Missed-Call Text-Back lives on the Settings → Notifications page, in a card called "Missed-Call Text-Back." It isn't a tool you run by hand — there's no button to click per call. Once a shop turns it on, an unanswered inbound call to that shop's number becomes the input, and a single automatic SMS reply to the caller is the output, which also opens (or continues) a conversation in the shop's unified Inbox so the caller's reply lands in the normal place.
There's no per-message review step here. Once the toggle is on, a missed call fires the text automatically — nobody approves that specific message before it goes out. What you control ahead of time is the wording: write your own fixed message, or leave it blank and let AI phrase the reply fresh each time (on plans that support it). Either way, the same safety rails apply to every send: a caller who has ever texted STOP is never texted, and the shop's normal messaging spend cap and rate limit still govern whether the text goes out at all.
Turning it on
The Notifications settings card has one switch — "Enable missed-call text-back" — and an optional "Custom message" box (up to 600 characters) where you can write your own reply using a `{{shop_name}}` merge token that gets swapped for your shop's actual name. Leave that box blank and the shop gets an AI-personalized reply instead (or a plain built-in default if AI isn't available for the account). The toggle alone doesn't make texts start going out, though — it also requires SalesThumb to have a Twilio voice number provisioned and pointed at your shop's call line. If you turn the feature on and don't see any texts firing, that provisioning step is the first thing to check with support.
What happens on a missed call
When a call to the shop's number goes unanswered — no-answer, busy, or a failed connection — the system checks that the feature is on for that shop, then sends one text back to the caller. If the caller isn't already in your customer list, a new lead gets created automatically so the reply threads correctly. That text, and any reply the caller sends, becomes an ordinary conversation in the shop's Inbox, the same as any other text thread — there's nothing separate to check.
A few things are enforced automatically before any text goes out: exactly one text per missed call (Twilio can resend the same "call ended" notification more than once, and that never results in a duplicate text), no text to anyone who has opted out, and no text at all — not even the fallback wording — if the shop has hit its own monthly messaging spend cap or its daily send-rate limit.
Things to know
- Plan requirement: AI-personalized wording requires the Professional plan or higher, alongside SalesThumb's other AI-assisted messaging tools. Shops below that tier — or a Professional+ shop that's hit its AI usage cap for the period — still get the automatic text; it just uses your own custom message (if you set one) or the plain built-in default instead of AI-written copy.
- Stub mode: if the environment doesn't have an AI key configured, the same fallback path runs — your custom template, or the default message — rather than a separate placeholder response. In other words, stub mode and a tier/cap block look identical to the caller: a real, sensible text, just not one written fresh by AI.
- It's silent about which one you got, unless you check the Inbox. The message that lands in the conversation is the actual text that was sent, so if it reads like your own template, that's what went out; you won't see a separate "AI vs. template" label on the message itself.
- Requires Twilio Voice wiring, not just the toggle. The switch being on is necessary but not sufficient — SalesThumb has to have pointed a Twilio voice number's status callback at your shop first.
- New-database provisioning. A small number of shops may see a "not available yet" message when trying to save the toggle or template — that means the underlying settings haven't been provisioned for that account yet. Contact support if it doesn't resolve on its own.
- It only fires on genuinely missed calls (no-answer, busy, failed) — a call that was actually answered never triggers a text, even briefly.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Does every missed call get a text, or just some of them?
A: Every call that ends as no-answer, busy, or failed gets exactly one text back, as long as the feature is on for that shop. A call that was answered doesn't trigger anything, and repeated notifications about the same call never result in more than one text.
Q: Will it text a customer who opted out?
A: No. Anyone who has texted STOP is never texted back, and that check runs before the system even creates a lead record for a new caller.
Q: Is the reply written by AI every time?
A: Only on the Professional plan and above, and only when the shop hasn't hit its AI usage cap. Otherwise — and any time AI isn't available — the caller gets your own custom message (if you wrote one) or a plain built-in default instead. Both are real, complete texts either way.
Q: What happens when the caller texts back?
A: Their reply opens (or continues) a normal conversation in the shop's Inbox, exactly like any other text thread — there's no separate missed-call queue to check.
Q: I turned the toggle on — why isn't anything happening on a missed call?
A: The toggle only controls whether the shop wants the feature; it also requires SalesThumb to have a Twilio voice number provisioned and pointed at your shop's call line. If texts still aren't going out after enabling it, check with support that the number routing is set up.
Q: What does "stub mode" mean for this feature?
A: It means the environment doesn't have an AI key configured, so the AI-personalization step never runs — the caller still gets a complete text, but it's your own template or the built-in default rather than freshly AI-written copy.