Sending an SMS text message from the BNTouch mobile app keeps you connected to borrowers and partners without exposing your personal cell number. The mobile SMS inbox splits into all-history and unread views, supports attaching files from your documents library or your phone gallery, lets you save reusable templates with tag-based organization, and offers a default-app option for users who would rather route through their phone’s native SMS app. Every message sent through the BNTouch path also logs as a tracker event on the borrower record automatically.
“In the mortgage industry, you need to be able to communicate with potential and current clients, listing agents, realtors, and many other people. Almost everybody has a mobile phone, so sms messaging is one of the easiest [ways to reach people]” [y_PP6o9jdm0 m0]. The honest framing.
The mobile SMS path matters because most loan officer communication does not happen at a desk. It happens between calls, between meetings, during a walk between the parking lot and the office. The mobile app turns those windows into productive outreach time without making the LO expose their personal cell.
The inbox structure
“Your sms inbox is separated into two tabs: all message history and unread messages. You can swap between these sections by tapping the tabs at the top of the screen” [y_PP6o9jdm0 m1]. So the mobile app shows you everything when you want context (all message history) and just the new ones when you want triage speed (unread messages).
Each message lands as a tracker event on the relevant borrower or partner record. From the demo: “[Tracker] updates in each record’s event tracker” [y_PP6o9jdm0 m1]. So nothing falls off the system audit trail because it happened from mobile.
Reading and responding from the inbox
The inbox supports the operations you would expect on a mobile messaging interface. “You can quickly mark multiple messages as read by tapping the circles to the left, then tapping the mark all as read [button]” [y_PP6o9jdm0 m2]. Tapping into a specific message opens the thread for that contact. Tapping the back arrow returns to the inbox.
Composing a new SMS from the mobile app
Two paths for sending. Path one is starting a new SMS from the inbox itself. Path two is starting from a borrower or partner record directly: “[Tap on a contact to] display contact options. Here you can either choose send text sms to use the bntouch sms process [described earlier], or tap the default app option to start an sms message in whatever app you usually use to handle text [messages on your phone]” [y_PP6o9jdm0 m5].
The default app option matters for LOs who prefer their phone’s native SMS app for ergonomic reasons. The trade-off: messages sent through the default app do not log to the borrower’s tracker automatically because they leave the BNTouch ecosystem. Use BNTouch SMS for tracked messages; use default app only for low-stakes personal messages.
Attaching files from the documents library
One of the strongest features on the mobile SMS path. “When you tap the plus button to the right, you can access your bntouch documents library or look for files on your mobile device’s gallery” [y_PP6o9jdm0 m3].
The documents library reach is the win here. A loan officer at a coffee shop can pull the latest co-marketing flyer from the BNTouch documents library and text it to a realtor partner in seconds. No “I’ll send that when I get back to the office.” The full file library lives in your pocket.
Reusable SMS templates with tags
Mobile SMS supports template saving with tag-based organization. “You can also add tags to organize your templates and choose whether to share them with other users in your crm. Then tap save template to add it to your list. In the future you can just tap templates [and pick the right one]” [y_PP6o9jdm0 m4].
The tag system matters because LOs build up dozens of templates over time: “first contact – purchase,” “first contact – refi,” “lock confirmation,” “appraisal ordered,” “ready to close.” Tagging keeps the template library usable instead of an endless scroll.
Sharing controls work the same as the desktop side: public templates are available to the whole team, private templates are only yours.
The borrower-record path for context-rich texting
The other common mobile workflow. Instead of opening the SMS inbox, open the borrower record from the mobile pipeline, tap into the contact, and start the text from there. The advantage: you see the borrower’s loan details, current status, and recent activity before composing the message. This is the path for high-stakes texts (rate quote follow-up, closing day coordination) where context matters.
A specific scenario: a Saturday afternoon save
A loan officer is at their kid’s soccer game on a Saturday afternoon. A borrower texts them through the BNTouch number asking whether they can lock at the rate quoted on Wednesday. The LO pulls out their phone, opens the BNTouch mobile app, sees the unread message on the inbox tab, taps into the thread, and reviews the borrower’s loan details from inside the record view.
The market opened higher this morning. The LO drafts a clear response: rate has moved up 0.125%, the original quote is no longer available, but they can lock at the new rate this Monday morning or wait for next Friday’s data which historically moves rates downward. They attach a one-page rate snapshot from the documents library so the borrower has the visual.
The text sends through their dedicated BNTouch number (not their personal cell), the message logs to the borrower’s tracker, and the LO is back to watching the game in under three minutes. The Monday morning lock conversation now starts from a position of clarity instead of confusion.
Honest limits
Mobile SMS requires BNTouch Voice. The SMS sending capability depends on the BNTouch Voice module being active on the account. Without Voice, the inbox is not populated and the send paths do not function.
Default app option does not log to tracker. Messages sent through your phone’s native SMS app bypass the BNTouch logging because they happen outside the platform. Use BNTouch SMS for any message that needs to be on the audit trail.
Templates work cross-platform but with caveats. A template saved on mobile is available on desktop and vice versa, but template formatting that depends on HTML (rare for SMS) may not render the same across platforms. Test templates on both before activating widely.
File attachments are subject to MMS carrier limits. Sending a large PDF (multi-megabyte) over SMS can fail or get truncated by the carrier. Plan around MMS file size limits, typically under 1MB per attachment.
See mobile SMS on your phone
To set up the BNTouch mobile app with SMS sending capability and walk through the inbox, templates, and document library integration, request a demo and ask the team to provision a sandbox account with Voice enabled. The mobile app page covers the full feature set.
