# Texting and follow-ups

Julius Answer can follow up with your callers by text or email: a message after a missed call, appointment reminders, a note after the call, a nudge for people who didn't book and a review request. You choose which ones go out and what they say.

Julius Answer sends five kinds of follow-up to callers, by text or email, for your business. The missed-call message and appointment reminders are on from the start; the other three are yours to turn on. Texts go out from your Julius Answer number once your business is registered with the US carriers, and only to callers who agreed to them (plus one text after a missed call). Until then, follow-ups go by email to callers who gave one.

## The five follow-ups

What callers can receive, and when
| Follow-up | When it goes out | At the start | Default wording |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missed call | Right after a call the receptionist couldn't take; once a day per caller at most | On | "Sorry we missed your call. We'll call you back soon, or reply here and tell us what you need." |
| After the call | A few minutes after a customer's call, saying what happens next | Off | "Thanks for calling, {first_name}. {next_step}" |
| Appointment reminder | Before a confirmed booking: 24 hours by default, or 2, 4, 12 or 48 | On | "Reminder: your {booking} is {when}. Reply here or call {phone} if you need to change it." |
| Still need help? | 1 to 14 days (2 by default) after a customer called and didn't book | Off | "Thanks again for calling, {first_name}. If you'd still like help, reply here or call {phone} and we'll find a time." |
| Review request | The day after a confirmed visit, with your review link | Off | "Thanks for choosing us, {first_name}. If you have a minute, a quick review would mean a lot: {review_link}" |

Change them in the console under **Settings, Follow-ups & texting**: a Text and an Email switch for each, the wording (up to 320 characters, with blanks like {first_name}, {when} and {phone}), your review link and the timing. You can also ask the console assistant ("turn on review requests with this link").

## Text or email, and when nothing goes out
- **By text** when texting is on, the follow-up's Text switch is on, and the caller agreed to texts. A missed call may get one text without that: they just called you.
- **Otherwise by email**, when the Email switch is on and the caller gave an email on a call. Emails come from your business name, replies go to your own email address, and every email has an unsubscribe link.
- **Checked again when it's due:** a moved booking gets its reminder at the new time, a cancelled one gets none, and a caller who booked or called again gets no "still need help?" message.
- **Never sent** to callers who opted out or asked not to be contacted, to sales pitches or spam, or (for the nudge and the review request) to callers who sounded unhappy.

The latest follow-ups and why any were skipped are listed at the bottom of the same settings screen.

## Turning on texting

US carriers require every business that texts customers through software to register (A2P 10DLC). You do it once, in the console under **Settings, Follow-ups & texting**:
1. Make sure your Julius Answer number is set up: texts go out from it.
1. Enter the business details: the legal name exactly as registered, the EIN (or choose sole proprietor), the address, a contact person and a mobile number, your website if you have one, and your industry.
1. Sole proprietors get a code by text on that mobile number and type it into the card.
1. The carriers check the business, then review what you'll text. This can take days or a few weeks. The card shows each step, and you get an email when texting is on.

Julius Answer publishes a short texting policy page for your business (what you text, how people agree, STOP and HELP, privacy), which the carriers check during review. You can pause texting at any time from the same card; follow-ups then go by email where they can.

## Who gets texts
- **Callers who agreed:** when a text would help (a booking, a call-back, a link they asked for), the receptionist asks once whether it may text them at the number they called from. A caller who asks for a text, or texts your number first, has agreed too.
- **During the call:** the receptionist can text a caller who asks, such as a booking link or your address, using only links from your business information.
- **Quiet hours:** automated texts go out between 8 AM and 9 PM in your time zone; ones due at night wait for the morning.
- **STOP, HELP and START:** a caller who replies STOP gets no more texts from your business; HELP returns your business name and number; START turns texts back on. Follow-ups, the receptionist's texts and the first text you send someone start with your business name and end with "Reply STOP to opt out."
- **Limits:** up to 200 texts a day per business, to US numbers. Numbers that turn out to be landlines are marked and not texted again.

## Replies and one-off messages

When a caller texts your Julius Answer number, the text appears in their record under **Messages**, a "Reply to their text" task goes on your list, and you get an alert by email, Slack or phone notification, depending on your alert settings. Clinics and law firms get the alert without the text in it.

**Suggested replies.** Within a minute or so, a suggested reply is ready in the caller's card, written from your business information, the caller's bookings, their last call and the conversation so far. It never makes up prices, times or promises (when it doesn't know, it says you'll check and get back to them), and it only uses links from your business information. Edit it, or press Send as it is; nothing is ever sent by itself. A newer text from the caller replaces the suggestion, and replying in any way retires it.

From any caller's record, you or your staff can send one text or email. Texts go only to people who called or texted you, or agreed to texts; contacts that were only typed in or imported can get an email instead.

## For developers and AI apps

Texting and follow-ups in the API and MCP server
| Operation | REST | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| get_follow_ups | GET /follow-ups | Switches, wording, timing, texting status and the latest follow-ups |
| update_follow_ups | PATCH /follow-ups | Turn a follow-up on or off by text or email, change its wording, the review link or the timing (full access) |
| get_texting | GET /texting | Carrier registration progress, the number texts come from and today's count |
| list_messages | GET /contacts/{contact_id}/messages | Texts and emails with one caller, oldest first, and the suggested reply to their latest text |
| message_contact | POST /contacts/{contact_id}/messages | Text or email one caller (day-to-day work) |

From an AI app, a message to a caller, a follow-up turned on, new wording and a new review link wait for the person's Yes in the console, so a caller's words in a transcript can't make an app message anyone. Turning a follow-up off runs at once. Incoming texts arrive as the text.received event on [webhooks and the events feed](/docs/events/). Registration details such as the EIN stay in the console and are never returned by the API.

## Frequently asked questions

### How long does texting take to turn on?

Carrier review can take days or a few weeks; Julius Answer can't speed it up. The console shows each step, and you get an email when texting is on. Email follow-ups work in the meantime.

### Why do I have to register my business to text?

US carriers require every business that texts customers through software to register the business and describe what it texts (this is called A2P 10DLC). Texts from unregistered business numbers get blocked. Julius Answer fills in the carrier forms for you from the details you enter once.

### Do texts come from my own number?

They come from your Julius Answer number. If you forward your existing number to Julius Answer, callers see texts from the Julius Answer number, and each text starts with your business name.

### Does the AI answer texts?

It suggests the answer, and a person sends it. When a caller texts your Julius Answer number, the text lands in their record with a task to reply and an alert, and within a minute or so a suggested reply, written from your business information, their bookings and the conversation, is ready in the reply box. Edit it or press Send; nothing goes out by itself.

### Can I send marketing texts or text a list of numbers?

No. Julius Answer texts only people who called or texted your number, never bulk or marketing texts, and never people who were only typed in or imported unless they agreed.

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Source: https://julius.dealsflow.ai/docs/texting-and-follow-ups/
Updated: 2026-10-20