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SMS Balance and Usage Tracking

10-15 minutes

Tutorial 10.5: SMS Balance and Usage Tracking

Introduction

SMS messages have higher open rates than email - studies show over 90% of SMS messages are read within three minutes. This makes SMS perfect for appointment reminders, time-sensitive updates, and quick customer communications. However, unlike email, sending SMS costs money.

Luminate tracks your SMS credit balance and provides detailed usage reports so you can monitor spending, understand patterns, and ensure you never run out of credits at a critical moment. With features like low balance warnings and auto top-up, you can keep your notification system running smoothly without constant manual oversight.

This tutorial covers how to check your balance, understand usage, purchase credits, and set up automatic top-ups.

Who this is for: Salon owners and administrators who manage the salon's SMS budget and notification systems.

What you'll learn:

  • Checking your current SMS balance
  • Understanding how SMS credits are used
  • Purchasing additional credits
  • Setting up automatic top-up
  • Reading the SMS usage report
  • Optimising SMS usage to reduce costs
  • Understanding trial period SMS restrictions

Time to complete: 10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • Owner or Admin role access
  • Access to the salon's Settings area

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Check Your Current SMS Balance

There are two places to view your SMS balance:

From Salon Settings:

  1. Click Settings in the main sidebar menu
  2. Select your salon
  3. Click the SMS Credits tab

You'll see two summary cards at the top:

  • Current Balance - How many credits you have available right now
  • Last Top-up - When you last purchased credits (or "Never" if you haven't)

Low balance warnings: If your balance is running low, you'll see an alert banner:

  • Yellow warning - Balance is low, consider topping up soon
  • Red critical warning - Balance is critically low, top up immediately to avoid disruption

When your balance is critically low, a prominent banner also appears across the entire application, not just the settings page.

Step 2: Understand SMS Credit Usage

Each SMS message uses credits based on message length:

Message Length Credits Used
Up to 160 characters 1 credit
161-306 characters 2 credits
307-459 characters 3 credits
And so on... +1 per ~153 chars

What uses credits:

  • Appointment reminders via SMS
  • Follow-up messages via SMS
  • Birthday notifications via SMS
  • Manual SMS messages from the inbox
  • Two-way SMS replies to customers

What doesn't use credits:

  • Email notifications (free)
  • Messages to customers without valid phone numbers (skipped)
  • Failed messages that don't deliver (may not be charged)

Step 3: Purchase SMS Credits

To buy more credits:

  1. Navigate to Settings > SMS Credits

  2. Under Purchase Credits, you'll see available credit packs:

    Credits Description
    100 Ideal for light SMS usage
    500 Popular choice for regular reminders
    1,000 Best value for busy salons

    Prices vary by currency and are displayed next to each pack option.

  3. Click Buy Now next to your chosen pack

  4. A confirmation dialog shows the purchase details including the total cost

  5. Complete the payment process

Note: Online payment integration is coming soon. In the meantime, contact hello@luminate.salon if you need credits added to your account.

Step 4: Set Up Automatic Top-up

Never run out of credits unexpectedly by enabling auto top-up:

  1. Navigate to Settings > SMS Credits

  2. Scroll to the Auto Top-up section

  3. Toggle Enable Auto Top-up to ON

  4. Configure the settings:

    Threshold - The balance level that triggers a purchase

    • Example: Set to 20 means when balance drops below 20 credits, auto-purchase activates
    • Choose a number that gives you buffer before running out

    Credit Pack - Which pack to purchase automatically

    • Select from the dropdown of available packs
    • Consider your typical monthly usage when choosing

  5. Click Save Settings

Auto top-up safety:

  • Limited to a maximum number of automatic purchases per day (shown on screen)
  • You'll see "X auto-purchases remaining today" to track this limit
  • Prevents runaway costs if something goes wrong

Step 5: View the SMS Usage Report

For detailed usage history and analytics:

  1. From the SMS Credits tab, click View Report

    • Or navigate to Reports > SMS Usage from the sidebar

  2. The SMS Usage Report shows:

Summary Cards:

  • Current Balance - Your available credits
  • Total Purchased - All credits ever purchased
  • Total Used - All credits ever consumed
  • Last Top-Up - Date of most recent purchase

Usage Trend Chart:

  • Visual graph showing daily credit usage over time
  • Helps identify patterns (busy days, seasonal trends)

Transaction History: Two tabs show different views of the data:

Individual Entries tab: Each row shows a single transaction:

  • Date - When the transaction occurred
  • Type - Credit (purchase/adjustment) or Debit (usage)
  • Reason - Why credits were added or used
  • SMS Type - The notification type (e.g., appointment reminder, follow-up, messaging)
  • Amount - How many credits (+added or -used)
  • Balance - Running balance after this transaction
  • Customer - Who received the message (for usage entries)

Daily Summary tab: Aggregated daily view:

  • Date - The day
  • Credits Added - Total purchased that day
  • Credits Used - Total consumed that day
  • Net Change - Difference (+gained or -spent)
  • Transactions - Number of individual transactions

Step 6: Filter and Export Usage Data

The SMS Usage Report offers filtering options:

Date Range:

  • Set start and end dates to focus on a specific period
  • Useful for monthly reviews or billing reconciliation

Transaction Type:

  • All Transactions - See everything
  • Usage Only - See only credit consumption
  • Top-Ups Only - See only purchases
  • Adjustments - See manual balance changes

Export:

  • Click the Export button to download data as CSV
  • Great for accounting, expense tracking, or analysis in spreadsheets

