SMS Notifications
SMS Notifications in Zoho ERP helps you communicate with your customers clearly about their quotes, invoices, and payments. This ensures that the customers stay informed about each stage of the transaction without manual follow-ups.
With SMS notifications, you can inform customers when you create or update quotes and invoices, remind them about outstanding invoices, and notify about failure payments. You can also send a thank you notification after receiving payments, helping you maintain a professional relationship with your customers.
Enable SMS Notifications
To enable SMS notifications for your Zoho ERP organisation:
- Go to Settings.
- Under Organization Settings, select SMS Notifications under Customization.
- Choose one of the following options:
- Click Use Free SMS and get credits for 3 SMS to learn how it works.
- Click Buy Credits to purchase credits as an add-on and send SMS notifications. You can purchase up to five credits.
- Click Configure next to Twilio to send SMS notifications to your customers using an external SMS provider.
SMS notifications will now be enabled for your organisation.
Configure SMS Templates
You can configure SMS templates in Zoho ERP in two ways:
- Configure SMS Notifications and Templates Without DLT Registration
- DLT Registration and Configure SMS Templates
Configure SMS Notifications Without DLT Registration
If you choose to configure SMS notifications without registering with DLT, you can send SMS notifications to your customers using predefined SMS templates, without Zoho branding. To do this:
- Go to Settings.
- Under Organization Settings, select SMS Notifications under Customization.
- Enable the toggle next to Send SMS without DLT configuration.
- Under Configure SMS Notification, click Configure to enable, disable, or configure SMS templates for the listed modules.
You can send SMS notifications for the following messages:
| Notification Type | When You Can Send Them |
|---|---|
| Customer Balance | Send an SMS to notify customers about their current outstanding balance and to make the payment. |
| Quote Details | Allow customers to view and approve quotes by sending SMS notifications manually. |
| Invoice Details | An SMS notification will be sent to your customers when recurring invoices are automatically sent, or when you notify them about invoices manually. |
| Payment Reminder | This notification is sent to your customers when you want to remind them of pending payments based on the due date. |
| Payment Thank You | This notification is sent to your customers when you receive payments from them. |
| Payment Retry | You can enable the payment retry notification in the Recurring Invoices page under Settings to notify customers about failed payments. |
| New Subscription | Notify customers when a new subscription is created for them. |
| Subscription Canceled | Notify customers when any of their subscriptions has been cancelled. |
| Subscription Expired | Notify customers as soon as their subscriptions are expired. |
| Subscription Renewed | Notify customers as soon as their subscriptions are renewed. |
| Subscription About to be Canceled | This notification is sent three days before the customer’s subscription is scheduled to be cancelled. |
| Subscription About to Expire | This notification is sent three days before the customer’s subscription expires. |
| Subscription Renewal Ahead | Notify customers five days before when their subscriptions’ renewal date. |
| Sales Receipt Details | Notify customers about their sales receipts. |
To configure SMS notifications for each template:
- Navigate to the SMS Templates tab in the SMS Notifications page.
- Enable the toggle next to the required notification types.
- Click Change Template and select the preferred template for the enabled notifications.
Note: You cannot edit the contents of the SMS templates. You can only change them.
DLT Registration and Configure SMS Templates
According to TRAI’s regulations, it is mandatory for businesses to register with DLT to send SMS notifications to their customers in order to avoid spam.
To send SMS notifications to your customers, you’ll have to:
- Register With a DLT Operator
- Configure DLT in Zoho ERP
- Register SMS Templates in DLT
- Configure SMS Templates in Zoho ERP
Register With a DLT Operator
You must first register yourselves as an enterprise with any of the following DLT operators: Vodafone, Idea Ltd, BSNL, Jio, or Airtel to proceed further. Here’s how:
- Log in to your preferred DLT operator’s website.
- Select Enterprise.
- Choose No if you’ve registered with any other DLT operators.
- Enter the necessary details.
- Upload the documents requested by your DLT operator.
- Click Submit. You’ll receive an acknowledgement that the details have been entered correctly. You’ll also receive an email about the approval status.
Insight: You cannot edit the contents of the SMS templates. You can only change them.
On successful registration, you’ll receive your DLT Registration Number and Sender ID in your email.
Configure DLT in Zoho ERP
Once you register successfully with your DLT operator, you must configure those details in Zoho ERP. Here’s how:
- Go to Settings.
- Under Organization Settings, select SMS Notifications under Customization.
- Under Overview, click Configure DLT Registration.
- In the pop-up that appears, enter your DLT Registration Number, Sender ID, and select your Telecom Operator.
- Enter the chain IDs provided in your DLT Operator’s website. Learn more about chain IDs.
- Click Submit for Approval. If you’ve selected Others in the Telecom Operator dropdown and submitted for approval, in the next pop-up, enter your Telecom Operator Name and click Send.
