SMS & chat

Traise gives you two conversational channels in one place: SMS for client-facing messages and Chat for internal team communication. Both update in real time so the whole team stays in sync.

SMS with clients

Navigate to Messages (/messages) to open the SMS inbox.

• The left panel shows all your conversations. Use the search bar at the top to find a thread by contact name or number.
• The right panel shows the full message thread for the selected conversation.
• A client panel can be toggled open on the side to show the contact’s record without leaving the conversation. This panel is hidden for group conversations, and your preference is saved between sessions.

Starting or continuing a conversation

1. Search for an existing thread or click New to open the new conversation dialog.
2. Select a contact (or multiple contacts for a group message).
3. Type your message and press Send.

Scheduling a message

1. Open the conversation you want to schedule a message in.
2. Type your message in the input field.
3. Click the schedule icon next to the send button.
4. Pick a date and time, then confirm.

Scheduled messages have to land inside a specific window:

Rule	Detail
Earliest	5 minutes from now
Latest	35 days from now

Anything scheduled less than 5 minutes out is rejected with “Scheduled messages must be at least 5 minutes in the future.” If you’re seeing that error on a time that looks fine, check the minutes — picking “today at 2:00” when it’s already 1:58 will fail.

Note

Messages scheduled more than 30 days out are held by Traise and handed off closer to the send date. This is invisible in normal use — the message goes out at the time you picked either way — but it’s why a far-future scheduled message may not appear in delivery reporting until it gets close.

Attachments

Click the attachment icon in the message input to upload a file. Common formats (images, PDFs) are supported.

Message length

SMS bodies are capped at 1,600 characters. A live character counter sits below the input, turns red when you exceed the limit, and the Send button is disabled until the message is shortened. The same cap applies when composing a template or scheduling a message.

Caution

If your location has a message signature configured, the signature is appended to your message and counts toward the 1,600-character limit. A long signature quietly reduces how much you can actually type. If messages are being rejected as too long when the counter looked fine, the signature is the usual explanation.

Opt-outs and the STOP keyword

Clients can remove themselves from your texts at any time by replying with a keyword. This is a carrier-level requirement, not a Traise feature — the block is enforced by the carrier as well as by Traise.

Opting out. Any of these replies stops messages:

STOP · STOPALL · UNSUBSCRIBE · CANCEL · END · QUIT · REVOKE · OPTOUT

Opting back in. Any of these resumes them:

START · YES · UNSTOP

How the match works

The reply must be the entire message — nothing else in it. Leading and trailing spaces are ignored, and capitalization doesn’t matter, so stop, STOP, and Stop all opt the client out.

A message that merely contains the word does not trigger anything. “Please stop by the office tomorrow” and “Can you stop sending these after Friday” both leave the client fully opted in. The second one is a real opt-out request from the client’s point of view, and nothing automatic will happen — you have to handle it manually.

Caution

Once a client opts out, you cannot text them again until they opt back in. You can’t re-subscribe someone from inside Traise, and neither can support — the block lives at the carrier. Asking the client to reply START from their handset is the only path back.

Tip

Opt-outs are per phone number, not per conversation. A client who replies STOP to a marketing blast has also stopped your service and renewal texts. Keep this in mind before sending broad campaigns to your whole book.

Tip

Group messages are great for policy renewal reminders. Send one message to everyone in a renewal batch instead of texting each contact individually.

Internal chat

The Chat section is a separate area for talking with your teammates — it does not send messages to clients.

The layout mirrors SMS: a searchable contact/channel list on the left and the conversation thread on the right. Messages arrive in real time via WebSocket, so you don’t need to refresh to see new replies.

Caution

SMS messages may be visible to other team members with inbox access. Avoid including sensitive policy details directly in message text — use the client record instead.