If you need to touch base with your team members about an upcoming change, you can email or text them right from their scheduled plan. Tell them where the change was made in the order or notify them of a time change, and they'll receive the message and link to the plan in their inbox. Replies will go to the sender of the message.
Tip
Want to see other ways to use texting in Planning Center? Check out our Texting Reference Guide!
To send an email or a text message from your mobile device, go to the Teams tab in a plan and tap the envelope icon.
In Recipients, you can choose who to send the email or text to.
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Choose who will receive this notification:
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Prepared Notifications chooses any team members with prepared notifications.
Caution
An envelope icon next to someone's name means some team members still have a prepared notification and haven't been notified about the plan.
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Scheduled People chooses any team member scheduled to the plan.
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Needed Signups chooses team members assigned to any needed positions with Signup Sheets.
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Select the status of the team members you'd like to message, and choose the teams you want to message.
Notice
From a browser, Schedulers can only email people on teams they lead. From mobile, they can email anyone scheduled to the plan.
If you're messaging split teams, choose the time.
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Tap People Selected if you want to adjust the list of people to message.
Tap Next when you're ready to type out your message.
Select the email or text tab, depending on what type of message you want to send.
Choose a template or tap the message area to open the keyboard and compose your message. When you've verified that the recipients are correct, tap the Send icon.
Notice
When you send the email, each tag enclosed in {{ }} is replaced with the appropriate content for the person receiving the email. You can edit your personal signature from the web in the Details tab on your profile.
The email will include:
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Buttons to accept or decline only for people who are unconfirmed. Confirmed people do not see these buttons.
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All times the person is assigned to.
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A link to view the plan.
Text messages are reliant upon the limitations of the cell phone provider, so although they can be convenient, there are two things to keep in mind:
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If you've prepared a text message for more people than your cell phone carrier allows, not all team members will receive the text message.
Tip
If you're not sure of the number of people your carrier allows, copy the text before taping the button to send it. You may need to send multiple messages, and this helps you remember what you're sending!
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There is no additional Planning Center charge to send a text, but recipients may incur standard texting charges if applicable to their mobile provider.
If you want to use a different notification system, you can send in-app notifications for iOS and Android devices.
From the text tab, you can compose your text message.
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View the list of people receiving this text and add mobile numbers for people who don't have them.
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Enter the text message.
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If you include the phone reference, the name and last four digits of a person's phone number will show in the text, so people will know who is replying to the thread.
To send the text, you're taken to your device's preferred text messaging app to actually send the message. Because of this, there's not a way for recipients to opt in or opt out of the messages. Responses will then be included in the group message.