SMS setup · October 2026

How Tiffany's SMS messaging should work with PropVault

A short read for Tiffany and Joefel before our call. It covers how SMS messaging works today, the one rule that shapes every option, and the setup we recommend.

The short version

Keep Tiffany's mobile exactly as it is, and give PropVault its own business number for automated texts. Her phone doesn't change, and it's ready to use now.

1

What Tiffany asked for

PropVault can now send texts automatically, like reminders, updates and campaigns, and record client replies on the contact. Tiffany wanted these texts to go out from her own mobile number.

She also wanted to keep texting from her phone's normal Messages app, with every message showing up in PropVault too.

So the question is: can one number do all of that at once?

2

How it works today with LockedOn

Texts go from Tiffany's phone

Her phone is synced, so she uses her normal Messages app.

They aren't stored in the CRM

Joefel confirmed the messages never landed in LockedOn itself.

So the familiar experience Tiffany has today comes from her phone, not from the CRM. That's the part we want to protect.

3

The one rule behind every option

An Australian mobile number can only live in one place at a time: on Tiffany's SIM card, or with an online SMS service. Never both.

This isn't a PropVault limit. Australian telecommunications rules don't allow one mobile number to run on two devices or services at the same time. The rule exists to protect people from SIM fraud and identity theft.

Every SMS provider has to follow it, including Vonage and Twilio, and Vonage confirmed it to us in writing.

That means moving (porting) her number to an SMS service disconnects it from her phone. She couldn't call or text from it on her mobile any more.

4

The four options

Option A: New PropVault number, keep her mobile as is

Recommended

PropVault gets its own Australian number for automated and bulk texts. Tiffany's personal number stays on her phone.

What she gets

Her phone, calls and Messages app unchanged
Automated texts and campaigns from PropVault
Replies saved on the contact in PropVault
Works now, with no wait and no paperwork

The trade-off

Clients see two numbers: Tiffany's own and the BAA business number
Replies to PropVault texts are read in PropVault. We can add a phone or email alert so she doesn't miss them

Option B: Move (port) Tiffany's number

Not recommended

Her existing number transfers to the online SMS service so PropVault can send from it.

What she gets

Clients keep seeing one familiar number

The trade-off

Her phone can't call or text from that number any more
She'd text from a separate app, not her Messages app
Texts from that app don't reach PropVault without extra build
Two-week transfer plus a signed authority letter, and slow to undo

Option C: Forward every reply to her phone

Not recommended

Replies to the business number get passed on to Tiffany's mobile as a text.

What she gets

Sees replies on her phone straight away

The trade-off

Every client's reply arrives from the same number, in one thread
Replying to that thread doesn't reach the client
Each message is charged twice

Option D: Switch provider from Vonage to Twilio

Doesn't solve it

The one-number rule applies to every provider. Twilio's workaround routes clients through a rotating pool of numbers, so the number a client texts keeps changing and different clients can end up in the same conversation. It suits call centres, not a buyers agent's client list.

5

Side by side

	A. New number	B. Port her number	C. Forward replies
Her phone keeps working as normal	Yes	No	Yes
Uses her normal Messages app	Yes, for personal texts	No, separate app	Yes
Automated texts from PropVault	Yes	Yes	Yes
Replies saved in PropVault	Yes	Needs extra build	Yes
Reply to each client separately	From PropVault	In the separate app	No
Ready to use	Now	About 2 weeks	Small setup
Easy to change later	Yes	Slow to reverse	Yes

6

Our recommendation

Go with Option A: a new PropVault business number, and Tiffany's mobile stays exactly where it is.

Tiffany keeps texting, calling and replying from her phone like she does today. PropVault handles the automated texts from the BAA number, and replies land against the right contact.

This works if Tiffany is comfortable introducing a new number to her clients for PropVault's automated messages. Our team has reviewed the options, and this is the setup we all recommend.

It keeps what works today and adds what LockedOn never did: automated texts with replies recorded in the CRM. It also keeps every door open. If needs change later, nothing has been moved that's hard to move back.

7

What we need from you on the call

1

Confirm Option A

And that we hold off on moving Tiffany's number. That move hasn't started.

2

Agree what PropVault texts are for

Automated reminders, updates and campaigns go from PropVault. Personal one-to-one chats stay on Tiffany's phone.

3

Set up the business number

A new Australian number through PropVault. Pricing is in the Welcome Pack.

4

Choose how Tiffany hears about replies

A phone alert, an email, or both.

If one familiar number for everything is a must-have, the only route is Option B with the trade-offs above. If so, we'd suggest Tiffany tries the separate texting app for a week before committing her real number.

Prepared by PropVault for Buyers Agents Adelaide · October 2026