Clickatell Communicator Help Guide

Clickatell Communicator2 Help Guide V1.1 

12 December 2012

Clickatell Communicator Help Guide V1.1 

Contents 

Contents .................................................................................................................................... 1 

Overview .................................................................................................................................... 3 

Getting started ........................................................................................................................... 3 

4.1 Registering for a Communicator Account .................................................................. 3 

4.2 Changing your settings .............................................................................................. 5 

4.2.1 Contact Information ............................................................................................... 5 

4.2.2 Preferences............................................................................................................ 5 

4.2.3 Routing Profiles ..................................................................................................... 6 

4.2.4 Vouchers ................................................................................................................ 8 

4.2.5 Balance Alerts ...................................................................................................... 10 

4.2.6 Manage Sender IDs ............................................................................................. 11 

4.3 Changing your message preferences ...................................................................... 12 

4.3.1 Default message preferences .............................................................................. 13 

4.3.2 Individual messages settings ............................................................................... 13 

4.3.3 Two-way messaging settings............................................................................... 14 

Address Book .......................................................................................................................... 15 

5.1 Setting up and Managing Groups in the Address Book .......................................... 15 

5.1.1 Add Selected Contacts ........................................................................................ 16 

5.1.2 Clearing Selected Contacts ................................................................................. 17 

5.2 Setting up your contacts .......................................................................................... 17 

5.2.1 Adding a new contact .......................................................................................... 17 

5.2.2 Deleting a contact ................................................................................................ 18 

5.2.3 Exporting contacts ............................................................................................... 18 

5.2.4 Importing Contacts ............................................................................................... 18 

5.3 Searching for Contacts in your Address Book ......................................................... 19 

Messaging ............................................................................................................................... 20 

6.1 Selecting Recipients ................................................................................................ 20 

6.2 The Message ........................................................................................................... 20 

6.2.1 Custom/Merge Fields ........................................................................................... 21 

6.2.2 Message Errors ................................................................................................... 21 

6.3 Templates ................................................................................................................ 22 

6.4 Batch files ................................................................................................................ 23 

Receiving Messages on your Communicator Account ............................................................ 23 

7.1 Two-Way Numbers .................................................................................................. 23 

Inbox ........................................................................................................................................ 23 

8.1. Replying to and forwarding messages .................................................................... 24 

8.2. Advanced Search and filtering ................................................................................. 25 

8.3. Deleting messages .................................................................................................. 25 

8.4. Exporting Reports .................................................................................................... 26 

Billing ....................................................................................................................................... 26 

9.1. Buy Now................................................................................................................... 26 

9.2. Pricing ...................................................................................................................... 26 

9.3. Billing History ........................................................................................................... 26 

9.4. Transaction History .................................................................................................. 26 

9.5. Automated Billing ..................................................................................................... 26 

9.6. My SMS Bundle ....................................................................................................... 28 

Reporting ................................................................................................................................. 29 

10.1. Simple report ........................................................................................................... 29 

10.2. Advanced Report ..................................................................................................... 29 

10.3. Coverage Report ..................................................................................................... 30 

10.4. Summary Report ...................................................................................................... 30 

10.5. Last 10 Messages .................................................................................................... 30 

10.6. Query Message ....................................................................................................... 30 

10.7. Scheduled MT Report .............................................................................................. 30 

10.8. Error Report ............................................................................................................. 31 

Contact details ......................................................................................................................... 31 

Copyright © 2000 - 2012 Clickatell. 2


Version Date Changes to Documentation 

1.1 02 July 2012 Whole document reviewed and updated. 

Overview 

This Help Guide is designed to help you through the registration process and to provide 

assistance with using Clickatell’s Communicator 2, a web based messaging tool. 

Communicator 2 now offers the following features: 

 

 

 

 

 

Message templates 

An import group function 

The ability to add each contact to multiple Address Book groups 

An upload batch files option, with messaging to multiple recipients included, without 

having the recipients’ contact details stored within the online address book. 

The ability to forward inbound replies from SMS messages to either your registered 

email address or via SMS to your registered cellular number. 

Please note: it costs 1 credit to forward an incoming SMS to your registered mobile 

phone number, but forwarding to email is free. Email and SMS forwarding will not 

work unless you first activate them in the Settings section. 

Getting started 

4.1 Registering for a Communicator Account 

Using our Communicator Account is as easy as signing up for a standard Communicator 

account, or simply using your current Communicator account on this new platform. 

Please note that Communicator 2 cannot be used to send messages to the U.S. 

