> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brosbots.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Replying to SMS

> Answer a customer from the panel, from the same number they texted.

## Where it is

When a customer answers the agent's SMS, the reply lands in **SMS
messages** and on the contact's timeline. You can answer from the panel:

1. In **SMS messages**, click **Reply** on an inbound message, or open the
   contact under **Contacts**.
2. On the contact screen, above the history, is the **SMS thread**: every SMS
   exchanged with this number, oldest first. Yours are on the right, marked
   "from the agent" or "from the panel".
3. Type the reply under the thread and click **Send** (or Ctrl+Enter).

## Which number the reply comes from

From the number the customer texted most recently, through the same carrier
that received their SMS (plfon or Telnyx). The customer gets the answer in
the same conversation on their phone. When the customer has not written yet,
the reply comes from the number our last SMS to them went out from.

The number must still belong to your account. If it was released and the
thread has no other number, the panel says there is nothing to reply from.

The reply joins the call the first SMS followed, so it shows on that call's
screen too.

## Rules

* One SMS is at most 320 characters. The counter under the box shows how
  many parts the message takes: Polish letters shrink a part from 160 to 70
  characters.
* A reply costs like any SMS, per the recipient country's price list.
* Nothing goes to a number on the **Do not call** list; the reply box is
  hidden.
* A plfon number sends at most 10 SMS an hour. Past that, the reply waits in
  the queue and goes out when the number may send again. The panel says when.
* Somebody with the **Viewer** role sees the thread but cannot reply.


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