Preparing and sending bulk SMS online

Distribution List Preparation

Sending SMS text messages to large numbers of employees, customers or friends can be done quickly and easily from our website. Simply sign up for a free trial account and you could be sending in minutes.

How to do it...

You can copy your mobile numbers into a distribution list within your aql® account - The format of the list is either one mobile number per line with no commas or: mobilenumber1,mobilenumber2,mobilenumber3, – ie separated by commas with no spaces.

Paste this list of numbers into the "mobile number list" box on site, enter a name for the list, and press 'validate'. You will be presented with the imported data and asked to confirm it appears as expected. When this is ok, the distribution list will be saved for use.

How to send a larger bulk SMS distribution list.

If you want to send personalised data (ie a different message to each number) or you want to send to tens of thousands of recipients, you can prepare a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file of mobile numbers. Most databases and spreadsheets are capable of exporting data in this format (eg in Excel, you would click "save as" then select ".csv"). The format of the list is either one mobile number per line with no commas or: mobilenumber1,mobilenumber2,mobilenumber3,mobilenumber4 etc.

Select the option to import a list, and enter its name. Select the CSV file prepared earlier and press 'validate'. You will be presented with the imported data and asked to confirm it has imported as expected. When you confirm this, the distribution list will be saved to your account.

Once a distribution list is saved to your account you can send mailouts to these prepared lists. To prepare a message for a mail out, select the 'distribution list' link from the send menu in your customer account. Select the distribution list you wish to send to from the dropdown menu, enter the message you which to send to each of these numbers, and if you wish specify the originator id and time for sending.

Check your message and sending options carefully and once you are happy these are correct press the send messages button. Your messages will then be queued for sending, either at the time you specified, or immediately if you have not specified a time.

How to send a personalised bulk send

As above, you will want to create a CSV file of your data, but additional data can be referenced using an app like Microsoft® Excel. With a little scripting, you can easily address the recipient by name, provide them with a specific reference, or alert them at a certain time, such as 12pm the day before the appointment you have scheduled.
If you would like any more information on this, please do contact us.