Outbound texting

An outbound configuration sends a text for each record you choose in a Quickbase table, then writes the results back to the record. This article covers the three outbound-only tabs, Processing, Outbound Setup, and Activity Table, and explains how to find texts that didn't go out. For the Config Info and EsendEx Info tabs, see Create a Text My QB configuration.

Available to: all roles with the Text My QB extension.

To open an outbound configuration, select Edit on its row in the configurations list. It opens in a pop-up window with the header Text My QB Configurator - Outbound. Remember that Save saves all tabs at once, and that you need to save or cancel before you can switch tabs.

How outbound texting works

1. Something starts a run: a schedule, the Execute On Demand button, or a Quickbase email notification.

2. Text My QB finds the records to text: every record in your Report to Process (Scheduled and On-Demand), or, for Triggered, the record named in the notification (or the records its query finds).

3. For each record, it sends the message to the number in your Phone Number Field, from your Esendex Phone Number, with any file attachments.

4. It writes the date and time of the send attempt, the result (status), the unique message ID, and (optionally) the Esendex number back to the record. This happens whether or not the text went out.

5. If activity logging is on, it adds one record to your activity table for each recipient.

The configuration must be Enabled (or Test Mode) on the Config Info tab. Disabled configurations don't send anything.

Text My QB reads and updates your records with the user token you chose when you authorized the app. That token's user needs permission to view and modify records in the outbound table, and to add records to the activity table. See Before you start.

Processing tab

Available to: all roles with the Text My QB extension.

Section Processing. Use Processing Mode to choose when texts go out:

The first option, Select a Processing Mode, means no mode is chosen yet.

On-Demand

1. On the Outbound Setup tab, choose the Outbound Table and the Report to Process, finish the other settings, and select Save.

2. On the Processing tab, set Processing Mode to On-Demand and select Save.

3. Make sure Configuration Status on the Config Info tab is Enabled (or Test Mode) and saved, and that the report has records in it. A Disabled configuration doesn't run.

4. Under On-Demand Execution, select Execute On Demand. The button is dimmed until an outbound table is selected.

5. You'll see On-demand execution has been requested. (green). The run is queued and picked up shortly afterward. Every record in the report is texted.

• Execute On Demand doesn't save your other changes. Save first.

• The request stays pending until the run finishes. If you select the button again before then, you'll see This config still has a pending on-demand execution. (blue) and no second run is queued. Check the Status Field on your records after a few minutes.

• If you still see that message long after your request and no texts went out, submit a technical support case so the pending request can be cleared.

Scheduled

Choose Scheduled, then fill in:

Then, on the Outbound Setup tab, choose a Report to Process, set Configuration Status to Enabled, and select Save.

Note

Every record in the report is texted on every run. Filter the report so a record drops out once Text My QB has tried to text it, for example Update Field is blank, or the same people will get the same text again on the next run. The Update Field is filled in after every attempt, including failed ones, so records whose text failed drop out too. To find and resend those, see Find texts that didn't go out.

Triggered

A Triggered configuration texts when Quickbase sends Text My QB an email notification. You set up the notification in your app; its body is the Configuration String, which tells Text My QB which configuration to use and which record to text.

Get the Configuration String

1. On the Outbound Setup tab, choose the Outbound Table and the other settings, and select Save.

2. On the Processing tab, set Processing Mode to Triggered and select Save.

3. Under Configuration String, select Copy. You'll see Configuration string copied to clipboard. (green). If copying fails (Unable to copy to clipboard. Please copy the configuration string manually., red), select the text in the box and copy it yourself.

The string looks like this. Use the one from your configuration, not this sample:

configid=123 recid=[Record ID#] configkey=YOUR-CONFIG-KEY type=textmyqb

• configid: your configuration's ID.

• recid=[Record ID#]: a Quickbase field reference to the outbound table's Record ID# field. When the notification is sent, Quickbase replaces it with the ID of the record. The configurator uses the field's current name, so if you renamed Record ID# in your table (for example to Order Number), the string shows recid=[Order Number]. Copy the string as shown; don't retype it.

• configkey: your configuration's Config Key.

• type=textmyqb: tells Quickbase Extensions the request is for Text My QB.

Instead of a string, the box can show:

• Please select an outbound table first.: choose an Outbound Table on the Outbound Setup tab and save.

• Save the configuration to generate the config string.: select Save.