Step 7: Understand Trial Period SMS Restrictions

If you're using Luminate during your free trial period, SMS messaging has the following restrictions:

During your trial:

  • SMS reminders and notifications cannot be sent
  • Two-way SMS messaging in the inbox is disabled
  • You'll see a message explaining SMS is not available until your subscription is active
  • Your SMS credit balance is visible but cannot be used

What still works during trial:

  • Email notifications continue to work normally
  • You can configure SMS templates and reminder settings (they'll be ready when you subscribe)
  • You can view the SMS Credits tab and understand pricing

When you subscribe:

  • SMS messaging is enabled immediately
  • Any configured SMS reminders will start sending automatically
  • Credits you've purchased or received will become usable

Beta users: If you're part of the Luminate beta programme, SMS restrictions do not apply during your trial. This allows beta testers to fully evaluate the SMS features.

Step 8: Monitor and Optimise Usage

Review your SMS usage periodically to optimise costs:

Check for waste:

  • Are reminders going to invalid phone numbers?
  • Are messages longer than needed (using multiple credits)?

Balance cost vs effectiveness:

  • Email is free but has lower open rates
  • SMS costs credits but gets immediate attention
  • Consider email for first reminder, SMS for same-day

Seasonal patterns:

  • Busy periods need more credits
  • Plan top-ups before expected rushes

Common Pitfalls

"I'm using more credits than expected"

Check these common causes:

  1. Long messages - Each 160 characters uses one credit. A 200-character message uses 2 credits.
  2. Multiple reminders - If you have three SMS reminders per appointment, each uses credits.
  3. Special characters - Emojis and certain characters reduce the per-segment limit to 70 characters.

"Auto top-up isn't working"

Verify:

  1. Auto top-up is toggled ON
  2. A credit pack is selected
  3. You haven't hit the daily purchase limit
  4. Payment method is valid

"I can't see the SMS Credits tab"

Only Owners and Admins can access billing and credit management. Staff, Managers, and Receptionists won't see this tab.

"The critical balance warning won't go away"

The banner disappears once you add sufficient credits. If you've just topped up, try refreshing the page.

"My SMS messages aren't sending"

Check these possible causes:

  1. Trial period - SMS is disabled during your free trial. Subscribe to enable SMS.
  2. Insufficient credits - Check your balance in Settings > SMS Credits.
  3. Customer opted out - The customer may have unsubscribed from SMS notifications.
  4. Invalid phone number - The customer's phone number may be incorrectly formatted.

Tips and Best Practices

  1. Set threshold higher than you think - If you use 100 credits/month, set threshold to 50 so you're alerted with plenty of buffer.

  2. Enable auto top-up for peace of mind - Manually topping up is easy to forget, especially during busy periods.

  3. Review usage monthly - The report helps you understand patterns and forecast needs.

  4. Keep SMS messages short - Every character counts. "Reminder: Tomorrow 2pm at Luminate - {first_name}" is better than a long paragraph.

  5. Avoid special characters - Emojis are tempting but can triple your credit cost per message. Stick to plain text.

  6. Use email for longer messages - If you need to share detailed information, email is free and allows more content.

  7. Check failed messages - Failed deliveries to invalid numbers waste credits. Regularly clean up your customer phone data.

  8. Plan for promotions - Birthday campaigns or marketing pushes via SMS can spike usage. Top up beforehand.

  9. Export for expense tracking - Download reports monthly for your accounting records.

  10. Contact support if stuck - If you need credits urgently or have billing questions, email hello@luminate.salon.

Related Tutorials

  • Tutorial 10.1: Setting Up Appointment Reminders - Configure SMS reminders
  • Tutorial 10.3: Creating Custom Notification Templates - Write efficient SMS templates
  • Tutorial 10.4: Managing the Messaging Inbox - Send manual SMS messages
  • Tutorial 14.1: Understanding Your Luminate Subscription - General billing overview

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use SMS during my free trial?

No, SMS messaging is disabled during the trial period. This includes SMS reminders, follow-ups, and two-way messaging. Email notifications continue to work during your trial. Once you subscribe, SMS is enabled immediately. Beta users are exempt from this restriction.

How much does one SMS credit cost?

Pricing depends on your purchased pack. Larger packs typically offer better per-credit rates. Check the SMS Credits tab for current pricing.

Do unused credits expire?

No, SMS credits do not expire. Once purchased, they remain in your account until used.

What happens when I run out of credits?

SMS notifications will fail to send. Customers won't receive SMS reminders or messages until you add more credits. Email notifications are unaffected.

Can I get a refund for unused credits?

Contact support at hello@luminate.salon to discuss your situation.

Are credits shared across multiple salons?

No, each salon has its own separate SMS credit balance. Multi-salon owners must top up each salon individually.

How are international SMS charged?

Currently, Luminate SMS is optimised for UK numbers. International rates may vary - contact support for details.

Can I see which specific messages used credits?

Yes, the Individual Entries view in the SMS Usage Report shows each message, including the customer who received it.

Why did a single message use multiple credits?

SMS messages over 160 characters (or 70 with special characters like emojis) are split into multiple segments, each costing one credit.

Is there a minimum purchase?

The smallest available pack sets the minimum purchase. Check your SMS Credits tab for current pack options.

How quickly are purchased credits available?

Credits are typically available immediately after successful payment. If you don't see them, try refreshing the page.

Last Updated: January 2026 Reviewed: January 2026