A text within a minute
When a call goes unanswered, the caller gets a text in your words within a minute: who you are, that you will call back and how to book if they would rather. Evenings and weekends too.
Missed-call text-back, so a caller hears from you within a minute.
When nobody can answer the phone, missed-call text-back sends the caller a text within a minute. They can reply or book, and the reply reaches whoever calls them back.
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The phone rings while your hands are full.
You are under a sink or halfway through a haircut when a new customer calls. Voicemail answers, and many callers hang up without leaving a message. Some call the next business on the list straight away, and by the time you see the missed call, they have booked. You never find out what they wanted.
What it does.
Texts the callers you missed, so they can reply or book.
Replies where you already read messages
The caller's reply reaches your team with their number, the time they called and what they wrote. Whoever is free calls back, and the missed call is marked as done.
A booking link for callers in a hurry
If you take bookings online, the text carries your booking link. A caller who only wanted a time picks one without waiting, and the booking arrives in your booking software as usual.
A list of every missed call
Each missed call is logged with the time, the text that went out, any reply and what happened next. At the end of the day, anyone still waiting for a call back is easy to see.
A Tuesday of missed calls, step by step.
A small plumbing firm has two plumbers out on jobs and Sam in the office, who is often on the other line. Each missed call is followed until the caller has booked or spoken to someone.
What your team gets. One list of the day's missed calls, each marked replied, booked or called back, with the time of every step. Nobody had to scroll through a call log to work out who still needed a call.
11.40am: nobody can answer
A new customer calls about a dripping radiator valve while Sam is on the other line. The call goes to the voicemail greeting, which says a text is on its way, and she hangs up without leaving a message.
11.41am: the text arrives
She gets: "Hi, it's Hartley Plumbing. Sorry we missed your call. Reply with what you need and your area, and we'll call you back today. Or book online: [booking link]. Reply STOP to opt out."
11.46am: she replies
She writes that the valve in her hallway is dripping onto the floorboards, that she lives near the station and that she is home after 3pm.
11.46am: the reply reaches the office
It lands in the team chat that Sam and the plumbers already use, with her number, the time she called and her message. On the missed-call list, her call is marked "replied".
12.05pm: Sam calls back
Sam calls her from the office line, asks two questions about the valve and books a plumber for 3.30pm. The call is marked "booked" and drops off the list.
1.15pm: a caller who books himself
A regular customer calls about his yearly boiler service while Sam is at lunch. He gets the same text, taps the booking link and picks next Tuesday at 9am. The booking shows next to his missed call.
5.30pm: the callers who never replied
Two callers got the text and never answered it. Sam calls both before closing: one wants a quote for a new bathroom, and the other has already found someone. Both are marked, and the list is empty.
Signs missed calls are costing you work.
- You find missed calls at the end of the day and cannot tell which were new customers.
- Your voicemail holds far fewer messages than your call log has missed calls.
- New customers say they tried to call but could not get through.
- Your business number rings on your own mobile, and you cannot answer it while you work.
- Customers ask whether they can text you instead.
- Calls at lunchtime and after closing get no answer at all.
- Nobody can say how many calls you missed last week.
Start with your phone bill.
It shows which company provides the number customers call and what kind of line it is. For US texting, add your business's legal name, EIN and address exactly as the IRS has them, and a link to your privacy policy. Then tell us your opening hours, your booking link, who calls back and where urgent calls should go.
How we build it.
In this order, and nothing goes live before you have tried it.
Look at how calls reach you
We list every number customers call and who answers each one, then check what your line and your phone company allow. That decides how a missed call is spotted and which number sends the text.
Write the text with you
We agree the wording, who calls back and by when, and where urgent calls go. The text promises only what your team can keep on a busy day.
Register and connect
In the US, your business and its texts are registered with the carriers before the first text goes out. Then replies are connected to the place your team reads messages and, where its API allows, to your CRM.
Test with real calls
We call your number from different phones and let it ring out, in opening hours and after closing, including from a withheld number and from a phone that has replied STOP. You see each text and each reply arrive before it goes live.
