Home > FAQ

Top Questions on MODISclub's All-in-One Account Setup & Functions

More FAQ on General SMS Marketing & Messaging
Question Answer
(A) How to start using MODISclub?
  • First you’ll need an online account for you to manage your messages, contact lists and more. Go to MODISclub.com and click the Sign Up button throughout the site. Contact us to request for the one-time Registration Code. We may just have a couple of questions to ensure that it is not a robot. If you already have an account, login to access the control panel.
  • Login and change your password, if preferred.
  • Setup a dedicated SMS Number that suits your business needs and works under the phone carriers' mobile traffic regulations listed below. For setting up a Local SMS Number yourself, Go to GENERAL > MY SMS NUMBER and click on the "Add Number" button to select your desired SMS Number. You will be asked to setup your credit card first to start the lease for the new SMS Number. For Toll-Free Number or Short Code, please contact us for further assistance.
    1. Local SMS Number: For sending Application-to-Person (A2P) type messaging via standard 10-digit long code phone numbers. Messages are subject to filtering and volume limitations. New Requirements for A2P 10DLC Registrations will be added soon by the carriers.
    2. Toll-Free Number: Toll-Free Numbers are designated for business messaging use by all major carriers in the United States and Canada, a good alternative to the more costly Short Code. Toll-Free Verification is currently required in the US and Canada for best delivery - to avoid traffic being blocked (Canada) or traffic subject to increased filtering and daily limits on sending (US). We can help you with the application process that will allow you to start sending/receiving texts from your Toll-Free Number within 1-2 days.
    3. Shortcode: Short Code numbers are a popular choice for high-volume A2P messaging. Short Codes can send SMS at 100 MPS (message segments per second) by default, and this high throughput is perfect for applications needing to send time-sensitive messages to many users at once. Since carriers vet and approve all Short Codes for their intended use, there's an application process with a higher setup fee compared to the other options, and leases are in 3-month or 1-year increments.
  • To select your own SMS Number, go to GENERAL > MY SMS NUMBER > Click ADD NUMBER button and enter the desired 3 digit area code into the search box and click SEARCH AREA CODE. You'll require a credit card to start leasing your SMS Number online, and this is only available for Local SMS Number. Please contact us for Toll-Free and Short Code so that we can assist you with the traffic verification application required.
  • Setup your SMS Number’s General Auto-reply: Go to GENERAL > MY SMS NUMBER and click the SMS Number. In the No Keyword Reply box, enter the general message you’d like senders to receive when they text any message to your number that does not start with your SMS Keyword (comments, queries, feedback, etc). You can provide information from business hours to urgent contact information, web links or instructions.
  • Turn on/off your text message forwarding: Go to GENERAL > MY SMS NUMBER and click the SMS Number. Under the Receive Incoming Text Messages Notification, select Yes, and provide an email for all the incoming messages to be forwarded to.
  • Upload your contact list: Go to GENERAL > CONTACT LISTS and follow the steps to upload your contact list in CSV format. We recommend downloading the sample CSV file from the Upload page when creating your contact list so that the necessary column titles are included in your final file.
  • We also recommend uploading a separate "test" contact list with some test numbers so that you can test out your new SMS number first when that is active and ready.
  • Create a new Campaign to help you organize your group of messages: Go to CAMPAIGNS and click on the "Create New Campaign" button to set up a new campaign.
  • To setup an SMS Keyword, go to the Campaign’s KEYWORD tab and enter the desired Keyword (between 3 and 10 characters for end-users’ convenience). Remember to setup the auto-replies for the Keyword to enhance user experience and interactivity. Optional: Add Keyword Credits in order to setup additional Keywords.
  • Add SMS Credits before sending messages: Go to BILLING > ADD SMS CREDITS and select from the package option the amount of SMS credits you will need to send/receive text messages. Please note that you’ll need SMS credits to receive messages too. So, do allocate enough credits for incoming messages.
