Business Texting Directions & Tips

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Who We Are

“That last request was texted in by Amy Poehler. That came in through our landline that

you can now text thanks to Zipwhip.”

“Zipwhip allows you to send and receive messages from your existing landline or 800

number.”

“Text in your thoughts on what the fox says @ 855-RADIORADIO powered by Zipwhip.

Thanks to these guys you can text our number now.”

We’re a company that’s working to make texting landline numbers a thing of the present. We make it so that you can

send and receive text messages from your landline number. We currently support 8 million users and act as a trusted

partner of national carriers like Spring, US Cellular, and Tmobile.

Give Us a Shout Out Like what we’re doing? Give us a shout-out on air. Your DJs are probably a lot wittier and interesting than we are, but

these are what shout outs sound like in our heads.

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Start Sending Texts Send a bunch of test messages when you first log-in to get a feel for how Zipwhip functions. The best way to learn how best to work with landline texting for your station is to just start using it.

Autoreply One of the best things to do early on is set up an Autoreply. It’s the easiest way to promote whatever’s going on with your station and notify whoever texts in that their text was received even if you can’t respond.

Add Contacts Add your staff contacts. Zipwhip is great with listeners, but it’s also really useful internally. Managers/producers can text DJs while they’re live on air to let them know of unexpected changes or a timely announcement.

Promote Your Textable Number The most important thing is to let your listeners know they can reach you in the most convenient way now. People want to text you, they just need to know they can. - Promote this on-air - Shout it out on Facebook, on Twitter, and in local publications.

Hit The Ground Running

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We want you to make the most of your text-enabled phone line. We’ve listed of a few of the best things to do when

you first start using Zipwhip.

We’re always here to help with technical issues or lend a hand with promoting the textability of your station’s number.

Text 855-ZIPWHIP or email support@zipwhip.com

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Unlimited texting A monthly fee will cover all the messages you could possibly send/receive. No per message charge.

Keep your number. We understand that your number might already incorporate your call letters or your number is already engrained into your listeners minds. We want you to use the number you’ve established instead of a ran-dom 5 digit number.

Unrestricted Content Send messages in coherent language instead of using keywords. It will feel like you’re texting a person and not a machine that only takes commands.

Short Code vs. Zipwhip We’ve seen a few radio stations use short codes to reach their listeners. We wanted to give some insight into what

the differences between short code texting and our service are.

Upfront Charge & Pay Per Message In order to get your own short code, you need to pay a heavy, upfront charge. In addition to that, you’ll be charged per message.

Compile a Proposal In addition to paying the upfront charge, a proposal has to be drafted up to the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) to outline in detail how the short code will be used.

Keyword Based Messages Listeners texting in generally have to text in keywords like “Info” or “Listen”. This way of texting doesn’t allow listeners to text in comments or song suggestions.

Zipwhip Short Code

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Directions

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Web App: Click the “Log In” button in the top right corner. When you are directed to the Log In page, sign in with your phone number and password.

Desktop App: Click on the Zipwhip icon in your Taskbar, and fill in the prompted window with your phone number and password to log in.

To Sign-In

Directions

Web App: Conversations with contacts and groups stack up on the left-

hand column. To see a conversation, select the contact from the left-

hand column. The selected conversation will stack up next to this col-

umn.

Conversations

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Desktop App: Bubbles will pop up on the side of your screen when a

new message comes in. If you scroll over the message bubble, the

bubble will turn gray and be marked as “read”, and then disappear.

**Download the Desktop App at www.zipwhip.com/features/windows.

Desktop App Bubbles

Directions

Using the Web App: Go to New Contact in the web app, click, and en-

ter data

OR

Using the Web App: Enter the phone number, first name, and last

name into the “Send Text” textbox. Making sure to separate each input

with a space.

Enter A New Contact

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Using the Web App: Click the arrow next to the unnamed contact. Click

on “Edit Contact” to enter in a name and any notes.

Save A New Contact

Using the Web App: Click the green plus sign next to “New Text”. In the textbox, choose a recipient in the “Type Name or Mobile Number” box, enter message in the “Type a Message” box.

Using the Desktop App: Left click on the Zipwhip icon, Right click and

select new text, or use short keys (Win+Z) to pop up a “Send Text” window.

Send a New Text

Directions

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Using the Web App: Click on the conversation. Enter reply message

into “Type a Message” box. Using the Desktop App: In the pop-up bubble, click reply, enter mes-

sage in “Type a Message” box.

Reply to a Text

Using the Web App: Go to drop down arrow of “New Text” and fill in prompted message.

Send a Scheduled Text

Directions

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Web App: Under the Zipwhip menu, click on “New Group”. A window

will come up that allows you to name your group, add members, and

choose a group image.

Creating a Group Send a Group Text

Web & Desktop App: Open a new textbox, and in the “Type name or

mobile number” box, type in the name of the group.

