the chat window, and Astalty blocks any further outbound messages to those numbers until they opt back in. To opt back in, the recipient needs to reply with the word **START**. ![The SMS inbox showing an opted-out conversation with Elena Marchetti, with arrows pointing to the opt-out icon next to her name in the conversation list and in the conversation header, and to the banner reading This recipient has opted out. Outbound messages will not be delivered.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-opted-out.png) ### Receiving photos and files When someone sends a photo or a file to your dedicated number, it arrives in the SMS inbox attached to their message, alongside any text they sent with it. > **Receiving only - you can't send attachments** > > Astalty can **receive** photos and files, but it can't send them. The message composer is text-only, so there's no way to attach anything to a new message or a reply. If you need to send a document to someone, you'll need to use another channel such as email. **Photos appear in the conversation.** Images - JPG, PNG, GIF and WebP - show as thumbnails directly in the message. Click a thumbnail to open it full size, and when a message carries more than one image, use the arrows to move between them. ![A conversation in the SMS inbox with Herminia Lockman. An inbound message reading Photos from the visit today - the new rail on the bath, the walking frame, and the garden bed we finished. shows three photo thumbnails beneath it.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-mms-photo-thumbnail-guide.png) **Everything else arrives as a file.** PDFs, videos, audio and contact cards are all received and stored, but they appear as a named file row rather than inline. Click the row to download the file and open it on your device. Videos can't be played inside Astalty - you'll always need to download them first. In the conversation list, a message that arrived with attachments and no text of its own previews as **File** or **3 files**. The email notification uses the same wording - *"A file was attached. View it in the inbox."* - so it reads the same whether what arrived was a photo or a document. > **This file is no longer available** > > Attachments are copied into Astalty when the message arrives. Occasionally one can't be retrieved in time, and the message then shows **This file is no longer available** in place of the attachment. This is permanent - the file can't be recovered afterwards. > **Only inbox access opens attachments** > > Photos and files received over SMS can only be opened by users with **Can access the SMS inbox**, even if they can see every other document in your account. > > Download links are generated when you open an attachment and expire after 30 minutes. They refresh automatically each time you open a photo or click a file, so a conversation left open in a tab keeps working. Receiving photos and files does not require a separate setting once the dedicated number is active. Attachment delivery and size limits depend on the messaging carrier and the sender's device. Check the current pricing shown in Astalty for billing details. ### Saving photos and files to a Participant or case note Attachments received over SMS can be saved straight into a Participant's documents, or attached to one of their existing case notes - without leaving the inbox. > **Saving also needs access to the Participant** > > Besides SMS inbox access, you need to be able to add documents and update the Participant the attachment is saved against. If the conversation isn't linked to a Participant you have access to, both destinations are disabled and the panel explains why. Next to the attachment(s) on an inbound message, open the three-dot menu and click **Save photo** (or **Save file** if the message contains anything other than an image). Saving more than one at once uses the plural form - **Save photos** / **Save files**. ![An inbound SMS message with three photo attachments and its three-dot menu open, with an arrow pointing to the highlighted Save photos option.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-save-button.png) This opens the **Save attachments** panel: - **Which attachments?** - tick the ones to save. Each gets an editable **File name** (up to 255 characters, required) that defaults to something like *Photo 1 received 17 Sep 2026*. An attachment already saved shows **File name (already saved)** instead - you can still re-tick and save it again, but saving it to a destination it's already in does nothing new. - **Who is it for?** - when only one Participant is linked to the conversation, Astalty names them and saves against that Participant automatically. If the contact is linked to more than one Participant, a dropdown lets you choose which one. - **Where should it go?** - choose between: - **The participant's documents** - saves the file into their documents list. - **A case note** - attaches the file to one of the Participant's existing case notes. Search by keyword or set **Created between** dates to narrow the list; it initially shows their 25 most recent notes (excluding Group Support notes). - **How should it be saved?** - optionally tag the file with one or more **Categories**, the same category list used on their [Documents](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/participants/documents#categorising-documents) tab. The categories apply whichever destination you choose. ![The Save attachments panel for three photos saved against Herminia Lockman, with The participant's documents selected and highlighted above the Categories dropdown.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-save-documents.png) ![The Save attachments panel with A case note selected and the highlighted list of Herminia Lockman's case notes, with the first note ticked, above the Categories dropdown.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-save-case-note.png) > **Some case notes can't be selected** > > A **Locked** note can't be selected. A note you didn't write shows **Read only** and can't be selected either, unless you can edit notes written by other users. Click **Save**. The file stays visible in the SMS conversation too - saving links the existing attachment to the Participant or case note rather than moving or copying it, so it isn't removed from the inbox. Once saved, a green **Saved** tag appears next to the attachment in the conversation. > **Automated reminders use the same number** > > Want to remind Participants about their upcoming supports? Set up [SMS Reminders](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/settings/sms-reminders) - reminders are sent from your dedicated SMS number, and any replies appear in the same SMS inbox. ## Disabling SMS If you no longer need SMS, the Account Owner can switch it off from the **SMS** settings page. To protect against accidental changes, disabling is confirmed by email - nothing happens until you open the confirmation link. > **Disabling SMS can't be undone** > > Confirming permanently releases your dedicated SMS number and stops all SMS reminders and conversations. The number **cannot be recovered afterwards, even by support**. If you want to use SMS again later, you'll need to set up a brand-new number (which won't be the same one you had). > **Account Owner only** > > Just like enabling SMS, only the Account Owner can turn it off. ### Request the disable On the **SMS** settings page, find the **Disable SMS** section and click **Disable SMS**. Read the confirmation prompt, then click **Continue** to have the confirmation link emailed to you. ![The SMS settings page with the Disable SMS section highlighted below Settings, warning that disabling permanently releases the number, with a red Disable SMS button.](https://docs.astalty.com.au/assets/two-way-sms-disable-card.png) ### Confirm from your email We email a confirmation link to the address on your account. Your SMS number **stays active until you open the link**, so nothing changes by accident. The link **expires in one hour** - if it lapses, just start again from the SMS settings page. Open the link, review the warning that confirming permanently releases your number, then click **Confirm and disable SMS**. Once confirmed, your number is released and SMS is switched off. We'll send a confirmation email to let you know it's done. ## Video Walkthrough Video walkthrough: 2 way sms configuration.