Text Messaging in EAB Navigate
Overview
Text Messages from Navigate Faculty/Staff
NOTE:
Texts will not identify the sender so it is best practice to briefly identify yourself in the text.
Text back through the Navigate system under Conversations to reply by text. (Responding to a
text by email, whether Outlook or via EAB Navigate, shifts the dialogue to an email
conversation).
TROUBLESHOOTING: Please reach out to Academic Services at adv[email protected] as needed.
Text/SMS Messages are sent directly to students from Navigate Staff using the Send A
Message dialogue. There are several different ways to access this dialogue. One way is to navigate
to a student’s profile page and click the Message Student link:
Only 160 characters are allowed in SMS messages. Any valid Unicode characters are allowed in a
message, including Emoji. In order for the user to receive the SMS messages, they must have a valid
mobile/cell phone number.
Sent and received SMS/text messages are shown on your My Conversations page, , accessible
near the top left of your page:
Frequently Asked Questions
What third-party company facilitates text messaging?
We partner with Twilio to support our text messaging functionality.
What happens if you try to text a student in Navigate but there is no cell phone number available
for the student in the SIS, and therefore no cell phone number in Navigate?
The text message will be sent as an email to the student’s email address instead. Students also have the
opportunity to input or change their cell phone number when scheduling an appointment in Navigate Staff,
in Navigate Student, or via an appointment campaign request.
Can students opt out of text messaging?
Yes, they can reply STOP to any text received from a short code and it will change their setting in
Navigate to no longer send them text messages from the short code. Text messages users attempt to
send to this student will be routed to their email instead.
What happens if the student texts a response to a staff member?
This will come through as an email in Navigate and in the university’s email system.
Will staff members receive any texts or emails on their personal cell phone?
No, they will not.
Will students know if the message sent to them is sent only to them or to a lot of students?
No, the message will appear as an individual text, not a group text.
When would a text not make it back to the sender in Navigate?
There are several reasons as to why a text response would not be accurately documented in Navigate:
SMS, cell networks, and cell phones are inherently unreliable; messages get dropped/lost all the time.
If Navigate can’t find the reply's sender.
If the recipient route (“To” address) is a cell number (i.e. not a short code), but the recipient’s number
was either not found, or not assigned to any users.
