A text message, ready to send
An SMS QR code opens a text message to your number. Add the words people should send, and they only need to tap Send.
Keywords made easy
Many services work by keyword: text JOIN to sign up, or TABLE 4 to call a server. Put the keyword in the message, and nobody has to remember it or type it right.
Good uses
Queue and waitlist check-ins. Pickup messages like “I’m outside”. Opt-ins to text updates. Parking and service requests. Text-to-donate campaigns, where your provider supports them.
SMS or WhatsApp?
SMS works on every phone, with no app and no account, and it gets through on one bar of signal at an outdoor event. WhatsApp is free over the internet and better for photos and long chats. If your audience is mixed, SMS is the safer default.
Messages that need no typing
For check-ins and requests, the best SMS code needs no typing at all: “Checking in, table for 2” or “Ready for pickup, bay 3.” Make one code per table, bay or room, and every text tells you exactly where it came from.
Use a number that can receive texts
Most landlines can’t receive SMS. Use a mobile number, or a business texting number from your provider, and make sure someone actually reads what arrives.
Marketing by text
The code only starts a message; it never signs anyone up by itself. If you run text campaigns, your texting provider handles consent and STOP replies. Say clearly next to the code what people are joining.