Send a Message

Dialpad offers external SMS and MMS services, as well as our internal Dialpad Chat — allowing you to keep your lines of communication open from anywhere within Dialpad.

Dialpad messages are sent via internet, starting a 'chat' between Dialpad users.

If the contact you're messaging isn't a Dialpad user, messages are sent via traditional SMS/MMS-based networks.

Let's dive into the details.

Send a message (chat & SMS)

To send a chat or SMS message from the Dialpad app, select Message in the left sidebar.

1. Select the Message icon in the left sidebar
2. Enter a contact's name or number
3. Type your message
4. Press the Enter key when you're ready to send the message

By default, your message will be sent from your personal Dialpad number. You'll have the option to change this at the top of the screen if you're assigned as an Operator or Agent on a Shared Line.

Looking to communicate with GIFs? Just type '/giphy' and a term, then press the Enter key to display a GIF matching your entry. Hover over the GIF to play it.

Link previews

Previews appear when you send an external website URL. 

Previews can be removed after sending by selecting the 'X' icon on the left. 

You can only remove website previews for messages that you have sent.

If you don't want link previews to show, contact Customer Support to have them turn off this feature.

Send an image or video (Chat & MMS)

To send an image or video via chat (MMS), drag and drop the image or video into your conversation thread or select the image icon to open your device's file browser.

Select a photo or video, then start typing the message (if necessary) and press the Enter key.

Messages sent to users outside of Dialpad that include a photo or video are MMS-based (multimedia messaging service).

Supported MMS Files

Whether in a group or a one-on-one Dialpad chat, MMS between Dialpad and PSTN is limited to 500KB for both images and video. Between Dialpad users in group or Dialpad chat, the size limit is 32MB.

You can see all of the supported MMS file formats in the image above. (Pure audio files are not supported at this time.) 

Forward a message

To forward a message to another Dialpad User, first, head to your Dialpad App Inbox.

1. Navigate to Messages
2. Navigate to the message you'd like to forward
3. Select the down arrow to access the drop-down menu
4. Select the Forward 
5. Search a contact's name or enter an email address, and add an additional message if required
6. Select Forward Message to finish and send

Edit a message

Did you type your instead of you’re? Not to worry, Dialpad makes it easy to edit messages after sending them. 

1. Click the 3 dots in the options menu beside your message
2. Select Edit
3. Type your updated text message into the box
4. Select Save Changes

   
   

   Your message will be instantly updated, and you’ll see an Edited stamp underneath the message. 

Message reactions

Add humor and delight to your conversations with emoji reactions! 

Add emoji reactions

Adding emoji reactions is quick, and simple and adds a personal touch to your message. Follow the steps below to add emoji reactions. 

1. Select the message you would like to react to by hovering over the message
2. Click the smiley face
   
3. Select your desired emoji from the recommended emojis, or search the emoji library.

Your emoji will appear beneath the message — add as many as you like!

For mobile users, long-press on any message, tap on one of the shortcut emojis, or the plus icon, to access the full emoji library.

Once one emoji has been added, click the smiley beside the other emojis to add more.

Emoji skin tone

Bring out your individuality and diversity by choosing a specific skin tone for your hand and people emojis.

If you don't set a custom skin tone, your skin tone will display as yellow. 

To change your emoji's skin tone:

1. Select the emoji icon
   
2. Select the hand emoji
3. Choose the desired skin tone

That's it! Any hand or person emojis will now display your preferred skin tone. 

Remove emoji reactions

Oops, did you get a little over-the-top with emoji reactions? To remove an emoji reaction, simply click on, or tap, the emoji and it will disappear.

SMS delivery receipt

Delivery receipts let you know if your message was successfully sent, or if there was a hiccup and you need to try again. 

Delivery receipts are available for direct SMS messages on Dialpad’s desktop, browser, and mobile apps.  

You’ll only see delivery receipts for external SMS messages (not internal Dialpad chats or MMS messages) sent from your individual Dialpad number or your mainline number.

Dialpad provides 4 types of delivery receipts. 

• Sent:  The recipient's operator received our message and it is ready to be sent to the recipient’s carrier.
• Delivered: The message was accepted by the recipient's carrier.
• Message Failed: The message could not be sent.
  •  This could happen because the destination is switched off, the device is unavailable, the number is blocked or unknown etc.
    

• Undelivered: The message was not delivered. When a message is rejected, it means Dialpad delivered it, but there was a problem on the Carrier's side. 
  • This can happen for many reasons, such as content filtering by the Carrier or the recipient’s phone availability (e.g. the mobile was switched off or in roaming mode). Delivery receipts are not supported in all countries or by all Carriers. 

In your Office Analytics, you'll see find a breakdown of how many messages were successfully sent, delivered, failed, or undelivered. 

Frequently asked questions 

Does it cost money to send an external SMS/MMS?

Dialpad to Dialpad messages are free and unlimited, all outbound SMS/MMS is pay-per-message. 

That said, Dialpad will cover the cost of the first 250 outbound SMS/MMS of every Ai Voice (formerly Dialpad Talk) user every month, and inbound SMS/MMS messages are free for Ai Voice users.

*For our UK users, SMS messaging is an add-on feature. Please reach out to our Sales team, or your Customer Success Manager for more information. 

Can I send a message from a secondary number (group or personal)?

No, only a primary number can be used to send or reply to a message — even when replying to a message that was received on a secondary number.

That said, when the primary number is not SMS-capable, Dialpad will then send the message from the first SMS-capable number on the list.

Why can't I edit a message in a group conversation?

You can, as long as all the group participants are using Dialpad. If you are in a group conversation and there is even one external contact, you will not be able to edit any messages in the group conversation.

Can I disable SMS for a Dialpad line?

Definitely! One of the joys of Dialpad is how completely customizable it is. We can turn off SMS capabilities for individuals, or even for the whole company. To do this, you'll need to reach out to Customer Support. However, be aware that this disables all internal messaging not done via Dialpad Channels. 

Can I send international text messages?

Not at this time. However, you can still message team members in Dialpad if they are in another country. 

Can I tag someone in a message?

Yes, absolutely! Type "@" before their name and select their name from the pop-up menu. 

This is particularly useful in group or channel messages. 

Can I reference a channel in a message?

Yes! Type "#" before the channel name and select from the pop-up menu. 

Can I send a bit.ly link?

No. We do not support outbound SMS with bit.ly links. 

Why did I receive an error that says 'insufficient credit'?

Outbound messages are billed on a per-message rate and paid via credits. If you receive a notification stating 'insufficient credits' it means your message was not sent due to a lack of credits. Choose to automatically add credits to your account to prevent this from happening again.