Android General FAQ
HOW DOES THE EQUIITEXT APP WORK?
The Equiitext App enables your Android Smart Phone to act a text messaging server. Using the app, you can send texts to groups and lists of customers. Texts will come from the phone number of your phone as if you had messaged them one at a time, only the app does it for you. The auto reply system can then respond back to your customers when they text back questions. To access the browser account you will find your user name and password under settings>edit/add info on your Android Smart Phone.
HOW DO I PURCHASE A PLAN?
You can purchase from our website, visit Pricing to see all of our pricing for monthly recurring plans and one time blocks of text credits. You can also purchase through the app itself too. Just click on the Buy Texts icon in the lower left of the Main Screen inside the Equiitext app. When you open your Equiitext App you are at your Homepage. At the bottom, you will see the option for STATS & LOGS. Tap on STATS & LOGS then choose STATS. The STATS screen will show you lots of information including how many subscription credits you have remaining along with how many paid rollover credits you have remaining. These are credits that can be used for your outgoing text messages. If your subscription credits remaining show that you have a negative balance, please do not panic. Just go to your settings to choose ADVANCED MODE, then API SETTINGS and SEND API LONG POLLING to sync to our servers. Restart your Equiitext App. IF this does not solve the problem give us a call or send us an email at support@equiitext.com
HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN I RUN OUT OF TEXT CREDITS?
Equiitext will notify you with a dialog box that you are out of text credits. We will not automatically charge your credit card when you run out of text credits. You can tap on Stats inside the app to see how many texts you’ve sent and how many you have remaining.
HOW DOES EQUIITEXT CHARGE?
Equiitext charges a text credit for every 160 characters of text that are sent out. There is no charge for inbound texts. Also, keep in mind that if you have a message that is 200 characters long, it will take 2 text credits to deliver that message to one phone number.
WILL EQUIITEXT AUTOMATICALLY CHARGE ME?
No, unless you purchase a monthly plan. The monthly plans renew every 30 days. You can cancel at any time and there is no contract with Equiitext. Please keep in mind when canceling your subscription that you will lose any discount that you are availing. If you have taken advantage of our various discount coupon offers, you will not be able to use the same coupon offer.
WHY ARE WE SO MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE?
One of our main missions as a company is to empower small businesses and professionals with cost effective tools that are normally only available to big business. By creating the software as an app instead of a cloud based system, we keep our costs down and keep your cost low as well. Last, because the messages are sent from your phone, using the unlimited texting plan, we have low overhead for sending messages.
CAN I USE MY ANDROID TABLET?
Yes! You can use your Android Cell Phone or Tablet with or without a SIM card. Sending from the SIM with either the Cell Phone or Tablet is the cheapest route to use out products costing 1 credit per 160 character test with free incoming responses from your contacts. This is a great option if you have only a small group of contacts (2000-5000). If you have more than 5000 contacts, we recommend switching to the Equiitext Cloud.
We also offer the option of using your Android Cell Phone or Tablet using our Android Virtual Accounts. This is using a virtual number to send with and your Wi Fi or Data Plan. Still using the App to send from you will spend just a bit more with each 160 character text costing 2 credits per text and still maintaining free incoming messages from your contacts. The Virtual Number does cost 100 credits per number per month. Virtual Numbers are a great bargain at $1 per month.
CAN I USE MY IPHONE WITH EQUIITEXT?
Unfortunately, not yet. Apple is very rigid and does not allow apps to send texts on behalf of the phone. There is just no way around that yet. For the time being, we are Android only. Most of our customers who only have iPhone simply add a line to their existing cell phone plan and have a dedicated Android phone for texting customers.
CELL PHONE CARRIERS? PREPAID PHONES? GOOGLE VOICE?
We recommend Verizon and AT&T business plans. Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular and others will work, but often struggle to deliver group texts. We can only guarantee our software, not what the carriers do with the messages once sent. If you want our high quality software to work at its best, match with Verizon and AT&T service. Prepaid service plans and phones are not an effective way to send messages to your customers. The quality of service is very poor with prepaid services. Align your expectations accordingly.
The only prepaid that we’ve seen work well is Verizon Prepaid. You can definitely use your Google Voice number to forward any of your voice calls to. At this time Google does not allow 3rd party apps to send texts through Google Voice.
WHAT PHONES WORK BEST? LIMITATIONS? NOT AT ALL?
