If you purchase a DID number that is capable to receive SMS, like a Virtual Mobile Number, you can setup so as to receive the sms on your iOS device and also reply to that SMS using your DID number.

<aside> 📢 Don’t worry, no programming knowledge is required

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Below are the requirements:

An iOS device

smsZy Account

Zapier Account

Pushover Account

Once you have downloaded and registered for the services required, you can now set this up by following the below steps:

  1. smsZy - Log in to your smsZy account and on the top right hand corner, click on your initials and select Account Settings. In the Access Token field, you will want to copy that value as you will need that in the next step.

  2. Shortcuts - This is used so that you can use the Shortcuts app to reply to a SMS. Now head over to your iOS device. You will now need to create a new shortcut in the Shortcuts app. To simplify this process, just click on the below link: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/725fa07a7b4c4d85b5aa1eff917efff9 There will be a series of question that you will now need to enter: ”Enter your smsZy Access Token” - enter what you have copied from the first step ”Enter your VMN number” - enter the DID number that will be used to send out the message (this is the number that the receiver will see). Save the Shortcut and we can then proceed to the next step.

  3. Pushover - Once you have created an account on the app, you will need to head over to their website and login over at https://pushover.net. Under the Your User Key section, take note of your user key. This will be know as your User Key.

    Screenshot 2023-02-20 at 12.49.46 pm.png

  4. Pushover - Scroll down to the section called Your Applications and click on Create and Application/API Token. Give it a descriptive name while leaving the rest blank and hit on the Create Application button. You can now see your application and you will need to take note of the API Token/Key. This will be known as your Application Token.

    Screenshot 2023-02-20 at 12.53.10 pm.png

  5. Zapier - Click on the Create Zap button and select Webhooks by Zapier. In the Event parameter, select Catch Hook. Click on Continue to proceed along. Leave the Pick off a Child Key empty and click on Continue. You now need to test the Zap. Copy the webhook URL that was provided by Zapier and paste that URL in the Incoming SMS Webhook over on the Atomic Platform (refer to this document). Once you have done that, send an SMS to your Virtual Mobile Number. Once the SMS has been sent, head back to Zapier and click on Test Service. Zapier will pick up the SMS and will look something like this:

    Screenshot 2023-04-06 at 11.17.51 am.png

    Click on Continue and do another search for Webhooks by Zapier. In the Event parameter, select POST and click Continue. In the URL field, enter https://api.pushover.net/1/messages.json and in Payload Type, select json. In the Data field, enter the information as per the below diagram, replacing application_token with your Pushover Application Token and user_key with your Pushover User Key. You can ignore all other fields and click on Continue.

    Screenshot 2023-04-06 at 11.29.30 am.png

    You can now save the Zap.

  6. That’s about it. Now whenever you receive an incoming SMS on your Virtual Mobile Number, you will get a Pushover notification on your iOS device. If you click on the Reply link, it will open the Shortcuts app and prompt you to enter your message.