Your AI agent can text a customer from your Agentline NZ New Zealand 028 number to confirm an appointment they booked, then read their reply and update the booking or tell you. It's for one-to-one confirmations and reminders people expect; marketing and bulk texts are blocked, and until you're on a paid plan the agent can only text your own verified mobile.
Before you start
- A Starter or Pro plan with a live 028 number. Your 028 number is set up within a few days of signup. Your email inbox works straight away.
- Until you're on a paid plan, your agent can only email or text your own verified email address and mobile number. To try this during the trial, verify your mobile in the dashboard (Settings, Your mobile) or ask the agent to call start_owner_phone_verification, then have it text you.
- The customer's NZ mobile number, given to you when they booked.
- An assistant or agent connected to Agentline NZ. See the setup guides.
Steps
- Check the number is live. The agent calls get_my_number. It returns your 028 number, your plan, the SMS segments used this month and any sending restriction. While the number is still being set up, send_sms returns 409 number_pending.
- Write the confirmation. Say who it's from, the date and time, and how to reply. Ask for a reply the agent can act on, such as 1 to confirm or 2 to change. Don't ask for a reply of just YES or CANCEL (see Replies that are keywords below). Approve the wording before the agent sends it.
Hi Sam, this is [your business]. Your appointment is Wed 4 Nov at 10:00am. Reply 1 to confirm or 2 to change it. - Send it. The agent calls send_sms with the customer's mobile and the text. Agentline NZ checks the content and your limits, then sends it from your 028 number. The carrier doesn't provide delivery receipts, so a sent SMS shows as sent, not delivered.
curl -X POST https://agentline.nz/api/v1/sms \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $AGENTLINE_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"to":"+64211234567","body":"Hi Sam, this is [your business]. Your appointment is Wed 4 Nov at 10:00am. Reply 1 to confirm or 2 to change it."}' - Read the reply. The agent calls list_messages with contact set to the customer's number and unread_only set to true. Agentline NZ doesn't push replies to the agent, so have it check again later, or when you ask it to.
- Act on it, then mark it read. On a 1, the agent marks the booking confirmed. On a 2 or anything it can't handle, it tells you or offers new times. It then calls mark_read with the message id so the next check only shows new replies.
- Respect STOP. If the customer replies STOP, Agentline NZ opts them out straight away and texts them a confirmation. After that, send_sms to them returns 403 recipient_opted_out until they text START.
Replies that are keywords
When a reply is only one of these words (in any case, ignoring a trailing full stop or exclamation mark), Agentline NZ treats it as an instruction and sends an automatic reply:
| Reply | What happens |
|---|---|
| STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, QUIT, OPTOUT or OPT-OUT | The customer is opted out of texts from your number |
| START, UNSTOP, SUBSCRIBE or YES | The customer is opted back in |
| HELP or INFO | The customer gets a short note about who operates the number and how to opt out |
So a customer who replies just CANCEL to cancel their appointment is opted out of your texts, and a reply of just YES gets a "you have been resubscribed" message. Ask for 1 or 2 instead. A longer reply such as "cancel please" or "yes thanks" isn't a keyword and reaches the agent as an ordinary message. Every reply, keyword or not, shows in list_messages.
Limits that matter for confirmations
| Limit | Starter | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Outbound SMS segments a month | 50 | 200 |
| SMS per minute | 10 | 10 |
| SMS per day | 150 | 150 |
| New SMS recipients per day | 25 | 25 |
160 characters per segment (153 per part when split), or 70 (67) with emoji or macrons. A macron in a name or place, such as Tāmaki, puts the whole text on the shorter segments. When you reach an allowance, sending pauses until next month or until you upgrade. No overage charges without asking. See How are SMS segments counted?.
What gets blocked
Standard NZ mobile numbers only (020/021/022/027/028/029). No landlines, short codes, premium or international numbers. Texts with promotional phrases such as "special offer", "limited time" or "% off" are rejected with 422 content_marketing, and link shorteners such as bit.ly are blocked, so use the full booking link.
FAQ
Can the agent send a reminder the day before?
Yes, if the customer expects one as part of their booking. Agentline NZ doesn't schedule texts, so the reminder goes when your agent or your own scheduler calls send_sms.
Can the agent text customers during the trial?
No. Until you're on a paid plan, your agent can only email or text your own verified email address and mobile number. You can still run the whole workflow against your own mobile before the trial converts.
What if the customer calls the number instead of texting?
Voice is on the Pro plan only, and isn't included during the trial. On Starter, ask for a reply by text, as the example above does. On Pro, calls can go to voicemail or a voice agent. See Answer calls to your agent's 028 number.
What does Agentline NZ cost?
Starter is NZ$29/month and Pro is NZ$79/month, billed in NZ dollars. Start free with an email inbox (no card), or take a 7-day trial of Starter or Pro to get a number. Agentline NZ is not GST-registered, so no GST is charged.
How long does it take to get the 028 number?
Your 028 number is set up within a few days of signup. Your email inbox works straight away. Full refund if your number hasn't arrived within 30 days of your first payment.
Can my assistant send marketing or bulk texts?
No. Transactional and assistant messages only: replies, bookings, confirmations, reminders people asked for, and codes. Marketing, promotions, cold texts and bulk texts are blocked. See What we don't allow.
Related
- Who can my agent text and email with Agentline NZ?
- What happens when my AI assistant sends a text?
- Why does my text say sent instead of delivered?
- What does the UEMA mean for SMS and email sent by AI agents?
- How does the Agentline NZ trial work?
Start free · Start free with an email inbox (no card), or take a 7-day trial of Starter or Pro to get a number.