Feature · SMS Automation

SMS automation that lives on the record and respects every compliance rule.

Native A2P 10DLC compliance, per-contact consent tracking, locale-aware quiet hours, STOP and HELP keyword handling, two-way reply routing, assistant-drafted messages, and the open API every integration team eventually asks for. Strkr Messaging runs SMS and MMS as a first-class channel on the shared record store with the full audit log attached.

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What SMS automation has to carry to run in production

Compliance, two-way, consent, context, and the audit log.

SMS automation that ships without native compliance, two-way reply handling, per-contact consent, record context, and a full audit log is SMS automation that gets a tenant blocked by its carrier within a month. The useful list of capabilities for production-grade SMS automation is specific and non-negotiable. Strkr Messaging builds every capability as a native primitive on the shared record store with the compliance posture integrated rather than bolted on.

A2P 10DLC compliance

Registered brand, registered campaign, right throughput.

US A2P 10DLC compliance requires brand registration, campaign registration per use case, and throughput negotiated per campaign. Strkr handles the full registration flow during tenant onboarding so SMS automation runs on the compliant lane with the right throughput from day one.

Per-contact consent

Opt-in captured and logged, per channel.

Every contact carries SMS consent state separately from email consent and voice consent. Consent captures with the source, the timestamp, and the proof text. The automation respects the consent on every send. A contact without SMS consent never receives an SMS from any workflow regardless of the trigger.

Quiet hours

No SMS at 2 a.m. in the recipient time zone.

Every message step respects per-locale quiet hours. The admin configures the window for each country or region. A workflow trying to send outside the window queues the message to the next permitted time. The compliance posture holds without the admin writing custom timing logic.

STOP and HELP keywords

Automatic handling, immediate consent change.

A STOP message anywhere revokes SMS consent on the contact record and prevents any further outbound SMS. A HELP message triggers the configured help response. A UNSTOP message restores consent. The keyword handling is native and prevents the common failure where a replied STOP sits in a queue while another automation fires another message.

Two-way reply routing

Replies land on the record, route to the owner.

Every inbound reply logs on the contact timeline as a message. The reply routes to the deal owner, the CSM, or the configured handler based on the automation rule. The handler sees the reply in Strkr Messaging and responds inside the record store. The two-way conversation lives where the record lives.

Record context on every message

The deal, the account, the activity timeline.

Every outbound SMS references the record it was sent from (deal, account, lead, contact). The inbound reply attaches to the same record. The automation reads the record context to decide the next step. The SMS channel is a working surface of the record rather than a separate conversation thread.

Audit log

Every message, every consent change, every action.

Every outbound send, every inbound reply, every consent change, every opt-out, and every automation action logs to the audit trail with the actor, the timestamp, the message body, the delivery status, and the record reference. The log is tamper-evident and sits inside the SOC 2 Type II control set.

Delivery tracking

Sent, delivered, failed, with carrier reason.

Every outbound SMS tracks delivery status: sent, delivered, failed. Failed messages carry the carrier failure reason (invalid number, carrier filter, destination unreachable). The deliverability dashboard aggregates the data so the ops team monitors the health trend and takes action when a sending profile drifts.

Native MMS

Images, videos, longer content in one message.

MMS messages ship native with image and video attachments. A product screenshot, a signed contract preview, or a short demo video sends through the same automation flow as text SMS. The MMS pricing and throughput run through the same compliance registration.

Specific SMS automation flows production teams run

The nine workflows that go live in the first month.

Teams buying SMS automation usually imagine the generic SMS blast and skip over the specific workflows that produce real pipeline impact. These are the nine SMS automation workflows most Strkr customers configure in the first month, with the specific trigger, action, and feedback-loop that each one needs. Each one runs on the shared record with Strkr AI drafting the message in the configured rep voice.

Inbound lead ping

Tier A inbound gets a text in 60 seconds.

