How can we send SMS to HubSpot Inbox?

[Litteratus]

Hi, we are an agency that tries to make it easy for our clients to reach out to us so giving them a phone number they can send texts to is part of what we do. We are currently using a Google Voice number, but we want to know if there is any way to get SMS into the HubSpot inbox so we can have our support team respond from there.

Right now, the workaround we're using is that our GVoice number forwards to the connected Gmail inbox, which is connected to HubSpot Inbox. But one problem there is that HubSpot doesn't recognize the phone number from which the SMS is coming because it's technically receiving the message from an email address (to which responses are sent if responded to within HubSpot). 

Additionally, if a client were to send an MMS (e.g. a screenshot) to the GVoice number, it comes in as an attachment. Not as big an issue, but still, very clunky.

Would getting a HubSpot number and connecting it as a channel to the Conversations Inbox solve the problem? Open to any ideas.

[DianaGomez]

Hi @Litteratus, 

Thanks for reaching out to the Community!

I was researching this topic and came across Sakari proposing a workaround solution: Add SMS to your HubSpot Conversations Inbox.

Also, I’ve noticed a similar idea already present in our Ideas Forum: Integrate SMS texts with Conversations, with status: In planning.

To contribute, upvote the existing idea and share more details about your specific use case in the comments.
Thank you.

I hope this helps,

Diana

[Litteratus · Accepted solution]

Thank you for your response and help, Diana. I checked out the Sakari link you sent. It looks like it does what we are currently doing with Google Voice. That is, it's using an email address to forward the text message to the inbox, and responses are sent to an email address that sends a text back. It works, but it doesn't recognize the phone number as belonging to a customer/client, so unless a team member knows the phone number, they won't know who they're receiving a message from.

I upvoted the Idea, so hopefully they'll roll that out soon!

Thanks again.