These details will be verified by your telecom operator. Until then, the configuration status will remain as Pending. You’ll receive an email if your configuration is accepted or rejected.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Pending | The details you provided in Zoho ERP are yet to be verified by your DLT operator. |
| Approved | Your details are approved by your DLT operator. |
| Rejected | Your details are rejected due to invalid or missing details. |
To make any changes to these details after approval, click Edit DLT Configuration, make the required changes, and submit it for approval again.
Register SMS Templates in DLT
To send SMS to your customers, you must register the templates with DLT. If the SMS sent to them does not match the template registered in the DLT platform, the SMS will be barred. To register:
- Log in to the DLT operator’s website.
- Go to Templates and click Add Template.
- Enter the necessary details.
Insight: Choose whether the content type is Transactional, Promotional, Service Implicit, or Service Explicit. Based on the content type, the list of approved headers will be auto-populated. You can select as many headers as necessary.
- Enter or paste the message content.
- Click Submit.
On successful registration, you’ll receive the Template ID and SMS Template via email.
Note: According to TRAI regulations, the URLs included in your SMS notifications must be whitelisted. Learn more about whitelisting URLs.
Configure SMS Templates in Zoho ERP
To configure the approved SMS templates in your organisation:
- Go to Settings.
- Under Organization Settings, select SMS Notifications under Customization.
- Under Overview, click Configure Templates.
- Enable the toggle next to the required notification types, and click Configure Now.
- Enter the SMS Template and Template ID you received earlier.
- Click Save.
The SMS templates will be configured.
Enable SMS Notifications For Customers
To enable SMS notifications for your customers:
- Go to Sales on the left sidebar.
- Select Customers in the module bar.
- Select the customer for whom you want to enable SMS notifications.
- Click Edit in the top right corner of the customer’s Details page.
- In the Edit Customer page, check the SMS option next to Communication Channels. Ensure that you’ve provided the customer’s mobile number to proceed.
- Click Save.
SMS notifications will be enabled for the customer. You can now start sending notifications to the customer.
To enable it for the customer’s contact persons:
- Go to Sales on the left sidebar.
- Select Customers in the module bar.
- Select the customer for whose contact persons you want to enable SMS notifications.
- In the customer’s Details page, click the Gear icon next to the required contact person, and select Edit from the dropdown.
- In the Edit Contact Person, check the SMS option next to Communication Channels. Ensure that you’ve provided the customer’s mobile number to proceed.
- Click Save.
SMS notifications will be enabled for the respective contact person. You can start sending notifications to the contact person.
Enable SMS Notifications For Customers in Bulk
You can enable SMS notifications for customers in bulk in two ways:
- All Primary Contacts and Contact Persons
- Specific Primary Contacts and Contact Persons
All Primary Contacts and Contact Persons
To enable SMS notifications for all customers and contact persons in Zoho ERP:
- Go to Settings.
- Under Organization Settings, select SMS Notifications under Customization.
- Under Buy Credits and Send SMS Notifications, click the More icon, and select Update Communication Preference.
- In the pop-up that appears, select the default recipients to whom you want to send SMS notifications.
- Click Save.
The preferences will be updated.
Specific Primary Contacts and Contact Persons
To enable SMS notifications for specific customers and contact persons:
- Go to Sales on the left sidebar.
- Select Customers in the module bar.
- Select the customers for whom you want to enable SMS notifications, and click the More icon at the top of the page, and select Configure Communication Preferences from the dropdown.
- In the pop-up that appears, select the default recipients.
- Click Save.
The preferences will be updated.
Send SMS Notifications
Based on the preferences you’ve configured, the SMS notifications will be automatically sent to the respective customers and contact persons in the following cases:
- When you’ve configured the Create and Send Invoices, or Create, Share and Send Invoices preferences for recurring invoices, the SMS will be sent for the invoice being created.
- When you receive online payments from customers, a Payment Thank You SMS will be sent.
Apart from sending automated SMS notifications, you can also send them manually. Here’s how:
- Go to the respective module (say, Invoices), and select the invoice for which you want to send SMS.
- In the invoice’s Details page, click the Send dropdown at the top, and select Send SMS from the dropdown.
- In the pop-up that appears, select the recipient to send the SMS.
- Click Send.
The SMS notification will be sent to the chosen recipient.
View SMS Notifications
You can view the list of SMS notifications sent using the SMS Notifications report. Here’s how:
- Go to Reports on the left sidebar.
- Scroll down to the Activity section, and select SMS Notifications.
The report will be displayed.
Disable SMS Notifications For Customers
To disable SMS notifications for your customers:
- Go to Sales on the left sidebar.
- Select Customers in the module bar.
- Select the customer for whom you want to disable SMS notifications.
- In the customer’s Details page, click the Gear icon next to the customer’s display name, and select Disable SMS Notifications.
SMS notifications will be disabled for the respective customer. To disable it for the customer’s contact persons. To do so:
- Go to Sales on the left sidebar.
- Select Customers in the module bar.
- Select the customer for whose contact person you want to disable SMS notifications.
- In the customer’s Details page, under Contact Persons, click the Gear icon next to the required contact person, and select Disable SMS Notifications.
SMS notifications will be disabled for the respective contact persons.