Missed call text back in GoHighLevel: set it up in 10 minutes

If the business just needs a text going out today, use the setting. In the sub-account: Settings > Phone System > Voice > Voicemail & Missed Call Text Back > Missed Call Text Back. Tick Enable Missed Call Text Back, click Customize, type the message, send yourself a test from the number you want, and Save.

A lot of guides still say this lives under Business Profile. It doesn't anymore. It's under Phone System.

The catch is that it texts every missed call. HighLevel's own docs say the same caller trying three times in a few minutes gets three texts, and they recommend the workflow recipe with a wait or tags (1st call, 2nd call) to stop that. That's why I build the workflow for clients.

Pick one, not both, or callers get two texts.

My version triggers on any incoming call that's missed, busy or goes to voicemail. It updates the contact's name if we already know who it is, then checks how many times they've called. First call, second call and third call each get a different text. That's super important so it feels like a person and not a spam message.

Then there's a slight delay before it sends, and the message itself is casual, something like "Hey, sorry, just tied up at the moment. What can I help you with?"

To count calls, add a tag on the first text ("missed call 1"), then put an If/Else right after the trigger that checks for that tag and sends the second-call text instead. HighLevel also notes the trigger can fire for each status change on the same call, so the tag check stops double texts there too.

Write these for the business and keep them short. All of these fit in one 160 character segment once the business name is filled in, as long as the name is short. No emojis, because one emoji drops the segment to 70 characters.

During hours: "Hi, it's {{location.name}}. Sorry we missed your call, we're with a customer. What can we help you with? Reply here and we'll get right back to you."

After hours: "Hi, it's {{location.name}}. We're closed right now but we saw your call. What do you need? Reply here and we'll text you first thing in the morning."

Second call: "Hey, saw you tried us again. Still tied up for a few minutes. Text me what you need and I'll sort it out."

Trades on a job site: "Hi from {{location.name}}, sorry we missed you, we're out on a job. Is this for a repair or a quote? Reply here and we'll get you booked."

The text gets them to reply. What happens next is where most setups fall apart, because the owner is still on the job and doesn't see the reply for two hours. The money is made in the follow-ups, so let AI take that part.

Build the bot in AI Agents > Conversation AI. Turn on the SMS channel, set it to Autopilot (Suggestive only drafts replies for a human to send), train it on the business's website and FAQs, and give it an appointment booking goal with the right calendar. Tell it what to ask first: what they need, where they are, how soon.

Then in the workflow, after the Send SMS step, add Update Conversation AI Bot and Status, pick that bot and set it to Active. HighLevel says a workflow message can put the bot to sleep for that contact, so it has to come after the text. The bot also goes inactive if the caller texts STOP or it hits its message limit.

If the business wants calls answered live instead of texted back, that's a voice agent, and my full build is in Build an AI voice agent.

Yes, if you're texting US numbers from a regular 10 digit local number, which is what most missed call text back setups do. Carriers want to know who's sending, what they're sending and how people agreed to get it. In HighLevel it's Settings > Phone System > Trust Center.

You register a Brand (the business, with its legal name and EIN exactly as on file, or Sole Proprietor if there's no tax ID) and a Campaign (the use case, sample messages and how people opt in). Have a live website with a privacy policy ready before you start. Put the missed call text in as a sample message.

Toll-free numbers skip A2P and go through toll-free verification instead. Canadian numbers bought on or after March 26, 2025 need A2P or Persona verification even for Canada-only texting.

If none of the business's numbers can text, HighLevel tries another eligible number in the account, and if there isn't one, the failed text shows up in the conversation with the reason.

Pennies. A local number is $1.15 a month. Each text is $0.00747 per segment in the US and Canada, plus the recipient's carrier fee ($0.0035 on AT&T up to $0.0050 on Verizon for outbound). Replies are billed too, at the same SMS rate plus inbound carrier fees.

So one short text to a Verizon customer is about $0.0125, and 100 missed calls a month is roughly $1.25 for the first texts, before replies and any AI. Calls themselves are billed per minute: $0.01165 a minute inbound to the app, or $0.02 a minute if the number forwards to the owner's cell.

HighLevel charges every text it tries to deliver, even if it bounces, and adds a 5% markup on carrier and A2P fees at the sub-account when you have rebilling on.

I tell business owners I find revenue leaks, I plug them, and they pay me monthly to keep them plugged. Missed calls are the first leak I show them.

Here's the test I use. Find businesses on the first page of Google Maps (they get lots of calls), then call them at 8 or 9 p.m. If nobody picks up and nobody texts or calls back, write it down. Then call during the day and open with it: "Hey, I called you guys after hours. Nobody picked up and nobody got back to me for a day or two." You've shown them the problem before you've pitched anything.

The best fits are businesses where the owner is the one doing the work: plumbers, electricians, lawn care, tire shops. They're on a job and can't answer. Realtors are good too, they're busy and every missed call is a big deal.

To show the value, I use a simple calculator with three inputs: their average customer value, missed calls per month and close rate. Ask them for the close rate on the call. After it's live, their Call Report shows the missed first-time callers, so the numbers sell it for you every month.

You could build this for a local business and charge a setup fee plus a monthly fee you set. Then the AI booking and a voice agent are the natural next things to add. I run my agency on HighLevel, and the full playbook for finding and closing these clients is in Start an AI automation agency.

Check in this order: A2P or toll-free verification is approved for at least one number, the built-in setting or the workflow is actually on (and published), the call really rang through a HighLevel number, the timeout isn't so long that someone's voicemail picks up first, and the contact isn't on DND. Open the contact's conversation, because a failed text shows there with the reason.

Getting two texts? You've got the built-in setting and a workflow both on. Turn one off.

Using HighLevel's "use your own phone number" feature? That's outbound calling only, so inbound missed calls still ring on the old phone and HighLevel never sees them.