Getting Started
Set Up an AI SMS Assistant in Under a Minute
Email notifications are either off or useless, which is why the important message is the one you find three hours later. This walkthrough sets up the other end of it: an assistant you reach by text, that texts you back only when something is genuinely worth interrupting you for. Setup runs in under a minute. Create an account at usecarly.com, open SMS Texting, and register the phone numbers you want to use. From then on you can text your assistant directly from your phone, the same way you would email it. The urgent-email workflow is the one most people build first. Carly watches the connected Gmail and Outlook inboxes, an AI triage step reads each message in context and decides whether it is worth a text, and a short SMS goes only to your registered number. Routine mail stays silent and waits in the inbox. The same shape covers daily or hourly briefings, and it reacts to events across the tools you already use, HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Typeform, Slack, Google Calendar and Calendly among them. The last part of the video opens Organizations, where business texting lets the assistant hold conversations with prospects and customers rather than only with you.
Step by step
- 01
Create the account
Sign up at usecarly.com. The inboxes, the phone number and the workflows all live in the same place, so this is the only account involved.
- 02
Open SMS Texting and register your numbers
Add the phone numbers you want to use with Carly. Texts only ever go to a registered number, so there is nothing to configure about recipients afterwards.
- 03
Text the assistant directly
Message Carly from your phone the way you would email it. Asking by text is the same interface as asking by email, which matters when you are not at a desk.
- 04
Build the urgent-email workflow
Ask for a workflow that texts you when an urgent email arrives. Carly watches every connected Gmail and Outlook inbox, triages each message in context, and sends a short SMS only when it passes.
- 05
Let the routine mail stay quiet
Newsletters, receipts and thread noise never generate a text. The value of the alert depends entirely on how rarely it fires, so the filter is the feature.
- 06
Extend it to briefings and other events
The same setup sends daily or hourly briefings, and starts from events in tools you already use, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Typeform, Slack, Google Calendar and Calendly.
- 07
Turn on business texting in Organizations
Open Organizations to set up texting with prospects and customers. That moves the assistant from alerting you to answering them, which is the part that runs while you are away from your desk.
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See what people say
"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."