Any Android Smart Phone will run our software, but the nicer more powerful phones always do best. The best we’ve seen so far are Samsung phones, any of the Galaxy line are popular with Equiitext users. LIMITATIONS? Yes, and the answer depends on your version of the Android operating system. The most popular versions of Android are Jelly Bean, Kit Kat & Lollipop Jelly Bean is the oldest operating system out there for Android phones that will run Equiitext. The limiter on Jelly Bean is set to 60 messages per hour. You can use our Extensions feature inside of Settings to increase this limit. Kit Kat rolled out in Summer of 2014. The limiter on most Kit Kat phones is set to 30 per minute, or 1,800 per hour. Lollipop was released in Winter of 2014. The limiter on Lollipop phones is also set to 30 per minute or 1,800 per hour. Occasional issues with LG & Sony phones. They still work but aren’t top of the line for running Equiitext. Unfortunately, we can’t support phones running operating systems older than Android Jelly Bean. NOT COMPATIBLE? Blackberry although very popular in the business world is not compatible with our Equiitext Application.
WHAT PHONE NUMBER WILL EQUIITEXT USE TO SEND OUT MESSAGES?
The Android App can use either your phone’s SIM card number or you can send through a Equiitext Virtual Number. Purchase a virtual number by purchasing a plan online or through the Play Store. Once the plan is in place, click on the Buy Credits screen, tap on the “Virtual Number” and select “Get Number” at the bottom of the screen. A pool of numbers from your area code will be displayed that you can pick from. If your area code is not present in the list and this is a necessity, you may want to opt for purchasing a Cloud account which has a wider pool of numbers. On Android Tablets without a SIM card, you must have a virtual number selected to send and receive texts on the tablet.
WHAT WILL RECIPIENTS SEE WHEN I SEND MESSAGES?
They will see your phone number and your message. If your recipient has your phone number in the contacts of their phone, then your name will appear instead of a number.
HOW LONG CAN MY TEXTS BE?
You can send out up to 1,800 characters in a text. Keep in mind that the Android phone will split the message up every 160 characters (especially important if you have a link in your text).
CAN I SEND A PICTURE OR AN IMAGE WITH EQUIITEXT?
You can send links and you can link an image, picture, website or social feed in your text with Equiitext.
CAN MY CUSTOMERS HIT REPLY ALL TO SEND A MESSAGE TO EVERYONE THAT IS ON MY LIST?
No, all of our app sends each message one at a time. So if your customer does it hit reply all and type up a message, you will be the only who gets the message. A side benefit of sending each message one at a time is that it increases the delivery percentage by not clogging up the delivery channel with hundreds or thousands of messages at once.
LAWS OR REGULATIONS THAT PERTAIN TO TEXTING FOR BUSINESSES
Yes. By using Equiitext, you are required to know and follow the laws. The TCPA laws in the United States govern texting rules. Some of the basics (but not all) are:
1 – You have consented to text someone (verbally is not enough, they must text you or give written consent)
2 – You include a STOP or OPT OUT message at the end of your message 3 – You must honor the opt-outs every time, all the time
4 – Don’t text between 8pm and 8am.
It is against TCPA rules to buy lists of phone numbers and text them and is in direct violation of the terms of use for Equiitext.
If you have any questions about the legality of your texting strategy, we suggest you contact an attorney and seek a formal opinion. Equiitext is not liable or responsible for your compliance with TCPA laws or any other applicable laws that may apply in your area. Want to know more about how and why the TCPA came about? Visit our blog.
HOW DOES EQUIITEXT HELP KEEP ME TCPA COMPLIANT?
Our app has a system to automatically remove most opt-outs. We use artificial intelligence to determine the intent of the inbound message and if the message is an opt-out, Equiitext will remove the number from all groups, place them in the opt-out group and send a confirmation of removal message back to the user.
IS DOUBLE OPT-IN REQUIRED BY THE TCPA?
No, there is no specific language in the TCPA that double opt-in is required.
CAN EQUIITEXT HANDLE DOUBLE OPT-IN?
Yes, you just need to create a second “Custom” Auto Responder to create the second layer of opt-in authorization.
I WANT TO CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION. HOW?
If you are paying for your subscription through Google Play Store then you will obviously need to log into the Play Store and cancel your active Equiitext Subscription through Google.
NEW DEVICE! I WANT MY DATA. BACK UP & RESTORE
So let’s go through the steps. As long as you still have your old phone in your possession, still has the capability to turn on and can access a wifi connection we can proceed. On your old phone go to your Equiitext App then click on the three white squares in the upper right. You will now choose Backup App and will be given options to save it to Disk, Email, or to Share It. (Email seems to be a bit easier if we are moving to a different device. If you are needing to Uninstall the App and Reinstall then just save it to the file manager on your device.) On your new device, you will need to access your file by either downloading it from email or accessing the shared application that you saved it to whether that is Dropbox, Drive or the many other options available. Download and Install the Equiitext App on your new device. You will be prompted to restore your backup. If you do not see that option then go to Manage Contacts, then tap on the three squares in the upper right. The drop down will have an option to Restore from Backup. You will need to tap on that then be prompted what you want to restore. Contacts? Data? Account Info? Tap OK then you will choose the backup from your file manager. This is the file that you transferred from your old device.
