This guide explains how to connect JoomSMS and JoomHelpDesk so that your support desk works over SMS in both directions:
- Inbound — an incoming SMS automatically creates (or updates) a helpdesk ticket.
- Outbound — when a handler replies to that ticket, the reply is sent back to the customer as an SMS.
The two halves are independent. You can enable inbound only, outbound only, or both. For a full SMS conversation experience, enable both.
1. Requirements
| Component | Required version / state |
|---|---|
| JoomHelpDesk | 6.3.1 or later (the outbound SMS-reply plugin is registered by the 6.3.1 update / fresh install). |
| JoomSMS | Installed on the same Joomla site, with a working sender profile / gateway that can actually send SMS. |
| Inbound SMS | For the inbound direction, your JoomSMS gateway must be able to receive incoming SMS (inbound number + delivery/polling configured). |
Send yourself a test SMS first. Confirm JoomSMS can send a normal SMS through your sender profile before wiring up the helpdesk. If JoomSMS cannot send, the integration cannot either.
2. Inbound — Turn incoming SMS into tickets
This is handled by a JoomSMS plugin and a JoomSMS Answer Trigger.
2.1 Enable the plugin
- Go to System → Manage → Plugins (Joomla Extensions → Plugins).
- Search for
JoomHelpDeskand open the plugin “JoomSMS : JoomHelpDesk Tickets from incoming SMS” (typejoomsms). - Set Status to Enabled.
- Configure its parameters (see table below), then Save.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Conversation threading | Append: a new SMS from a number that already has an open SMS ticket is added to that ticket as a reply. New: every SMS opens a brand-new ticket. | Append |
| Reopen closed tickets | When appending and only a closed SMS ticket exists for that number: Yes reopens it, No creates a new ticket. | No |
| Match Joomla users by phone | Tries to match the sender's phone number to a Joomla user (via the JoomSMS receivers list). Matched tickets are created as registered-user tickets. | No |
| Ticket title template | Title used for SMS tickets. {phone} is replaced by the sender's number. |
SMS from {phone} |
| Notify handlers by email | Sends the standard JoomHelpDesk handler email notifications when an SMS creates or updates a ticket. | Yes |
| Phone custom field alias | Alias of the JoomHelpDesk custom field used to store the sender's phone number. The field is created automatically if it does not exist. | sms_phone |
| Send confirmation SMS | Sends a confirmation SMS to the sender when a new ticket is created. | No |
| Confirmation SMS text | Body of the confirmation SMS. {ref} is replaced by the ticket reference. |
Your ticket {ref} has been created. We will reply shortly. |
| Sender profile (confirmation) | Sender profile used for the confirmation SMS. Leave empty to use the default profile. | Default profile |
2.2 Add the Answer Trigger action
- In JoomSMS, open Answer Triggers (inbound rules).
- Create or edit a trigger and define its matching conditions (e.g. all incoming SMS, or messages containing a keyword).
- In the trigger's action list, enable “Create / update a JoomHelpDesk ticket”.
- Choose the target Department, Category and Priority for tickets created by this trigger, or leave any of them on “- First available -” to let the helpdesk pick.
- Save the trigger.
Result: a matching incoming SMS now creates a ticket (or appends to the sender's open SMS ticket). The ticket's source is set to
sms and the sender's number is stored in the sms_phone custom field.3. Outbound — Send handler replies as SMS
This is handled by JoomHelpDesk's internal tickets plugin “JoomSMS — SMS replies”. It fires whenever a handler posts a reply, converts the reply to plain text (BBCode/HTML stripped) and sends it to the stored phone number through JoomSMS.
3.1 Enable the plugin
- In the Joomla administrator, open Components → JoomHelpDesk → Plugins (the component's internal plugin manager).
- In the Tickets plugins, find “JoomSMS — SMS replies” — it is disabled by default — and enable it.
- Open its settings and configure the options below.
If the plugin is not listed (older install), run the JoomHelpDesk 6.3.1 update or reinstall the component — the plugin row is added by that update.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Only SMS tickets | Yes: send a reply-as-SMS only for tickets created from an incoming SMS (source = sms). No: send an SMS for any ticket that has a phone number in the custom field below. |
Yes |
| Phone custom field alias | Alias of the ticket custom field that holds the recipient phone number. Must match the alias set in the inbound plugin (Section 2.1). | sms_phone |
| Sender profile | JoomSMS sender profile used to send the reply. Leave empty to use the default profile. | Default profile |
| Message prefix | Optional text prepended to every SMS. {ref} is replaced by the ticket reference, e.g. [{ref}] . |
(empty) |
| Maximum SMS length | Truncate longer replies to this many characters. 0 or empty = no limit (long messages go out as multipart SMS via the gateway). |
0 |
Result: when a handler replies to a qualifying ticket, the customer receives the reply as an SMS. If the recipient's number is not yet a known JoomSMS user, one is created automatically.
4. The key rule: keep the phone field alias in sync
Both plugins read and write the same custom field. The Phone custom field alias must be identical on both sides (default sms_phone). If they differ, inbound tickets are created but outbound replies will not find a number to send to.
| Plugin | Setting | Must equal |
|---|---|---|
| JoomSMS → JoomHelpDesk (inbound) | Phone custom field alias | sms_phone |
| JoomHelpDesk → JoomSMS (outbound) | Phone custom field alias |
The phone field is created automatically and is hidden from the public ticket forms — it shows on the ticket to agents/handlers, not to customers.
5. Test the round trip
- Send an SMS from a mobile phone to your JoomSMS inbound number.
- In JoomHelpDesk, confirm a new ticket appears with source SMS and the sender's number in the
sms_phonefield. (If you enabled the confirmation SMS, the sender should receive it.) - As a handler, open the ticket and post a reply.
- Confirm the customer's phone receives the reply as an SMS.
- Reply by SMS again — with threading set to Append, the message is added to the same ticket rather than opening a new one.
6. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause / fix |
|---|---|
| Incoming SMS does not create a ticket | The JoomSMS “JoomHelpDesk Tickets” plugin is disabled; no Answer Trigger has the “Create / update a JoomHelpDesk ticket” action; the trigger conditions don't match; the sender number is not a valid phone number; or inbound SMS are not reaching JoomSMS. |
| Handler reply is not sent as SMS | The JoomHelpDesk “JoomSMS — SMS replies” tickets plugin is disabled; “Only SMS tickets” is Yes but the ticket source is not sms; the phone field alias does not match; the phone field is empty; no sender profile is configured; or the JoomSMS component is missing. |
| Tickets created but replies go nowhere | Almost always an alias mismatch — make both plugins use the same Phone custom field alias (Section 4). |
| Can't see the phone number on the ticket | The field is hidden from public forms by design; it is visible to agents/handlers on the ticket view. |
| SMS reply text looks wrong | Replies are converted to plain text (BBCode and HTML are stripped). Use the Maximum SMS length option to keep messages short, and the Message prefix to add the ticket reference. |
JoomSMS & JoomHelpDesk are products of JoomBoost.