Fold + Arkesel
Fold and Arkesel: texts sent in your church's own name
Arkesel is a Ghanaian SMS provider that delivers messages to all networks with a registered sender name, and it is how Fold sends a church's texts so they arrive from the church's name rather than from a number or from Fold.
How it works
A sender name is up to 11 letters, such as EBENEZERMTH, registered once and approved by the networks. Until it is approved, Arkesel accepts the message and holds it, which is why the first text from a new church can take a day to arrive. Fold's setup checklist asks for the sender name early for exactly that reason.
Fold queues each message with the church's sender name and sends it on the schedule the message needs: a thank you a few minutes after a gift succeeds, a birthday on the morning, a reminder when the church asks. What was sent, what is waiting and what failed is on the Messages page.
- Sender name
- Up to 11 characters, the church's own
- Networks
- MTN, Telecel, AirtelTigo
- Length
- 160 characters per credit; longer texts use two
- Automatic messages
- Off by default, each a separate switch
Setting it up
- During setup, choose a sender name of up to 11 letters and numbers, usually a short form of the church's name.
- Fold registers it with Arkesel. Approval by the networks usually takes a working day.
- Switch on the automatic messages you want: birthdays, welcomes, giving thank yous. Each is off until you turn it on.
- Send to an individual, a group or the whole register from Members or Groups.
Questions
- Why has our first text not arrived?
- A new sender name is held by the networks for approval, usually for a working day. The message shows as sent in Fold because Arkesel accepted it. Once the name is approved, texts arrive within seconds.
- Can members reply to the texts?
- No. A sender name is one way. Put the pastor's or the office's number in the text where a reply is wanted.
- Can we use WhatsApp instead?
- Not through Fold at present. SMS reaches every phone including ones without data, which is why it is the channel Fold uses.
Fold also works with
Arkesel and your register, together
Thirty days free with your own church, no card, and nothing to install.