Using the Android App FAQ
INSTALLATION
Head over to the Google Play store and install the app from there. Download Equiitext In The Play Store. You can bring in your contacts from your phone’s address book, import your Gmail contacts, upload a list or add the test group to your Equiitext contacts. You can shut down Equiitext anytime by clicking the Menu button (the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the app, and selecting “Shutdown App” from the drop down menu. Please keep in mind that none of the Auto Replies or Opt-In/Opt-Out capabilities will work while the app is shut down.
SETTINGS
You can find Settings by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. This is where you find many options to set up. We will go through each one briefly.
SLEEP TIMER
This is where you will set the time so that your campaigns run only during appropriate hours. For Example 9AM to 9PM. Keep in mind that SMS Texting is still required to maintain the same regulations as Call Centers in maintaining TCPA Compliancy.
NOTIFICATION SETTINGS
This is where you set up your notification settings. You can set to notify you, change your ringtone and how many times it alerts you.
AUTOMATIC BACKUPS
Set your backup schedule to automatically backup your contacts, responders, etc to your SD card. This can be a lifesaver if something happens to your phone.
GLOBAL ACCURACY
Global Accuracy is a slider to set the accuracy of your keywords to pull proper response for your responders. Click the apply button to apply your new settings.
LAUNCH ON BOOT
Launch When the Phone Boots Up. This is an option that you can check. When enabled Equiitext will automatically start when the device is booted up.
PHONE NUMBER OPTIONS
Your device SIM card or a Virtual Phone Number to send and receive your messages. You need to enable your choice here.
POST MESSAGES TO INBOX
Options to enable your Equiitext App to Post Outbound Messages in Inbox or Don’t Post Outbound Messages in Inbox. This feature will only work in the Equiitext Inbox. All messages are forced to post by Google to the Android Native Inbox if using your Device SIM card.
ADVANCED MODE
Turn on ONLY if you are comfortable with the advanced configurations (Not Recommended)
FORMAT NUMBER MODE
This is where you will set the option for National (will keep numbers in national format) or International
SET AS DEFAULT MESSENGER
This is where you will Set Equiitext as your default messenger. This may charge you for all personal incoming messages so set this with care. We recommend that you use a separate phone for your business texting, rather than using your personal phone. *Warning: MMS messaging is NOT supported yet! You will not be able to send or receive MMS while Equiitext is the default messenger.
CONTACT NUMBER OPTIONS
You can choose to Add ‘1’ when sending. When this is enabled, numbers will have ‘1’ added to the beginning of them when sending OR you can choose to Add ‘+’ when sending, which will add ‘+’ to the beginning of all numbers when sending.
BATTERY SAVER MODE
Enable this to save your battery strength.
MAINTENANCE ACTIONS UPON OPEN
You can choose to Find New Opt-Ins or Find New Opt-Outs
HARVEST MODE
Enabling this allows you to integrate email and web based leads. It harvests the phone number out of the body of the message and treats it like a regular Opt-In
AUTO DELETE INBOX SMS
You have the options to Set Auto Delete of the Inbox by days, specific day of the week, message counts, or the devices’ contact list.
EXTENSIONS
Manage your extensions and SMS Limits.
REMOTE ACCESS
Enable Remote Access here. This allows the numbers listed below to access forwarding features in the app. When checked there is a conditional link to edit the numbers.
API SETTINGS
Turn on to show API Settings.
MESSAGE CALLBACKS
-Enable Incoming Callbacks
This will send a POST to the supplied URL upon every incoming message.
-Enable Outgoing Callbacks
This will send a POST to the supplied URL upon every outgoing message
SEND API LONG POLLING
If you are using SEND API, this will help you increase delivery rate!
SHOW CARRIER VERIFY GROUP
Add a verifier to your group to your contact groups. This will help you test that your phone number is blocked or not by sending a text to this group.
INTEGRATION SETTINGS
Tap to show integration settings.
ZENDESK INTEGRATION
You can add your Zendesk URL, username and password, create tickets, etc.
DEBUG MODE
This puts the App into Debug Mode. Please note that texts will NOT get sent while in debug mode!
