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WelcoYour alerts, by text.

SMS reply to email, so the answer goes back to the alert's sender

Welco turns an SMS reply into an email. When the person on call answers an alert text, the reply goes to the last sender that texted their phone. The day crew opens the alerts mailbox and already knows who took the 5 a.m. alarm. Nobody has to log in to anything.

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  • Staff reply like any text
  • No app to download
  • STOP and HELP never get forwarded

Works by email with

  • Pump & lift stations
  • Help-desk tickets
  • Microsoft 365 / Outlook
  • Google Workspace Groups

Replies by email

Try it: turn it off and on.

2

Without it: the answer stays on one person's phone

3

With it: the answer lands in the team's inbox too

On. The phone gets 3 texts.

With Replies by email off, the phone gets 2 texts: Welco: [Lift Station 4] Wet well high level at 5:07 AM. Reply STOP to opt out. Leaving the yard now, 15 min With it on, it gets 3: Welco: [Lift Station 4] Wet well high level at 5:07 AM. Reply STOP to opt out. Leaving the yard now, 15 min Emailed to works-alarms@town.example.org
Animation: Replies by email switched off and on. Without it: the answer stays on one person's phone. With it: the answer lands in the team's inbox too.

What one reply does for everyone else

  • The whole team knows who's on it

    Nobody phones around at 6 a.m. asking who saw the alarm. The answer is already sitting in the mailbox.

  • Replies arrive where you already look

    Each reply comes in as plain email, in the shared alerts mailbox or the help-desk thread.

  • Notes from the field, no call needed

    The night operator can tell the day shift what they found in one short text.

  • A written trail

    A supervisor sees who answered and when, right beside the alert that started it all.

A boiler trips before the school bell

Here is one cold morning for a school board's maintenance team that sends building alarms through a shared mailbox.

  1. The building system emails a fault

    ALARM: Boiler 1 flame failure, Westview Public School boiler room

  2. The on-call maintenance lead gets a text

    Welco: [Westview PS] Boiler 1 flame failure at 5:21 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.

  3. The lead answers while the truck warms up

    On my way, will reset and check the flame sensor

  4. The reply lands in the facilities mailbox

    Welco sends it to the mailbox that sent the alert, so the custodians see it when they arrive.

    Reply from the on-call phone: On my way, will reset and check the flame sensor

  5. The lead clears the alarm on the building system

    The reply kept the team informed, but the alarm itself is handled in the building system, same as always.

Times are an example. A reply is passed along as email and doesn't acknowledge or clear anything in your system.

Get text replies by email in 3 steps

  1. Send alerts from a mailbox someone reads

    Route the system's alerts through a shared alerts mailbox, or from an address a person checks. Replies will land there.

  2. Invite the people on call

    Each person joins with their own cellphone and confirms with YES. On-call routing decides who gets which alert.

  3. Reply to any alert text

    There's no setup. An ordinary text reply becomes an email to the last sender that texted that phone.

Get answers back from the on-call phone

Sign up, send your alerts to Welco, and replies come back to you as email.

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing

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A real example: the operator replies from the works yard

A small Ontario town's public works alarm notifier emails through a shared works-alarms mailbox. The on-call operator gets the text before sunrise.

Alert email from works-alarms@town.example.org, subject “Alarm: LS4 Wet Well High”. Welco trims it to one text of 80 characters: “Welco: [Lift Station 4] Wet well high level at 5:07 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.”

Text received: Welco: [Lift Station 4] Wet well high level at 5:07 AM. Reply STOP to opt out.

Characters173801 credit

Animation: the alert email "Alarm: LS4 Wet Well High" is trimmed into one text: "Welco: [Lift Station 4] Wet well high level at 5:07 AM. Reply STOP to opt out."

The operator's reply, "Leaving the yard now, 15 min," went to the works-alarms mailbox. The day crew knew who was on it.

Where every reply ends up

Replies complete the list of Welco features. These rules decide where each one goes.

  • Back to the last sender

    A reply goes to whichever sender texted that phone most recently. If two systems text the same person, it follows the newer one.

  • Robot senders don't read

    If that sender is a no-reply address, the reply goes there and nobody ever sees it. Route alerts through a mailbox someone watches.

  • Each phone answers separately

    When one alert reaches several phones, each answer comes back on its own, so one alarm can bring three emails.

  • Matched by phone on a shared number

    On a dedicated number, staff can also text first, without replying to an alert.

  • Welco keeps STOP and HELP

    Welco answers those itself and never forwards them. Like any text, they use message credits.

  • Hourly caps

    A stuck phone or a mail loop can't bury the mailbox in replies.

Frequently asked questions

Where does the email go when I answer an alert text?

To the last sender that texted your phone, which is usually the mailbox or system that sent the alert. If several systems text you, the reply goes to whichever texted you last.

If I reply STOP to an alert, is that forwarded as an email?

No. Welco handles STOP and HELP itself and never forwards them. STOP turns off alerts to that phone until it texts START, so be careful with it on an on-call phone.

Does a text reply mark the alarm as dealt with?

No. Welco has no acknowledgment step. The reply is passed on as an email for people to read, but the alarm in your system stays as it was. Acknowledge it in the system itself.

Do replies to alert texts cost message credits?

Yes. A reply travels as a text, so it uses credits under the same rules as an alert, including YES, STOP and HELP. A short note like on my way uses one credit. Long replies or emoji use more, just as they do in alerts.

Can we see every phone's replies in one place?

Yes, as long as your alerts come through one shared mailbox. Every reply lands there as an email, so whoever reads that mailbox can see who answered. If several systems send alerts, replies go back to each system's own address.

Can a help-desk ticket collect the on-call tech's text reply?

Yes, if the ticket system sends the alert from an address it reads. The reply then comes in as an email to that address. Here's how help-desk ticket alerts reach the on-call tech.

Let the on-call reply reach everyone who needs it

One text goes out, one email comes back, and the team knows who's on it.

Hear back by emailBook a demo

7-day free trial, 15 message creditsCard required for verificationNo charge for 7 daysEmail reminder before billing