A tier A inbound lead arrives. The flow drafts a 160-character SMS introducing the rep and offering a 15-minute call window. The SMS fires 60 seconds after form submission. The hot-lead response rate on SMS beats email by 3x to 5x for most B2B categories because the channel is immediate.

Meeting confirmation

Reduce no-shows with a day-before text.

A booked meeting fires an SMS confirmation 24 hours before the meeting with the join link, the agenda, and the host name. A second SMS fires 1 hour before. No-show rates drop by 20 to 40 percent on average because the channel reaches the prospect where they already live.

Trial activation nudge

A text when the trial starts, a text when usage drops.

A trial signup fires an SMS welcome with the quickstart link. If trial usage drops below a threshold at day 3, a nudge SMS fires with the common first-value milestone. If the user hits the milestone, a congratulations SMS fires. The channel pulls the trial activation curve up by a measurable margin.

Renewal reminder

120 days out, 90 days out, 30 days out.

For renewal motions, the flow fires reminder SMS to the primary champion at 120 days out (introduce the renewal conversation), 90 days out (confirm the engagement), and 30 days out (confirm signature window). Each message is drafted by Strkr AI with the account context and the renewal narrative.

Churn save

Red-tier accounts get a direct message.

When an account health score drops to red, the save flow drafts a direct SMS from the CSM to the primary champion with the specific save offer. The channel bypasses the inbox noise and lands with the champion directly. Save rates improve measurably when the channel is right.

Event follow-up

Trade show scans into real conversations.

A trade show scan imports as a lead. The flow drafts a thank-you SMS referencing the booth conversation and offering the next step. The SMS beats the generic post-event email because the recipient remembers the specific conversation and the channel is personal.

QBR prep

CSM texts champion to confirm the agenda.

Before a scheduled QBR, the flow drafts an SMS from the CSM to the champion confirming the agenda, the attendees, and the time. The confirmation reduces reschedules and sets the right expectation for the meeting. The CSM sees the reply inline with the account activity.

Payment reminder

Overdue invoice, direct text to the champion.

For overdue invoices, the flow drafts a polite SMS to the billing champion with the invoice link and the past-due amount. The channel reaches the champion directly rather than filtering through a billing inbox. Collections cycles compress when the channel is right.

Appointment series

Multi-touch onboarding or coaching sequence.

For services engagements with a defined cadence (onboarding week-by-week, coaching month-by-month), the flow drafts a scheduled SMS series. Each message introduces the next step, confirms attendance, or shares relevant content. The channel keeps the engagement warm between formal meetings.

How Strkr AI drafts the message in the rep voice

The assistant layer on top of SMS automation.

The jump from a generic SMS blast to a credible SMS automation flow is the content layer. Templates get stale. Mail-merge feels transactional. The useful alternative is an assistant that reads the real record context and drafts the specific message in the rep configured voice. Strkr AI runs inside the SMS workflow as a drafting layer with the specific controls that keep the output on-brand and in-compliance.

Context-aware drafts

Reads the deal, the account, the activity.

The assistant drafts each SMS from the full record context: the deal stage, the account tier, the recent activity, the past conversations, the configured goal of the message. The draft reads as a continuation of the real relationship rather than a templated blast.

Voice tuning

Match the rep tone, not the vendor default.

Admins configure voice rules per rep or per team: tone (direct, warm, formal), forbidden phrases, mandatory disclaimers for regulated industries. The assistant respects the voice rules in every draft. The SMS sounds like the rep rather than a chatbot.

Character budget

Draft within SMS or MMS limits.

The assistant drafts within the SMS character budget (160 characters for single-segment SMS) or extends to MMS when the content requires more. The draft shows the segment count in the composer. The admin sees the delivery pricing implication before approving.

Review before send

Default is draft, not auto-send.

The default mode for every assistant-drafted SMS is draft. The draft lands in the review queue and does not send until a human approves. For high-trust workflows (confirmed-opt-in nurture, standardized meeting confirmations), the admin can promote to auto-send after the quality curve stabilizes.