AGREEMENTS & POLICIES
– User License Agreement
– Anti-Spam Policy
– Android Privacy Policy
DEVICE LIST
This will give you your device details including the Device Name, Device Type, App Version, Android Version, Phone Number and Device ID
STATS
You can find Stats by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. Here you will find Stats regarding your account. App Version, Total Contacts, Monthly Credit Plan, Renewal, Credits Remaining, and more. You can also find the Stats from the Home Page tapping the Stats & Logs Button.
BUY CREDITS
You can find Buy Credits by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. This is the screen that you can buy credits whether you want to buy Subscriptions or Rollover Credits. You can also purchase Virtual Numbers. Find a convenient cost breakdown of our services
SYNC DATA WITH WEB
You can find Sync Data by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. Here you have the options of pulling or pushing your data to web.
BACKUP APP
You can find Back Up App by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. This will allow you to Back Up your App. You will be given the option to back it up with your SD Card, Email or to Share it on another source.
RUN MAINTENANCE
You can find the option to run Maintenance on your groups by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. This has a variety of options to help you save time and credits.
APP PROCESSES
App Processes can be found by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. This is where you can see an overview of the processes at work. Restart or Shutdown the App by tapping the 3 white squares in the upper right-hand corner of the App. This is the best way to refresh the App after a purchase or to do an upgrade. While the App is Shut Down Auto replies and auto responders will not be sent until the App is restarted.
ADD CONTACTS
There are two ways to add contacts to Equiitext: The first way is to have people opt-in by texting to the phone running our app. They will be automatically added to the All Contacts group in Equiitext. The second way to add contacts is to import a CSV file list of phone numbers into the app. The TCPA law has very specific rules about who you can text to and what is considered an “opt-in”. Please consult your law advisor if you have any questions. It is DEFINITELY not legal to buy lists of phone numbers and text them and is in direct violation of the terms of use of the Equiitext software.
TESTING AUTO REPLIES & AUTO RESPONDERS
There is a Test Group available located in the Contacts screen that you can add to your Groups and send test messages to. Use the Test Group to proof your messages, test auto responders, troubleshoot connection issues and confirm your text as the proper encoding. Two of the phone numbers (678 & 320 area code numbers) in the Test Group are robots. Whatever message you send to the robot, it will send right back to you. To test an auto responder, simply text your keyword trigger to the robots. To confirm proper encoding, send your message to the robot numbers. If your message is 160 characters or less and is received back as 3 text messages, re-type the message (copy and paste is a common culprit to this issue) and also make sure to use 1 bit characters (pretty much any character found on the US keyboard). 2 bit characters will also change the encoding. Characters such as ñ, ü, ã, £, €, ¥, ¢ ® will change the encoding. One text’s maximum character limit will now be 70 characters per text instead of 160 characters.
OPT-INS
Opt-In means that your contact has agreed that they want to be contacted for more information or response from you. This can happen by importing a list of current customers or advertising to ask people to join your contact list by typing a keyword to your designated phone number or virtual number.
OPT-OUTS
You can select which message they will receive in response to their request to be removed from further contact. Sometimes people may respond to the automated message and they will be opted back in which will cause them to receive more messages from you. You may need to re-check that they are in the opt-out group. Removing a Contact Click into Manage Contacts, click into the All Contacts group, click the magnifying glass in the upper right, type or paste in their number in the search box, select Done, and check any numbers you want to delete.
The system will ask if you want to remove from the particular group, from all groups or delete permanently? Warning: If you remove the contact permanently from your contacts they may be imported in further lists. Accidental Opt-Out No Problem! Just have them text you with “Sign Me Up!”. They will be removed from the opt-out list and added back into the All Contacts group.
ANDROID SEND API SETUP & PARAMETERS
WHAT IS THE URL FOR THE SEND API? https://mobile.equiitext.com/simpleSendApi?deviceId=xxxxxx&apiKey=xxxxx&user=xxxx&fromPhone=xxxxx&toPhone=xxxxx&message=xxxxx
• Equiitext will provide the deviceID and the apiKey. You supply all of the other data.
