Integrating with BulkSMS (SMS)

BulkSMS.com is a leading international SMS provider that lets you send SMS text messages to a range of networks. Once you have integrated your BulkSMS account with ChurchSuite, authorised users can send messages directly from ChurchSuite. BulkSMS is particularly suited for South African churches - click here for further information. For full details of their UK services, click here.

Ensuring message acceptance and delivery...

When you compose an SMS message and click Preview SMS we send a test message to 1111111, which is BulkSMS' official test number. We do this to ensure that when a message is actually sent to its recipient, it will be accepted by BulkSMS and delivered correctly. This will appear as a failed message in the dashboard, and while this may appear as a duplicate SMS, it will not debit any credit from your BulkSMS account.

Completing the integration

Having created an account with BulkSMS, continue with the ChurchSuite integration. From the Integrations section of the Administrator, area select the BulkSMS integration from the list.

Click Add account.

On the Add account pop-up, enter the Name for the BulkSMS account you are integrating - you can integrate multiple accounts if you wish, so choose a Name that will help you distinguish the account in a list of accounts. You'll need to enter the API ID and API Secret for your BulkSMS account - see the next section for guidance on how to obtain the API details. You must also specify the authorised Users that have permission to use ChurchSuite's "Send SMS" functionality and send SMSs through your BulkSMS account - Users that are not selected in the authorised Users list will be unable to send SMS messages through ChurchSuite.

Click Save when you have entered all the details. You can return to the BulkSMS integration page at any time in the future to Edit or Delete an integrated account, or to Add account, if you wish to integrate further BulkSMS accounts.

Obtaining the API details

Begin by logging into your BulkSMS account. Click here for the login page. Navigate to the Advanced section within the My Account area.

Click on the API Tokens option in the list.

To create a new API "token" enter a Token name (without spaces) e.g. 'KingsHopeChurch' and click Create Token.

The API Credentials are generated for that Token name - you'll need to copy and paste the Token ID and Token secret back into the respective boxes on the BulkSMS integration page. Be careful to select all the characters. IMPORTANT: the token secret is shown once only, so be sure to copy it now, otherwise you'll have to click to Generate new credentials.

Once you have completed the integration you can click Back to list and Log Out of your BulkSMS account.