SMS messaging
This feature is in early access
This feature is available ✔️ for: Plan: Pro, Enterprise, and Guardian Platform: Android
Glacier SMS (Short Message Service) allows users to obtain virtual numbers from across the globe and send messages to parties outside of Glacier.
Please note that Glacier cannot guarantee the delivery of OTP codes to Glacier virtual numbers due to several limitations and restrictions on these numbers.
2FA and OTP codes will often be sent from Short Codes or Alphanumeric Sender IDs. Due to the limitations of these Sender IDs we cannot always guarantee the delivery of these incoming messages.
Current Functionality:
- Users can currently obtain US or Canadian-based virtual numbers, and can use those to send SMS messages to phone numbers all over the world.
- In some cases, foreign numbers can send messages back to the US or Canadian virtual number, but this is on a per-country basis and not guaranteed to work properly.
- Adding a foreign number (not based in the US or Canada) to use for sending SMS is coming soon, but is not yet implemented as of this time.
- Currently, Glacier SMS allows for individual, 1-to-1 messaging conversations.
- Glacier SMS does not currently work with or support group chats, but this feature may be in a future release.
Android
Acquiring a number
To add a number to be used for Glacier SMS:
- Open the Glacier Chat main menu and tap SMS.
- Tap the three dot menu at the top right.
- Tap Add Number.
- Search for a number by entering the country code or name.
- Tap on the desired country in the dropdown menu shown.
- Tap a number to select it, and confirm to complete the acquisition.
Create a new SMS conversation
To start a new conversation using Glacier SMS:
- Open the Glacier Chat main menu and tap SMS
- If you have more than one number attached to your user:
- Tap the three dot menu at the top right.
- Tap on the number you want to use to send a message.
- Tap the circular New Conversation icon at the bottom right of the screen.
- Either:
- Select a contact from the contacts list shown, or
- Enter the desired phone number in the field near the top of the screen, and then tap the message icon to the right of that field to open the new conversation screen.
Sending an SMS
To send a message using Glacier SMS:
- Open the Glacier Chat main menu and tap SMS
- If you have more than one number attached to your user:
- Tap the three dot menu at the top right.
- Tap on the number you want to use to send a message.
- Either start a new conversation as described above, or select an existing one from the screen.
- To send a message using Glacier SMS:
- Tap the message field at the bottom of the screen.
- Type in your message and tap the Send icon to the right of the message field.
Releasing a number
If a specific number is no longer needed, it can be released. However, this action is permanent, in that once released, it is no longer available to use again.
To release a number:
- Open the Glacier Chat main menu and tap SMS.
- Tap the three dot menu at the top right.
- Tap Release Number.
- There will now be a trash can icon shown to the right of each phone number on the menu.
- Tap the trash can for the number you wish to release.
- Tap Release to confirm and release the number.