The Configuration String is also shown for Scheduled configurations, without recid. You only need it for Triggered processing.

Text several records from one notification (query=)

With recid=, a notification texts only the record it's about. To text several records when one thing happens, for example everyone assigned to a job when the job is rescheduled, replace recid=[…] with query= and a Quickbase query. Text My QB then texts every record in your Outbound Table that the query finds.

configid=123 query={'12'.EX.'[Record ID#]'} configkey=YOUR-CONFIG-KEY type=textmyqb

• Start from the Configuration String you copied, and replace only the recid=[…] part. Keep configid, configkey, and type=textmyqb exactly as they are.

• The query uses the Quickbase query format {'field ID'.operator.'value'}, and several conditions can be joined with AND or OR. The field IDs are those of your Outbound Table. See Components of a Query.

• Don't put spaces in the query. The parts of the Configuration String are separated by spaces. Match on IDs and other values without spaces.

• With query=, the notification doesn't have to be on the Outbound Table. Put it on the table where the event happens, and use that record's fields in the query.

Example. A Jobs table has child Crew Assignments records, and each assignment has the crew member's mobile number. The Outbound Table is Crew Assignments, and its Related Job reference field has field ID 12. On the Jobs table, create the notification for when a Notify Crew checkbox is checked, with this body:

configid=123 query={'12'.EX.'[Record ID#]'} configkey=YOUR-CONFIG-KEY type=textmyqb

When the notification goes out for job 57, Quickbase replaces [Record ID#] with 57, and Text My QB texts every crew assignment whose Related Job is 57.

Create the email notification

Create an email notification on your Outbound Table (with query=, it can be on another table; see above). It sends the Configuration String, and nothing else, to textmyqb@mail.quickbasetools.com. For the steps, see Email notification creation. Then make sure Configuration Status is Enabled (or Test Mode) and saved.

Important

After each text, Text My QB updates the record (Update, Status, and message ID fields). If your notification fires on any change to the record, those updates can trigger another text. Always limit the criteria to a specific field changing, such as a checkbox or status field you control.

Outbound Setup tab

Available to: all roles with the Text My QB extension.

Section Outbound Configuration. Choose the fields from dropdowns (first option Select a Table, Select a Report, or Select a Field). The field type column is what we recommend; pick fields of a matching type.

File attachments

Section Attachments Configuration. Send files from the record along with the text, for example a photo, a PDF, or a link to a file.

• The left list, Available Fields, shows the outbound table's file attachment and URL fields. The right list, File Attachments, is what's sent.

• Move a field between the lists with the arrow buttons between them, or drag and drop it. Use the up and down arrows to change the order of the right list. Files are sent in that order.

• Fields that are empty on a record are skipped.

• Keep the total size of all files for one text under 1.5 MB. Above that, the recipient's carrier may not deliver the text, and the Status Field is set to Files exceeded 1.5MB; message may not have sent due to recipient's carrier.

• Texts with attachments, and long texts, are sent as MMS automatically.

Activity Table tab

Available to: all roles with the Text My QB extension.

Section Activity Logging. An activity table keeps a history of every send attempt: one record per recipient per send. Without it, each outbound record only holds the result of its most recent attempt.

• Log Activities?: toggle. On: shows the settings below, and a record is added to the activity table for each recipient. Off: nothing is logged.

We recommend making the activity table a child of the outbound table (a relationship where one outbound record has many activity records), so you can show a record's text history on its form.

If you copy a configuration, you can choose a different activity table in the Copy Configuration dialog. See Copy a configuration.

Find texts that didn't go out

The Update Field is filled in after every attempt, so it can't tell you which texts failed. Use the Status Field instead:

1. On the outbound table, create a report named, for example, Texts that failed, with the filters Update Field is not blank and Status Field does not contain Message Sent Successfully.

2. For each record, look up the Status value in Status Field values and fix the cause, for example a wrong phone number.

3. To send the text again on the next Scheduled or On-Demand run, clear the record's Update Field so it's back in your Report to Process. For Triggered, make the notification fire again, for example by checking the trigger checkbox again.

• If a record texts several numbers, its Status Field holds one result per number, so the report above misses a record where some numbers worked and others didn't. With activity logging on, report on the activity table instead: Delivery Status Field does not contain Message Sent Successfully. It has one record per recipient.

• Numbers rejected by Verify Phone Number have the activity table's Error Checkbox Field checked.

Something not working? See Messages and troubleshooting.