Aptly offers three types of phone line automations that help streamline call and SMS management. These automations work only with Twilio phone numbers and are configured per individual phone line. Each automation routes activity from one Twilio number to one board.
The available phone line automations are:
- Create a Card for New Inbound Calls
- Create a Card for New Inbound SMS
- Missed Calls Follow-Up SMS
All three automations follow the same structure:
Trigger → Conditions → Actions
Accessing Phone Line Automations
- Open your Phone Inbox Settings (personal or shared).
- Scroll to the Automations section.
- Select the automation you want to configure.
Each automation must be configured individually and applies to only one phone line.
1. Create a Card for New Inbound Calls
This automation creates a card whenever a qualifying phone call is received.
Trigger
- Any new inbound phone call
Conditions
You’ll choose the Contact Type associated with the board this automation creates cards on.
For example:
- If you’re using your Rent or Leads board, you may choose Prospect.
- For a maintenance board, you might choose Tenant.
Actions
When configuring this automation, it initially displays No Automated Actions.
Click the pencil icon to add actions.
You’ll choose between:
Option 1 – Create and update cards and contacts
or
Option 2 – Only update existing cards or contacts
If you choose to create cards, you’ll configure:
- Board – Where new cards should be created
- Stage – The initial stage for the new card
- Ad Source – Optional
- Useful when calls originate from a specific marketing channel (e.g., Google Ads)
- Location Relation – Optional
- Ideal for multi-family teams using a board per property
- Leave unrelated if calls cannot be tied to a specific property
Once configured, the automation is automatically enabled—there is no save button.
Minimum Call Length Setting
This determines when a card will be created.
You can adjust this in:
Board → Advanced Settings → Card Options → Minimum Call Length
Set a duration (in seconds). Any call shorter than this will not create a card.
2. Create a Card for New Inbound SMS
This automation works exactly like the inbound call automation but triggers on SMS instead of calls.
Trigger
- Any new inbound SMS
Conditions
Select your Contact Type, just as you would for call automations.
Actions
Choose whether to:
- Create and update cards, or
- Only update existing cards
Then configure:
- Board
- Stage
- Ad Source (optional)
- Location Relation (optional)
All changes save automatically.
3. Missed Calls Follow-Up SMS
This automation sends an automated SMS reply when a missed call occurs.
Unlike the other two automations, this one does not create a card.
Trigger
- Any new inbound phone call
Conditions
You can target:
- All missed calls
- Missed calls on new contacts
- Missed calls for new conversations
Next, choose when the automation should run:
- Anytime
- During specific hours
- Not during business hours
Action
Select the SMS template that will be sent automatically after a missed call.
Aptly will send the SMS without requiring any manual action.
Summary
Each Twilio phone line can use any or all of these automations:
Automation Type | Creates a Card | Sends SMS | Best Use Case |
Inbound Call → Create Card | ✅ | ❌ | Lead intake, maintenance calls |
Inbound SMS → Create Card | ✅ | ❌ | SMS-based inquiries |
Missed Call → Follow-Up SMS | ❌ | ✅ | Quick response to missed calls |
Automations save automatically and activate immediately once configured.