Core Docs - Engagement - SMS Conversations

Rock Version: v19.0
Last Modified: 2026-02-17 2:31 PM

In the prior article we explain why many of your incoming SMS messages will end up getting passed from the SMS Pipeline into SMS Conversations. Now, let’s take a step back and see how to manage those messages, or messages that are sent to SMS Conversations directly. Navigate to People > Communications > SMS Conversations to start.

We realize that every organization is different, so we added in settings allowing you to customize each feature for your needs.

Suppose you have the Students Director and First Impressions Director messaging their own volunteers. You can create multiple pages with the SMS Conversations block on them. Then on each page you can specify who has access and which number(s) can be used. Each ministry could have their own SMS Conversations page. To learn more about creating pages and adding blocks check out the Add a Block article in the Core Concepts guide.

Real-Time SMS Responses
You no longer need to refresh the page to see new SMS messages. The system updates in Real-Time, displaying replies right away.

Handle Nameless People

Sooner or later, you’ll start receiving SMS messages from people and phone numbers you don’t recognize. If you’re worried that this will cause a snag in your processes, don’t be.

Rock will try to match the phone number of a new incoming SMS message to a person in the system. If it can’t find anyone with that number, Rock will create a Nameless Person record instead. This allows your processes to continue as normal, without knowing their name or other contact information. In most cases this will result in the message being passed from the SMS Pipeline to the SMS Conversations page. Other possible actions are limited because we don’t know who the person is.

As new texts come in, you might lose track of your nameless people in the SMS Conversations page. Luckily, you can go to Admin Tools > Settings > Nameless People to see and manage your list of nameless records.

Where Did My Nameless Person Go?
Each night, the Rock Cleanup job will go through the Nameless record types to look for a matching person record. If it finds a match it will merge them for you and the Nameless record will be removed.

Linking to an Existing Person

Once you know for sure who you’re talking to, you'll want to link the phone number (and the conversation) to an actual person in Rock. You'll do this from the Link Phone Number to Person page. You can get there from the SMS Conversations page or from the Nameless People page as described above.

Respond From a Device

When you send an SMS message (see the Communication Wizard article) you'll select an SMS number to send from. When Response Recipient Forwarding is enabled as described earlier, responses will be forwarded to the response recipient's mobile phone with the sender's name and a response code.

The response code consists of the @ symbol followed by a three-digit number (e.g., @347). If further follow-up is required, the response recipient can use this code to reply back.

If your mind is swimming a bit, that’s OK. Let's look at an example. In our example Jenny has just sent out a bulk SMS message to several attendees reminding them of the car show that afternoon. Let's walk through a conversation she has with Alisha.

Notice that both sides of the conversation are texting to Rock's SMS number (555) 351-5392. Little does Alisha know that Jenny's real number is 867-5309.

Use SMS Snippets

The SMS Snippets feature allows you to streamline messaging by creating prewritten responses for future SMS conversations. Instead of typing repetitive messages manually, you can select from existing snippets directly within the SMS Conversations page and the Check-in Manager app (described in the Check-In guide).

Go to Admin Tools > Settings > SMS Snippets to start adding snippets for your organization.

In the Snippet Detail view, you’ll see everything that makes up a snippet—its content, settings and options for managing it.

Admins can configure snippets with either Personal or Shared access, categorize them, and customize their content using Lava (remember to toggle the Text |Lava switch).

Snippet Categories
Using a lot of snippets? Keep them organized by creating categories in Admin Tools > Settings > Category Manager. Some blocks, including the one in the Check-in Manager's SMS feature, include a category selection setting. Configuring this ensures the right snippets are available in the right context.