Understanding Workflow Behavior with SMS and Customer Replies in Stack

Scenario

Imagine a contact is engaged in a workflow within Stack, and they receive an automated SMS. This workflow includes a step that pauses and waits for a "Customer Reply" to proceed. But what happens if a user sends a manual SMS to the contact after the automated message?

Explanation

Sending a manual SMS while a contact is in a workflow can interfere with the workflow's ability to correctly identify the customer's reply. Here's how:

Attribution Challenge

The system in Stack struggles to associate a customer's reply with a specific SMS when multiple messages are involved. Unlike emails, which are organized in threads allowing easy linkage of replies to specific messages, SMS lacks this threading capability.

Breaking the Chain

If a manual SMS is sent after the automated one, any reply from the contact might not be correctly linked to the automated SMS. Consequently, the workflow's wait step may not recognize the reply, causing the contact to remain stuck at that point.

Stuck at Wait Step

Since the system cannot attribute the reply to the specific automated SMS, the contact will stay at the wait step, even if they have replied.

Recommendations

Avoid Manual SMS

To ensure smooth workflow progression, refrain from sending manual SMS messages to contacts who are currently in a workflow that includes a "Wait for Customer Reply" step for SMS. This will help prevent any disruption and ensure that replies are correctly attributed, allowing the workflow to continue as intended.