Talk to me here
SMS
A phone number of its own. Text it from any phone.
Connect it
You need a phone number for your assistant. Conch uses Twilio, which rents numbers that can text, for about a dollar a month plus a cent or so per text. In Conch, open Apps, choose Talk to me here, then SMS.
- Get a number. Sign up at Twilio (a trial comes with some credit). In the Twilio Console, open Phone Numbers → Buy a number, tick SMS, and buy one.
- Paste your keys. On the Twilio Console's first page, under Account Info, copy the Account SID and the Auth Token, and paste them anywhere on Conch's page. Conch checks them with Twilio and finds your number. There is no Save button.
- Give it an address Twilio can reach. Twilio delivers texts to a web address, so Conch opens one, with one press. Then Conch tells Twilio to send your number's texts there: there is nothing to paste in Twilio.
- Say hello. Text the number anything from your own phone, then press That's me in Conch.
Your first hello
Text the number "hi". In Conch your message shows with That's me. Press it, and your assistant texts back, by name.
Good to know
- Plain text. Texts have no bold or buttons. When your assistant asks before doing something, reply with the answer's number.
- Long answers are cut at three texts, since each one costs. The whole answer is in Conch.
- Pictures you send by MMS (where your carrier and number allow it) become attachments.
- A trial account only texts numbers you verified: the phone you signed up with is. Its texts start with "Sent from your Twilio trial account".
- In the US, carriers block texts from numbers that aren't registered. Register yours for A2P 10DLC in Twilio (Messaging → Regulatory Compliance), or use a toll-free number and verify it. If texts stop arriving for this reason, the channel's page says so.
- Someone else who texts the number gets one polite reply and shows up in Conch for you to let in or block.
- Groups. Group texts are never answered.