What it connects to.
It works with the phone line you have, and we check what each part allows before we promise anything.
Your phone line
Where your phone company allows it, calls nobody answers are forwarded to the texting service after a few rings. Forwarded calls skip your usual voicemail, so your greeting is recorded on the texting service as well. We test the forwarding on your line before anything else.
Cloud phone systems
Systems such as RingCentral or Aircall keep their own log of missed calls. Some cloud phone systems can tell another tool about each missed call through their API, and some have a text-back setting of their own. If a setting you already pay for does the job, we say so instead of building one.
The texting service
It sends the texts and receives the replies in your name, and in the US the registration is made through it. We check what the caller sees as the sender on an iPhone and an Android phone before the first real text goes out.
Where replies land
Email, team chat such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, or a text to whoever is on call. We ask which one your team actually reads on a busy day, and agree how they answer: a call from the business line, or a text from the number the caller already has.
Your booking page
If the text carries your booking link, we open it on a phone and make a test booking first. A booking page that is hard to use on a phone sends callers back to the phone.
CRM or a spreadsheet
Each missed call can become a record with the number, the time, the reply and the outcome. We check which fields your CRM lets another tool fill through its API. Without a CRM, a shared spreadsheet does the same job.
Who it suits.
It suits businesses that miss calls because everyone is busy with a customer.
Trades out on jobs
Plumbers, electricians and roofers carry the business phone onto every job. The text tells the caller you are working and will call back. Their reply tells you what the job is, so you call back with an answer instead of a list of questions.
Salons and barbers
With every chair busy, nobody can pick up between clients. The text sends the caller to your online booking, and a regular who only wanted their usual time can book it before you finish the cut.
Clinics with one front desk
While reception checks in a patient, a second call rings out. The text offers a call back or the booking link and never names a treatment, because someone else may see the phone. Patients sometimes reply with symptoms, and health information has extra rules: HIPAA in the US and the GDPR in Europe. Replies go only to the staff allowed to read them.
Garages and repair shops
Calls come in while everyone is under a car. The text asks for the make, the model and what the car is doing, so whoever calls back already knows the job.
Owners who work alone
If you are the only one who answers the phone, every appointment or job means calls you cannot take. The text holds the caller until your next break, and the missed-call list shows who still needs a call.
Mistakes to avoid.
Settle these before the first text goes out.
Promising a call back you cannot keep
A text that says "we'll call you in 10 minutes" turns a busy afternoon into a broken promise. Promise what you manage on your busiest day, such as "today" or "before 5pm", and look at the list well before that time.
Texting every number that rings
Staff, suppliers and family call the same number, and some people call three times in an hour. Leave the first group out, and send one text per number per day, or a caller ends up with a stack of identical messages.
A first text that looks like a scam
A text from a number they do not know, with a link and no name, looks like a scam. Start with your business name and the fact that they just called you, and put any link after that.
Answering from personal phones
If someone replies from their own mobile, the caller now has a second number for you, and their next question goes to a phone that is off on that person's day off. Answer from the business number, or call back from the business line.
Nobody owns the list
The text only holds the caller until someone calls back. Give one person the missed-call list each day, with a backup for days off and a set time to work through it, including the callers who never replied.
What to check after launch.
Start counting before launch where you can, so the first month has something to compare with.
Calls missed, by hour and day
Your phone's call log, or your phone system's reports, show the calls nobody answered. Count them for two weeks before launch, then keep counting, and note when they bunch up, such as the lunch hour or the last hour of the day.
Texts sent against calls missed
Each missed call from a number that can be texted should get one text. Withheld numbers and your do-not-text list explain the gap. If the gap grows, the forwarding or a rule has stopped working, and the log shows when it started.
Replies, and how long they wait
Count how many callers reply, and how long each reply waits for a call back. If few reply, try a shorter text that asks one question. If replies wait for hours, the problem is who reads them, and a new text will not fix it.
