Originally published at ictpbx.com
To text customers from your PBX software, you use a messaging inbox built into the same platform that handles your calls. In ICTPBX Enterprise Edition, two-way SMS gives you a threaded conversation view for one-to-one texting and a campaign tool for bulk sends, both delivered over SignalWire and billed alongside your voice minutes.
Why run SMS from your PBX instead of a separate app
Most teams end up with texting scattered across personal phones and standalone apps. Pulling it into your PBX software fixes three things at once:
One provider. ICTPBX sends SMS over SignalWire, the same vendor already carrying your SIP trunks. Voice and text share one account and one bill.
One history. Every message, whether you typed it in the inbox or sent it as part of a campaign, lands in a single unified record.
One set of permissions. Texting inherits the same tenant and user model as the rest of your PBX, so numbers stay scoped to the right team.
The Messaging Inbox
The inbox is a threaded view: conversations on the left, the active thread in the center, and a composer at the bottom. Each thread shows the remote number, a preview of the last message, and a direction arrow so you can tell inbound from outbound at a glance. Messages carry a status badge, from Queued to Sent to Delivered, driven by SignalWire delivery callbacks.
To start a new conversation, click New Message, enter the recipient in full international format such as +12015550123, type your text, and send. Replies from that number land back in the same thread, and the inbox checks for new messages roughly every 15 seconds, so you see inbound texts without reloading the page.
Bulk SMS campaigns
When you need to reach a whole list at once, the Send SMS campaign tool texts every contact in a group in one operation. You build a reusable text template, pick the contact group, and set a retry count and a delay between sends to stay inside carrier rate limits. Each recipient gets its own message, written to the same unified history as your one-to-one texts.
What it costs
Each outbound SMS is metered under the standard Option-A billing model, the same way fax pages are counted. A monthly free quota of messages is included per package, and credit is only deducted for messages above that quota. Inbound messages are not charged. Tenants can watch SMS usage on the Billing Quota page next to voice minutes and fax pages.
Before you send in the United States
US carriers require A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration before long-code SMS will deliver. Until your number's 10DLC campaign is approved, carriers may filter outbound messages even though ICTPBX shows them as Sent. This is an account-side carrier rule, not an ICTPBX setting.
Two-way SMS is an Enterprise Edition feature. For the step-by-step version with screenshots, see the SMS and Messaging guide, and browse the rest of the feature set on the support center.
Frequently asked questions
Can I receive texts, or only send them?
Both. SMS in ICTPBX is two-way. Inbound texts to a number owned by your tenant appear in the matching inbox thread within about 15 seconds.
What format do recipient numbers use?
Always use E.164, the full international format with a plus sign and country code, for example +12015550123.
Do campaign messages and inbox messages share a history?
Yes. Both write to a single unified message history, so a campaign send and a one-to-one reply show up in the same record.
Is two-way SMS in Community Edition?
No. It is an Enterprise Edition feature and does not appear in Community Edition builds.
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