What is a text message?

  • Text messages are a way to send SMS messages to people in a group that have a mobile phone on record.
  • SMS messages are different than mobile notifications, which users can receive for various things (worship assignments, group posts, etc) and require the member be logged into the Lightpost mobile application to receive them.
  • SMS messages do have an extra cost associated with them due to the requirement of using a third party service to send SMS messages.

How are text messages counted?

  • Lightpost counts a text message as every 160 characters sent to a users' unique phone number.
    • This is a limitation and requirement of SMS technology and billing.
  • Lightpost automatically filters out duplicate numbers and duplicate recipients.
    • If multiple people have the same phone number, only one message will be sent. If a user has multiple mobile phone numbers, a message will only be sent to their primary number.

First message confirmation

When a text message is sent to a user from Lightpost for the first time, Lightpost sends a total of 3 text messages to inform the user about why they're receiving a text message from this number.

Things to know about these first 3 text messages:

  • The first message lets the user know what congregation text messages from this phone number are coming from.
  • The second message informs the user how to opt-out and opt-in of future messages.
  • The third message is the first message you are sending to the group.

How to send an SMS message

  1. In the Admin, find the group you wish to message, and click on the group.
  2. Ensure that the "Enable messaging by SMS" option is selected in the "Messaging" tab and save changes.
  3. Ensure that you are an "Authorized Sender" in the Authorized Sender tab.
  4. Go to the "Send SMS" section available for the group.
  5. Enter the message you wish to send, and click "Send".

How to view SMS history

  1. In the Admin, find the group you wish to message, and click on the group.
  2. Go to the "Message History" section.
  3. Click on any past message to view details about who received the text messages and any errors or failures.