Explain the draft

Why the assistant chose this phrasing.

Every assistant SMS draft ships with the context signals the assistant used: deal stage, last conversation, account tier, specific goal. The reviewer sees the reasoning and edits with context rather than guessing at the drafting logic. The transparency improves the quality curve over time.

A B testing

Two drafts, measured side by side.

For high-volume automation, the admin can configure A B testing on the assistant drafts. The engine splits traffic across variants and reports response rates, meeting rates, and downstream conversion. The winner promotes automatically or stays in test mode for continuous optimization.

Multilingual

Draft in the recipient language.

For international contacts, the assistant drafts in the configured language based on the contact locale. Native English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, and other major languages ship with voice-tuned drafting. The compliance posture respects per-country rules on top of the language.

Response handling

The assistant drafts the reply too.

When an inbound reply arrives, the assistant drafts the response based on the message content, the deal context, and the configured goal. The handler reviews, edits, and sends. The response time drops from minutes of thought to seconds of review.

Brand voice rules

Forbidden phrases, mandatory disclaimers.

The admin configures brand voice rules at the tenant level. Forbidden phrases (vendor jargon the brand voice avoids) and mandatory disclaimers (regulated-industry compliance language) apply to every draft. The regulated content never ships without the required disclaimer, which prevents a common compliance failure.

Compliance deep dive

The specific regulations SMS automation has to respect.

SMS automation is one of the most heavily regulated outbound channels. Teams that skip the compliance posture discover the gap at the first carrier filter, the first FCC complaint, or the first TCPA class action. These are the specific regulations and the specific Strkr controls that keep SMS automation defensible across the US, Canada, UK, EU, and other major markets.

TCPA

Express consent, no auto-dialer without opt-in.

The US Telephone Consumer Protection Act requires express consent for automated SMS to consumers. Strkr captures and logs the consent per contact with the source, timestamp, and proof text. Automated SMS cannot send to a contact without logged consent. The audit trail defends the opt-in on every message.

A2P 10DLC

Registered brand, registered campaign, right throughput.

The US carrier framework for A2P SMS requires brand registration with The Campaign Registry and campaign registration per use case. Strkr handles the full registration flow during tenant onboarding. Each campaign ships with the right throughput and the lowest carrier filtering risk.

CASL

Canadian anti-spam law, express consent.

The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation requires express consent for commercial electronic messages, including SMS. Strkr tracks CASL consent separately from US consent so a cross-border campaign respects both frameworks. Canadian recipients receive messages only with logged CASL consent.

GDPR

EU lawful basis, DSAR, deletion.

EU SMS compliance requires lawful basis under GDPR (typically consent or legitimate interest with clear opt-out). Strkr tracks the lawful basis per contact, supports Data Subject Access Requests, and runs deletion workflows that remove personal data while preserving the audit log posture.

STOP keyword handling

Automatic opt-out, immediate consent revoke.

STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT keywords trigger immediate consent revocation on the contact record. The response confirmation sends automatically. All queued and future automation respects the revocation on the next send cycle. The handling is native and prevents the common failure where a STOP reply sits unread.

HELP keyword

Configured response for support requests.

HELP, INFO, and SUPPORT keywords trigger the configured response SMS. The response explains the service, the support channel, and the opt-out instructions. The handling respects carrier requirements and keeps the inbound reply path auditable.

Quiet hours

Country-aware, time-zone-aware.

Quiet hours enforce per-country and per-recipient time zone. US recipients default to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time per TCPA common practice. Other markets configure per local regulation. Messages queued outside the window fire on the next permitted time rather than sending late or early.

Opt-in proof

Audit the consent on every message.

Every outbound SMS logs the consent record it respected: the opt-in source, the timestamp, the proof text, the IP address if captured. The audit record defends the message against a TCPA complaint. The posture is defensible rather than best-effort.

Suppression list

Tenant-wide, respected on every send.

