Skip to main content
Simple AI supports SMS alongside voice, so your agents and your team can reach contacts over text as well as phone calls. SMS in Simple AI is built to work the same way voice does, and the two channels can share context on the same contact.

​
What You Can Do with SMS

SMS in Simple AI supports four main use cases:
  • an AI agent can hold a full SMS conversation on its own
  • a human teammate can send and receive SMS directly from the dashboard
  • SMS steps can be used inside campaign journeys
  • context is shared between phone calls and SMS on the same contact
You can use any combination of these. A conversation that starts as an inbound call can continue over SMS, a journey can mix call steps and SMS steps, and a human can take over an AI agent’s SMS thread at any time.

​
AI Agent SMS Conversations

You can configure an agent to handle SMS the same way you configure it to handle voice calls. When a contact texts a number attached to an SMS-enabled agent, the agent can read the incoming message, decide how to respond, and send replies. Agents support two modes of sending SMS:
  • AI-generated replies — the agent drafts and sends responses on its own, based on its prompt, tools, and knowledge base
  • User-written replies — a human teammate writes the outgoing message, while the conversation still lives in the same thread the agent has access to
Both modes can be used in the same conversation. A common pattern is to let the agent handle most of the thread and have a human step in for specific messages, then hand the conversation back to the agent. Agents can also use tools during an SMS conversation, so the same tools you configure for voice calls — looking up a customer, scheduling an appointment, updating a CRM — are available over text.

​
Human-Sent SMS

Your team can send and receive SMS directly from the Simple AI dashboard without involving an agent at all. Human SMS is useful when:
  • a teammate needs to follow up on a call manually
  • a conversation needs a human touch that should not be automated
  • you want to send a one-off message to a contact
Human and AI messages show up in the same conversation thread, so there is a single history per contact regardless of who sent each message.

​
SMS in Journeys

SMS can be used as a step inside a journey, alongside calls and other actions. See Campaigns for more on how journeys work.

​
Shared Context Between Calls and SMS

SMS and voice calls are not isolated channels. When a contact has both a call history and an SMS history with your organization, Simple AI treats them as part of the same conversation with that contact. In practice, this means:
  • an agent answering a call can reference what was said in a recent SMS thread
  • an agent responding to an SMS can reference what happened on an earlier call
  • a human teammate sees calls and messages together in the contact’s history
  • a journey can pause on one channel and resume on another
This makes it possible to build flows that feel like a single conversation even when they span multiple channels and multiple days.

​
Inbound SMS

You can attach an agent to a phone number to handle inbound SMS, similar to how you attach an agent to handle inbound calls. When a message comes in, the agent decides how to respond and the thread becomes part of the contact’s history. If no agent is attached, inbound SMS still lands in the dashboard so your team can respond manually.

​
Outbound SMS

Outbound SMS can be sent from:
  • the dashboard, by a human teammate
  • an agent, as part of an ongoing conversation
  • a campaign journey step
  • the API, for programmatic sending
As with outbound calls, outbound SMS must follow all rules and regulations in your jurisdiction, including carrier requirements and opt-out handling.

​
Language Support

SMS supports the same languages Simple AI supports for voice. If you need a language that is not currently supported, please contact us.

​
Getting Started

SMS capabilities are enabled per account. If you do not see SMS options in your dashboard and would like to use them, reach out to support@usesimple.ai or your account team to have SMS enabled for your organization.