How to set up missed-call text back in GoHighLevel

Before you start

Missed call text back is a text, so the usual texting rules apply before the first one goes out.

1. Register your number for texting. Texts from a US local number need an approved A2P 10DLC campaign. Start under Settings > Phone System > Trust Center > Brand & Campaigns: the brand first, then the campaign with its use case, sample messages and how people opt in. Twilio blocks texts to US numbers from a local number that isn't on an approved campaign (error 30034). Toll-free numbers need toll-free verification instead.
2. Turn on the opt-out and sender lines. Settings > Phone System > Messaging. HighLevel can add opt-out wording such as Reply STOP to unsubscribe, and your business name, when a text doesn't already have them, and can add them again on a schedule in long conversations. A contact who replies STOP gets SMS DND turned on, and workflow texts skip them.
3. Add it to your campaign's sample messages. Your A2P campaign lists sample messages that match how you text. Include your missed-call text there so the campaign covers it.
4. Know what DND does. HighLevel doesn't send the missed call text to a contact who has DND on for texts. Callers who replied STOP to you before won't get it.

Set up the built-in missed call text back

1. Open the setting. Go to Settings > Phone System > Voice > Voicemail & Missed Call Text Back, then the Missed Call Text Back section.
2. Enable it. Tick Enable Missed Call Text Back.
3. Set the incoming call timeout. Use the slider to set how long a call rings before it counts as missed. HighLevel recommends 10 to 20 seconds.
4. Write the message. Click Customize and write your text. You can insert custom values with the tag icon, but a name only fills in if HighLevel already knows the caller, so write a message that reads well without one.
5. Send a test and save. Below the message, pick a number in the test field to see the formatted text, then save.
6. Check which number it sends from. If the number that was called can't text, HighLevel picks another: a number that has already texted the caller, then your default outbound number, then another eligible number in the account. Make sure the number you want is registered.

Make sure calls actually count as missed

The text only goes out when a call rings past your timeout without being answered. Forwarded calls are where this breaks.

1. Open the number's configuration. Settings > Phone System > Phone Numbers, the three dots next to your number, then Edit Configuration.
2. Set the timeout on the number. On the Set Timeout and Backup tab, around 20 seconds sends unanswered calls to HighLevel's voicemail. About 60 seconds, or blank, lets a forwarded cell phone's own voicemail pick up, and then the call looks answered.
3. Turn on Call Connect. On the Advanced Settings tab. The person answering hears a whisper and presses a key to take the call, so only calls a person answers count as connected. HighLevel suggests it for missed-call text back.
4. Forward only missed calls from your old line. If you keep your existing business number and forward it to HighLevel, your carrier has codes to forward only unanswered calls. HighLevel's call forwarding article lists them by carrier.

The workflow version: one text per caller

The built-in setting texts on every missed call, even when the same person calls three times in a row. A workflow lets you send one text, add a team alert, and keep the message to business hours if you want that.

If you build the workflow, turn the built-in setting off, or callers get both texts.

1. Create the workflow. Automation > Workflows > Create Workflow, and start from scratch.
2. Add the Call Details trigger. Click Add New Trigger and choose Call Details (older articles call it Call Status). Set Call Direction to Incoming and Call Details to not answered, busy and voicemail.
3. Check for a recent text with If/Else. The trigger fires on each status change, so one call can fire it more than once. Add an If/Else that checks for a tag such as missed-call-texted. The contact goes down the None branch when the tag isn't there.
4. Send the text on the None branch. Add a Send SMS step with your message, then Add Contact Tag with missed-call-texted.
5. Alert your team. Add an Internal Notification by SMS, email or in-app to the assigned user or particular users, with the caller's number.
6. Clear the tag later. Add a Wait of a set period of time, such as one day, then Remove Contact Tag, so a caller who rings again next week gets a new text.
7. Check the settings, then publish. In the Settings tab, turn on Allow Re-entry so repeat callers can come back through. A Time Window holds texts outside the hours and days you choose. Then switch from Draft to Publish and save: a draft workflow doesn't run.

Message drafts

Short, with your business name, a next step and the opt-out line. Edit these to sound like you.

After hours: "Hi, this is Harbor Plumbing. We're closed right now but saw your call. Reply with what you need and we'll call first thing at 8. Reply STOP to opt out."

Don't promise a callback time your team can't keep. A slow reply after a fast text feels worse than no text.

1. Hi, this is Harbor Plumbing. Sorry we missed your call. What can we help with? Reply here and we'll get right back to you. Reply STOP to opt out.
2. Water heater is leaking. Can someone come today?
3. Thanks. We'll call you back within 15 minutes to sort out a time.

How to test it

1. Call from a phone that isn't a contact. Use a cell phone that has never called or texted the business, so you see what a new caller sees.
2. Let it ring out. Don't answer, and let it ring past your timeout. If a cell phone's voicemail picks up first, shorten the number's timeout or turn on Call Connect.
3. Check the text and the conversation. The text should arrive on your test phone and show in Conversations under the new contact. Reply to it and make sure the reply lands there too.
4. Call twice. With the built-in setting you'll get two texts. With the workflow you should get one. Open the workflow's Enrollment History and Execution Logs to see each step it took.
5. Test after hours. If you set a Time Window, call outside it and confirm the text waits for the next allowed time.

What can go wrong

• No text at all: usually the call was answered by a cell phone's voicemail, or the number isn't registered. See Missed call text back not working.
• The text fails with error 30034: the number isn't on an approved A2P campaign. See SMS error 30034.
• The same caller gets several texts: the built-in setting texts per call, and the Call Details trigger fires per status change. See Duplicate text messages.
• Calls go straight to voicemail before ringing your team: check the timeout. See Calls going to voicemail.
• One caller never gets it: they have DND on or replied STOP before. See Texts not reaching a contact.

If you'd rather not build and test this yourself, our Speed to lead package does it for you, along with your other lead sources.