Asking Kipper questions by SMS¶

SMS is the simplest way to reach Kipper. There is no app to install and no login to remember. You text a question to your workspace's Kipper number, and the answer comes back as a reply.

That makes it the right choice for people who are away from a desk. A field sales rep can check an account balance from a customer car park. A warehouse lead can confirm a purchase order without walking back to a terminal. An executive can get one figure between meetings.

Kipper only ever texts you in reply to a message you sent. It does not send scheduled updates, alerts, or reminders.

How SMS works¶

Kipper uses one shared Kipper SMS number for every workspace. Team members you grant access to can text that number a plain-English question from their own mobile phone and receive an answer by reply. Kipper matches inbound texts to the mobile number saved on the sender's Kipper profile, so the shared number safely routes each message to the right workspace and member.

Setting up SMS¶

Admins can enable SMS themselves from the Interfaces page — no support ticket required.

In the Kipper portal, go to Interfaces in the sidebar and click Add Interface
Choose SMS from the platform dropdown. A note confirms SMS runs on Kipper's shared SMS number
Click Enable SMS. The SMS interface appears in your Interfaces list with the shared Kipper number
Share the Kipper SMS number with the team members who should have SMS access
Each team member who wants to use SMS opens their My Profile page in Kipper and:
- Enters their mobile phone number (US and Canada numbers only; e.g. +1 415 555 2671)
- Ticks the consent checkbox: "I agree to receive SMS messages from Kipper related to my workspace account and AI replies."

Each user has to add their own number and consent themselves — Kipper only replies to numbers saved on a Kipper profile. Message frequency varies, message and data rates may apply.

Asking questions¶

Text your question to the Kipper SMS number from the mobile phone registered on your Kipper profile. Kipper replies via standard SMS, usually within a few seconds. Complex queries may take longer.

Reply STOP at any time to opt out of SMS messages
Reply HELP for support contact details

Carrier rates may apply. Kipper does not charge for messages.

What you can ask¶

SMS reaches the same records as every other Kipper interface. These are the kinds of questions that work well in a text message.

Customer and invoice questions

Has Bright Harbor paid invoice 1042?
What does Fjord Studio still owe us?
Which invoices are overdue by more than 30 days?
When did we last receive a payment from Maple Court Advisors?

Supplier and bill questions

Are there unpaid bills for Kestrel Freight?
What have we paid Summit Janitorial this quarter?
Which purchase orders for this vendor have already been billed?
Is there a credit note available against this supplier?

Stock and order questions

How much inventory do we have on this item?
Which purchase orders are still open for this supplier?

Questions that return a single fact or a short list are the best fit. A question whose answer is a long table will be hard to read on a phone. Ask those in Slack, Microsoft Teams, or the in-app AI Assistant instead.

Who tends to use SMS¶

SMS suits people who need one fact and are nowhere near a computer.

Field sales and service staff checking an account's payment status before a visit
Warehouse and receiving teams confirming stock or an open purchase order on the floor
Executives traveling who want a single figure without opening a laptop
On-call and after-hours staff who need an answer before the office opens

None of these people need a login to your finance system. That is the point of the interface.

What Kipper cannot answer¶

The limits are the same on SMS as in every other interface, and what Kipper can reach depends on which finance system you have connected — see Coverage differences by system for what each one includes.

Whatever the system, Kipper answers from records it has synced. It will not calculate a financial ratio, build a budget, produce budget-versus-actual variance, or write a board summary, and it does not run finance workflows such as closing the books, reconciling, or auditing. When the data cannot answer your question, Kipper says so rather than guessing.

One SMS-specific note: keep questions to a single fact or a short list. Long tabular answers are hard to read on a phone, so ask those in Slack, Microsoft Teams, or the in-app AI Assistant.

Permissions¶

SMS access is controlled per phone number. Only numbers saved and consented to on a Kipper user's profile can receive answers.

Each user's regular access permissions still apply. SMS does not bypass them. If someone cannot see a record in the Kipper portal, they cannot get it by text either. See User Access and Permission Sets.

Every question and answer is written to the audit log, the same as any other interface.

Managing your SMS number¶

Kipper's SMS number is shared across all workspaces — it isn't specific to your workspace and cannot be changed or replaced with a custom number. Unlike Slack or Microsoft Teams, the SMS interface also cannot be self-service disconnected from the Interfaces page; contact support@kipper.com if you need SMS removed for your workspace.

Individual users can add, change, or remove their own mobile number and SMS consent from their My Profile page at any time.

Troubleshooting¶

If you're not receiving replies:

Confirm your mobile phone number is saved on your My Profile page and the SMS consent checkbox is ticked
Confirm the number is in the correct format and is a US or Canada number
Check you're texting the Kipper SMS number shown on your Interfaces page
Verify your user has been granted access in the Kipper portal
Make sure you haven't previously replied STOP to Kipper messages from this number

If a reply arrives but the answer looks wrong, check your permissions first. A user who can only see part of your data will get an answer scoped to that part.

Contact support@kipper.com if the issue persists. We reply within one business day.