Group texting enables you to text multiple people via BCC. Recipients can

text the sender back without texting other recipients at the same time.

Tip: Paste a list of contacts in the “Phone # [space] First Name [space]

Last Name [comma]” format used to enter contacts to enter multiple group

members at once. Keep in mind that there’s a maximum of 100 group

members.

Directions

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Include a Custom Signature

Using the Web App: Go to settings and click on “Messaging”. Add your custom signature.

Directions

Turn on Autoreply

Using the Web App: Click on the Auto Reply button. To set up a new

Auto Reply, click on the “+ Add” button. Click on the “Schedule start and

stop times” dropdown menu. Then enter in your message and select the

times you want this Auto Reply to be active. Click save and make sure

the “On/Off” toggle is set to “On”. Feel free to set more than one.

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Import Contacts

**Note: This process will only work using the web app.

It’s also highly recommended that you only import roughly 150 con-

tacts at a time.

Highlight and copy your new column of contacts.

Paste the copied contact list into a “New Text” box from the web app.

Hit the “Enter” or “Tab” key, and your contacts will be imported.

Create a spreadsheet of your contact information in the format below.

In another column, type in the formula =“A2&” “&B2&” “&C2&”,”. Drag

the formula cell down to apply to the all listed contacts.

Directions

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Using the Web App: Using the dropdown menu next to the Zipwhip

logo, select “Manage Contacts”. A list will populate will all entered contacts.

Manage Contacts

Web App: Under the “All Conversations” list or “Manage Contacts” list,

click on the arrow next to the contact you want to edit. A window will

pop up where you can edit contact information, and add an email and

notes. You can edit the name of a contact by clicking the “Pen & Pa-

per” icon next to the contact name.

Edit a Contact

Directions

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Using the Web App: In the upper right-hand corner, click on the arrow next to your number. You can upload a picture and enter in notes.

Edit Your Profile

Using the Desktop App: Right click on the Zipwhip icon. Select Privacy Mode.

*Privacy Mode hides pop-up text notifications. This feature is good for times when you’re away from your desk or in a public space, etc.

Turn on Privacy Mode

Directions

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Web App: Go to “Settings” and then “Account”.

Change Your Password

Web App: Click the arrow next to your number and click “Log Out”

Desktop App: Right click on the Zipwhip icon, click on “Sign Out”

To Logout

Directions

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Tips

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When using the Desktop app, every time the message bubble is

marked as “read’ and disappears, this action will sync with the web

app. This works the other way around as well. If a message is marked

as read in the web app, it will automatically disappear from the desktop

app.

Web & Desktop App Sync

Multiple users can be logged in at the same time. Incoming will appear

immediately, and read messages will be marked as read immediately.

To tag a conversation to an individual, click on the icon that appears

when you hover over the contact name to edit and enter initials of the

person responsible for the particular conversation.

Multiple Log-In

Tips

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Privacy Mode hides pop-up text notifications. This feature is good for

times when you’re away from your desk or in a public space, etc.

Using the Desktop App: Right click on the Zipwhip icon. Left click to

select Privacy Mode.

Turn on Privacy Mode Using Hotkeys

Desktop App Hotkeys: - New Text: Windows+Z - Open Web App: Windows+N - Send Text: Ctrl+Enter

Tips

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FAQ

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How many people can I send a group text to? There are 2 ways to send a group text.

1. You can send a group message to up to 15 lucky recipients by listing their names in a new text box. If there are more than 15 contacts in

your list of recipients, an error message will pop up telling you that you’ve unfortunately reached the threshold.

2. If you create a group instead, you can send a message to the entire group. Groups are limited to 100 people.

What’s the best way to send a text to a long list of contacts? If these are new contacts that still need to be entered into the system, the best approach is to paste your list of contacts from excel using the

“Import your Contacts to Zipwhip” document approach. If your contacts have already been entered and you remember all their names, type the

contact name into the “Type name or mobile number” box and choose the contacts as they pop up.

Why aren’t my contacts uploading? If the contacts aren’t entered in the “phone # [space] First name [space] Last name [comma]” format, the contacts won’t upload properly. Be sure

to check that you’re not using a “New Text” box from you desktop app. The web app must be used to enter contacts by copy and pasting from

Excel. Also make sure you’re not using Internet Explorer. Sadly, it experiences glitches going through this process.

My contacts aren’t displaying properly, how do I fix this? Just refresh the page, and you should be good to go!

Why can I only send 160 characters or less? Zipwhip is committed to staying true to the text messaging medium. Although it is a very easy switch in terms of software, our belief is that with the

use of a full keyboard, messages could easily run to 300, 400, 500+ characters. We believed that those lengthy messages would get very

annoying to the recipient. It was a tough decision, but for the time being we will be sticking with the 160 character limit.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