To sign up: 

Step 1: Click on the Sign Up today and get 10 FREE messages link on the Clickatell 

website: https://www.clickatell.com/register/ 

Step 2: Select the Communicator2 product and the account type (International or Local) 1 

Step 3: Enter your personal information and read the Terms & Conditions 

Step 4: Click Create my Account, an email containing an activation link will be sent to 

the email address you have provided. 

Once you have activated your account by clicking on the link within your activation email, you 

will be directed to the standard Communicator login page. To access Communicator, go to: 

http://www,clickatell.com, Click on Login and select the Communicator 2 product. 

1 For more information on the Account options, visit our FAQ. 



Before you can start sending personalised messages, you need to verify your mobile number 

so you can purchase credits. The verification steps appear at the top of the Clickatell 

Communicator landing page. This block will be visible until you have verified your mobile 

number. 

Check the mobile number that you have entered and, if it is correct, click Send Activation 

Code Now. A verification code will be sent to your mobile number. If you would like the code 

to be sent to a different number, replace the number provided and follow the same steps. 

Enter the verification code in the space provided and click the Verify Now button. 

When your mobile number is verified, you will be able to purchase credits and send 

messages. 

After verification, your account will be active and you can use your free SMS test credits. 

Please note that for security reasons these 10 credits contain pre-set Clickatell content. 



4.2 Changing your settings 

Before you begin to message, you may want to set your user details, settings and 

preferences. 

In the My Settings section, you can edit the following message settings: 

4.2.1 Contact Information 

This section allows you to edit the contact details which are used when we communicate with 

you. There are four sections: Administrator, Billing, Technical and Complaints. You can select 

Same as Administrator in the Billing, Technical and Complaints sections if the same person 

is responsible for these four sections. 

Please note: you will be billed in the currency of the country that you set in your Contact 

Information > Billing section. 

4.2.2 Preferences 

This section allows you to edit your personal details, including your username and password. 

Other options include signing up for Clickatell news emails and weekly account status emails. 



You can also Activate or De-activate your two-way messaging in this section. 

4.2.2.1 SMS and Email Forwarding 

Another new feature included in Communicator 2 is the ability to automatically forward 

incoming messages to your Administrator’s email address or mobile phone number, which 

you can set up in your My Settings > Contact Information > Administration account). The 

main benefit of being able to forward your incoming SMS messages to a mobile phone is the 

ability for Administrators to monitor customer responses and potentially engage with them 

while offsite. 

Please note: forwarding incoming text messages to email is free, but it costs 1 credit to 

forward an SMS to your registered mobile phone number. 

You can set up SMS or Email forwarding when you update or create a new contact. 

However, Email and SMS forwarding will not work unless you first activate them here by 

selecting the checkboxes next to each option. 

4.2.3 Routing Profiles 

The main purpose of profiles is to control the cost of messages you send by setting how much 

you are prepared to pay for them. All profiles will be automatically selected by default when 

you register. Therefore users will be able to send to all destinations (0.1 to 3 credit 

destinations). 



4.2.3.1 How do I use the profiles 

In order to change your routing profiles (i.e. only use certain profiles), simply deselect the 

appropriate credit bands in your Routing Profiles preferences, and click Modify Router 

Profile. 

Only the default profile “A” (0.8 credit per SMS) cannot be deselected – if you deselect all 

other optional profiles, messages that cost 1 or more credits will not be delivered. Therefore if 

you need to send to a destination that costs more than 1 credit, your message will fail. To 

enable sending to destinations that cost more than 1 credit, please ensure that these 

destinations have not been deselected. 

For Example: 

 

 

 

 

 

It costs 2.5 credits to send an SMS to France - Orange. 

If you send to France - Orange, and you have manually deselected all profiles, except the 

default profile A (0.8 credit), the message will fail. 

You may see this indicated in your message report as a 'Routing error'. 

To be able to send to France - Orange, you need to enable your 2.5 credit profile "E" by 

logging into Clickatell Central and clicking on My Settings on the menu at the top and 

then Routing Profiles from the menu on the left. 

Once enabled, you will be able to send to all 2.5 credit destinations at a cost of 2.5 credits 

per SMS. 

4.2.3.2 If I choose a more expensive profile, will all my messages be charged 

more 

No. Clickatell's message router will always select the least expensive route to any destination. 

If you have not changed the current default selection and have profile "A" (0.1 credit 

destinations) through to profile "F" (3 credit destinations) selected, Clickatell will use the least 

expensive available route. The system will only select a higher route if there are no less costly 

routes available. 



For Example: 

UK - Vodafone currently costs 2 credits per SMS. 

You also wish to send to France - Orange which costs 2.5 credits per SMS. 

Messages to UK - Vodafone will be charged at 2 credits and not at 3 credits even though 

you have the 3 credit profile enabled. 

