Updating a mobile number when sending Smart Forms
This article applies to users who are sending access codes for Smart Forms via SMS. With SMS selected, recipients of Smart Forms will receive an access code via SMS to their mobile phone when they click on the form link. Therefore, with this setting, you must make sure you have a correct mobile number saved for the recipient.
If you have ‘Email’ or ‘None’ selected under the ‘Smart Form completion’ setting, then you do not need a mobile number for the recipient - all you need is their email address.
Occasionally, when sending codes via SMS, there may be times where you experience issues with the message not being received due to a missing or incorrect mobile number. If you run into any problems, you should be able to update the recipient's mobile number to allow the code to be sent without having to resend a form from scratch.
As forms can be sent as a link within an email, such as in an appointment confirmation, there may be times where you send an email containing a form link to a recipient (a client, a Next of Kin or a Third Party) who you do not have a mobile number recorded for.
If a recipient receives a form link which requires an SMS access code, but you do not have a mobile number saved against their record, they will see this message on screen when they open the form:
At this point, they will need to contact you and provide their mobile number. For a client, or a Next of Kin connected to a client, open the Client Summary, click on Edit details and add the mobile number to the relevant field for the recipient.
For a Third Party, go to Settings -> Third Parties (a Site Administrator will need to do this), click on Edit next to the recipient, and add the mobile number to the information here.
Once you have saved the mobile number within WriteUpp, ask the recipient to return to the email and click on the link again. This time, we will detect that the code previously failed to send, check for a mobile number again and as it has since been added, we will send the code to the updated number.
The recipient will then be able to enter the code online, complete the form and return it to you.
If we have tried to send an access code to the mobile number linked to the recipient and this has failed, the recipient will see this on screen:
If anyone reports seeing this message, please check the mobile number linked to the recipient within WriteUpp to confirm that this is the correct number. For example, are you using the correct country code, or does the mobile number contain the correct number of digits?
If you identify an issue with the number, update the details on the Patient Summary in WriteUpp and then ask the client to click on the form link within their email again. The code should then be sent to the correct number.
If the recipient clicks on the link within their email and does not see an error message but also does NOT receive a code, it has most likely been sent somewhere. For example, maybe the wrong mobile number has been entered for the recipient, but it was an actual mobile number belonging to someone else. This being the case, the code would be registered as sent to the number that was entered at the time.
If this is the case, you should again update the mobile number that is linked to the recipient within WriteUpp. This time though, you will need to re-generate the code for the recipient within WriteUpp. To do this, go to the Messages tab of the Client Summary and find the Direct Message relating to the form you sent. Open the message and click on the Resend Code button at the bottom of the screen:
You will then be asked to confirm, after which a new access code for the form will be sent to the updated mobile number.
Codes in this situation need to be manually re-sent as when completing forms online, only one code per form will be generated and sent when the link is clicked. This minimises the number of SMS credits used, since once a code is received, it can be used again to access the form. So if a client clicks on the link a second time, and a code was successfully sent previously, we will not send another. In this situation, if a client no longer has their code, they will need to contact you, so another one can be generated and sent.
If you have ‘Email’ or ‘None’ selected under the ‘Smart Form completion’ setting, then you do not need a mobile number for the recipient - all you need is their email address.
Occasionally, when sending codes via SMS, there may be times where you experience issues with the message not being received due to a missing or incorrect mobile number. If you run into any problems, you should be able to update the recipient's mobile number to allow the code to be sent without having to resend a form from scratch.
No mobile number present
As forms can be sent as a link within an email, such as in an appointment confirmation, there may be times where you send an email containing a form link to a recipient (a client, a Next of Kin or a Third Party) who you do not have a mobile number recorded for.
If a recipient receives a form link which requires an SMS access code, but you do not have a mobile number saved against their record, they will see this message on screen when they open the form:
At this point, they will need to contact you and provide their mobile number. For a client, or a Next of Kin connected to a client, open the Client Summary, click on Edit details and add the mobile number to the relevant field for the recipient.
For a Third Party, go to Settings -> Third Parties (a Site Administrator will need to do this), click on Edit next to the recipient, and add the mobile number to the information here.
Once you have saved the mobile number within WriteUpp, ask the recipient to return to the email and click on the link again. This time, we will detect that the code previously failed to send, check for a mobile number again and as it has since been added, we will send the code to the updated number.
The recipient will then be able to enter the code online, complete the form and return it to you.
Problem with a mobile number
If we have tried to send an access code to the mobile number linked to the recipient and this has failed, the recipient will see this on screen:
If anyone reports seeing this message, please check the mobile number linked to the recipient within WriteUpp to confirm that this is the correct number. For example, are you using the correct country code, or does the mobile number contain the correct number of digits?
If you identify an issue with the number, update the details on the Patient Summary in WriteUpp and then ask the client to click on the form link within their email again. The code should then be sent to the correct number.
No error messages but no code received
If the recipient clicks on the link within their email and does not see an error message but also does NOT receive a code, it has most likely been sent somewhere. For example, maybe the wrong mobile number has been entered for the recipient, but it was an actual mobile number belonging to someone else. This being the case, the code would be registered as sent to the number that was entered at the time.
If this is the case, you should again update the mobile number that is linked to the recipient within WriteUpp. This time though, you will need to re-generate the code for the recipient within WriteUpp. To do this, go to the Messages tab of the Client Summary and find the Direct Message relating to the form you sent. Open the message and click on the Resend Code button at the bottom of the screen:
You will then be asked to confirm, after which a new access code for the form will be sent to the updated mobile number.
Codes in this situation need to be manually re-sent as when completing forms online, only one code per form will be generated and sent when the link is clicked. This minimises the number of SMS credits used, since once a code is received, it can be used again to access the form. So if a client clicks on the link a second time, and a code was successfully sent previously, we will not send another. In this situation, if a client no longer has their code, they will need to contact you, so another one can be generated and sent.
Updated on: 29/02/2024
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