Getting Started with Groups and Contacts

Getting Started with Groups and Contacts

Groups

Begin using Echo by setting up a contact group.

By grouping contacts  you can easily send to a predefined set, such as participants of different projects, clients in different regions, or owners of different projects.Creating groups is essential when you would like to communicate with a targeted set of contacts. In Groups, you add, delete and manage your contacts as you begin to engage and build your contact database.

Ready to create your first group?

  1. Go to your homepage
  2. Using the quick access button, click on “Create”
  3. Click on “Group”
  4. In the text box specify the name of the group. This also known a  keyword.
  5. The name of the group should be between 2-10 characters.
  6. Click on “Check Availability”:
    1. If you are using a shared short code, click on ‘Check Availability’ to confirm that the name is available (not in use by another organization using the Echo Platform).
    2. If you using a Private short-code, you do not have to check for this.
  7. When group name or keyword is confirmed “Available” the create button will become accessible.
  8. Click on “Create” to create your group.
  9. Once created, you will see the Group basic settings page. Here add any details you feel are relevant to define your group in the ‘Group Description’ check box.
  10. Click on "Save Group Settings" to save your settings when done.
You can create up-to 5 respondent groups for accounts on the shared communication channels or up to 10 respondent groups for accounts with private communication channels.This group largely impact SMS channels as with an account on the shared short-code as having more than 5 groups will limit the naming of groups for organizations whereas for private short-code there is a limit to 10 groups to discourage misuse of groups.
For more information on group limits and communication channels, feel free to drop an email to support@echomobile.io

Contacts

Once the group has been created, you can populate your group with contacts. Contacts are respondents and participants that you would like to engage and communicate with. Contacts on the platform are uniquely identified by the phone numbers.

You can capture and build a contact’s profile on the platform by capturing their name( full name), location or capture additional information of the contact such as GENDER, AGE, BIRTHDAY.

Ready to create your first contact?

  1. Go to your homepage
  2. Using the quick access button, click on “Create”
  3. Click on “Contact”
  4. Select your desired group
  5. You have two options
    • Add Single Contact: You can add in a contact one at a time by typing in their details such as Name, Phone Number, Location, etc
    • Upload Contacts: If you have an existing contact database that you would like to engage with, you can upload the data using an excel document (.xls/.xlsx format). To upload your first batch of contacts into a group, read the article on how to perform a batch contacts upload.

Ready for the Next Step?

Learn how you can create communication tools in moments with the Echo Mobile platform
Have another question? Send us an email at support@echomobile.org or for a quick connection to us, click on the support chat box if you are logged into your account!


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