  • Go to the CAMPAIGN tab and compose your message by clicking the Edit button.
  • Once your SMS Number is active, send your first test message to your "test" contact list. Once that's successful, go to MEMBER LIST tab and select Send to Selected recipients, or select Send to All. You can click and hold the Alt and Control keys to select non-consecutive items on your contact list, if necessary.
(B) How to upload mobile contacts? Login to your MODISclub 2.0 account and from the Main Menu,
  1. Go to GENERAL > CONTACT LISTS, click CREATE CONTACT LIST button. Give the list a name and click the CREATE button.
  2. Once the new Contact List is added to the table, click the light blue "Details" icon on the right, then the IMPORT CSV button.
  3. Download the Sample CSV template file that already has the first row titles. Leave the titles in the first row and from row 2 insert your 10 digit phone numbers all in the 1st column without symbols, spaces and empty cells.
  4. If you don’t have data for the 2nd and 3rd columns, leave the titles and column below blank. Save your Excel file as a .csv format.
  5. Click the CHOOSE FILE button and find your saved .csv file to upload into your Contact List.
(C) How to send group SMS to my mobile contacts?
  • To send SMS to your uploaded or opt-in Contacts, create a new Campaign. From the MAIN MENU, go to CAMPAIGNS, click the CREATE NEW CAMPAIGN button and give it a name for your own easy reference later (internal). You have the option to setup a Keyword (between 3 and 10 characters) for the Campaign to:

    1. automate response messages (eg. Text-for-Info),
    2. track your campaigns (eg. Print media response, website response, social media response), and/or
    3. target your audiences (eg. VIP, STAFF, VOLUNTEERS, etc.).
    Best practise for your first out-going text to a new contact list is to prompt your contacts to include the specified Keyword in their reply as the opt-in process. The Keyword's auto-reply message you've setup will be automatically sent back to the sender as a confirmation. This flow can also be applied to Text-to-Win, Text-to-Vote, Text-to-Donate, scenarios.
  • Compose your text message under the CAMPAIGN tab.
  • Under the MEMBER LIST tab, import your uploaded Contact Lists into the Campaign. You may Send to All or Send to Selected contacts.
  • You may check your Sent Status under the LOGS tab.
(D) How to generate new mobile contacts? Setup custom SMS Keywords within Campaigns where mobile users can conveniently text them to your SMS Number to opt-in/out of your mobile MEMBER LIST or participate in your campaigns. With Keywords, you can also setup custom automated responses to provide subscribers confirmation or more information. You can also use various types of SMS services to generate more interest in your marketing campaigns (eg. Text-to-Vote, Text-to-Win, Text-for-clues, etc.).
(E) How to setup an SMS Keyword? To setup an SMS Keyword, from the MAIN MENU, go to CAMPAIGNS and click the Campaign you'd like to assign to the Keyword. Create a new Campaign, if you haven't. Under the KEYWORD tab. Search and assign the desired Keyword (between 3 to 10 characters and unique/branded/targeted). Once the Keyword is assigned, you'll be able to insert the Auto-Reply Messages for it. Edit the messages as frequently as needed. More info on what to include in the Auto-Replies, search "What message should I include in my Keyword auto-replies?".
(F) What is an SMS Keyword Auto-Reply and what message should I include?
  • An SMS Keyword Auto-Reply is a customizable message you can setup to automatically send out to those who sent that SMS Keyword in a text message to your target campaign.
  • Important content to include are:
    • Your company or product name.
    • Confirmation and call-to-action.
    • Web link for richer content (use actual website link, not mysterious shorten links to avoid getting blocked by the carriers).
    • Expiry or limit 1 vote/entry.
    • To OptOut reply KEYWORD STOP.
  • There are 3 levels of auto-replies:
    1. First Opt-In Auto-Reply: The reply the sender would receive after texting the prompted SMS Keyword to your SMS number for the first time.
