Sending your first text message

This article shows you how to send your first text message from an open conversation. If you have not opened one yet, see Starting a new conversation.

Send a message

The compose box sits at the bottom of an open conversation.

1. Type your message into the compose box.
2. Click the send button.

When the message sends, the compose box clears and your message appears in the conversation feed. That is your confirmation. The send button stays disabled until you have added text or at least one attachment.

Personalise your message

Before you send, you can add a few optional touches from the compose toolbar:

• Insert a template to drop in a saved message.
• Insert a merge field to fill in contact details automatically. This is only available when the conversation has a contact attached.
• Add a private note to record something internally. A note is not sent to the recipient.

Attach media

If your inbox supports MMS, an upload button appears in the compose box. You can attach more than one file, drag and drop onto the compose box, and each file can be up to 20 MB. If your inbox does not support MMS, the upload button does not appear. emu.chat lets you know if a file is too large or a file type is not allowed, and leaves it out.

Send it later instead

To schedule a message rather than send it now, use the chevron next to the send button to open the Schedule send menu. Pick a quick preset, or choose Custom time to set your own date and time in the future. For more on scheduling and managing scheduled messages, see Sending messages.

When you cannot send

Sometimes the compose box is replaced by a banner that explains why you cannot send and what to do next. Common reasons are an archived conversation (reply to reopen it), a recipient who has opted out, a read-only inbox, or a trial or billing issue. Each banner gives you the action to fix it.

• If the recipient has opted out, see Opt-outs and STOP keywords: staying compliant.
• If your trial credits are used up, see Your free trial: what's included and what happens when it ends.

To understand what happens to a message after you send it, see Why did my message fail? (message statuses explained).

A note about trial messages

While your workspace is on an active free trial, a short signature (Sent via emu.chat trial) is added automatically to the end of each message you send. It stops once you subscribe.