Previously known as Workflow, Apple’s new automation app, Shortcuts, lets users create powerful workflows and automations with simple building blocks which can be triggered with a tap of a button. One of the best things about Shortcuts is its ability to interact with any web API.

Used with 8x8's SMS API, you can easily create a shortcut to send single or mass SMS to your customers through your iPhone using 8x8's APIs. In this tutorial, we will show you how to achieve this.

What You’ll Need

  1. An 8x8 Connect account
  2. The Shortcuts app from the App Store

And that’s it! If you’ve got these two things, let’s get started.

1. Creating A Shortcut

Open Shortcuts and tap Create Shortcut, or + from the upper-right corner of the screen.

Screenshot of step one of creating a shortcut - Search for "URL"

Search for "URL"

Screenshot of step two of creating a shortcut - Select the URL action

Select the URL action

Screenshot of step three of creating a shortcut - Type in your SMS API endpoint

Type in your SMS API endpoint

Then, search for URL, and type in your SMS API endpoint, as shown. Your endpoint can be found in your API Keys, and will be in the following format:

https://api.wavecell.com/sms/v1/{subaccountid}/single

2. Get Contents Of URL

Screenshot of step two of creating a shortcut - Get contents of URL

Add another action by searching for “Get Contents of URL”

Screenshot of step two of creating a shortcut - Add another action by searching for "Get contents of URL"

Under Advanced, select POST as your Method

Screenshot of step two of creating a shortcut - Under Advanced, select POST as your Method

Add Headers as follows: Authorization | Bearer {api key} Content-type | application/json

3. Add Request Body

Screenshot of step three of creating a shortcut - Add request body

Select JSON to add a request body. Fill out the following fields in your request body:

  • Destination – The mobile number you are sending the SMS to
  • Source – Your Sender ID
  • Text – Your text message content
Screenshot of step three of creating a shortcut - Fill out the fields in body request

Now run it by clicking on top. You should receive an SMS (if you use your own mobile phone) and see a JSON response like the one above.

Sending Bulk SMS Using An Excel File

8x8's SMS API supports sending SMS for multiple numbers using a .csv or excel file. Using this API endpoint, you will be able to create a Shortcut that will send SMS to multiple numbers. To simplify things for you, we’ve already made the shortcut that you can reuse or modify to your own preference. Access our shortcut now.

Screenshot of sending bulk SMS using an Excel File - Type in Bulk SMS API endpoint

Type in your Bulk SMS API endpoint

Screenshot of sending bulk SMS using an Excel File - Use your own token in the following format: Authorization | Bearer {your token}

Use your own token in the following format: Authorization | Bearer {your token}

All you have to do is change the following information on the shortcut we’ve shared.

For the SMS API endpoint, it should follow the following format:

https://api.wavecell.com/sms/v1/{your sub-accountId}/many/compact

Your headers should be as follows:

Authorization | Bearer {your token} Content-type | application/json

Run Your Bulk SMS Campaign

To run your shortcut, you need an excel file with the phone numbers stored on your iOS device. Just share the excel file with Shortcuts, we’ll use this shortcut to parse the excel files before sending the data to the API. Fill in the message body and sender ID that you’d like to send from, and that’s it!

Learn how to integrate our SMS API with Gmail using Workato.

Get Started Now!

Create your account with Wavecell now to get access to your SMS API endpoints. You can immediately start using Apple Shortcuts to send your customers SMS campaigns anywhere, at any time, with your iPhone.