Two-way messaging stalls in the same place every time, which is the registration document. The question sitting right behind it is why a bulk send came back with an audience of almost nobody.
What is included, and what the Booster adds
Reminders, confirmations, cancellations and follow-ups already go out on your plan, one way. Communications Booster is what adds your own Australian mobile number, replies, extra credits a month and free inbound messages. Activating it does not hand the number over: your business is verified against its own registration record first, and that is the step people get stuck on.
- Open SMS and select Get your number.
- Enter the Legal Business Name, the ABN / ACN and the street address exactly as the registration document shows them.
- Under Business Registration Document, select Choose document and attach it.
- Tick both declarations, then select Submit for Verification.
Everything typed here has to match the document you attach, so use the legal name on the registration rather than your trading name. Review is usually decided within 1-3 business days and the number activates on its own once it is approved.
| Your entity | The document to attach |
|---|---|
| Sole trader or partnership | Your ABN Lookup record, printed to PDF |
| A company with an ACN | An ASIC company extract from ASIC Connect |
Trap
The document has to be dated within the last 12 months and uploaded as a PDF, JPEG or PNG under 5MB. A PO box is not accepted, and a street address that does not match the document character for character is what holds a submission up.
A bulk send only counts the clients who opted in
Bulk Send on Messages asks what kind of message it is before it asks who it goes to, because the type decides who is countable at all.
- Open Messages, select the arrow beside your number, then Bulk Send.
- Under Choose Audience, choose Announcements, Marketing or Rebooking reminders, and read how many customers can receive it.
- Pick the segments, then select the Review Audience button, which counts the audience.
- Select Compose Message and write the message.
- Select Review Prior to Sending, then Review my message.
- Select the Send to button, which counts the customers.
Move between the three and watch the headline. Marketing needs an explicit yes from each client, so it is nearly always the shortest list and the one that reads zero on a young account. Announcements and Rebooking reminders each read their own consent, which is how a client can decline your offers and still be told their dog is due.
Trap
A zero audience is a consent answer, not a filter answer, so widening the segments underneath will not move it. Consent is set per client on their profile under Communication Preferences, and only with their express permission, which is what the declaration on that card is for.
Credits come out of one pool whatever sent them, and a short message to one client is one credit, so a bulk of short messages to 48 people costs 48. Replies coming back in are free. Plan credits reset on your billing date, pack credits never expire, and Auto top-up under SMS Top-up Credit Packs buys the pack you chose on the next message after you run out.
Check
Keep a bulk message short. Past 160 characters, or with an emoji anywhere in it, the carrier splits it and the client receives it in parts. Write the message, then read the segment badge on the composer before you send, and check the usage on Billing after a big send rather than assuming.
Email the list, and read the thread later
Petboost does not send this one for you. Send bulk email, under the cog on Customers & Pets, builds the recipient list and hands the draft to your own mail app.
- Open Customers & Pets, select the cog, then Send bulk email.
- Tick the clients to include, or select Select All.
- Select Open Default Email, or Copy BCC List to Clipboard for a list your mail app will not take as a link.
Open Default Email starts that draft addressed to your own business address, with every client in BCC so none of them sees another. Copy BCC List to Clipboard is the one to reach for when your mail app will not take a link that long, and past 400 addresses it splits into batches Outlook will accept. Nothing on this screen spends an SMS credit.
Tip
Every text with a client, automated or typed by you, sits in one thread on their profile under Messages, with Hide automated to take the reminders out of the view. That tab appears once Communications Booster is on and the number is live.