Who can use this feature?
Available on:
All Culture Amp subscriptions that include Engagement.
Attributed (Snapshot) surveys only
What is SMS Survey Delivery?
SMS survey delivery lets you send Engagement survey invitations and reminders directly to employees' mobile phones, helping you reach frontline, shift, casual, or deskless workers who may not use email regularly.
By meeting employees where they are, SMS helps boost participation and ensures feedback is more inclusive and representative.
Plan Ahead: SMS Setup Timelines
Implementing SMS capability, including A2P registration for our US-based customers, can take anywhere from one to six weeks, and in rare cases, longer. This process is required to comply with U.S. regulations around Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging. We recommend planning ahead to avoid delays if you're targeting a specific survey launch date.
To begin implementation, reach out to your Customer Success Manager or reply with ask a person in a support conversation to get help from a Product Support Specialist.
Before You Begin
Make sure you meet the following requirements before using SMS for survey delivery:
Survey type: The survey must be an Attributed (Snapshot) survey.
Country availability: SMS must be deliverable in all countries where you plan to send the survey. If you're unsure whether a specific country is supported, refer to the SMS Delivery by Country section.
Employee consent: You must obtain explicit consent from employees receiving SMS. For more detail, see our Legal and Compliance Requirements article.
Employee data: Manually upload both employee mobile numbers and timezones following our formatting requirements. Refer to our Employee Data Template Guidelines for step-by-step instructions.
Note: By uploading mobile numbers, you confirm you’ve obtained the required consent. Only employees with both a mobile number and timezone will receive SMS messages. For more details, see our Legal and Compliance article.
How SMS Survey Delivery Works
Here’s what to expect when SMS is enabled:
Step: | What Happens: |
Survey Launch | Employees receive SMS invites when the survey launches, and reminder messages during the survey window. |
Message Content | Each SMS includes: the employee’s first name, a unique survey link, and opt-out instructions. |
Delivery Times | SMS messages are only sent Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the employee's local timezone. |
Customization | SMS messages are standardized and can’t be edited. This ensures compliance with SMS regulations in the US, AU, and UK and helps improve deliverability. |
Note: We can confirm whether a message has been successfully handed off to the carrier. However, we cannot guarantee or confirm delivery to the recipient’s mobile device, as this depends on the carrier and local device settings.
Legal Considerations
Before enabling SMS survey delivery on your account, make sure you’re aware of the following legal requirements:
Employee Consent: You must obtain consent from employees to receive SMS survey communications.
Opt-Outs: All SMS communications will include an opt-out option.
Right to Disconnect: Laws may limit when employees can receive work-related communications. This varies by location and you are responsible for understanding and complying with any local Right to Disconnect laws.
For more detailed information, refer to our guide to legal and compliance requirements.
What Will the SMS Look Like?
Here’s a preview of what your employees will receive:
Key Features:
Personalization: The message will include the employee's first name, making it feel more personal and less like spam.
Survey Link: The link will contain your organization’s subdomain and the Culture Amp domain.
Reassurance: The phrase “Please respond at a time of day that suits you” reassures employees that they don’t need to respond immediately, helping to reduce concerns around "Right to Disconnect" laws.
Opt-Out: Every SMS will contain opt-out instructions, as required by law.
Tip: Want opt-out or delivery stats? These aren’t available in-platform, but you can request them from our Support team. Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a support conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.
These include: number of opt-outs, opt-out rate (%), number of failed SMS sends and the percentage of messages with errors.
Note: Delivery stats confirm hand-off to the carrier, but they don’t confirm whether the message was received or opened on an employee’s device.
Uploading Mobile Numbers and Timezones
To send SMS communications, you’ll need to upload the employee mobile numbers and timezones via a manual data upload. It’s essential that the fields are named exactly as shown below and formatted correctly to ensure SMS delivery works properly.
Required Fields:
Field Name | Description | Required |
Mobile Phone Number | A valid phone number in E.164 format (e.g., +15551234567). Learn more about E.164 formatting. | ✅ Yes |
Timezone | A valid timezone in IANA format (e.g., America/New_York). Refer to the TZ column on the IANA Timezone List. | ✅ Yes |
Steps to Upload Mobile Numbers and Timezones
Go to Account Settings > Users.
Click Export to download your current employee data file.
Add or update the following columns:
Mobile Phone Number
Timezone
Ensure each relevant employee has both a mobile number (in E.164 format) and a timezone (in IANA format) assigned correctly.
Upload the updated file.
For step-by-step instructions, see our guides:
Enabling and Testing SMS
To get started with SMS, contact your Culture Amp Support or your Customer Success Manager to enable the feature on your account.
