Building SMS: Seeking Feedback

Hi, I’m so glad you’re taking a poll. We use two way SMS communications with every single Check-in. We  have it with always two people on my side and one to two people on the guest side so however, you implement this it needs to look like it’s coming from me and my other cohost and going straight to the guest. We almost use exclusively, SMS and very rarely WhatsApp. A full integration for two way communications is critical for us to use the feature.

I would find it a great benefit as many guests arrive from international locations and alot of the time they dont have access to emails or booking platforms as many plan to get a new prepaid sim plan in the destination country. Guests arrive but have no internet to access check-in instructions. I always try to sms the guests with these details so they are readily available for when they arrive but my phone plan doesnt allow me to message every country around the world so i have to resort to calling or messaging via whatsapp when possible but it doesnt feel professional. If hospitable had this feature it would make everything work smoother for hosts and guests alike. 

It wouldn’t matter to me too much about having 2 way sms as i would hope that the sms feature would have all the details for the guests to check in and would also have my contact details (phone number and email address) if they needed to contact me.

Alternatively i wonder if the sms feature could somehow be connected to the hospitable chat and messages via text or the chat could feed both the sms and the chat?

As I have more direct bookings, the need for two way sms increases. When guests need assistance troubleshooting theelevator or appliances, they do not wish to email as that method feels slower and clunky- even if I reply immediately. 
 

I’d love two way SMS so I can use all of my canned responses and AI rather than typing them out. 
 

I also text VRBO guests quite a bit as many can’t figure out how to copy and paste the house manual link on a phone and VRBO doesn’t send it as a hyperlink. Once we begin texting, they usually continue contacting me that way until their reservation ends, so I’d hate to miss any of their messages. Some VRBO guests request texting instead of emails because they don’t have or want the app on their phone. 

​@Zion Escapes - great callout that SMS would need to be integrated into the messaging thread somehow (not fragmented)! ​@David Thorpe  - That’s super helpful to note.

If you haven’t seen the recommendation ​@megank  (and current project) about how direct guests can communicate, please check this community thread - 

We think SMS (as a redundant option) can be helpful for sure, but driving guests to the Guest Portal (for real-time messaging - an app-like experience) will be THE BEST of both worlds. 

Houfy has has this for a while and we really like their implementation. We’ve used this as a recommendation for Hospitable’s rollout. If you don’t know Houfy - here’s the screenshot of the messaging thread in their version of a Guest Portal/pseudo app.