Account Setup & Billing

 

SMS Knowledge Base Series

  1. Overview
  2. Account Setup & Billing (this article)
  3. Sending SMS Messages
  4. Incoming SMS & Replies

Before your organization can send text messages, you need to complete a one-time account setup and add funds. This article walks through each step of the process and explains how billing works.

Only administrators can complete the SMS setup. Once set up, all users with SMS access can send messages.

The Setup Wizard

The setup wizard is located at Settings (gear icon) → SMS. It walks you through four steps to get your organization registered and ready to send.

Step 1 Business Info Step 2 Brand Registration Step 3 Campaign Setup Step 4 Phone Number
1

Business Information

Provide your organization's basic details. Most fields are pre-filled based on your CMS account:

  • Organization name — your legal organization name
  • Address — physical address of your organization
  • Website — your organization's website URL (required)
  • EIN — your tax identification number
  • Authorized representative — the person responsible for SMS usage (defaults to you, but can be changed)
Your organization type is automatically set to "Non-profit" since all CMS organizations are non-profit entities.
2

Brand Registration

This step registers your organization as an approved text message sender with US phone carriers. This is a requirement to ensure your messages are delivered reliably and not flagged as spam.

You will choose a brand type:

Brand Type Best For Daily Limit
Low Volume Standard Smaller organizations with modest messaging needs ~6,000 messages/day
Standard Larger organizations or frequent senders Up to 200,000+/day (after trust is established)
Brand registration is typically approved automatically within minutes, but in some cases may take a few business days. You will receive an email notification when approved.
If your brand registration is rejected, the reason will be shown on screen. Please contact CMS support for assistance — rejections cannot be resubmitted through the wizard.
3

Campaign Setup

A "campaign" describes how your organization will use text messaging. This is reviewed by phone carriers to ensure compliance with messaging guidelines.

The wizard pre-fills recommended values to give your campaign the best chance of approval. You just need to review and confirm.

4

Phone Number

Choose a local phone number for your organization. This is the number that will appear when recipients receive your text messages, and they can reply to this number.

You can search by area code to find a number local to your area. The system will show available numbers to choose from.

Saving Your Progress

You do not need to complete the entire wizard in one session. Your progress is saved automatically, so you can come back later and pick up where you left off.

Terms & Conditions

Before completing setup, you will be asked to accept the SMS Terms & Conditions. These cover:

  • Acceptable use of SMS messaging
  • Billing terms and prepaid balance policies
  • Compliance with carrier and legal requirements
  • Cancellation and refund policy

How Billing Works

Add Funds Choose an amount Pay by credit card Your Balance $50.00 Deducted For Each message sent Monthly phone fee Monthly campaign fee Low Balance? A warning appears in the header. Add more funds to continue sending.

Prepaid Balance

SMS uses a simple prepaid model:

  1. Add funds to your SMS balance using a credit card.
  2. Send messages — the cost is deducted from your balance automatically.
  3. Top up when your balance gets low.

Choose from preset top-up amounts (e.g., $25, $50, $100) when adding funds.

What Gets Charged

Fee Type When Charged Description
Per-message fee Each time you send A flat rate per message segment (see Pricing page for current rate)
Phone number fee Monthly Maintains your dedicated phone number
Campaign fee Monthly Maintains your active registration with carriers

All monthly fees are deducted from your prepaid balance — they are not charged to your card separately.

Viewing Pricing

A dedicated SMS Pricing page shows current rates for all fees. This page is visible to all users, even before SMS is set up, so you can review costs before committing.

All prices are in USD. Pricing may be adjusted from time to time — the pricing page always reflects the current rates.

Balance Warnings

Low Balance

When your balance is getting low, a dismissable notice appears in the header bar. This reminds you to add funds before your next send. You can dismiss this notice, and it will reappear on your next login.

Zero or Negative Balance: If your balance reaches zero or goes negative (from monthly fees), your SMS account remains active but you will not be able to send any messages until funds are added. A persistent notice will appear in the header that cannot be dismissed until the balance is resolved.

Automatic Top-Up

To prevent service interruptions, the system may automatically charge your default payment card when your balance is too low to cover monthly fees. This ensures your phone number and registration remain active. This behavior is described in the Terms & Conditions.

Billing History

Your complete billing history is available in the SMS settings area. It includes:

  • Transaction log — every fund addition, message charge, and monthly fee with dates and amounts
  • Current balance — your real-time prepaid balance
  • Monthly summaries — how much you spent each month
  • Lifetime totals — cumulative spending since you started using SMS

Initial Setup Cost

When you first set up SMS, the brand registration and campaign fees are deducted from your initial balance. This means you will need to add funds before completing the final steps of the wizard.

The wizard will clearly show the required initial balance before you proceed.

Cancellation

If you decide to stop using SMS, any remaining prepaid balance is non-refundable as stated in the Terms & Conditions. If you have concerns, please contact CMS support before cancelling.

Status Notifications

Throughout the setup process, you will receive notifications when important status changes occur:

  • Brand approved/rejected — in-app banner and email notification
  • Campaign approved/rejected — in-app banner and email notification
  • Phone number activated — in-app confirmation