Once Enabled, Here’s How to Test It:
Create a new Attributed (Snapshot) survey (e.g., Engagement)
In the Communications section, you'll see a SMS communications option.
Click on the links to review the message previews for:
The initial invitation.
Reminder messages.
Click Send test to trigger a test SMS notification to your mobile. (you’ll need your own mobile number and timezone uploaded to test).
Note: Unlike other demographics, which are locked in at survey launch, updates to participants' mobile numbers will apply live while the survey is running. This means you can update a participant's number mid-survey if needed, and any additional communications will be sent to their updated number.
Timing Considerations at Survey Launch
SMS messages are only sent Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. local time.
If you launch a survey late in the day or on a Friday, Culture Amp may pause message delivery until the next eligible time window to help you comply with local work-time laws.
SMS Delivery by Country
Tier | Country | Dial Code |
Tier 1 - fully supported | Canada | +1 |
| United States | +1 |
| United Kingdom | +44 |
| Australia | +61 |
Tier 2 - partially supported | Any country not listed in this table |
|
Tier 3 - not supported | Algeria | +213 |
| Nigeria | +234 |
| Tunisia | +216 |
| Zimbabwe | +263 |
| Afghanistan | +93 |
| Azerbaijan | +994 |
| Bangladesh | +880 |
| Bhutan | +975 |
| China | +86 |
| Indonesia | +62 |
| Iran | +98 |
| Iraq | +964 |
| Israel | +972 |
| Korea, Democratic People’s Republic (North Korea) | +850 |
| Pakistan | +92 |
| Russia / Kazakhstan | +7 |
| Sri Lanka | +94 |
| Syria | +963 |
| Tajikistan | +992 |
| Vietnam | +84 |
| Belarus | +375 |
| Cuba | +53 |
Note: Culture Amp can only send SMS messages from local phone numbers in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. For all other countries, messages are sent from an international number. This is standard practice, but it can make delivery less predictable in some regions due to local carrier filtering.
Tier 2 (Partially supported countries)
Any country not listed in Tier 1 or Tier 3 is considered Tier 2. Delivery is generally successful, but less predictable than in Tier 1 countries.
Here’s what to expect with Tier 2 delivery:
International sending number: Messages are sent from a Tier 1 international number (not a local one). Employees may see the SMS as coming from overseas.
Carrier filtering: Local carriers may filter, delay, or re-route messages because they appear to come from abroad.
Device spam folders: Some devices (especially Android phones) may place these messages into spam or blocked folders.
Delivery confirmation: Culture Amp can confirm when an SMS has been handed off to the local carrier, but not whether it was delivered to the employee’s device.
Resends: Resending an SMS typically won’t improve delivery, since filtering happens at the carrier or device level.
Overall reliability: Despite these factors, delivery rates in Tier 2 countries remain strong.
Note for New Zealand: Local carriers have recently increased message filtering, which may affect SMS delivery. Due to this, NZ is now considered tier 2.
FAQs
How much does SMS Survey Communications cost?
SMS Survey Communication is included with your Engage subscription at no extra cost until 2026. We’re currently monitoring usage and may introduce usage-based charges in the future.
Which survey templates support SMS communications?
SMS is supported for any survey that’s an Attributed (Snapshot) type. This includes Engagement surveys and others in the same category.
Want to see the full list? Check out our survey template overview page to learn which templates qualify.
Can I send SMS messages in different languages?
Not at this time. SMS messages are sent only in English and don’t currently support multilingual delivery.
Why can't I customize the message text?
SMS text is not customizable. Keeping the text consistent allows us to comply with US, AU, and UK SMS regulations and anti-spam laws which improves deliverability rates.
What if employees report not receiving the SMS?
Ask employees to check their phone’s spam or blocked messages folder.
Confirm the mobile number is correct and formatted in E.164 format (e.g., +15551234567).
If the message still isn’t found, it may have been filtered by their local carrier. Unfortunately, resending the message will not bypass carrier filtering.
Can I use my HRIS to upload mobile phone numbers or timezones?
No. SMS currently doesn’t support HRIS sync for mobile numbers or timezones. Please use manual CSV upload to include this information.
Where will my employees' data be stored?
Employee mobile numbers and timezones are securely stored within Culture Amp. SMS content and delivery data (including phone numbers and message text) are managed by our trusted third-party provider, Twilio. For more on how Twilio handles data, refer to their privacy policy.
Will employees see 'Culture Amp' as the sender?
No, SMS messages are sent from a standard phone number based on your region—they won’t appear as coming from “Culture Amp.”
Related pages:
💬 Need help? Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a support conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.