Any Object
Contacts, Leads, Accounts and Cases work out of the box. Add Work Orders, Opportunities or your own custom objects, choose which phone fields ConnectSMS uses, and your team texts from those records like any other.
Can you send SMS from a custom object in Salesforce? Yes. With ConnectSMS, an admin adds the object in ConnectSMS Setup › Recipients by its API name, such as Service_Visit__c, and chooses the phone fields to try, in order, on the record or one lookup away. Once the ConnectSMS Text Messages component is on the object's record page, people text from those records, and templates, outreach and Flow can use them too.
Recreated from the ConnectSMS interface with sample data.
How it works
Step 1 · Admin
In ConnectSMS Setup › Recipients, choose Add object, enter the API name, such as
Service_Visit__c, then Find phone fields and put them in the order ConnectSMS should
try.
Step 2 · Admin
In Lightning App Builder, drag ConnectSMS Text Messages onto the object's record page. The component can go on any record page, and it works in the Salesforce mobile app layout.
Step 3 · Your team
People text from the record. Templates can be set to use the object, outreach can target its records, and Flow or Apex can send with a record ID.
Recipients
ConnectSMS Setup › Recipients lists the objects people can text from and the phone fields ConnectSMS tries for each, in order. Only ConnectSMS admins can change it.
| Object | Phone fields (in order) | Built-in settings | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service VisitService_Visit__c |
|
Active | |
| Work OrderWorkOrder |
|
Active | |
| ContactContact |
|
Built-in | Active |
| LeadLead |
|
Built-in | Active |
| CaseCase |
|
Built-in | Active |
| AccountAccount |
|
Built-in | Active |
Showing 1–6 of 6 objects
Recreated from the ConnectSMS interface with sample data.
Contact and Lead use Mobile Phone, then Phone. Case uses its contact's Mobile Phone, then Phone. Account uses Phone, with Person Mobile Phone first when Person Accounts are on.
ConnectSMS tries the fields in the order listed and uses the first one that holds a valid number. On the record, people can choose another of the record's numbers.
Deactivate stops new messages from those records. Delete removes your settings, and built-in objects go back to their defaults. Existing messages are kept.
Add an object
Enter the object's API name from Setup › Object Manager and choose Find phone fields. ConnectSMS lists the phone and text fields on the record, and the phone fields on records it looks up to.
WorkOrder or Opportunity, and custom objects ending in __cSite_Contact_Mobile__c, or one lookup away, such as Customer__r.MobilePhoneConnectSMS rejects a path that goes through more than one relationship, a lookup that can point to more than one kind of record, and fields that aren't phone or text fields. Objects whose records can't be texted, such as custom settings and platform events, can't be added. If an object has no phone field ConnectSMS can use, add a Phone field to the object first.
Recreated from the ConnectSMS interface with sample data.
On the record
On a Service Visit, a Work Order or an Opportunity, the Text Messages component works as it does on a Contact: history, composer, templates and scheduling in one place.
{!Service_Visit__c.Scheduled_Date__c}Recreated from the ConnectSMS interface with sample data.
Works everywhere ConnectSMS does
Templates, outreach, Flow and Apex read the same Recipients settings, so an object you add is available to all of them.
Set Use on to the object and insert its fields, or fields one lookup away.
Choose the object under Kind of record and filter its records, or use a report with its record IDs.
Send Text Message takes a Record ID for a Contact, Lead, Account, Case or another enabled object.
A conversation that starts from a record is linked to it, so the inbox shows Service Visit: SV-00427.
Templates
Set a template's Use on to your object. Insert field offers the object's fields and the fields of records it looks up to, one level deep.
{!Service_Visit__c.Scheduled_Date__c} fills in the visit date. {!Service_Visit__c.Customer__r.FirstName|there} reaches the customer's first name through the lookup, with there as the fallback when it's blank.
The preview merges the template with a real record, and a field that can't be filled blocks sending until it's fixed.
All merge fields were filled.
Recreated from the ConnectSMS interface with sample data.
Outreach
In a new outreach, choose Records that match filters, then pick your object under Kind of record. The list shows the objects enabled for texting.
Step 2 of 5
Audience
Who should receive this outreach? Members of a Salesforce CampaignRecords that match filtersRecords in a Salesforce reportRecreated from the ConnectSMS interface with sample data.
