> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.open.cx/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# SMS in Front

> Route inbound SMS conversations from Front through OpenCX AI with handoff to your Front inbox.

SMS conversations that arrive in Front through a connected phone number are processed by OpenCX. The AI picks up the message via webhook, generates a reply, and posts it as the AI <Tooltip tip="A user account in Front. OpenCX posts AI replies as this teammate so customers see a consistent identity.">teammate</Tooltip> — the response is sent back to the customer as an SMS through Front.

## Pre-requisites

<Warning>
  **Connect your Front workspace first.** The AI has nothing to respond to until the webhook is active — start with [Connect Front](/integrations/front/connect) and come back here.
</Warning>

* **Front connected and webhook active** — see [Connect Front](/integrations/front/connect).
* **SMS channel configured in Front** — your Front workspace must have a phone number receiving SMS messages.

## How conversations land in Front

```mermaid theme={"dark"}
flowchart LR
  A[Customer sends SMS] --> B[SMS arrives in Front]
  B --> C[AI replies via SMS]
  C --> D{AI can resolve?}
  D -- Yes --> E[Resolution note + archive]
  D -- No --> F[Handoff note + unassign]
  F --> G[Rep picks up in Front]
  G --> H[Rep replies — customer SMS]
```

## Setting up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm SMS messages route to Front">
    Send a test SMS to the phone number your Front inbox is configured to receive. The conversation should appear in your Front inbox.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Confirm the AI processes the message">
    The AI should reply within a few seconds. Check that the reply appears as a message from the AI teammate and is delivered back as an SMS.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Trigger a test handoff">
    Send *"I want to talk to a human"* via SMS. The AI should hand off — you'll see an internal handoff comment and the conversation unassigned.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify the rep reply loop">
    Pick up the handed-off conversation in your Front inbox. Reply as a teammate — the message should land on the customer's phone as an SMS.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What the rep sees

* The conversation appears in their **Front inbox** as an SMS thread.
* The full AI-to-customer transcript is already in the thread.
* An **internal handoff comment** with summary and sentiment.
* Replies sent from the Front inbox are delivered to the customer as SMS.

## Channel-specific details

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Contact matching by sender handle" icon="address-book">
    OpenCX extracts the sender's phone number from the webhook payload. The handle is matched against existing contacts. If no match is found, a new contact is created with the phone number as their identifier.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Message length" icon="ruler">
    SMS messages are limited by carrier standards (160 characters per segment for GSM-7 encoding). Long AI responses may be split across multiple SMS segments by Front's SMS provider. OpenCX sends the full response text — segmentation is handled downstream.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="No multimedia (MMS) processing" icon="image">
    If a customer sends images or media via MMS, Front receives the attachments. OpenCX downloads and stores them, but the AI's ability to reference MMS content depends on the attachment type and Front's handling of MMS on the connected channel.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Related Documentation

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Email channel" icon="envelope" href="/integrations/front/channels/email">
    Email conversation specifics.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect Front" icon="plug" href="/integrations/front/connect">
    API token, webhook, and teammate selection.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Front overview" icon="inbox" href="/integrations/front/overview">
    What else the Front integration covers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="wrench" href="/integrations/front/troubleshooting">
    AI not replying to SMS, webhook errors, handoff not firing.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>