4.2.3.3 How do I know what I will be charged 

The simplest way of determining this is to view the Clickatell coverage page. 

4.2.3.4 Country-specific Profiles 

If you are using a country-specific account (Local-only SA, USA, India, Ireland, etc), your 

routing profile will be limited to networks within that country, and thus you may be unable to 

alter your routing profile depending on your country’s networks. 

4.2.3.5 View by Country 

If you have changed your routing profiles and would like to view the networks that are covered 

by the particular bands ticked, then you can use the dropdown tool below the profiles 

manager. Simply select a country and press View Coverage: 

You can then export this list by clicking Export Profile. 

4.2.4 Vouchers 

Vouchers can be used as a method of payment for purchasing credits. Vouchers can be 

created by any Clickatell account and can be redeemed in any Clickatell account. The 

sections below describe how vouchers can be created, how you can search for vouchers and 

how to redeem vouchers received. 



4.2.4.1 How to create vouchers 

After logging into your Communicator 2 account, click on the My Settings tab then click on 

Vouchers in the left hand navigation bar. The voucher page will be displayed. 

Simply enter the number of vouchers you would like to create, e.g. 5, in the first text box and 

the value of each voucher to be created, e.g. 200, in the second text box then click the Create 

Vouchers button. The vouchers will be created and displayed, e.g. 5 voucher numbers will be 

displayed each with a value of 200 credits. 

Please Note: you need to ensure that you have enough credits in your account to generate 

the vouchers). 

4.2.4.2 How to spend a voucher 

Go to the Voucher page by clicking on My Settings > Vouchers on the left hand navigation 

bar of your Communicator 2 Account. In the middle of the page in the Spend a Voucher 

section, enter the “Voucher Id” number you received and click Redeem Voucher. Your 

account will be credited with the value of the voucher. 

4.2.4.3 How to find vouchers 

The easiest way to find a list of vouchers is to use the Date Range feature. Simply check the 

Use date range box, select the date range, then select the Status of the vouchers you want 

to find and click on Search Vouchers. You can also search for a specific voucher by entering 

the voucher number in the Voucher field, or by entering the Transaction Id in the associated 

field. 

The vouchers generated during the dates selected will be displayed by selecting View Online 

from the dropdown list. The list of vouchers can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet or CSV 

file by selecting the appropriate option from the View/Export Results as dropdown menu. 



4.2.5 Balance Alerts 

Balance Alerts and Reminders allow you to set a credit level at which you are automatically 

notified via either SMS or Email of low credit balances. 

4.2.5.1 Enabling Balance Alerts 

In Communicator > My Settings > Balance Alerts, you can also view and edit current balance 

alert information or add new alerts. 

You can enable or disable Balance Alerts by clicking on the Enable Alert System / Disable 

Alert System button (circled in blue above). 

You can then add or edit your balance alerts by clicking Add / Edit (encircled in orange). This 

setting allows you to choose both the type of notification you wish to receive (email or SMS) 

and set a credit level at which you are automatically notified. SMS Alerts and Reminders will 

be sent (and charged accordingly) to the contact numbers listed. If you want mobile alerts, 

simply type your mobile number into the text box provided and click Add Number. 

Email Alerts and Reminders will be sent (free) to the email addresses listed, with a maximum 

of 5 email addresses allowed. 



4.2.5.2 Enabling Reminders 

Reminders allow you to receive either SMS or Email credit balance reminders after you have 

surpassed your preset balance alert. You will receive 1 SMS or Email reminder per day, for 3 

days. Please note though that Reminders are not enabled by default. 

4.2.6 Manage Sender IDs 

A Sender ID is the number or company name that a message will appear to come from on a 

recipient's phone – if a delivery route that supports this feature is available. Customized 

sender IDs need to be registered and approved. If you set a sender ID that is not approved or 

if a route is not available, then the sender ID will be automatically overridden by a Clickatellassigned 

default number when a message is sent. 

You can register Sender IDs by selecting the My Settings tab from the menu at the top and 

then selecting Manage Sender ID from the menu on the left. 



Click Add (circled in blue above on the right), to register a new Sender ID. Next, type in your 

preferred sender ID, then click Request Sender ID. If you enter a valid cellular phone number 

or registered short code, you will automatically receive an SMS message with an activation 

code. 

If you are requesting a new or unregistered number, you will be asked to motivate why you 

require this particular sender ID. This is one of our methods of preventing scams and fraud by 

individuals who falsely claim to be national companies or organisations. 

You can then track the status of your Sender Id registration request on the Status bar on the 

right side of the Sender ID menu. 

Please note: 

 

 

If you change the Sender ID from the default Clickatell-assigned Sender ID you will 

not be able to receive reply messages in your Inbox. 

