Two-way texting
Send and receive text messages with clients directly from your Arketa dashboard.
Two-way texting lets you have real SMS conversations with clients from your Arketa inbox — not from your personal phone. All messages are tied to the client's profile and thread alongside their booking and purchase history.
Two-way texting is part of the Marketing Suite add-on. Contact Arketa support to enable it.
Set up your texting number
[IMAGE TODO] Take a screenshot showing the Settings → Phone page with the phone number selection interface, including the area code field and the call handling options (Forward to another number, Play a pre-recorded message, Play a default message).
- Go to Settings → Phone
- Select an available phone number with your preferred area code
- Choose what happens when someone calls your texting number:
- Forward to another number — calls route to your studio or personal phone (shows as "Unknown" on your end)
- Play a pre-recorded message — record a custom greeting
- Play a default message — Arketa's default voicemail
Send a message
From any client's profile or the Inbox:
- Open the client's conversation thread
- Type your message and send
Messages send as SMS from your Arketa phone number.
Inbox features
[IMAGE TODO] Take a screenshot showing the Inbox view with an open SMS conversation thread, displaying sent and received messages with timestamps, and the compose field at the bottom with the quick reply, emoji, image, and AI draft icons visible.
Quick replies — Pre-written responses you can send with one click. Great for FAQs, booking confirmations, or common questions. To set one up:
- In the Inbox, open a thread, tap the ⚡ icon, and click +
- Or go to Settings → Communications → Quick Replies → Add Quick Reply
Emojis — Add emoji to messages directly in the compose field.
Images — Attach and send images in conversations.
AI drafts — Use built-in AI to draft responses. The AI suggests a reply based on the conversation context — edit before sending.
What clients see
Clients receive your messages as regular SMS texts. They can reply, and their response appears in your Arketa Inbox — all in one thread per client.
SMS conversations in the Inbox are separate from marketing broadcasts. Inbox messages don't appear in the client timeline. Marketing SMS opt-outs (STOP replies) don't affect your ability to send transactional or direct messages — but you should honor opt-out requests from clients who message you directly.