How the CRM Determines the Sender Number for Outbound SMS

When you or your team sends an SMS message from the CRM, the system follows a specific set of rules to select which of your Twilio phone numbers is used as the sender. This process ensures message consistency and helps maintain proper conversation threads.

Primary Rules for Staff-Sent Messages

When a staff member manually sends an SMS from the conversation inbox, the sender number is chosen based on the following hierarchy:

1. Assigned User Number: If the staff member sending the message is listed in the sub-account's My Staff section and has a dedicated Twilio number assigned to their profile, the message will be sent from that number.
2. SMS-Incompatible Number Fallback: If the staff member's assigned number is not capable of sending SMS, the system will instead use the account's default outbound number.
3. Manually Selected Number: A user can manually choose a different sender number for a message. The CRM will remember this selection and display it as the default option the next time they send a message.

Assigning a Twilio Number to a User

To assign a specific Twilio phone number to a staff member for outbound calling and messaging:

1. Navigate to Sub-Account Settings and select My Staff.
2. Click to edit the desired user's profile.
3. Expand the Call & Voicemail Settings section.
4. Select a Twilio phone number from the available list to assign it to that user.

Setting a Sender Number in Workflows

You can explicitly define the sender number for automated messages sent via a workflow. When you add a Send SMS step in the workflow builder, you will see a From Number dropdown field. Selecting a number here ensures the workflow message is always sent from that specific number, overriding any user-based assignments.

Fallback Rules (When No User Number is Assigned)

If the user sending a message is not listed in the sub-account's staff, or if they do not have a number assigned, the system will use this fallback order:

1. Channel Number: The system will first attempt to use the first Twilio number ever used to communicate with that specific contact. This helps keep the conversation history intact within a single thread.
2. Default Outbound Number: If the original channel number is no longer available in your account, the system will fall back to the default Twilio number set at the account level.

Checking Which Number Was Used

To verify the exact Twilio number used to send a particular SMS message within a conversation:

1. In the conversation view, hover your cursor over the message in question.
2. Click the three-dot menu (…) that appears and select Details.
3. A panel will open showing the details of that message, including the specific Twilio number it was sent from.