A maximum of 11 alphanumeric characters are allowed. 

For more information regarding registration and management of a Sender ID, please see our 

Sender ID Guide: http://www.clickatell.com/help-support/developer-apis/sender-id-guide/ 

4.3 Changing your message preferences 

Communicator allows you to set both default message preference and individual message 

preferences. 



4.3.1 Default message preferences 

You can first change your default preferences by clicking on the Message Preferences link in 

the Messaging tab. 

 

Default Sender ID: 

A Sender ID is the name or number that an SMS appears to come from (‘from address’) 

when you receive a message on your phone; for example a mobile number or company 

name. You need to register a custom Sender ID before you can change the default 

number that your messages originate from. Read our section on Manage Sender ID 

above. 

 

Max Concat 

Enables one to span a message across multiple SMSs, which is useful for longer 

messages. The numbers in brackets list the maximum number of SMSs that it will span 

across if necessary. Each SMS is charged separately. Note: this only applies to a 

message greater than 160 characters. 

 

Prefix – Default Country Prefix 

This is the 2-digit country code you would like to use as your default for mobile numbers 

(e.g. 44 if you want to send in the UK only). It is not essential to fill this in, as you can add 

this in front of your numbers in your address book (e.g. mobile number = 448311234567). 

 

Delivery Acknowledgements 

In order to determine whether an SMS has been received by a handset or not, we offer 

delivery acknowledgement. Select this option if you wish to receive delivery 

acknowledgements. The receipt of reliable delivery acknowledgements varies between 

mobile networks. 

4.3.2 Individual messages settings 

However, you can also set specific message preferences for an individual batch of messages, 

through the Advanced Controls tab in the Messaging > Compose Message section. 



These controls allow you to set: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delay delivery – Sets the days, hours and minutes before the message is delivered to 

the recipient. This is especially useful for timed reminders or if you have recipients in 

different time zones, who may be affected by immediate delivery. 

SMS Message Type – Sets your message type to text or binary, depending on the kind 

of message you wish to send. 

Delivery Acknowledgements - Select this option if you wish to receive delivery 

acknowledgements for this batch of messages. 

Max Credits – this is related to the Routing Profiles settings, which allow you to choose 

how many credits you wish to send per message. For instance, if you only want to pay a 

maximum of 2 credits per SMS for a particular campaign (even with all your credit profiles 

still ticked in message preferences), then all you need to do is place a 2 in the max credits 

field. Note: You cannot raise your max credits to a higher band than has been selected in 

your Routing Profile preferences. 

Message Concat - Enables one to span a message across multiple SMSs, which is 

useful for longer messages. 

Default Sender ID – sets the name or number that you want this SMS to appear to come 

from. For more info, read our section on Manage Sender ID below. 

4.3.3 Two-way messaging settings 

Activating your two-way messaging is as simple as the click of a button (circled in blue) from 

the Messaging tab of your Communicator account. 



Address Book 

Communicator 2 enables users to build their address book by either: 

 

 

First creating a new group, which they can then place new or imported contacts 

within, or 

By importing or creating new contacts first, which can be selected from the Everyone 

group, and then added to a newly created group. 

5.1 Setting up and Managing Groups in the Address Book 

If you wish to manage your address book by first creating groups, then please click on the 

Address Book tab along the top bar of your Communicator 2 webpage. The Everyone group 

(circled in yellow below) is a default group where all your contacts can be viewed and edited. 

To set up a new group of contacts, click on either the Create New Group (circled in blue 

below) or Add Group (in Address Book) link. 

The Add New Group screen will then appear, and you will be asked for a name and 

description of your new group. The group can be saved by clicking on the Add Group button. 



5.1.1 Add Selected Contacts 

If you have already created or imported contacts (see below), which you have selected from 

the Address Book section, you can add these contacts to your group by ticking the Add 

Selected Contacts checkbox. 

Communicator 2 also allows you to place contacts in more than one group. Thus, if you have 

already selected contacts, such as students from a grade 7 class, from a different group: “My 

School”, you can automatically copy all of those contacts into a new group called “Grd 7 

Students” by checking the Add Selected Contacts checkbox. 

You can easily select contacts from your Address Book by ticking the checkbox next to 

them. 

You can also add existing contacts to your new group by clicking Add To Group (circled in 

blue above). You can then select the group that you wish to copy the contacts to from the 

Group Name dropdown menu (below). 



5.1.2 Clearing Selected Contacts 

Note: Communicator will keep track of all of your selected contacts across multiple pages. Do 

not forget to clear your selection, after you have finished, by clicking the Clear Selected 

button. See image in Section 5.1.1 

5.2 Setting up your contacts 

5.2.1 Adding a new contact 

To add a new contact, click on the Add Contact button, then fill in the necessary details for 

your contact. 