PARAMETERS
• toPhone: destination phone number • groupName: the group to send to • fromPhone (optional): user’s phone number Example:
• Send to a Phone Number https://mobile.equiitext.com/simpleSendApi?deviceId=358525004030xxx&apiKey=07oW3jhl21xxx&toPhone=12345678699&message=Test%20From%20Equiitext.com
• Send to a Group https://mobile.equiitext.com/simpleSendApi?deviceId=358525994030xxx&apiKey=07W3jhlo21xxx&groupName=Test&message=Test%20From%20Equiitext.com
LANDLINE SCRUB API
The URL structure looks like this: https://mobile.equiitext.com/verifyPhone?phoneNumber=15095551212&apiKey=07W3jhlo21xxx We’ll return a JSON response when the query is successful. Linetype Parameters will be one of four responses: Landline/Mobile/Voip/Unknown Status can be one of two response: True or False If there is an error, there will be a message that contains the “Error” keyword
ZENDESK INTEGRATION
Zendesk Integration allows you to set a custom Automatic Reply in Equiitext to forward and automatically create a new ticket inside your Zendesk instance. To setup your Zendesk with Equiitext, click into Equiitext on your Android device. Click into Settings in Equiitext, and check to turn on ‘Advanced Mode’, scroll down and click on ‘Integration Settings’. Input your Zendesk ULR (e.g: equiitext.zendesk.com), your Username (Agent name) and your Password. Then, head to the Automatic Replies section in Equiitext. Click any existing Auto Reply or create a new Custom responder. Then click the ‘Options’ tab. Scroll down and click on Support Integration:’ and select Zendesk. That will enable that particular responder to forward the message and the phone number into Zendesk and create a new ticket.
ANDROID VIRTUAL – CURRENTLY NOT AVAILABLE
What is a Virtual Number?
A virtual number is a real phone number that allows for digital modes of input and output. We use a long code as our virtual number. A long code is a traditional 10 digit phone number. With our Cloud Web App (browser based), you can select one or thousands of virtual numbers in one account (more numbers are possible, send us an email) and send & receive messages on those numbers. You can also have voice calls forwarded to any number in the US or Canada. We are adding more countries so check with support for updates.
To Add a Virtual Number:
Click on Settings on the primary navigation bar. Then click on the Account Detail tab. You can click on GET MORE to bring up the Virtual Number area code search tool. Select a number from the list and begin sending and receiving immediately. At this time you are limited to choosing a virtual number that is within your same area code as your SIM card. If you are looking for a specific area code, please consider using our cloud service.
To Delete a Virtual Number:
Click on Settings on the primary navigation bar. Then click on the Account Detail tab. Click on Delete Virtual Number and select the number you’d like to delete and click on OK. Each virtual number on your account costs $1.00 per month (100 credits) per virtual number.
Android Troubleshooting FAQ
PLEASE HELP ME! IT’S NOT WORKING!
TOP ‘TEN’ FIXES for YOU and ANDROID!
1. Take a deep breath, remove all hammers and objects of destruction, then restart your phone. Surprisingly this is a great fix for many problems experienced.
2. Check to make sure that you have cellular data service or an active wifi connection.
3. Check to make sure that you have the latest version of the Equiitext App installed on your phone.
4. If you are having problems seeing your monthly subscription, check to make sure that the email addresses match both your Google Play Account and your Equiitext Account.
5. If you have multiple devices on your account, delete all devices, uninstall the app and reinstall with a fresh copy.
6. For best results, go to settings on your Equiitext App, tap on ADVANCED MODE, check the boxes for API SETTINGS and SEND API LONG POLLING This will sync your account with our servers.
7. Cannot import your contacts? Check your file type. CSV works best.
8. Cannot send a message. Check to make sure you have an active subscription or rollover credits.
9. Still stuck? Download the latest version of Quick Support/Team Viewer from the Play Store and contact our support team. We may not need to access your device, but it’s great to be prepared.
10. If you have made it this far and love us. Remember we are only human and cannot do miracles even though we give it our best effort. We appreciate you for sticking with us through our many growing pains. Write us a GREAT review.
MY CSV FILE WILL NOT UPLOAD! HELP
CSV files not uploading? Check the name of your file. Does it have special characters like *, #, \? Remove potential special characters and try uploading.
Still having issues? Check to make sure the file is actually a dot CSV file. We support CSV, TXT and XLS. Later versions of Word with XLXS format will not load.
Still having issues? Upload your CSV file so the only columns are First Name, Last Name, Phone Number.
Call Support 888-501-3550 We are happy to help!
KEEP GETTING AN ERROR THAT I HAVE AN EXISTING ACCOUNT. NEW PHONE!
You will need to call our support line so we can manually update your account. Please call (888) 501-3550 or email us at support@equiitext.com
I’VE PAID FOR CREDITS BUT THEY DO NOT SHOW UP ON MY PHONE.
This is a common issue when you are using the Equiitext App on multiple devices. Try checking your other devices to see if your credits are appearing there. It may also help to update the version of your Equiitext App.
Make sure that the username (email address) that you have on the App matches the subscription address in the Google PlayStore.
BUYING THE SUBSCRIPTION
You can make your subscription purchase in the Equiitext App via Google Play Store or on the website.