Missed Call Text Message Generator

How to use the generator

1. Pick your trade. Each trade asks one question that sorts urgent calls from routine ones, such as “Is water leaking right now?” for plumbers or “Is your car drivable, or do you need a tow?” for auto shops.
2. Choose a tone. Friendly and Professional change the greeting and apology. Short trims everything that isn’t needed.
3. Turn on the options you need. Use the after-hours version for your closed-hours text-back, add a booking link if customers can book online, and add a safety line if callers might be in danger.
4. Edit, check, copy. Keep every message to one segment where you can, then paste it into your phone system or text-back tool as plain text and test it by calling your own number from a mobile phone.

Spanish and bilingual texts

Choose Español or Bilingual (EN + ES) under Language, or open the generator with ?lang=es or ?lang=bi. The Spanish texts use the formal usted and are written to avoid á, í, ó and ú. Those four letters aren’t in the GSM-7 alphabet, so any one of them switches the whole text to UCS-2 and cuts the limit from 160 to 70 characters. é, ñ, ü, ¿ and ¡ are GSM-7 and are safe to use. The opt-out line becomes “Responda STOP para darse de baja.” (or both languages in bilingual mode), and the bilingual “choose a language” variant lets the caller reply 1 for English or 2 for Spanish.

The Spanish wording was drafted with machine assistance. Have a native speaker on your team review it, and only turn it on if someone can reply in Spanish. For 31 ready-made examples by trade and how to handle Spanish opt-outs such as BAJA, see our Spanish missed call text templates.

How SMS length and segments work

Texts are sent and billed in segments. Which limit applies depends on the characters in the message (Twilio: SMS character limit; HighLevel: How to Calculate SMS and MMS Costs):

Three details trip people up:

• Extended characters count double. In GSM-7, ^ { } [ ] ~ | \ € each use two of the 160 slots.
• One character switches the whole message. A single emoji or curly apostrophe (often added automatically by phones and word processors) moves the entire text to UCS-2, so a 120-character message becomes 2 segments. Most emoji also count as two UCS-2 characters.
• Split messages lose space to a header. That’s why the limit drops to 153 or 67 per segment. Twilio also notes that multi-segment texts from US and Canadian toll-free numbers fit 152 or 66 per segment.

Segments matter because you pay for each one. HighLevel, for example, bills US texts per segment plus carrier fees (see our GoHighLevel pricing guide), so a text-back that runs to 2 segments costs twice as much every time it fires. The Fix characters button swaps curly quotes, dashes and similar characters for plain ones and removes hidden characters that sneak in when you copy from a document.

Compliance notes

This isn’t legal advice, but these are the guardrails most US businesses should know about before turning on text-back:

• Register your number. Texting customers from a regular local number generally requires A2P 10DLC registration; toll-free numbers need toll-free verification.
• Say how to opt out. The CTIA’s Messaging Principles and Best Practices say senders should state in the message how to opt out, using standard “STOP” wording, and should honor natural-language requests like “stop” or “unsubscribe” too. That’s why opt-out wording is on by default. Whatever you send, make sure STOP actually works in your platform.
• Check your state’s rules. Several states now cover texts in their telemarketing laws, with quiet hours as narrow as 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. See our sourced missed call text back laws by state table.
• Keep it conversational. A reply to someone who just called you is different from a promotion. Leave coupons and sales pitches out of the text-back.
• Use your own domain for links. Twilio warns that US carriers strongly discourage shared public link shorteners such as free Bitly or TinyURL links, which raise the risk of filtering (Twilio Help Center). Link to your own website or a branded short domain.
• Protect sensitive details. Dental and med spa practices shouldn’t ask for health information by text unless their setup supports it, and law firms shouldn’t invite case details over SMS.
• Approve safety lines. The safety lines are short starting points. Have the owner approve the wording, match it to your local utility and emergency guidance, and only promise what your team can deliver.

Related guides

For the reasoning behind these messages and 21 more examples, read our missed call text back guide. Trade-specific reply flows are in the plumber, auto repair, dental office, and pest control scripts, and law firms should read our law firm after-hours answering guide. To see whether missed calls are worth fixing at all, try the missed call revenue loss calculator. For Spanish-speaking callers, use the Spanish and bilingual templates, and check quiet hours and consent rules in texting laws by state. Still choosing an app to send them? Our comparison of missed call text back apps covers Grasshopper, Quo, HighLevel, Housecall Pro, Jobber and Podium. Everything for one trade is on its hub: plumbers, HVAC, electricians, dental offices, law firms and pest control. Terms such as SMS segment and GSM-7 are explained in the glossary.

FAQ

Sources (checked October 8, 2026)