Texting through Atona.
SMS and WhatsApp from your dedicated assistant numbers — separate from your personal ones. Confirmations, follow-ups, group threads, and the back-and-forth that fills your day.
In this guide: how Atona sends and receives texts, how group threads work, and how recipients can opt out.
What it does
An Executive Assistant or Chief of Staff has its own phone number for texts, separate from yours. It is set up the first time a task needs one, after you verify your own mobile (US numbers for now). A Chief of Staff can also message people on WhatsApp, through Atona’s business number. A Personal Assistant has no number of its own; it texts reminders only to you.
Texts to its number are read and routed by Atona. Anything you ask it to send goes out from its number, identified as your assistant.
Try saying
From any channel — chat, voice, email — Atona sends.
Text Sarah I'll be 10 minutes late.
WhatsApp the group about dinner Friday.
Reply to anyone who texts me about the launch.
Tell my dad I'll be home for the weekend.
How it works
You ask, in any channel
"Text Sarah", "WhatsApp the group", "let Mom know" — Atona figures out the right number and the right tone.
It sends from your assistant number
Never your personal one. Its first message to anyone new identifies itself as your assistant.
Replies route to Atona
Inbound texts to your assistant number are read by Atona and woven into your one cross-channel memory.
You're forwarded every text
Every message Atona sends and receives is forwarded to you in real time, so you have a parallel record on your own phone.
What you control
Per-contact rules
"Always reply to Sarah." "Always draft for Mom." "Never reply to this number."
Auto-reply confidence
How sure Atona has to be before sending vs. drafting for your review.
Group threads
Choose whether Atona can post in group chats or only DM.
Quiet hours
Hold all outbound texts overnight. Atona sends them in the morning.
What Atona will not do
- Text a brand-new contact without holding the message for you to review first.
- Send sensitive information — account numbers, identity details, health info — over text.
- Ignore opt-outs. "Stop", "leave me alone", or asking to talk to you directly all pause Atona permanently for that contact.
- Text from your personal number. Ever.
Common questions
Will recipients see my real number?
No. They see your employee’s own number, or for WhatsApp, Atona’s business number. Never your personal one.
What about group chats?
Atona can participate in group threads when you ask it to. It identifies itself in its first post so the group knows who they're hearing from.
Does it work internationally?
SMS works wherever your assistant number does. WhatsApp works globally.
Can people opt out?
Yes — replying "stop", asking to talk to you directly, or telling Atona to leave them alone all pause it for that contact, permanently. Opt-outs are honored across both SMS and WhatsApp.
What about iMessage?
iMessage is supported through custom integration. Atona joins iMessage threads when you mention Atona by name — drafting replies in your voice and sending from your own number.
Related guides
Ready to try Atona?
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