Missed-call text-back not firing
The missed-call text-back is the single feature most customers tell us paid for the entire subscription in the first week. When it doesn't fire, every missed call is a lost lead — so getting it back online is high priority. Walk through these steps in order.
Step 1 — Confirm the call actually missed
Open *Activity → Calls* in the dashboard and find the call in question. The status column will say one of:
- `missed` — call rang BizRnR and nobody (you, your team, or the AI) answered. Text-back should have fired.
- `answered_by_ai` — the AI picked up. No text-back is sent because the call was actually answered. This is expected and correct.
- `answered_by_human` — someone in your business picked up before the AI. Same as above — no text-back, by design.
- `forwarded_to_voicemail` — the call hit your voicemail without going through BizRnR. The number is mis-forwarded; see Step 4.
If you're seeing answered_by_ai and you expected missed, the AI is doing its job — text-back only fires when nobody picks up.
Step 2 — Check the AI is configured to hand off, not always answer
In *Settings → Voice → Behavior* there's a setting "When should the AI answer?" with three options:
- Always answer — the AI picks up every call. Text-back almost never fires.
- Answer when nobody else picks up (default for AI Receptionist) — calls ring you or your team first, then the AI answers according to your forwarding rules. Text-back fires only when the configured text-back workflow applies.
- Only when you're closed — the AI only answers outside business hours. Inside hours, missed calls trigger text-back.
If you're not getting text-backs, it's almost always because Always answer is on. Switch to Answer when nobody else picks up or Only when you're closed.
Step 3 — Check the text-back template is enabled
In *Settings → SMS → Missed-call text-back* there's a master toggle and a template. The toggle defaults to on, but a previous edit may have flipped it. Confirm:
- Toggle is green (enabled).
- Template body is non-empty.
- Template doesn't include any blocked words. Carrier filters block messages containing certain words ("free," "winner," "guarantee," "click here") in the first text from a new number. If your template was custom-edited and now contains a flagged word, T-Mobile in particular will silently drop it. Use the default template for the first 30 days, then customize after the carrier reputation is established.
Step 4 — Verify your forwarding is set up correctly
The text-back can only fire if the call reached BizRnR. If your business number forwards to your voicemail before reaching BizRnR, the call never enters our system and we have no event to trigger text-back on.
Test by calling your business number from a phone that's not on the account. The call should:
- Ring 4 times on your cell (your normal ringtone).
- If you don't pick up, the AI receptionist greets the caller.
- If the AI is configured to text back instead of answering, hang up after 4 rings and you should receive the text-back SMS within 60 seconds.
If step 1 doesn't happen — the call goes straight to voicemail, or to a "the number you have dialed is unavailable" — your forwarding is misconfigured. Carrier-specific instructions are in *Settings → Voice → Forwarding*.
Step 5 — Check the recipient phone is reachable
The text-back goes to the phone number that called you. If that number is a landline or a VoIP that doesn't accept SMS, delivery fails. Look in *Activity → SMS* — if the row shows delivery_failed: undelivered and the recipient is a landline, the carrier rejected the SMS as "not SMS-capable." This isn't a BizRnR bug; it's a property of the recipient line.
Step 6 — Check your A2P 10DLC registration status
If your A2P registration is pending or rejected, T-Mobile (40% of US mobile traffic) will block ~95% of your text-backs. *Settings → Compliance → A2P status* shows the current state:
- Approved — you're at full throughput, no blocking.
- Pending — you're at low-volume standard (2,000/day cap) and may see some blocking.
- Rejected — almost everything to T-Mobile is blocked. Re-submit with corrected business details.
If you're rejected, the most common cause is the EIN or business name on file with us not matching what's registered with the IRS. Open a support ticket — we'll guide you through the re-registration in 10 minutes.
Still not working?
Email support@bizrnr.com with the call ID (visible in *Activity → Calls* on the row that should have triggered) and we'll trace it through the system in under an hour.