SMS form notifications send a text to your phone the moment someone submits a form, which suits urgent requests that cannot wait for an email. A plumber on a job, a salon owner between clients or an on-call manager sees it straight away. This guide is for teams and owners who work away from a desk. We cover the providers, how a text message alert is set up, demo mode for testing, and what to put in the text, in about 15 minutes in WordPress.
The short version
- Connect a text provider once: Twilio, Vonage, Plivo, MessageBird or ClickSend.
- Add a notification and set Send as to Text message.
- Send it to your number, or to the number the person typed.
- Use demo mode to test without paying for messages.
Why get a text instead of an email?
Because a text usually gets read within 5 minutes, and email can wait for hours. For an emergency repair, a same-day booking or a hot lead, those minutes decide who gets the job. We keep email for everything and add a text only for the forms where speed matters, so the phone does not buzz 50 times a day. For a team of 3 people on call, one shared number per day keeps it simple.
Which text providers work?
Echo Forms Signature works with five providers. Each one charges per message on its own account, so you pay it directly:
| Provider | What you connect |
|---|---|
| Twilio | Account keys and a sending number |
| Vonage | Account keys and a sending number or name |
| Plivo | Account keys and a sending number |
| MessageBird | Account keys and a sending number or name |
| ClickSend | Account keys and a sending number or name |
Twilio’s guide to sending your first SMS shows how its keys and numbers work, if you are new to it.
How to set up a Twilio form notification, step by step
- In Echo Forms with Signature, open Connections, pick your Provider under Text messages, and add its keys and sending number.
- Switch on Demo mode to record texts on your site instead of sending them while you test.
- Open the form, then Settings > Notifications and actions, and add a notification.
- Set Send as to Text message.
- Send it to your number in full international form, such as +15551234567, or to a merge tag that holds the person’s phone.
- Write a short message, send a test entry, check the recorded text, then switch demo mode off.
The emails for each entry guide covers notifications and merge tags, and the connections guide covers each provider’s card.
What should the text say?
Only what you need to act: the form, the name, the phone and the one answer that matters, such as New repair request from Sam, 555 0123: burst pipe. A text is plain words, with no subject, styling or attachments, and long texts cost more, because providers charge per 160 character segment. Keep the full details in the email that goes with it.
Can you text the customer too?
Yes. Send the notification to a merge tag that holds their phone, and they get a text receipt, such as Thanks, we got your booking request for Friday. With Send set to After a delay, it can even arrive 60 minutes later as a follow-up. Ask before you text people, because many countries have rules about marketing by text.
SMS form notifications take about 15 minutes to set up and cost a few cents per text. Start with your most urgent form, and see form workflows for what else can happen after someone presses send.
Hear about urgent entries first
Text message notifications come with Echo Forms Signature, from $49.99 a year.
