Missed-call text-back: how it works and how to set it up

A missed call is a customer who has already chosen you, for the moment. If nobody answers, most people don’t leave a message: they ring the next business on the list. Missed-call text-back closes that gap. When you can’t pick up, the caller gets a text from your business within a minute, so the conversation stays with you.

How it works

When a call to your business number goes unanswered, your phone system sends the caller an SMS from your business. There are three common ways to set it up in Australia:

1. Your phone provider or business phone app. Many business phone services and VoIP apps have a missed-call SMS setting. It’s the simplest option when it exists: switch it on and write the message.
2. Call forwarding to a service that texts back. Unanswered calls forward to a number that logs the call and sends the text. You keep your existing number; customers never see the difference.
3. Your job or booking software. Some job, booking and practice systems can send a message when a call is missed, or when a new enquiry arrives. Check what yours does before adding anything new.

Whichever way it runs, the text should come from your business name or your business number, never from an unknown sender.

What the text should say

One message, one next step. Say who you are, that you saw the call, and what happens next. Keep it short enough to read at a glance.

For a trade:

Hi, it’s [your business]. Sorry we missed your call: we’re on a job. Reply with your suburb and a photo of the problem and we’ll get back to you today. Urgent? Call again and we’ll pick up.

For a salon or clinic:

Hi, it’s [your salon]. We’re with a client right now. You can book online any time at [your booking link], or reply here and we’ll text you back within the hour.

For a café or venue:

Thanks for calling [your café]. We’re flat out at the moment. Our hours and menu are at [link]. For bookings, reply with the date, time and number of people.

Use your own business name, your own link and a promise you can keep. If you can’t reply within the hour, don’t say you will.

The rules in Australia

The Spam Act 2003 covers commercial electronic messages, which include SMS. A reply to someone who has just called you, about their call, is a factual message: it’s fine to send, as long as it identifies your business and stays about their enquiry. Promotions are different: offers, discounts or newsletters need the person’s consent and a way to unsubscribe. Keep the missed-call text about the call. ACMA’s guidance on spam and SMS has the detail.

A few habits keep it working well:

• Send one text per missed call, not a sequence. If they reply, a person takes over.
• Don’t text numbers that withhold caller ID, and don’t text back calls from your own team or suppliers if your system can tell the difference.
• Check the replies. Text-back works only if someone reads what comes back. Route replies to the phone or inbox you actually check.

Setting it up, step by step

1. Find out what you already have. Look in your phone provider’s account, your business phone app and your job or booking software for “missed call”, “auto reply” or “SMS” settings.
2. Decide the next step you want. A booking link, a photo of the job, the suburb and the problem, or a call-back time.
3. Write the message using the examples above, and read it on your own phone.
4. Turn it on for business hours first, then decide whether after-hours calls get the same text or one that says when you’ll call back.
5. Test it. Call from another phone, let it ring out, and check the text arrives within a minute and the reply reaches you.
6. Watch it for a week. Count the missed calls that got a text and how many replied or booked.

What it costs to run

The running cost is the SMS itself, charged by your phone or SMS provider, plus the phone service if you don’t already have one that does this. Ask for the per-message price before you switch it on. When I set it up, I quote the running cost in writing first, and you pay the provider directly with no markup.

When it isn’t enough

Text-back stops callers drifting away. It doesn’t answer the questions they had. If most calls are about prices, hours or availability, pair it with saved replies or an answers page on your website, so the text can point somewhere useful. And if calls are going unanswered because the phone is the only way in, a short enquiry form and online booking on your website take some of the pressure off the phone.