Participants & Phone Numbers
There are several ways to associate a Cell Phone Number with a participant. Note, that if there is a Phone Number entered for the participant it will also be considered their Cell Phone Number unless a specific number is entered for their mobile device.
A participant record has two fields for "phone" numbers: Phone Number and Cell Phone Number. The Cell Phone Number may be technically considered optional if the Phone Number entered is the participant's Cell Phone Number. If the Phone Number is the only one entered it will be used as the Cell Phone Number to send text message notifications to and to accept bid requests from.
INFORMATION
It is recommended suggesting your guests use their cellular phone number, if they have one, when using the Participant Registration form as it only accepts a single telephone number which, by default, is treated as a cellular phone number for the Text Messages feature set.
You can see the current phone numbers on the participant details page under Contact Information
You can associate a Cell Phone Number with a participant in the following ways.
Manually Add the Cell Phone Number
When adding a participant via the check-in page you can enter the Cell Phone Number.
If a participant has a cell phone number entered this is also shown on the check-in page:
Enable Participants To 'Claim' Their Paddle#
If you are doing a traditional check-in and assigning participants a Paddle# but don't want to have to take the time to enter their cell phone number, or risk data entry errors, you can allow participants to Claim their Paddle# by texting the event phone number the claim command.
This feature is enabled under Communication Texting Text Options.
You can then provide your participants with instructions to text: claim <their Paddle#> to the event phone number ... for example, claim 20.
The participant will receive an acknowledgement that they are now associated with the Paddle#. If the Paddle# already has an associated cell phone number then they will instead get an error message.
Enable Registration by Text
You can go a step further and allow participants to register by text, too. Under Communication Texting Text Options the Allow participants to register by text message setting is enabled.
A participant can then text Register <firstname> <lastname> to the event phone number to register. For example: register John Smith
The system will automatically assign a new Paddle# to them.
Enable Automatic Registration by Text
The easiest option allows participant to be registered automatically, they just need to text a bid in and the system will create a new participant for them.
Under Communication Texting Text Options, the Automatically register participants when they bid/donate setting is enabled.
A participant can then participate without any prior steps and just text bid <amount> for <item#>.
Last reviewed: July 2024