Outgoing Messages Overview

Outgoing Messages is Simply360's built-in communication system for sending emails and SMS messages to contacts in your Data Collections. Admins can control who can send messages, manage templates, and configure approval workflows through Feature Permissions.

Key Features

• Email & SMS — Send both email and SMS messages from within Simply360
• Draft Management — Save messages as drafts before sending
• Message Scheduling — Schedule messages to send at a future date/time (uses your team's Primary Timezone)
• Sent Message Tracking — View delivery status and statistics for sent messages
• Message Archiving — Archive old messages to keep the active view clean
• Message Templates — Create reusable templates for common messages (see Message Templates)
• Approval Workflows — Require messages to be approved before sending (see Message Approval Workflows)

Accessing Outgoing Messages

Outgoing Messages is a team-user feature, not an admin-only feature. Any user with the appropriate Outgoing Messages permissions can access it:

1. Navigate to Outgoing Messages in the main sidebar
2. You'll see sections for Emails and SMS based on your permissions

Sending Messages

Sending an Email

1. Click Compose Email (requires the "Send Emails" permission)
2. Select recipients from your Data Collections
3. Compose your message or select a Message Template
4. Choose to send immediately or schedule for later

Sending an SMS

1. Click Compose SMS (requires the "Send SMS" permission)
2. Select recipients — they must have a phone number Data Field populated
3. Compose your message (note SMS character limits)
4. Choose to send immediately or schedule for later

Message Statuses

Viewing Others' Messages

By default, users only see messages they sent themselves. With the appropriate Feature Permissions, users can view or even send messages on behalf of other team members:

• View Others' Emails — See emails sent by other team members
• View Others' SMS — See SMS sent by other team members
• Send Emails as Others / Send SMS as Others — Send messages on behalf of another user

Note that email and SMS visibility are separate permissions — granting one does not automatically grant the other.

Required Permissions

Outgoing Messages is controlled by multiple Feature Permissions in the Outgoing Messages group. At minimum, a user needs:

• View Own Emails and/or View Own SMS to see the Outgoing Messages section
• Send Emails and/or Send SMS to compose and send messages

Team Admins have full access to all Outgoing Messages features by default.

Impact on Users

• Users only see the Outgoing Messages menu item if they have at least one Outgoing Messages permission
• The compose buttons only appear for users with Send permissions
• Scheduled messages use the team's Primary Timezone
• If approval workflows are enabled, sent messages may be held for review before delivery

Related Topics

• Message Templates — Reusable email and SMS templates
• Message Approval Workflows — Approval queues for outgoing messages
• Feature Permissions — Configure who can send messages
• Managing Data Fields — Email and phone fields needed for recipients