PLANNING CENTER TEXTING OPTIONS

Planning Center Texting Options Shut Down By Carriers. How To Fix It.

Planning Center, a popular church management software, has announced that its short code texting option has recently been shut down by carriers.

This means that churches that use Planning Center to send text messages to their congregants will no longer be able to do so as of right now.

What Happened?

According to a recent explanation post by Planning Center, a scammer ended up using Planning Center to send out phishing messages, which triggered AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon to suspend their texting capabilities with the shortcode. This text messaging outage immediately affected all Planning Center customers using their texting functionality.

Planning Center has said they have newly built new safeguards to try and mitigate future risk and appealed to all three major carriers, hoping the shortcode will be turned back on.

However, there is no guarantee it will be approved again, especially as shared short code usage is increasingly being frowned upon by carriers.

2 Types Of Text Message Marketing

There are two main types of texting options for businesses: shortcodes and telephone numbers. Short codes are five-digit numbers that are assigned to businesses by carriers. They are often used for marketing and promotional messages, as they can be sent more quickly than telephone numbers. However, carriers are increasingly restricting the use of shortcodes for these purposes.

Planning Center used shared shortcodes for its texting options. This meant that multiple businesses could use the same short code to send text messages. This was a cost-effective solution for the Planning Center, but it also made it more difficult for carriers to track and enforce spam regulations.

As a result, carriers have begun to shut down shared short codes. This has affected a number of businesses, including the Planning Center.

What Should Churches Do Now?

Churches that use the Planning Center to send text messages will need to find a new solution, such as using a dedicated telephone number or a third-party texting service.

Textinchurch.com is a third-party texting service that is a formally approved partner of the Planning Center. This means that TextInChurch integrates seamlessly with the Planning Center, so you can easily import your church’s contact list and start sending text messages right away.

This is something that should be prioritized, especially with guest follow-up campaigns.

Benefits of using

Seamless integration: Textinchurch integrates seamlessly with the Planning Center, so you can easily import your church’s contact list and start sending text messages right away.

Custom templates: You can create custom templates for your text messages, so you can save time and ensure that your messages are consistent.

Tracking: You can track the delivery and open rates of your text messages, so you can see how effective your campaigns are.

Reporting: You can generate reports on your text message campaigns, so you can see how your audience is responding.

Full support: TextInChurch offers robust customer support, so you can always get help if you need it. They even have live office hours online weekly for teams to help them get up to speed and learn all the features of the platform.

If you are looking for a new texting solution for your church, Textinchurch.com is a great option. It is a reliable, secure, and easy-to-use service that integrates seamlessly with Planning Center.

to-do-list texting with planning center at text in church

What Else Needs To Be Addressed?

Here are some common places where you may need to update your texting information:

Signs: If you have any signs that include your church’s texting information, you will need to update them to include the new number.

Website: If you have a texting widget or form on your website, you will need to update the number there as well.

Newsletter: If you include your church’s texting information in your newsletter, you will need to update it in the next issue.

Emails: If you send out emails to your congregation, you may also want to include your church’s texting information in those emails.

If you are unsure where else you need to update your texting information, it is a good idea to do a thorough review of all of your church’s communications. This will help you to ensure that everyone who needs to know about the change is aware of it.

If you are a church that has been using Planning Center with its shortcode texting functionality, let us know. We’d love to hear how you are pivoting to find a solution.