Overview
With Boulevard Messages, your business can deliver a premium, interactive client communication experience through every step of the client appointment journey through:
Dedicated location phone number (with Caller ID & optional call forwarding)
Centralized “Messages” inbox with client conversation history
2-way (conversational) texting
The capabilities listed above require setting up a dedicated phone number. This phone number is unique to your location and unlocks a premium, personal communication experience for your clients. Once set up, this is the phone number through which all text communications will be sent from your business. A dedicated phone number allows clients to reach your business directly at any moment. It also allows your business to track and manage ongoing text conversations with your clients to build long-lasting loyalty while increasing trust and brand recognition.
Text Messaging Compliance and Regulations
Text messages sent through a dedicated phone number are subject to regulations set by the Campaign Registry (TCR), an independent reputation authority. Registration with TCR is now required for all application-to-person (A2P) text messaging traffic on 10-digit long code (10DLC) business phone numbers.
As part of your Boulevard account setup, we are required to register all business phone numbers with TCR to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations. Carriers will not accept or deliver messages sent from unregistered business phone numbers.
We start this process for new businesses as soon as your merchant application is submitted to Boulevard. The approval process has several components. For more information on ensuring a seamless and successful registration, see this support article.
Setting up a dedicated phone number
To get started, you need to create a dedicated business phone number. You can set one up from either the Messages tab or within the Client Notification settings.
To set up a dedicated business phone number, a user must have enabled the Register phone number privilege and View messages privilege. Businesses must have the business contact information filled out and completed in Settings. To confirm if your business has an existing business phone number, navigate to Manage Location > Details.
From the messages tab:
Click Messages from the navigation menu to see a page explaining how Messages works. When you’re ready, click Set up phone number.
2. Input your location’s area code. This is the area code used to generate your
Messages phone number for your location. When done, click Submit.
NOTE: If you don’t want us to generate a Messages phone number for you, and you’d prefer to use your existing business phone number as your messaging and booking line, please contact support instead to set that up.
If you see an error message that no numbers are available in your desired area code, you can enter a different one that applies to your town/city.
3. Once you’ve entered your area code and clicked Submit, a message is sent to
your inbox that your Messages phone number is being registered.
We alert you via the dashboard when your number is ready to use! Be sure to review Text Messaging Compliance and Regulations and the TCR checklist to ensure your business is compliant.
In the meantime, we’ve set some defaults for your Message settings, including call forwarding from your new booking line phone number to your business phone. You can edit these settings by selecting Manage > Details and scrolling to the Messages section.
Once your number is ready, a ‘1’ indicator on the Messages tab will appear, and you can start texting your clients by selecting Messages. Now you’re good to go!
NOTE: Boulevard can host landlines and VoIP numbers only.
From Client Notifications:
Navigate to Manage > Client Notifications.
Click Get Started.
Enter the area code of your business location. Once you submit your area code, we will generate a phone number for your business and notify you when the setup is complete. If you have an existing business phone number you would like to use instead, please contact support@blvd.co.
Click Create to complete.
A notification appears from the client notifications window that includes your issued phone number. Boulevard will send your business a text in messages when the phone number is ready to use. After you receive the text notification, you can send and receive text messages using Boulevard’s Messages.
Click here to learn more about Client Notifications.
Setting Up Multiple Locations
If you want to set up a custom booking line for multiple locations under your dashboard, simply access the dashboard for the other locations and select Messages, and follow the same steps above.
See more information on how to use Messages once it’s been set up here.