When you send an SMS message (see the Communication Wizard chapter) you'll select an SMS number to send from. When Response Recipient Forwarding is enabled as described earlier, responses will be forwarded to the response recipient's mobile phone with the sender's name and a response code.

The response code consists of the @ symbol followed by a three-digit number (e.g., @347). If further follow-up is required, the response recipient can use this code to reply back.

If your mind is swimming a bit, that’s OK. Let's look at an example. In our example Jenny has just sent out a bulk SMS message to several attendees reminding them of the car show that afternoon. Let's walk through a conversation she has with Alisha.

1. Bulk Message - The original bulk SMS message. Notice Jenny has cleverly used merge fields to personalize the text message with each recipient's name.
2. First Response - Alisha then responds to the message.
3. Response Code - The response goes back to Rock's SMS phone number. Rock then looks up that number's response recipient and relays the message to Jenny's phone. Because the message is no longer directly from Alisha, Rock adds Alisha's name to the message and also the response code @671.
4. Sent to Alisha - Jenny decides she would like to continue the conversation, so she writes a quick message back including the response code. Rock will use this code to match the conversation back to Alisha.
5. Shows Message - Alisha receives Jenny's response. Note how Rock has removed the response code. To Alisha it appears that she is texting Jenny directly.

Notice that both sides of the conversation are texting to Rock's SMS number (555) 351-5392. Little does Alisha know that Jenny's real number is 867-5309.