    2. Subsequent Auto-Replies: The replies the sender would receive after texting the prompted SMS Keyword to your SMS number again after the first time.
    3. Opt-Out Auto Reply: The reply the sender would receive after texting the SMS KEYWORD and STOP to opt-out.
(G) What is the general No-Keyword Auto-Reply and what message should I include?
  • The general No-Keyword Auto-Reply is a customizable message you can setup to automatically send out to those who have sent a text message without your specified SMS Keyword (eg. comments, questions, feedback, mis-spelled Keyword).
  • A sample No-Keyword Auto-Reply message to include is "COMPANY NAME: If you've submitted a comment, someone will respond shortly. If you've texted a prompted Keyword, please check its spelling and text again. More info visit website.com. Thx!
  • To setup the No-Keyword Auto-Reply, go to GENERAL > MY SMS NUMBER, click your SMS number link, compose your message in the SMS box provided and remember to click the UPDATE button.
(H) What happens when I run out of SMS credits and how do I purchase more? When your SMS credits reach 10 SMS, a notification will be sent to your username email. To top up your SMS credits, from the MAIN MENU go to BILLING > ADD SMS CREDITS, select the desired package and complete the credit card payment transaction. For convenience, you may choose to save the card information in your secured account for future top ups. If no action is taken and the SMS credits run below 0, no auto-reply messages or new text messages can be sent out until the credits are replenished. You can also setup the AUTO CHARGE feature under BILLING too.
(I) How many text messages can I send at once per day?
  • The number of text messages you can send per day depends on the SMS Number you’re leasing and on the brand registration and campaign type. For individuals or small businesses sending low-volume messaging through a local 10 digit SMS Number (A2P 10DLC), we would recommend not sending more than 1000 messages per day.
  • Carriers have message filtering on all of their mobile network to reduce SPAM and protect consumers. Sending a high volume of messages from a Local SMS Number, especially more than a few hundred per day without proper A2P 10DLC registration, can lead to messages being filtered as spam by carriers. Having some incoming responses or 2-way messaging may help to prevent your messages potentially get blocked by the filters but we would recommend going through the process of brand registration and campaign type with us.
  • If you plan to mainly blast out high-volume text messages to your contact lists, we would recommend using a Toll-Free SMS Number because unlike the local SMS Number, we’ll be able to assist you with submitting your intended traffic and message content type to the carriers for approval. Once your Toll-Free SMS Number is approved for use, you will not be limited by a daily message cap, and you’ll also be able to increase the speed limits of the messages sent, measured in messages per second (MPS). A default Toll-Free SMS Number has a throughput of 3 messages per second, versus 1 message per second when using a Local SMS Number.
(J) Is there a contract when leasing an SMS Number?
  • There’s no contract when leasing a dedicated Local and/or Toll-Free SMS Number through MODISclub. You will get to select your own SMS Number from a short-listed numbers we can provide, and the lease is recurring, and payments are charged month to month. Customers pay for the SMS Number lease itself, in addition to any setup or application fees and per-message costs.
  • For a Short Code, there is a minimum lease term of 3 months (quarterly) or 1-year increments. The lease is recurring, and payments are charged quarterly or annually. Customers pay for the short code lease itself, in addition to any setup or application fees and per-message costs.
(K) How much does it cost to lease a Local SMS Number?
  • The monthly cost to lease a Local SMS number is $30/month. Once the payment is processed, you will get to select your own SMS Numbers from a short-listed numbers we can provide, and the lease is recurring, and payments are charged month to month. So, the most convenient method of payment is with a credit card. A direct Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) can also be arranged, if necessary. Customers pay for the SMS Number lease itself, in addition to the $100 one-time carrier provisioning fee and per-message costs.
  • Customers also have the option to upgrade the traffic volume by submitting a brand registration and campaign type. Registration and monthly fees for the upgrade varies, starting from $150 plus $50/month respectively, depending on the business size and message volume required.