The tenant suppression list captures hard opt-outs, legal holds, and manually suppressed numbers. Every automation checks the suppression list before sending. A number on the suppression list never receives an SMS from any workflow regardless of the trigger. The suppression list is tamper-evident.

The reporting and ops surface

Deliverability dashboard, response analytics, revenue influence.

SMS automation only earns the budget line when the reporting proves the channel pulls weight. The useful reports go beyond send volume to show deliverability health, response patterns, meeting-booked rate, and influenced revenue. Strkr builds the reporting surface on top of the shared record so the channel attribution ties directly to pipeline and closed-won.

Deliverability dashboard

Send volume, delivery rate, carrier filtering.

The deliverability dashboard shows send volume, delivery rate, failure rate, and carrier filtering rate by sending profile. Ops teams monitor the health trend and take action when a profile drifts toward a block. The dashboard integrates with the native SMS layer and does not require a third-party deliverability tool.

Response rate

Per workflow, per campaign, per segment.

The response rate report shows the percentage of outbound messages that received a reply, broken out by workflow, campaign, and segment. The report normalizes to send volume so comparisons across workflows are honest. The sales ops lead sees which workflows pull replies and which do not.

Meeting booked

Meetings sourced by SMS workflow.

For workflows designed to book meetings (inbound ping, trial activation, re-engagement), the report shows the meeting-booked count attributed to the workflow. The attribution respects multi-touch models so the SMS contribution is credible rather than inflated.

Pipeline sourced

Opportunities created from SMS workflows.

The pipeline sourced report shows the opportunity count and dollar amount of pipeline attributed to each SMS workflow. The marketing team walks into the CFO conversation with a credible attribution number rather than a vanity send volume.

Influenced revenue

Closed-won deals that touched the SMS workflow.

The influenced revenue report shows the closed-won dollar amount of deals where the contact or account was active in an SMS workflow during the sales cycle. First-touch, last-touch, and even-weight attribution models all render so the marketing team picks the model the business accepts.

Opt-out rate

The leading indicator of program health.

The opt-out rate report shows the percentage of recipients who opt out per workflow and per campaign. A rising opt-out rate is the early signal that the content or the frequency has crossed a line. The report surfaces the shift before carrier filtering escalates to a block.

Response latency

How fast the team responds to inbound replies.

The response latency report shows median, p90, and p99 time from inbound reply to outbound response per handler. Slow handlers surface for coaching. The report keeps the two-way channel actually two-way rather than a one-way broadcast with a dead reply box.

Cost per outcome

SMS cost divided by meeting, pipeline, closed-won.

The cost per outcome report takes the SMS carrier cost by workflow and divides by the attributed meeting count, pipeline sourced, or closed-won revenue. The marketing leader sees the real unit economics of each SMS program and reallocates budget accordingly.

Scheduled snapshots

Weekly digests to the right stakeholders.

Any SMS report can be scheduled as a snapshot delivered weekly to the marketing leader, the SDR manager, or the ops team. The snapshot carries the current numbers and the week-over-week delta. The team reads the real update rather than opening a dashboard they will not open on their own.

SMS automation that respects the compliance posture and ties to the record.

Native A2P 10DLC, per-contact consent, quiet hours, STOP handling, two-way routing, Strkr AI drafting, open API, and the audit log all ship on every paid tier through Strkr Messaging. One tool, one record, one posture. Open your real workflow and see the first automation fire with the full compliance trail attached.

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Common questions

What buyers ask about this feature.

What makes SMS automation production-grade versus a liability?

Production-grade SMS automation ships with native compliance (A2P 10DLC registration for US traffic, TCPA consent capture, CASL compliance for Canadian recipients, GDPR lawful basis for EU recipients), per-contact consent tracked separately from email and voice, locale-aware quiet hours, automatic STOP and HELP keyword handling, two-way reply routing to the right handler, record context on every message so the automation reads the full relationship, and a tamper-evident audit log capturing every send, reply, consent change, and automation action. SMS automation that skips any of these pieces gets a tenant blocked by its carrier or exposed to TCPA class action within months. Strkr Messaging builds every capability as a native primitive on the shared record store.