The Custom field, allows you to set personal information, which is useful in messaging. See 

details on the custom field below. 

There are three new features in the Communicator 2 Address Book: 

 

 

 

You can now select several groups for each contact to be placed in by simply ticking 

all of the group checkboxes that this contact applies to. For example: a contact might 

be part of a generic “Sports club” group as well as part of a specific “Soccer” group, 

which receives sports club messages relevant to soccer. 

You can easily get more information about new settings by hovering your mouse over 

our new tooltips feature (the green question mark). 

You can also forward incoming messages from individual contacts to either the email 

address or mobile phone, which you provided for your account Administrator. Just 

select the relevant checkboxes above Add Contact to enable forwarding for each 

contact. Forwarding incoming messages to your Administrator’s email address is free, 

but forwarding to a mobile number will cost 1 credit per SMS. 



After you have selected your contact’s groups, click Add Contact to finish creating the new 

contact – this will take you to the View Group page, where you can edit, delete or export 

contacts. 

5.2.2 Deleting a contact 

Please Note: To delete contacts from a group, simply select the appropriate tick box next to 

the contact and click on the Delete link. To delete a contact permanently from your address 

book, delete it from the Everyone group. 

5.2.3 Exporting contacts 

You can export your contacts by selecting the checkboxes next to each and then by clicking 

on Export Contacts. This will create a spreadsheet for you, which you can open in Open 

Office, MS Excel or another spreadsheet programme. 

5.2.4 Importing Contacts 

The Import tab allows you to import a group of contacts from a CSV (comma-separated 

value) file. Using the Browse button, select a CSV file from your computer. If you have your 

contacts in any other format, e.g. Excel, you will need to save it as a CSV (comma delimited) 

file prior to upload. 



In order to upload CSV files, please ensure you have the correct descriptors at the top of 

each column. The two mandatory fields for a successful upload are Fname (or FirstName) 

and Mobile (or Cellphone number). Columns can be set out in any order. The list of all 

descriptors are: 

Title, FName, Sname, Email, Mobile, Custom, Group. 

Example 1: 

Communicator 2 gives you several grouping options for imported contacts: 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have already created a Group column and specified groups in your CSV file 

that match existing groups within your Communicator Address Book, then you can 

select the CSV Groups Allowed option and your contacts will automatically go into 

the groups that they are listed under in the CSV file. 

However, if you have created several new groups in your CSV file that do not 

correspond to any existing groups in your Communicator Address Book, then you can 

select both CSV Groups Allowed and Create Groups if Required, and the contacts 

will be placed into the newly created group/s. Note: you need to tick both boxes in 

order to create new groups. 

You can also import all contacts into a specific group by selecting a group from the 

Import Into Group drop-down menu, or 

If no group is specified, your contacts will all be placed in the Everyone group. 

If you select a group (other than Everyone) from the drop down menu and select the 

CSV Groups Allowed checkbox, then only the contacts that do not have a defined 

group within the CSV file will be placed into the group that you have selected from the 

drop down menu. 

For example, if the majority of your contacts need to be placed into a “Students” 

group, but you have a few contacts that fall under a “Teachers” group, then you may 

wish to create a Group column in your CSV file with blank spaces next to all the 

students, but the text “Teachers” next to relevant contacts. This will ensure that when 

you select the “Students” group from the drop down menu, all of your student 

contacts (who have no defined CSV group) will be filtered into this “Students” group, 

and all teachers will be placed in the “Teachers” group. 

5.3 Searching for Contacts in your Address Book 

Click Address Book on the menu at the top and then Search Contacts on the left menu. 



Clicking on this link will take you to the Search Address Book page, which will allow you to 

search for a contact by either their name or cellular / mobile phone number. You can also 

search within a specific group. 

Messaging 

6.1 Selecting Recipients 

You can select your message recipients by clicking on the Select Contacts link, which will 

allow you to select individual contacts or groups of contacts from your Address Book. Simply 

check the tick-box next to the individual contact or group and click Done. The number of 

recipients you have selected will show in the top right hand field of your compose message 

screen. 

If you prefer, you can simply type the number(s) directly into the To field. If you choose this 

option, numbers must be comma separated with no spaces. Please use the following format: 

country prefix, network code (without zero in front) and then number (without spaces) – e.g. 

27831234444. 

Please note: any previously selected contacts from your Address Book may appear in the 

Contacts field above the Select Contacts link. If you do not wish to send a message to these 

previously selected contacts, first click on the Clear Selected link, and then click Select 

Contacts (after which, the Contacts field will be populated by your new selection). 