(L) How much does it cost to lease a Toll-Free SMS Number? The monthly cost to lease a Toll-Free SMS number is $50/month. Once the payment is processed, you will get to select your own SMS Numbers from a short-listed numbers we can provide, and the lease is recurring, and payments are charged month to month. So, the most convenient method of payment is with a credit card. A direct Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) can also be arranged, if necessary. Customers pay for the SMS Number lease itself, in addition to the $200 one-time carrier provisioning fee, $150 one-time traffic verification application, and per-message costs.
(M) How much does it cost to lease a Short Code? The monthly cost to lease a Short Code is $550/month. The lease is recurring, and payments are charged every quarterly (3 months) or annually based on the contract required. So, the most convenient method of payment is with a credit card. A direct Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) can also be arranged, if necessary. Customers pay for the Short Code lease itself, in addition to the approximate $5000 one-time carrier provisioning fee, $2400 one-time Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) fee, which includes the initial 3-month lease, and per-message costs.
(N) How much does a text message cost?
  • 1 segment of message requires 1 SMS credit. You can compose a message with up to 6 segments per send.
  • The following is the per SMS credit cost rate based on purchase volume:
    • 1 - 100,000 SMS credits at $0.09 each
    • 100,000 – 500,000 SMS credits at $0.08 each
    • 500,000 – 1 million SMS credits at $0.07 each
    • Over 1 million SMS credits at $0.05 each
  • Since the unit cost is only a few cents per message, MODISclub has bundled them into various package sizes to meet the different customer needs. And, we offer them on a Pay-As-You-Go basis for your convenience. Our package cost breakdown (before GST) is the following:
    • 500 SMS credits for $45
    • 1000 SMS credits for $90
    • 2000 SMS credits for $180
    • 5000 SMS credits for $450
(O) Can I use my own phone number to send messages on MODISclub?
  • Unfortunately, carriers do not provide the ability to integrate your personal mobile number onto any third-party business system because that may cause some technical confusion and billing difficulties. You may also want the ability to separate your business number from your personal number in the long run. So, we highly recommend going with a business SMS number dedicated to just your business needs.
  • We have message-forwarding features on our system that will provide you the timely notification and support you may need.
(P) How do I terminate my lease for the SMS Number? Contact us via our website or email your account manager to request your SMS Number’s lease termination. Please note that similar to most utility company’s billing system, we require a 30-day notice for the termination. We will inform you when your last billing cycle will be upon your request to end the lease. There will be no further charges after the last bill.
(Q) Can I setup my SMS number again after I terminate the lease? Yes, and we can try to search for the old number to setup again, but chances are that we will need to setup a new SMS Number because the terminated number would have been released back to the carriers’ pool for a reset. Please note for setting up a number after termination, the applicable setup fees will apply. So, when your main SMS projects are over or on hold, instead of cancelling your lease, consider keeping your existing SMS Number active by setting up other useful SMS services, such as Text-for-Info, Text Survey, etc.
(R) How to do I prepare the Contact List and upload it to the system?
  • Download the Contact CSV sample file from the FAQ page. Use that as your template add add your contact numbers under the first column, titled “phone”. You also have the option to include personalization data, such as First/Last Name (up to 10 characters), and/or comments next to each contact number. Please leave all the titles intact when saving the CSV file before uploading, regardless if there’s any data under the “data1” and “comment” columns.
  • To upload Contact List, go to GENERAL> CONTACT LISTS > CREATE NEW CONTACT LIST > IMPORT CSV.
(S) Can I add a Contact individually to my Contact Lists or Campaign’s Member List?
  • Yes. To add one contact at a time to a new Contact List, go to GENERAL> CONTACT LISTS > CREATE NEW CONTACT LIST and for adding to an existing Contact List, click the Contact List’s List All icon under its Actions column, and click NEW.
  • You can also directly add individual contact number to your Campaign’s MEMBER LIST by going to the Campaign’s MEMBER LIST tab > Select from the Contacts dropdown the Add New Contact button.
Back to Top