Flow and Apex
The Send Text Message action takes a Record ID for a Contact, Lead, Account, Case or another object your admin enabled. In a record-triggered Flow on your object, that's {!$Record.Id}.
Apex does the same with ConnectSMSApi, and business problems such as an opted-out number come back as
error codes rather than exceptions.
Automation reference
// Record-triggered Flow on Service_Visit__c, when Status__c changes to En Route
Send Text Message (ConnectSMS)
Record ID {!$Record.Id}
Template ID {!OnTheWayTemplateId}
Idempotency Key {!OnTheWayKey}
Phone Field blank = the first valid field from Recipients
Business Number blank = the automation default number
// The template "Technician on the way" is set to Use on: Service Visit
OnTheWayKey = {!$Record.Id} & '-en-route'Examples
A few common setups. Your objects and field names will differ: what matters is a phone or text field on the record, or on one record it looks up to.
Field service
Standard objects, texting Contact.MobilePhone. Arrival windows, technician on the way, job complete.
Sales
Standard object, texting Account.Phone or a contact lookup such as Primary_Contact__r.MobilePhone. Quote follow-ups and renewal reminders.
Automotive
Custom object Vehicle__c, texting Customer__r.MobilePhone. Service due, parts arrived, vehicle ready for pickup.
Property
Custom object Property__c, texting Tenant__r.MobilePhone. Viewing confirmations, maintenance visits, move-in details.
Healthcare communication
Custom object Patient__c, texting Mobile_Phone__c. Appointment reminders and scheduling updates.
Logistics
Custom object Shipment__c, texting Delivery_Contact_Phone__c, a text field. Delivery windows and delivery exceptions.
Permissions
Adding an object to Recipients doesn't widen anyone's access. ConnectSMS reads records as the person, Flow or integration doing the texting.
ConnectSMS reads the record as the running user, so people can only text records they can open.
A phone field someone can't read isn't used for them, and merge fields need read access too.
People send only from business numbers they have Send access to, and see history only on numbers they can view.
Opt-outs are stored against the phone number, so an opt-out applies whichever record you text from.
Only ConnectSMS admins can add, change or remove objects in Recipients.
Enabling, changing or removing an object is recorded in the ConnectSMS audit log.
FAQ
Yes. A ConnectSMS admin opens ConnectSMS Setup › Recipients, chooses Add object, enters the object's API name, such as Service_Visit__c, and picks the phone fields to use, in order. After the ConnectSMS Text Messages component is added to the object's record page in Lightning App Builder, people can text from those records.
Phone or text fields on the record itself, such as Site_Contact_Mobile__c, or on one related record through a lookup, such as Customer__r.MobilePhone. Paths through more than one relationship and lookups that can point to more than one kind of record can't be used. ConnectSMS tries the fields in the order you set and uses the first one that holds a valid number.
The Text Messages component shows Texting isn't turned on for Service Visit records when the object hasn't been added in Recipients, or has been deactivated. Once an admin adds or reactivates the object in ConnectSMS Setup › Recipients, the same record can be texted.
Yes. Set the template's Use on to the object and insert its fields, such as {!Service_Visit__c.Scheduled_Date__c}, or a field one lookup away, such as {!Service_Visit__c.Customer__r.FirstName|there}. Merge fields are filled in from the record you text from, and only with fields the sender can read.
Yes. The Text Messages component shows the conversations with the record's phone numbers, replies included, on the business numbers you can view. A conversation that starts from the record is linked to it, so the inbox shows it as Service Visit: SV-00427. When a new number texts in first, ConnectSMS links the conversation automatically only when exactly one Contact, or failing that exactly one open Lead, has that number.
Deactivating stops people from starting new messages from those records; existing messages and conversations are kept. Deleting removes your phone field choices. Contact, Lead, Account and Case go back to their built-in settings, and for other objects people can no longer text from those records. Existing messages are kept either way.
The record component: composer, segments, merge safety and scheduling.
Reusable messages with merge fields, fallbacks and previews.
Text reports, campaigns and filtered records, with a preview of who gets it.
Setup checklist, number access, recipients, policies and operations.
Send, schedule and check texts from record-triggered and scheduled Flows.
Work every conversation as a team, across your business numbers.
Try it now: every feature, free for 14 days
Install ConnectSMS, connect your Twilio account, and add the objects your team works in to Recipients.
ConnectSMS is published by WorkBridge Solutions. Twilio bills your Twilio account directly for messaging, including during the trial.