6.2 The Message 

Type your message in the space provided. The counter below the message field will count the 

characters as you type. Depending on whether you have concatenation selected (a message 



spanning multiple SMS), you can input up to 612 characters (at a cost of 4 SMS). Please note 

that some characters may extend the length of a message. These include | } { [ ] \ ~ ^ 

6.2.1 Custom/Merge Fields 

Messages can be customised according to the data fields you have uploaded with each 

contact. The standard data fields appear as buttons on the right of the message box. 

These are: 

First Name (#FNAME#) 

Title (#TITLE#) 

Surname (#SNAME#) 

Custom (#CUSTOM#) 

By clicking the buttons the data field codes will be inserted into your message. Message 

recipients will see the actual data drawn out of your address book. 

For example: Hi #FNAME#, hope you are enjoying the soccer. 

Becomes: Hi Joe, hope you are enjoying the soccer. 

The Custom field can be used to insert personal information. For instance, if you were the 

owner of a sports club and wished to send messages to your club members that were 

relevant to their favourite sport, you could set the custom field to represent their favourite 

sport (you can set these while setting up new contacts). 

For example: Hi #FNAME#, hope you are enjoying the #CUSTOM#. 

Becomes: Hi Joe, hope you are enjoying the soccer. 

And: Hi Sarah, hope you are enjoying the cricket. 

6.2.2 Message Errors 

If the length of the message that you are attempting to send exceeds your message concat 

settings, Communicator 2 will send you a warning prompt at the top of the page. 

Please click Cancel Send and change your message concatenation settings in the 

Advanced Option menu (below) or shorten the message before attempting to send again. 



If you click Confirm Send, your message will be cut at the concatenation limit set before 

sending. 

6.3 Templates 

You can now create and work with message templates in Communicator 2. A maximum of 25 

templates may be stored at any point in time. 

Creating message templates is easy, just type your generic message into the message text 

box on the Compose Message screen, and then click Save as Template (circled in blue 

below). The Add Template screen will then appear, where you can further edit your 

message, and then press Add Template to save. 

To choose a template to work with, just click either Select Template (circled in orange) from 

the Compose Message Menu or Message Templates (circled in blue above) from the lefthand 

menu on the webpage. 

To use a template, just click on its name (circled in orange), or click on the Edit or Delete 

links (circled in blue above) to either alter or remove an existing template. 



6.4 Batch files 

You can now upload a batch file with messaging for multiple recipients without having the 

recipients’ contact details stored within the online address book. You can find the batch file 

option at the bottom of the Compose Message page. 

Simply click Browse... to find the relevant CSV file, and then click Upload and Send. 

Please note: two mandatory fields required for a successful upload are Mobile (number) and 

Message. Please also ensure that you have the correct descriptors or headings at the top of 

each column of your CSV file. 

Communicator 2 will indicate at the top of the Messaging screen whether your batch file has 

successfully uploaded or not. 

Receiving Messages on your Communicator Account 

Communicator allows you to receive reply SMSs messages in over 220 countries. Click here 

to download the list of destinations. We are constantly updating this list to further improve our 

service to you. 

If a message is sent to a number on a network that is not listed, the message will not be 

delivered to the handset. 

7.1 Two-Way Numbers 

South African users 

Your two-way messages will have local numbers (Vodacom, MTN and Cell C) allocated to 

them. 

What does this mean for me 

All messages sent to South African numbers will be charged at the standard local 

rates and all replies from South African numbers will be sent to a local SA number, 

thereby saving on costs for you and your customer. 

USA users 

You cannot send messages to the USA via Communicator2. A dedicated short code is 

required to send messages to the US. Communicator2 does not support short codes at 

present. 

Inbox 

The Inbox allows you to view all reply SMS messages you have received. For each SMS 

received you will be charged 1/3 of a credit. If you do not have enough credits you will not be 

able to receive messages. 



Messages are categorised into Read, Unread and Deleted. When a message or SMS reply 

arrives, it is displayed as Unread in your Inbox, to alert you to the fact that you have a new 

message. Once you have opened the message, its status changes to Read, but it remains in 

your list of incoming messages. 

If you receive a message that is important and you’d like to flag it as such, you can mark it as 

Unread to remind yourself to come back to it. Similarly, if you receive a message and don’t 

want to open it as you know the contents, you can mark it as read. 

8.1. Replying to and forwarding messages 

You can reply to single or multiple messages simultaneously by selecting the checkbox next 

to the message/s and then by clicking the Reply button at the bottom of your Inbox page 

(circled in blue above). This opens up the Compose Message screen, with the list of selected 

recipients in the To field. 

To view the full message, click the message link in the Message column. 

You can also Delete, Reply to, or Forward this message to another recipient from here. 



