Creating & Importing Contacts

Adding contacts makes it easier to not only send messages but also to track replies. In your inbox, messages received by your contacts will appear with the name of the contact as the sender, as opposed to just the mobile number. You can also add contacts to groups, making it easier to send bulk messages.

Creating Individual Contacts

1. In the menu, click on the    icon, then select All Contacts.

2. Click on the New Contact button.

3. Input the required information:

A) First Name - the first name of the contact.

B) Last Name - the surname of the contact.

C) Mobile Phone (Required) - the contact's mobile number needs to be in the international format, and the country will default to the sending country nominated in the account holder's user profile.

D) Email - the email address of the contact.

E) Country - the country associated with the contact.

F) Location - the contact's location.

G) Date of Birth - the contact's date of birth.

H) Groups - select one or more Contact Groups - groups must be created prior to creating the contact.

I) Additional Information - provide additional information (if required):

• • • Unsubscribed & Subscribed - new contacts are subscribed by default, selecting Unsubscribed will prevent messages from being sent to this contact.
    • Alias - used as an alternative name for your contact, as well as for Email to SMS
    • Custom Fields (x3) - can be used if you have other relevant information on your contact that you wish to record or use in message personalisation.

4. Click Save and your contact will now appear in your All Contacts list, as well as in any Contact Groups you added them to.

Creating a Contact from the Inbox

If you're sending to a new number, you can easily add the recipient to your contacts by entering their details (including their subscription status) into the contact panel on the right and clicking Save:

Importing Contacts in Bulk

1. In the menu, click on the    icon, then select either All Contacts or Contact Groups as the import contacts option appears in both.

2. Click on Import at the top left of the page:

3. Upload your data file to the Messaging Hub using either the Browse function or Drag & Drop your file straight into the upload window:

• You can select which pre-existing lists to which you would like all contacts imported in the bottom field under Add to lists (optional).
• You have the option of unsubscribing all of the contacts in the upload - for example, if you're bulk uploading blacklists from other systems.

4. Match the columns in your data file to the various fields in the contact profile:

• The system will attempt to auto-detect the mobile phone numbers from your spreadsheet; however, if the data that is pulled into the #mobilenumber# field is incorrect, you can change it to the correct column.
• After you have selected a column to match to a field you will see some sample data from the original spreadsheet.

5. If your contact database includes additional information (e.g. in the example shown we have fields such as "Division", "Role" and "Office"), then these can be mapped to the Custom Fields in the contact profile:

6. You can also assign your contacts to existing lists by typing the name(s) of the list(s) in the field at the bottom of the screen.

7. Once you've aligned your data correctly, click on Import contacts at the top right of the screen to complete the action.

7. You'll then be shown a result of the import, along with links for review of successful and failed: