Help

Find all you need to know about using BurstSMS here. If you cannot find a quick answer contact us

Creating a list

Creation of a list is a simple process.

1. Export your list from an existing application. You must have at least the mobile number. You can have another column with First Name. Another column can have Surname (or other key data - this can be merged with the message). This file must be saved as a .csv file to work with the system. Save this file to an easily found location on your computer.
2. Log into the system.
3. Click the Contacts button and then click New Contact List.
4. Click upload CSV or vcard.
5. Unless your numbers are in the 61 format, choose your country. This will automatically put the correct code with the number. Then browse to the location of your CSV file.
6. You will then be prompted to map the columns of your database. If you have column headers, please tick the Skip First Row checkbox.
7. Click Preview - You mobile numbers will not show the first 0. If all OK click Upload.
8. You will see that the list imports and that any duplicate numbers have been purged.
   

Deleting a list

You can delete lists from the contacts section.

1. Log into the system
2. Click the Contacts button
3. Click the delete link for the list you wish to remove
   

Sending a message

1. From the overview screen, click the SEND SMS button
2. Select a recipient list to send to.
3. In Caller ID, please put in your mobile number. Please use the international format (i.e. 614######## excluding the leading zero) Any replies will go to this number.
4. Type your message. Click the [firstname] or [lastname] when you want to insert that data. You can also add custom variables from the list page which will also appear here. Note the number of characters used will be determined by the longest name/piece of data in those fields. Note the character counter shows you the number of characters used and the number of messages required to send your message.
5. If you have a mobile site, you can include an optional link to the site here. We use an action based URL shortener.
6. If you wish to schedule your message, select yes. This will reveal a date and time array that you can complete
7. You can test you message (FREE) by entering your mobile number and clicking the green TEST button.
8. The pricing panel shows you the total cost of your send. You will notice that these figures are automatically updated as you change your message length and number of recipients. Please be aware that if you are using custom variables we cannot control the length of the message. To pay for your campaign, click the NEXT button
9. You are now presented with the payment screen. Complete all details and click PAY AND SEND and your messages will be sent immediately or at the scheduled time.
   

Receiving replies

If you would like replies sent back to your system or have contacts able to opt-out of your list, check the necessary boxes on the message send form. As we need to use our special number to recieve these replies, you will not be able to customize your CallerID in this instance. Our number is +61429705882. However, you can also add this number to your message manually if you want to maintain your own SenderID. eg. Rather than the opt out line 'optout reply STOP 123', you could add 'optout sms STOP 123 to +61429705882' Although this does add valuable characters to your message it does allow you to keep your SenderID. You can type whatever you want as long as you have the command 'STOP 123' where 123 is your list ID. The list ID can be found when you click the reply to opt-out check box. This does not need to be checked if you are customising your opt-out message.