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Intended Audience
This article is intended for faculty and staff who have active Salesforce licenses and who use SMS to communicate and engage with UM-Flint students. If you or your department is interested in working with the CRM, please refer to the Obtaining CRM Access section below.
Accessing SMS Inbox
Once you have been added to an inbox in SMS Inbox, you may access the tool in one of two ways depending on how you wish to utilize it.
- If you want to see a comprehensive view of all outstanding conversations and unread messages, click on the TargetX Communication Planner tab. If the tab is not present, use the App Launcher in the top left corner to search for TargetX Communication Planner. Once you have opened the Communication Planner, click on the chat bubble icon 💬 from the left side menu to open SMS Inbox.
- If you want to see or continue a conversation with an individual student, open their contact record by searching for them directly by name, email/uniqname, or UMID using the global search box, using a report, etc. Once on the student's contact record, scroll to the SMS Inbox section on your layout.
- For advisors using the Student Success Center tool, you can get to a student's contact record by clicking the View in TargetX CRM button at the bottom right side of a student's Activity Timeline.
Using SMS Inbox
SMS Inbox Main Area
To access the main area for SMS Inbox, you will do so through the TargetX Communication Planner as described above. Once in SMS Inbox, you can search and navigate through all existing conversations within inboxes you are assigned to and start new conversations with UM-Flint students. You can easily swap between all conversations and unread messages to reply to student inquiries or responses to mass communications or calls to action.
You can search for conversations by student name or Student ID (which translates to the student's Banner ID or UMID, if available).
If a message originated from a mass communication, such as a campaign or quick message, the message will be tagged in the top left corner and will include the name of the related campaign.
If there are errors in sending a message to a student, the message will be marked with an Error Code and the related Error Message to assist in troubleshooting. If it is related to the student's mobile phone number (i.e. invalid mobile format, etc.), verify the student's number in Banner, if available, to see if there was a possible error on entry on an application or event form, or email the student to verify their current mobile number.
SMS Inbox Widget
From a student's contact record, you can access SMS Inbox using a widget in a section titled SMS Inbox on your layout. In this widget, you can review and reply to the student's responses directly. You can also use the View Inbox button in the top right corner to navigate to the main area of SMS Inbox to review all conversations.
Email Notifications
If you would like to be notified when there are unread messages for a particular inbox, a CRM administrator can configure email notifications to be sent to you and any other individuals assigned to your inbox. It is important to note that once you receive an email notification for missed messages, this notice will not be sent again until you have read all unread messages in your inbox and new unread messages are received.
Considerations for Opt In Preferences
We collect SMS opt ins from our students when they first inquire about programs at UM-Flint, register for an event hosted in the CRM, or submit an application. The Text Opt In field on a student's contact record represents the student's preference to receive ANY SMS communications. You should review this field on the student's contact record and include it in any reports for mass SMS communications (Text Opt In equals True) before attempting to send SMS messages.
If a student replies STOP to a particular message, it will only opt them out of future messages from that messaging service; in this case, the individual inbox/number.
It is necessary that we respect a student's preference to receive or not receive SMS messages from the university both from a privacy perspective but also from a compliance standpoint as we must adhere to requirements set by mobile carriers, the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Transitioning from TX SMS
If you are a previous user of TX SMS and have recently transitioned to SMS Inbox, it is important to know that only new messages and replies will be logged in SMS Inbox. Any historical messages or conversations with students will still be listed in TX SMS and will NOT be added to SMS Inbox.
Based on the above, you may need to check both TX SMS and SMS Inbox for a time to review prior messages or conversations as needed.
Resources and References
Obtaining CRM Access
To obtain a Salesforce license, your supervisor can submit an access request to ITS. If approved, relevant training will be assigned and will be required to be completed prior to receiving your license.
Troubleshooting
If you have any questions or experience any issues with this article, please visit or contact the ITS Helpdesk for assistance and request a support ticket with the ITS CRM team.
Location: 206 Murchie Science Building
Hours: go.umflint.edu/hours
Phone: (810) 762-3123
Email: flint.its.support@umich.edu