8.2. Advanced Search and filtering 

The Inbox allows you to filter your received messages based on its Status (circled in blue 

below). To view the Advanced Search options click the Show Form button. After clicking this 

button the button label will change to Hide Form (circled in orange) and the Advanced Search 

options will be displayed. 

The following Advanced Search settings are available: 

 

 

 

Date Range: You can customize the time period within which to search. 

Received From: 

o All - will display all the messages received. 

o Known - will only display messages from numbers in your address book. 

o Unknown - will only display messages from numbers not listed in your 

address book. 

Two-Way Numbers: You may search for messages received based on their Two- 

Way number. 

8.3. Deleting messages 

To mark a message for deletion, place a tick in the box next to the message and select 

Delete. You can delete one message at a time or multiple messages simultaneously. 

You can permanently remove messages marked as Deleted (see the status bar on the right) 

from your list by clicking Purge Deleted. 



8.4. Exporting Reports 

You are able to download a report of all your received messages to CSV or Excel file by 

clicking on the Export button. All messages in your inbox, based on your search settings, will 

be downloaded. 

Billing 

This section allows you to buy credits, pay for services, check out the latest pricing and view a 

summary of your transaction history. 

Below is a summary of the various options available: 

9.1. Buy Now 

You can purchase credits and pay for your two-way number in this section. When making a 

payment you can select your country, payment method and the currency with which you’ll be 

making your payment. 

9.2. Pricing 

This will display a page with the latest pricing of credits in your currency of choice. Additional 

pricing information can be found at Pricing and Coverage section on our website. 

9.3. Billing History 

This allows you to generate a report of your payment history. This includes automated billing 

transactions. 

You can generate your report as a CSV file, an MS Excel spreadsheet, for online viewing, or 

in a custom format that suits your business’s software by selecting from the View / Export 

Results as dropdown menu. 

9.4. Transaction History 

This allows you to generate a report of your transactions between two dates. A transaction is 

created every time you make a purchase in Communicator 2. 

9.5. Automated Billing 

Using the automated billing function, you can choose to have your credits replenished and 

your credit card billed directly when your balance reaches a specified limit. 



For example: you can choose to have your account replenished with US$50 worth of credits, 

whenever your account reaches 0 credits. 

Simply select enabled from the Status dropdown list, set your purchase amount and 

currency, and the credit limit at which you wish to trigger the automated billing process. 

The menu at the bottom of the page will list the credit card details provided for the automated 

billing. 



9.6. My SMS Bundle 

An SMS bundle allows you to automatically top-up your message credit balance with a 

preselected number of credits every month and offers you a discount on your regular 

message credit prices. 

Simply select your bundle size from the drop down menu. You can also enable transaction 

alerts which can be sent to you via email or SMS. Once you are done, click Upgrade, and 

proceed to the billing page. 

If you sign up for an SMS Bundle before the start of a new month, Clickatell provides you with 

two options: 

1. You can choose to begin your SMS Bundle immediately, in which case you will 

be charged ‘pro-rata’, or proportionately for the days you are using it in the first 

month (with the exception of the last seven days of the month), or 

2. You can choose to begin your new SMS Bundle at the start of the following 

month. 

Please note: After you have completed your application, if you receive a warning that your 

pro-rata charge has failed but your SMS Bundle has been successfully added, then your 

credit card details may have been incorrectly entered or be invalid. In this event, please click 

on “edit card” in the Credit Card Details section, and ensure that your credit card details are 

correct. If your details are not corrected before the beginning of the new month, then your 

next SMS Bundle payment is likely to fail. 

Message credits purchased as part of an SMS bundle are valid for three calendar months and 

will automatically expire at the end of the third month after which they were purchased, if not 

used. 

You can upgrade your SMS Bundle at anytime, but the new bundle will come into effect on 

the following month. 

To downgrade or cancel your SMS Bundle you can contact our friendly support centre team 

at bundles.support@clickatell.com and they will assist you. 

Please note: SMS Bundles are not available on local accounts. 



Reporting 

This section provides you with a number of reports to help you manage and analyse your 

message traffic. An explanation of the message status that each message can have is shown 

below: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message unknown - The delivering network did not recognise the message type or 

content. 

Message queued - The message could not be delivered and has been queued for 

attempted redelivery. 

Delivered to gateway - Delivered to the network or gateway (delivered to the 

recipient). 

Received by recipient - Confirmation of receipt on the handset of the recipient. 

Error with message - There was an error with the message, probably caused by the 

content of the message itself. 

User cancelled message delivery - Client cancelled the message by setting the 

validity period, or the message was terminated by an internal mechanism. 

Error delivering message - An error occurred delivering the message to the handset. 

