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How to set up your SMS sender

Configure where your SMS comes from in Brave Tools, either the easy path or your own 46elks account.

Overview

Before you can send SMS campaigns or run workflow SMS actions, you need to set up an SMS source in your account. Brave Tools gives you two options:

  • Brave Managed SMS. We provide the 46elks infrastructure. Quick to start, pay with SMS credits, no external account.
  • Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) with 46elks. Connect one or more of your own 46elks accounts. Full control over sender names, billing, and routing.

You pick one or the other per portal. They cannot run in parallel for the same portal.

Option 1: Brave Managed SMS (one click)

  1. Open SMS Campaigns in the sidebar
  2. Click the Settings tab
  3. On the Senders tab, click Activate Brave Managed SMS
  4. Add your first sender name (more on that below)

That is it. Behind the scenes, we provision a dedicated 46elks account for you, so your sending capacity is not shared with other Brave customers.

With Brave Managed:

  • Pay using SMS credits included with your plan or topped up separately
  • No external 46elks account needed
  • Sender capacity scales per Brave Tools account

Option 2: Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) with 46elks

Use this if you already have a 46elks account, want billing through 46elks, or need to use sender names you have registered yourself.

  1. Sign up at 46elks.com if you do not already have an account
  2. In the 46elks dashboard, find your API Username and API Password
  3. In Brave Tools, open SMS Campaigns > Settings > Senders
  4. Click Connect 46elks account, give it a label that helps you recognize it, and paste the credentials
  5. Click Save. We verify the credentials with 46elks immediately
  6. Add your first sender name and select which 46elks account it should route through

Need more than one 46elks account on the same portal? See the article on connecting multiple 46elks accounts. Available on Professional plans.

Adding sender names

Sender names are what your recipients see in the "From" field of the SMS. To add one:

  1. On the Senders tab, click Add sender
  2. Pick a name (alphanumeric, max 11 characters) or a phone number
  3. If you have multiple 46elks accounts (sub accounts) connected, choose which one this sender should route through
  4. Pick the matching HubSpot contact property used for opt-outs (each sender gets its own)

Heads up: sender names are unique across the whole platform. If someone else already uses the name you tried, you will be asked to choose a different one. This protects everyone's sender reputation.

Phone-number senders accept replies. Alphanumeric sender names are one-way only.

Reassigning a sender to another 46elks account

Connected more than one 46elks account (sub accounts) and want to move a sender between them? Click the credential chip in the sender row, then pick Reassign. Existing sent SMS are not affected, only future sends use the new credential.

Switching between Brave Managed and BYOK

You can switch your SMS source at any time. The Settings tab won't let you have both active on the same portal, so disconnect the current source first, then activate the other one. Already-sent campaigns keep their original routing.

Which option should I choose?

  • Brave Managed if you want to start sending in a minute and pay with credits
  • BYOK if you have specific sender names registered with 46elks, want 46elks invoices, or send across multiple brands that need separate billing

You can always migrate later. Get started with whichever feels right today.