SMS automation software
The text-message automation an operator actually uses: queue tomorrow's send tonight, configure "HOURS" to auto-reply with your business hours, and let the platform hold each message until the recipient's local quiet-hours window opens. There's nothing to draw on a whiteboard and no decision-tree flowchart to maintain.
01: Scheduled campaigns
Build the message today, pick a date and time, and walk away. The send fires on schedule and respects recipient time zones: a 10 a.m. send doesn't arrive at 7 a.m. for someone two zones west.
02: Keywords and auto-response
Configure keywords like HOURS, INFO, VOTE, DONATE, or RSVP. When a contact texts one, the platform replies with whatever you set, and optionally tags or adds them to a list. Add-on at $20/mo.
03: Always-on automation
STOP, HELP, and UNSUBSCRIBE are honored platform-wide. Quiet-hours windows are enforced per recipient time zone. Opt-outs filter at send time. You don't turn these on. They're how the platform sends.
How SMS automation runs
The four pieces of automation most operators actually need: no branching trigger trees and no flowchart canvas to learn first.
Build now, send later. Days or weeks ahead. Cancel up until it fires.
Map a word to a response. Optionally tag the sender or add them to a list.
STOP / HELP / UNSUBSCRIBE honored immediately. Confirmation sent. Contact removed from future campaigns.
Time-zone-aware windows held automatically. Nothing you have to remember.
SMS automation use cases
SMS automation FAQ
Scheduled campaigns and quiet-hours enforcement are included on every plan, including pay-as-you-go. Keyword auto-response is a $20/mo add-on. Opt-out handling is always on. It's not configurable.
The affected recipients are held until their local window opens, then delivered. The rest of the list goes on schedule. Nothing lands at 3 a.m.
Yes, up until the moment it fires. Edit the message, change the recipients, change the time, or cancel entirely.
Unlimited on the keyword add-on. Common ones: HOURS, INFO, VOTE, DONATE, RSVP, JOIN. Matching is case-insensitive. The number of keywords you can define is unlimited; each auto-reply the platform actually sends costs one SMS credit per segment, the same as any outbound message.
Keyword auto-response handles fixed-trigger replies. For open-ended conversations on your website, Alma (the website chatbot in the CNX Suite) is a separate shipping product.
In practice, three things: (1) scheduled campaigns, queueing a message to send at a future time, optionally repeating, (2) keyword auto-responses, replying automatically when someone texts a trigger word (HOURS, JOIN, INFO), and (3) quiet-hour enforcement, holding sends until each recipient's local 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window. CampaignCNX+ handles all three. It does not include flowchart-style "if-this-then-that" drip builders; in real operator use those are mostly abandoned.
Yes, through the keyword add-on. Set up triggers like HOURS, INFO, JOIN, DONATE, VOLUNTEER, and the platform sends the configured reply the moment a contact texts in the keyword. Matching is case-insensitive. For open-ended messages that don't match a keyword, the reply lands in the two-way inbox for a human to handle.
Not as a dedicated drip builder. What you can do: schedule a sequence of campaigns to a tagged audience at the dates you actually want them to land (a welcome message on day 0, a check-in on day 7, a re-engagement on day 30) without drawing a flowchart. For most programs this is faster to set up and easier to audit than a flow-builder UI. For dynamic AI-assisted nurture, Alma in the CNX Suite is the right tool.
Automated: opt-outs, quiet hours, keyword replies, scheduled sends, recipient-time-zone resolution, send-time throttling for carrier compliance. Not automated (and shouldn't be): the actual message copy, the audience targeting, the send-time strategy, and the response to anything ambiguous in the two-way inbox. Operators stay in the driver's seat.
Start sending
Take the toll-free quick-start: purchase a verified phone number, schedule your first SMS batch, and set up a keyword auto-reply, all live as soon as verification clears, usually about three business days. For programs running automation at scale, 10DLC carrier registration is the recommended path for long-term deliverability and runs in parallel while you're already sending.
