Phone is the simplest channel Okou has: text a phone number, get a reply. No app, no install, no OAuth — just iMessage, SMS, or MMS to a Okou-owned number that's connected to your account.
It's the right channel when you want to ask Okou something from anywhere without opening an app: approving a draft, kicking off a quick task, replying to a question.
Connecting
- Open Where Okou works in Okou and choose Phone.
- Enter your mobile number. Okou sends a verification message to that number.
- Tap the link in the verification message to confirm the number is yours.
- Once verified, the Where Okou works page shows the Okou number to text. Save it in your contacts.
After verification, every message from your phone is recognized as you. Other numbers texting the same Okou number are ignored.
How you use Okou by phone
Send a message to the Okou number. Okou replies in the same conversation. Each conversation maps to a chat in Okou — past messages stay visible in your web chat history.
Typical asks look like:
- "Approve the customer reply you drafted earlier."
- "Summarize the #cs Slack channel since this morning."
- "When's my next meeting?"
- "File a bug: nav link on the landing page 404s on mobile Safari."
iMessage, SMS, and MMS
The Okou number accepts all three:
- iMessage — the most reliable path. Use this whenever possible, especially for longer messages or photos.
- SMS — works for short text. Delivery is best-effort; long messages may be split.
- MMS — works for photos and short videos. Like SMS, delivery may not always be reliable.
If a reply doesn't arrive, iMessage usually does. The platform shows a warning when you connect via SMS or MMS to flag this up front.
Common phone workflows
- Approvals on the go. Okou drafts something in web chat, you walk away from your laptop, the reply needs sign-off. Text "approve" and the action runs.
- Quick captures. Drop a screenshot of a receipt to file an expense, or a photo of a whiteboard to convert to text.
- Reachability while traveling. No corporate VPN, no Slack login — just a phone signal. Okou still answers.
Identity and security
The Okou number only accepts messages from your verified phone. Anyone else texting it gets nothing back. To disconnect, revoke the phone number from Where Okou works — the number immediately stops being recognized.
Outbound messages from Okou come from the same Okou number; recipients you forward messages to never see your personal number.
Limits
- One verified number per user. To change it, disconnect and re-verify the new number.
- Carrier filtering. Some carriers block automated SMS aggressively. If iMessage works but SMS doesn't, the carrier is filtering — there's no workaround beyond iMessage.
- No voice calls. The number is text-only; calling it does nothing.
What's next
- See Workflows for capturing repeated phone-driven tasks.
- See Permissions for what Okou can do without you at a screen.