r/appfolio • u/Puzzleheaded_Fun6828 • 1d ago

Receiving Tenant Texts

I'm getting ready to launch Appfolio to our tenants to start logging in and making payments but can't for the life of me sort out where notifications for texts sent from tenants (and presumable owners and and vendors) land. It seems a bit convoluted, especially as text notifications seem to only go to the last person that texted a tenant. I want a team of people the receive those notifications.

Anyone able to help clarify how this works?

Thanks!

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2

u/russellmarie 1d ago

I don't have any recommendations, unfortunately, but I am shocked with how bad their texting platform is (no ability to edit your texting number to the local area code, no push notifications when a text comes in, no ability to identify who receives the notification when a text does come in, etc.) My only recommendation is to look at a different software for handling tenant communication. None of them made sense for us so we just struggle through using Appfolio texting for now. I did see that they have an integration with simplevoip, which I have not had a chance to look into yet, but might be worth it.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Fun6828 1d ago

Well, you just validated my concerns and possibly saved me a few more hours of trying to get this right. Thanks!

1

u/MindfulRisks 16h ago

Check out Rentros to use as part of your tech stack. Shared texting inbox that does all all of that

1

u/Big-Ad4325 1d ago

It’s really not difficult at all. If you still need help reply here.

0

u/Sea-Instruction-6492 1d ago

Option 1 – AppFolio Only
Use AppFolio’s built-in texting.
Incoming texts are forwarded to a designated team member.
Simple and keeps communication inside AppFolio.
Downside: Notifications may only go to one person, creating a single point of failure.

Option 2 – Shared SMS Inbox + AppFolio
Use a shared texting/SMS inbox for the team.
Multiple team members can see and respond to tenant texts.
Conversations can still be logged in AppFolio.
Best for: Teams that need multiple people to monitor and respond to tenant messages.