Skip to main content

Enable and manage your Text Receptionist

Enable your Text Receptionist to reply to incoming texts on your Beside line - choose who it replies to, customize the signature, and manage manual vs. Receptionist replies.

Your Receptionist can reply to incoming text messages from clients, leads, and collaborators, ensuring timely, consistent responses even when you're unavailable.

You can choose to have it handle calls only, texts only, both, or exclude specific contacts entirely.

⚠️ Important: The Text Receptionist only replies to messages sent directly to your Beside line.

It does not support SMS forwarding from personal numbers or third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp. Messages sent to your personal phone number - even if forwarded - will not be handled by the Receptionist.

You can find your Beside number on the Beside mobile app under Settings, then Phone Numbers, or on 📖 Beside on the web at app.beside.com under Settings, then Phone Numbers under Workspace.

Enable your Text Receptionist

From Beside on the web

  1. Go to app.beside.com and click Receptionist in the left sidebar

  2. Select your line from the dropdown at the top of the page

  3. Click Text Messages under Channels

  4. Toggle on Replies to Text Messages (top right)

Changes save automatically.

From the mobile app

Step 1: Access your Receptionist settings

  1. Open the Beside mobile app

  2. Open Settings (tap the gear icon at the top right)

  3. Tap on your line

  4. Then, Receptionist

  5. Select the Text Messages tab at the top of the screen, next to the General icon

Step 2: Turn it on

  1. Toggle Reply to Text Messages on

  2. When active, the Text Messages icon shows a green indicator, and the related settings appear below.

Choose who your Receptionist replies to

From Beside on the web

In Receptionist, then Text Messages, find the Scope section. Click the Replies to dropdown to choose between:

  • Texts from Everyone - your Receptionist replies to all incoming texts

  • Only from Unsaved Numbers - ideal for new leads or first-time texters

Excluded contacts appear under Excluded Contacts on the same page, but can only be added or removed from the mobile app.

From the mobile app

Under Scope, choose your preferred audience:

  • Texts from Everyone: your Receptionist replies to all incoming texts.

  • Only from Contacts: only people saved in your contact list.

  • Only from Unsaved Numbers: ideal for new leads or first-time texters.

You can also tap Exclude Contacts to prevent specific people from being answered by your Receptionist. 📖 Control who your Receptionist handles

Customize your Text Receptionist's signature

The signature is appended to the end of every Receptionist text reply. You can personalize it to identify your Receptionist clearly.

For example: "- Sent by Bobby's Receptionist"

From Beside on the web

  1. Go to app.beside.com and click Receptionist in the left sidebar

  2. Select your line from the dropdown at the top, then click Text Messages under Channels

  3. Scroll down to Preferences, then Signature

  4. Edit the signature text in the box below

Changes save automatically.

From the mobile app

Under Preferences, tap Signature to customize how your Receptionist signs off.

📌 Note: Even if you leave the Signature field blank, the Receptionist may still include the default signature "sent by AI assistant". To disable it, enter a minimal placeholder such as a single dot (.) or short custom text. The engineering team is reviewing improvements to allow fully removing the signature.

What your Text Receptionist can do

  • Smart, instant replies to incoming texts

  • Shared knowledge base with your Receptionist

  • Book meetings directly on your calendar (if connected) - 📖 Learn more here.

Switch to manual replies

Want to take over a conversation yourself? Simply reply manually in the chat.

When you do, your Text Receptionist automatically pauses its replies in that conversation for 24 hours - this prevents overlapping or duplicated responses while you're handling things personally. After 24 hours, your Receptionist will only resume if that contact sends a new incoming message.

Turn off your Text Receptionist

You can turn off your Text Receptionist at any time by toggling Reply to Text Messages off - from the web at app.beside.com or from the mobile app, under Receptionist, then Text Messages.

Understanding the "Paused" status

Once your Text Receptionist has been turned on at least once, toggling it off will display its status as Paused (instead of "Off" or "Not configured"). This applies on both the mobile app and the web.

What "Paused" means:

  • ✅ The Receptionist is off - it will not send any automated replies to incoming texts.

  • ✅ All your settings (scope, signature, excluded contacts, preferences) are saved.

  • ✅ Any changes you make while paused are saved, but not live - they will only take effect once you toggle the Receptionist back on.

This lets you fully disable the Receptionist without losing your configuration, so you can resume later with the exact same setup.

📌 Note: Don't confuse this with the per-conversation 24-hour pause that happens when you reply manually to a contact (see Switch to manual replies above). That pause is local to a single conversation. The Paused status described here is the global state of your Text Receptionist for the whole line.

FAQ

Does the Text Receptionist work with WhatsApp?

No. The Text Receptionist does not support WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is a separate messaging platform and is not connected to your Beside line. The Text Receptionist only works with standard SMS/text messages sent directly to your Beside number.

  • ❌ Messages sent via WhatsApp will not be seen or replied to by the Receptionist.

  • ❌ Forwarding WhatsApp messages to your Beside number is not supported.

  • ✅ Only standard SMS texts sent directly to your Beside number are handled by the Receptionist.

Can I register WhatsApp Business with my Beside number?

No. Registering a WhatsApp Business account requires a verification code sent by SMS or automated call, and Beside numbers can't receive these codes - so the registration can't be completed.

This is the same reason Beside doesn't support SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) codes. To use WhatsApp Business, register it with a separate number that can receive SMS or call verification, such as a standard mobile line - not your Beside number.

Does it work with my personal number or forwarded SMS?

No. The Text Receptionist only replies to messages sent directly to your Beside number. Messages sent to your personal phone number - even if call or SMS forwarding is enabled - will not be handled by the Receptionist. SMS forwarding is not supported.

If you want the Receptionist to handle texts sent to the number your contacts already know, you can port that number to Beside. Once ported, it becomes your Beside number and the Text Receptionist works on it natively - no forwarding needed.
📖 Port your number vs set up call forwarding

Can a missed call automatically trigger an SMS reply?

It depends on whether your Receptionist answers the call. The Text Receptionist on its own only replies to incoming text messages, not to calls.

If your Receptionist answers the call, it can text the caller as part of that call - for example a booking link, your business hours, or a confirmation. This is set up with the Send a Text action in Scenarios, currently in Beta on Beside on the web and on the Beside mobile app (iPhone and Android). If you don't see Scenarios under your Receptionist, your account doesn't have access to it yet. 📖 Set up Scenarios

A call your Receptionist doesn't handle - for example, one that rolls to your Beside voicemail - won't automatically send a text back to the caller. For those, you can text the caller manually from your Beside number, or use Zapier with the "New missed call" trigger to send an email or other notification (Zapier can't send SMS from your Beside number).

Does it work with my current Receptionist setup?

Yes! It uses the same knowledge and preferences you've already configured.

Does it replace the Receptionist for calls?

No, they work side-by-side. The Receptionist handles calls, while the Text Receptionist handles texts.

Can it schedule appointments?

Yes! The Text Receptionist can book meetings directly on your calendar, just like the Receptionist for calls. Make sure you've connected your calendar to enable this feature.

Can I set a delay before it replies?

Not yet. The Receptionist replies instantly, but flexible timing options are in development.

Can I turn it off?

Yes. You can disable it entirely from Receptionist, then Text Messages at app.beside.com, or from the mobile app under Settings, then your line, then Receptionist, then Text Messages.

Once you toggle it off, the status will display as Paused - your Receptionist is fully off, and all your settings are saved for when you want to turn it back on. See Turn off your Text Receptionist above for details.

Related Articles
Did this answer your question?