This guide walks you through sending your first text message from your Talkroute business number. You'll learn how to start a conversation, reply to messages, and send images.
In this guide:
Before You Start
Text messaging must be enabled on your virtual phone number before you can send or receive messages. If you haven't done this yet, see How to Enable Text Messaging.
About Text Registration
Mobile carriers filter messages from business phone numbers. To improve deliverability and help ensure your messages reach recipients, we recommend completing text registration:
- Local numbers: 10DLC Campaign Registration
- Toll-free numbers: Toll-Free Text Verification
Registration is not required to start texting, but without it your messages are more likely to be filtered or blocked.
Send Your First Text
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Open the Talkroute desktop application or visit my.talkroute.com.
If you do not have the desktop application installed, download it here: talkroute.com/downloads
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Click Messages in the left sidebar.
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Click the compose icon (pencil and paper) at the top of the messages list to start a new conversation.
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In the To: field, enter the recipient's phone number.
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If you have multiple Talkroute numbers with texting enabled, use the From: dropdown to select which number to send from.
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Type your message in the text field at the bottom of the screen. You can also click the paperclip icon to attach an image (JPEG, PNG, GIF, or BMP).
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Press Enter to send your message, or click the send icon.
That's it! Your conversation will appear in the messages list, and you'll receive replies in the same thread.
Messaging Tips
- Character limit: Messages can be up to 1,000 characters. Messages longer than 160 characters (or 70 for Unicode/emoji) are automatically split into multiple segments. See SMS Breakdown: Character Limits, Segments & Your Plan Usage for details.
- Image size: Maximum file size is 15MB (GIFs limited to 1.5MB).
- Email notifications: You can receive email alerts for incoming texts. Configure this in Settings → Text Messaging.
- Mobile app: Send and receive texts on the go with the Talkroute mobile app for iOS and Android.
Need Help or Ready to Get Started?
Whether you're already using Talkroute or just exploring, we're here to help.