Do you need to extract data from SMS and send it to another tool? Do you want to store SMS messages for further processing? Then, you've come to the right place.
Build an automated workflow from the moment you receive a text message until that data is sent to another app.
The need for automatic data extraction from SMS
SMS (short messaging service) is the most commonly used tool to exchange information. We often receive valuable information via text messages, such as OTPs or security codes. Some organizations such as the event booking industry need those codes to verify the user's identity.
They need to store those codes in a database or another tool. Or, maybe you need to pull SMS data and send it to a Google spreadsheet.
Manual data extraction from SMS is challenging
The manual process entails the following steps:
- Forward each message from your phone to your email
- Open your email on your laptop
- Go through those emails one by one
- Copy the specific information that you need
- Paste them onto Google Sheets or add them to another online tool
Imagine if you had to do this manual data entry task on a daily basis. One or two SMS are fine. But what about a hundred of them? Not so time-worthy! Also, if the number is a shared business phone, you usually need to get in touch with the team member that has the device to get hold of the SMS.
Automating this process will scale your business
Automation is always a good thing. It's easy to set up, saves you time, money and resources.
Putting an automated process in place will help you focus on other productive tasks such as customer service or business operations.
Furthermore, chat conversations are unstructured data that cannot be analyzed.
Is there a way to extract and store SMS messages?
Yes, with a few simple steps, you can set up an automated process. The first thing is to forward the SMS automatically to your email.
We've outlined a few ways to forward SMS to emails in this article to get you started. Once you've done that, come back to this article to complete the data extraction process
How to extract data from text messages?
Are you receiving all your SMS in your personal inbox now? Great! Let's proceed to set up another workflow. Rest assured that all the steps are done only once.
Extracting data from SMS with Parseur
Parseur is a text-to-email extractor that automates data extraction from SMS. The email parser is no-code, and has a template-based platform suitable for every industry.
Parseur's main objective is to help businesses save time and money on manual tasks.
Step 1: Create a text-to-email mailbox
Sign up for Parseur's free plan and create your mailbox. You will receive an email address for that mailbox. In this example, it's [email protected].
Forward one of the emails to this mailbox. You don't have to manually forward the email; create an auto-forwarding rule from your personal inbox to the Parseur mailbox.
Step 2: Create an SMS-to-email template
Templates are very easy to create with the Parseur app, with a simple point-and-click interface. Create boxes over the data that you want to extract and add the field output.
Once done, click on "create template".
Step 3: Verify the parsed data
Check whether the extracted data meets your requirements. From now on, every email sent to this mailbox will be processed the same way.
Step 4: Send SMS data to Google Sheets
There is a default formula in your Parseur mailbox for Google Sheets. Just copy-paste that formula into one of your spreadsheet and, data will be sent in real-time.
Alternatively, you can also use Zapier or Make if you want to set up a more advanced workflow with further customization.
As you can see, the steps are quite simple and don't require much human intervention. Data from SMS can also be exported to other applications from Parseur.
SMS data is often overlooked, but it can actually provide valuable insights if processed accurately.
last updated on
