What is Email-to-SMS?
This feature allows you to send SMS messages directly from your email client by converting emails into text messages. Email-to-SMS is useful for businesses that want to add SMS into their existing workflows, without additional software or complex APIs. Email-to-SMS can be used for manual SMS sending, automated alerts, and integrating third-party applications, making it a versatile tool for various communication needs.
Use Cases for Email-to-SMS
Manual SMS Sending: Compose and send SMS messages directly from your email inbox for quick communication.
Automated Alerts and Notifications: Use automation tools (e.g., Zapier) to forward emails as SMS messages for system alerts or emergency notifications.
Third-Party Application Integration: Integrate Email-to-SMS with applications like WIN-911 to send alerts, ensuring the application uses an allowed email address and formats recipient addresses correctly.
Set up Email to SMS
Before you send your first Email-to-SMS, you need to link your email account to your ClickSend account. Follow the below steps: Additionally, ensure compliance with regional requirements, such as using a registered, dedicated number for U.S. recipients.
Log in to ClickSend and go to SMS > Email SMS.
Click Add Allowed Addresses.
Add any email addresses you want to send Email-to-SMS ‘from’. Don’t use a generic or shared address (e.g., mail-noreply@google.com) as we won’t be able to match your email to your ClickSend account.
If you want to edit or remove existing Allowed Addresses, you can do this now.
Optional: You can set your Sender ID. If you don’t set a Sender ID, the SMS will be sent from a shared number. Find out more about Sender IDs.
Allow all email addresses from a domain without constantly adding them in
Allow all email addresses from a domain without constantly adding them in
Allow all emails addresses from your domain by adding a * in front of the domain.
For example:
*@clicksend.comallows anyone with a clicksend email address to send an email to sms. This is useful if everyone in your organisation needs access, and you do not want to constantly add them to the allowed senders listjohn.citizen@clicksend.comwill only allow email to sms to be sent by that one particular email address. Attempting to send it via jane.doe@clicksend.com will result in an error. This is useful if you need to restrict access.
Choose which part of the message gets sent by configuring it at https://dashboard.clicksend.com/messaging-settings/sms/email-sms
Using an email address you do not control/own to send?
Please be aware not to use a generic email address or one you have no ownership of, we provide some workarounds for this scenario
Article for reference
Using an email address you do not control/own?
Send an Email-to-SMS
Create a new email in your preferred email client.
Set the recipient phone number in this format: ‘{recipient number}@sms.clicksend.com’
Write your message in the email’s subject and body.
Press Send.
For optimal delivery, avoid using overly personal or promotional text, which might trigger spam filters. Including the term "test SMS" in the subject or body can help when sending test messages. Avoid using excessive capitalization, special characters, or phrases commonly flagged as spam to ensure successful delivery.
Check your email inbox for replies. You can also view replies in ClickSend’s Messenger section.
Message formatting:
Use international number format; a plus sign (+), followed by the country code, followed by the phone number (E.164 standard format)
You can add multiple recipients if needed
If you receive a Missing Required Fields error, ensure the email subject and body aren’t empty. If you keep seeing the error, contact customer support.
When testing SMS functionality, send messages only to numbers you own or have access to, ensuring delivery results can be monitored directly in the ClickSend Dashboard.
For U.S./Canada numbers, ensure the recipient address follows this format:
+1XXXXXXXXXX@sms.clicksend.com, whereXXXXXXXXXXis the 10-digit phone number with the country code (+1). If you encounter persistent issues, double-check the email formatting and ensure the sender email is whitelisted in your ClickSend account.
Assigning Email-to-SMS to a subaccount
Want to assign Email-to-SMS usage to a specific subaccount for reporting purposes? It’s simple.
Go to the Allowed Email Address screen.
Edit or add a new address.
Select a sub account.
Click Save.
Sending a Group Email-to-SMS
Use our Group Email-to-SMS functionality to easily send to a large group of users. To set this up:
Create your contact list
Add all participants to the list.
Configure Email to SMS settings (if you haven't done so previously)
Set Get message from email body only.
Make sure your sending email is listed under Allowed Addresses.
Add it if it’s not there.
Send your message
Open your contact list and click Group SMS.
Copy the custom email address provided. Note that this email address is unique per contact list.
Send an email from the email address you previously authorised from step 2 to the custom email address
There is a limit of 1000 contacts for group Email-to-SMS. If you'd like to send to more contacts, please use the SMS Campaigns.
Best Practices for Testing Email-to-SMS
To ensure successful testing:
Troubleshooting and FAQs
Why isn’t my Email-to-SMS working?
Ensure the sender email address is whitelisted in your ClickSend account.
Verify the recipient address is correctly formatted.
Check that your account complies with regional regulations (e.g., U.S. carrier requirements).
Can I authorize colleagues to send Email-to-SMS?
Yes. Add their email addresses to the Allowed Senders list in your ClickSend dashboard.
Can I forward emails to SMS?
Yes. Use an automation tool to trigger SMS messages when specific emails are received.
Test with your own registered numbers to verify delivery.
Use clear, business-style test messages.
Monitor test message delivery status through the ClickSend Dashboard.