Bookings from missed calls
Mark each missed call that ended in a booking or a job, whether by reply, call back or the booking link. Set against the calls you missed, it shows whether the text earns its place.
What people write back
Read the replies once a month. A question that keeps coming up, such as whether you cover an area, belongs in the text, in your voicemail greeting or on your website.
Questions we hear.
How fast does the text go out?
Within a minute of the missed call, at any hour. Calls outside opening hours can get their own wording, with the time you open and the booking link.
What happens when someone replies STOP?
They get one last text confirming it, and no more after that. Replies such as "stop" or "unsubscribe" count too, and their number goes on your do-not-text list.
Does it replace our voicemail?
No. Callers can still leave a message. Change the greeting to say a text is on its way, so the greeting and the text tell the caller the same thing.
Do we need a new phone system?
Usually not. Your phones and your phone company stay as they are. If your line can neither forward unanswered calls nor take texts, we tell you before anything is built.
What does it cost?
A one-time setup, then a monthly plan that keeps it running and tuned. Both are on the prices page, and your exact price comes in a written quote.
What should the first text say?
Your business name first, then that they just called, what to send back and how to stop. A salon might use: "Hi, it's Willow Hair. Sorry we missed your call, we're with clients. Book here: [your booking link], or reply with a day that suits and we'll text you back. Reply STOP to opt out." Keep offers out of it, because an offer can turn it into a marketing text.
Which number does the text come from?
In the US and Canada, a landline or office number can often be text-enabled: calls stay with your phone company, and texts go through the texting service. You confirm you own the number with a verification call and a signed letter of authorisation. A mobile number cannot be used this way, so your mobile forwards the calls you miss to a new number in your name, and the text comes from that. Elsewhere, we check what your country allows.
What is A2P 10DLC registration?
In the US, business texts from an ordinary 10-digit number have to be registered with the carriers first. A2P 10DLC means application-to-person texts from a 10-digit long code. The registration describes your business and its texts, with sample messages and how people agree to get them. Sole proprietors without an EIN have a route of their own, limited to one number. We do it through the texting service, and texts that skip it risk arriving late or not at all.
Do callers have to agree before we text them?
CTIA, the US wireless industry association, expects a business to have someone's agreement before texting them, and written agreement before any marketing text. Its guidelines treat a reply to someone who texted first differently from a text the business sends first, as text-back does. So we keep the text about their call, with no offers, name your business and say how to stop. We cannot give legal advice, so ask a lawyer what applies to your business.
When is a text the wrong answer to a missed call?
When the caller may need help now, such as a burst pipe or a knocked-out tooth: put your on-call number in the text and the greeting, and keep that line answered. When the call came from a landline or the caller does not read texts: no reply comes, so the call stays on the list until someone calls back. And when the number is on your do-not-text list, such as anyone who replied STOP: it gets no text at all.
Can the same setup send appointment reminders?
Yes. The setup includes reminders by text or email before appointments, in your words. Replies to reminders land where replies to missed-call texts do, so your team has one place to look. If your booking software already sends reminders that work, keep them and leave ours out. Booking automation covers the rest of the booking side.
Related pages.
Related solutions
- Enquiry follow-up automationRoutes every enquiry and chases the ones nobody answered.
- Booking and calendar automationBookings and changes in your calendar, with reminders sent.
Guides
- A2P 10DLC registration for a small business, step by stepThe brand and campaign forms, the opt-in wording and the pages reviewers check.
- How to text from your business landline numberText-enable the number customers already call, move it, or add a mobile number.
By business
- Home services and tradesCollects job details for quotes and flags emergencies while you work.
- Salons and spasPrices from your own list, booking requests and aftercare messages.
- Dental clinicsAnswers new patients and sends urgent cases to your front desk.
- Auto repair shopsDrop-off requests with the car details, and no diagnosis by chat.
The services behind it.
Count last week's missed calls.
Bring the number from your call log, and we will tell you whether text-back is worth setting up. The consultation is free, over Google Meet, a voice call or text.