HelpSMS (text messages)Text messages, start to finish

Text messages, start to finish

One business, one visitor, from the first press of Switch on text messages to the second text on a visitor’s phone. Every stop links to the page that explains it.

Owner Where: Billing → Text messages 6 min read
Read this page first. Then open the page for any stop you want in detail.
Texts are not open in any country yet. At launch turnda has not opened any country for text messages. Until it does, a business cannot switch texts on (the switch-on is refused before any payment starts) and no text is sent. Visitors keep the tracking page, the lobby TV, email and, if you use it, WhatsApp. The walk-through below shows how texts work once a country opens. The business and the names in it are made up.

What it is

Text messages (SMS) are a second way to tell visitors where they are in the line: two texts a visit, for people without WhatsApp or mobile data. You pay for them in prepaid packs of {{addon.sms.units}} texts. The tracking page, the lobby TV and email stay free, and always work.

  1. 11 · Choose texts
    Visitor updates card
  2. 22 · Check countries
    Open, on request, or not supported
  3. 33 · Pick a zone
    Step 1
  4. 44 · Name the texts
    Step 2
  5. 55 · Limit and pay
    Last two steps
  6. 66 · Visitor asks
    Types number, ticks, confirms
The whole journey, in nine stops.

How to check it in turnda

Where each stop isWhat happens Who can
Switch on text messages On the Visitor updates card in Billing, which has three tiles: Off, WhatsApp and Text messages (SMS). Owner
Where are your visitors? Pick the zone that covers your visitors’ countries. Search any country. Owner
Countries on request Ask for a country that needs a registered sender name. Owner
Name for texts The name that starts every text. Owner
Set your monthly limit The most packs we may buy in a month. Owner
Check and pay The rules, the permission box and the pay button. Owner
Change zone On the Text messages card after switching on, next to Texts left, Packs, Next pack bought and This month, by country. Changing zone never charges anything. Owner
Change monthly limit Same card. The most packs we may buy in a month. Owner
Change the name on texts Same card. The name that starts every text. Owner
Switch off text messages Same card. New visitors stop being offered texts. People already waiting still get “almost your turn”, and your unused texts are kept. Owner
Get text updates On the visitor’s tracking page: the number, the confirmation and Stop these texts. Visitor

A real example

  1. Ana runs a bakery in Lisbon. She sees about 40 visitors a day and wants to text people when they are nearly up. Stop 1. She opens Billing and presses Switch on text messages. See Switching on text messages.
  2. She checks Portugal in the country list. It is open. Stops 2 and 3. She picks the zone that covers it. See Countries for text messages and Packs, zones and your monthly limit.
  3. She keeps her business name, “Ana’s Bakery”, as the Name for texts. Stop 4. See Your name on text messages.
  4. She sets a limit of 3 packs a month, reads the rules, ticks the permission box and pays for pack 1. Stop 5. The screen says Text messages are on.
  5. Rui joins the line, gets A14, taps Get text updates, types his mobile number, ticks the box and confirms. Stop 6. See How text messages work for your visitors.
  6. Rui gets text 1 straight away, and text 2 when it is almost his turn. Stop 7. Both come out of Ana’s pack. See When a text counts, and how stopping works.
  7. A few weeks later Ana’s pack is down to 10%. The next one is bought, and she is emailed an invoice. Stop 8.
  8. Ana opens the card and sees Texts left and the by-country table. Stop 9. Rui’s number is wiped 30 days after his visit. See Privacy.

What happens in the system

  1. 1Visitor taps the button
    Offered only while texts are on
  2. 2Number is checked
    A mobile, in an open country
  3. 3Visitor confirms
    Nothing sent before this
  4. 4Text 1
    One text from your pack
What happens behind the scenes on the day a visitor asks for texts.

If anything stops on the way, the visitor sees one calm sentence, nothing is taken from your pack, and their place in the line is untouched. See A visitor did not get a text.

What you need to do

  1. Check your countries first. Open, on request, not supported
  2. If a country is on request, ask early. The registration fee
  3. Switch on, name the texts, choose a limit, pay. Switching on
  4. Tell your team the one rule. Visitors type their own number. Staff never do.
  5. Look at the card now and then. Texts left, by country, any message in the coloured box.
  6. If something goes wrong, use the “What happens if…” page. What happens if… (text messages)

Texts and your money

What you askThe answer
What do I pay for? Texts are not part of your package. You pay for prepaid packs of {{addon.sms.units}} texts, bought for you automatically when about 10% are left, and never more packs in a month than the limit you chose. A country on request also has a registration fee: the first year, then a yearly renewal while you keep it. See Packs, zones and your monthly limit and The registration fee.
Where is my balance? On the Text messages card in Billing: Texts left, the packs bought this month and the by-country table. Texts you have not used stay yours while your account is open. If your business moves to the Free package they are paused and kept, and come back when you pay for a package again.
Can I get money back? Not for a change of mind, for switching texts off or for moving to Free. You are refunded by turnda, without asking, for the unused part of your packs if texts cannot go out for 72 hours (three full days) in total within any 7 days because of a problem on our side, or if a country closes and the texts you bought for it cannot be used in another of your locations. If an outage refund fails the first time, later checks try it again. See Refunds: when, how and how long and Refunds we do not make.
What if I close my account? Unused texts end when the account is finally deleted, and they are not refunded. Use them first, or undo the closure within 7 days. See Close your account.
What if my bank opens a dispute? No new pack is bought while it is open and the disputed texts are put on hold. Your other packs keep working. See During a card dispute.
Where do I see the charge? Each pack and each registration fee has an invoice in Billing history. On your card statement a text pack reads TURNDA SMS PACK and a registration fee reads TURNDA SMS COUNTRY FEE. See Paying and invoices.

What turnda does not cover

  • The mobile networks. They carry the text and decide how fast.
  • The visitor’s phone. Off, full, in flight mode or blocking senders means no text.
  • The country’s registry. For a country on request, the registry decides and sets the timing.
  • Countries that are not supported. Visitors there use the tracking page, the lobby TV and email.

Common questions

QuestionAnswer
How long does set-up take? Three short steps, a few minutes. The only wait is for a country on request. The country list shows the wait for each one.
Do I pay before it works? You pay for pack 1 at the end, on the Check and pay step. Nothing is charged before that.
Can I use WhatsApp and texts? One at a time for the whole business. See WhatsApp or text messages: one channel.
What do my visitors pay? Nothing. The texts come out of your pack.
Where do I start? Billing → the Visitor updates card → Switch on text messages.