Flows

Sending Messages with a Flow

July 17, 2025 Comments Off on Sending Messages with a Flow

In the example above, an initial question has been asked, a response received, and a new Send Message action created to be delivered automatically once a contact reaches that point in the flow:

Subsequently, separate Send Message actions would be created for each potential response from contacts.

Attach Media

Select the ‘Attachments’ tab at the top of the Send Message action to view media attachment options:

Please note the following:

  • Outgoing media appears in-app for Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and Twilio channels, but is converted to a link in other channels.

  • Twilio supports MMS only in the US and Canada, and will convert a picture message to an SMS with a media link when sent to numbers that do not support MMS. Verify MMS compatibility for your Twilio phone number before purchase, as not all plans include this feature.

  • Twilio automatically resizes images to meet carrier specifications.

  • Image attachments are limited to 500KB; video attachments are limited to 20MB.

  • Android channels do not support image attachments.

Using Quick Replies

Quick replies allow you to present contacts on IP messaging channels—such as Facebook Messenger, Viber, and Telegram—with a predefined set of response options.

Learn how to use this feature here.

Send to All Numbers for Each Contact

Enable the “All Destinations” setting to deliver the message to every address associated with contacts who have multiple addresses in their profile.

SMS Character Limit

If a Send Message action exceeds 160 characters, carriers will split it into multiple messages. A character counter below the message box indicates how many characters remain before reaching the 160-character threshold. In the example below, the message contains 21 characters.

Note that messages longer than 160 characters can be divided by adding another node to contain the remaining text. Be aware that SMS channels vary in how they handle long messages: while a single extended message may be suitable for Twilio, it might not be for others. We recommend testing to determine the best approach.

UNICODE

Be aware that certain content—such as emojis or Chinese characters—will cause your message to be sent as Unicode rather than standard GSM7. Standard SMS messages have a 160-character limit when using the GSM7 alphabet. If Unicode is used, the limit is reduced to 70 characters per message.