What SMS automation workflows do production teams build in the first month?

The nine workflows most Strkr customers configure early are inbound lead ping (tier A inbound gets a text in 60 seconds), meeting confirmation (24-hour and 1-hour reminders drop no-shows by 20 to 40 percent), trial activation nudge (welcome plus nudge when usage drops plus congratulations on milestone), renewal reminder (120, 90, 30 days out), churn save (red-tier accounts get a direct message from the CSM), event follow-up (trade show scans into real conversations), QBR prep (CSM confirms agenda with champion), payment reminder (overdue invoice direct to billing champion), and appointment series (multi-touch onboarding or coaching cadence). Each one runs on the shared record with Strkr AI drafting the message in the configured rep voice.

How does Strkr AI help draft SMS messages?

Strkr AI reads the full record context (deal stage, account tier, recent activity, past conversations, configured goal) and drafts each SMS as a continuation of the real relationship rather than a templated blast. The assistant respects configured voice rules (tone, forbidden phrases, mandatory disclaimers for regulated industries), stays within the character budget (160 characters for single-segment SMS or extends to MMS when needed), and ships with the context signals it used so reviewers edit with transparency. The default mode is draft rather than auto-send with the draft landing in a review queue, though high-trust workflows (confirmed-opt-in nurture, standardized meeting confirmations) can promote to auto-send after the quality curve stabilizes. A B testing on drafts, multilingual drafting, and assistant-drafted replies to inbound messages all ship with the Strkr AI layer.

What SMS compliance regulations does Strkr respect?

Strkr respects TCPA (express consent for automated SMS to US consumers, with per-contact logging of source, timestamp, and proof text), A2P 10DLC (brand registration with The Campaign Registry plus campaign registration per use case with the right throughput), CASL (Canadian anti-spam express consent tracked separately for cross-border campaigns), GDPR (EU lawful basis per contact, DSAR support, deletion workflows preserving audit log posture), automatic STOP keyword handling (immediate consent revocation plus confirmation), HELP keyword handling (configured response), and country-aware quiet hours (US defaults to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time per TCPA practice, other markets configure per local regulation). The tenant suppression list captures hard opt-outs, legal holds, and manually suppressed numbers tenant-wide, respected on every automation send regardless of trigger.

What reporting ships on top of SMS automation?

The reporting surface includes the deliverability dashboard (send volume, delivery rate, failure rate, carrier filtering by sending profile), response rate per workflow and segment, meeting-booked attribution for workflows designed to book meetings, pipeline-sourced opportunities created from SMS workflows with dollar amounts, influenced revenue showing closed-won deals that touched an SMS workflow with first-touch, last-touch, and even-weight attribution, opt-out rate as the leading indicator of program health, response latency showing how fast handlers respond to inbound replies, cost per outcome dividing SMS carrier cost by attributed meeting count or pipeline or closed-won revenue, and scheduled snapshots delivered weekly to the marketing leader or SDR manager with week-over-week delta. The marketing leader walks into the CFO conversation with credible attribution rather than vanity send volume.

Does SMS automation ship on every tier or is it an add-on?

Strkr Messaging ships SMS and MMS as a native channel on every paid tier. The automation builder, the consent tracking, the quiet hours, the STOP and HELP handling, the two-way reply routing, the audit log, the deliverability dashboard, and the attribution reports all ship native. Strkr AI runs with no credit meter and powers the message drafting, the response drafting, the A B testing, and the multilingual drafting. The carrier cost per message is a pass-through with transparent pricing (SMS pricing tiers published on the pricing page). A2P 10DLC registration happens during tenant onboarding at no additional charge. HIPAA-compliant deployments with a signed Business Associate Agreement are available for qualified healthcare customers, and SOC 2 Type II is in progress with an external audit firm.

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