Routing error - The routing gateway or network has had an error routing the 

message. 

Message expired - Message has expired at the network due to the handset being off, 

or out of reach. 

Message queued for later delivery - Message has been queued at the Clickatell 

gateway for delivery at a later time (delayed delivery). 

Out of Credits - The message cannot be delivered due to a lack of funds in your 

account. Please re-purchase credits. 

Clickatell cancelled message delivery - Clickatell cancelled a scheduled message 

on your request. 

10.1. Simple report 

This will display a graph of message sent for a specific month on a day by day basis. 

10.2. Advanced Report 

The Advanced report is Clickatell’s most powerful report. You can customise the report to suit 

your needs. Clickatell treats each SMS message as a unique message, whether submitted in 

bulk or not, so as to allow for a complete and detailed track and trace processes. In so doing, 

we, the client, with auditable messaging complying with the South African Information Act. 

 

Date Range: You can choose a time period in hour or between two days (results 

include the days selected). 

Define Report Parameters: 

 

 

Destination Number: If you wish to report on messages sent to a particular MO 

number you have rented, then enter that number here. 

Msg Status: Select which message status you wish to report on. For example, you 

could report on all messages queued for later delivery or those that expired. 

Output Options: 

 

Order By: You can specify how you want the report sorted, using the drop-down 

menu. 



 

 

 

Records per Page: Indicate how many records per page you wish to have when 

viewing the report online. It is defaulted to the number chosen in your preferences. 

This is initially set to 30 lines per page. 

Message Detail: If selected the report will be outputted with the message. 

Export Results: If selected a report will be created as either a CSV (commas 

separated value) file, an MS Excel file or in a custom format which can be 

downloaded. You can choose your own delimiter. Rather use the pipe “|” delimiter 

than a comma, as a comma is often found in the contents of a message. 

10.3. Coverage Report 

This powerful report allows you to report on messages sent to specific countries and 

operators, for a particular period on a day by day basis. This report can be exported to either 

a CSV file or Excel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date Range or Period: You can either report on a custom period or use one of the 

defined periods. 

Country: Select one or more countries to report on. If only one country is selected 

then the report will display figure for each operator in the selected country. 

Msg Status: Select which message status you wish to report on. Not all operators 

and carriers can provide an indication on whether a message was received by the 

phone. However, this does not mean that a message was not delivered, so it is 

advised that you keep both selected. 

Combine Status Data: Select this option to combine the Status into one total. 

Order By: Choose whether you want to sort by Country or by Operator when 

displaying the results. 

Direction: whether ascending or descending. 

10.4. Summary Report 

Reconciliations are simple using the summary report function, which allows you to query 

message delivery by status, product, etc, grouped by day. 

10.5. Last 10 Messages 

This report uses the advanced report to show the last 10 message sent and includes: 

Sent and Scheduled time – time the message was submitted to the gateway 

Destination address – the phone number that the message was to be delivered to 

current status of the message 

the API message ID of the message 

message charge 

message data 

10.6. Query Message 

If you wish to query the status of a specific message you can do so here. Enter the API 

message ID which was sent to you after sending the message to our Gateway. You can also 

query the status of message sent to a specific number in the Advanced Report. 

10.7. Scheduled MT Report 

This report allows you to view messages that have been scheduled for delivery. You can view 

the status of messages within a specific date range or by selecting specific report parameters. 



Next n hours or Date Range: You can either choose to generate a report of all 

messages scheduled for delivery within the next 72 hours or less or you can generate 

a report of all scheduled messages within a specific date range 

Define Report Parameters: 

Destination Address: You can check the schedule delivery for messages sent to a 

particular number. 

API Message ID: View the schedule of a message by entering the message API ID. 

Output Options: 

 

 

 

 

Order By: You can specify how you want the report sorted, using the drop-down 

menu. 

Direction: Choose to output the returned records in either an ascending or 

descending order 

Records per Page: Indicate how many records per page you wish to have when 

viewing the report online. It is defaulted to the number chosen in your preferences. 

This is initially set to 30 lines per page. 

View/Export Results as: If selected a report will be created as either a CSV 

(commas separated value) file, an MS Excel file or in a custom format which can be 

downloaded. You can choose your own delimiter. Rather use the pipe “|” delimiter 

than a comma, as a comma is often found in the contents of a message. 

10.8. Error Report 

The Error Report function allows you to generate an error log from a specified time period. 

Contact details 

Phone: +27 21 910 7700 

Fax: +27 21 910 7701 

Website: www.clickatell.com 

Help URL: http://support.clickatell.com/index.php 

Support: support@clickatell.com 

Info: 

info@clickatell.com 

Sales: sales@clickatell.com

Clickatell Communicator Help Guide

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