---
title: "What gets sent"
description: "The three messages, and why none of them is compulsory."
slug: "en/customs/delivery/what-gets-sent"
url: "https://docs.custom.one/en/customs/delivery/what-gets-sent/"
capability: "delivery"
published_at: "2026-10-21T09:49:50.223Z"
---
A custom can send three messages, and all three are written on the **Delivery**
tab. Two are emails, one is a text.

| On the tab | Goes out | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| **Instant reply** | as soon as their answers arrive | tells them you got it and their result is coming |
| **Video delivery** | once their video is ready | carries the link to their own result |
| **Delivery SMS** | alongside the video delivery | the same thing as a text |

Both emails are on from the start, with copy already written — a new custom
sends something sensible before you touch a thing. The SMS is off until you add
it.

## The two emails are different jobs

The **instant reply** exists to stop someone wondering whether their answers
went through. It goes out as soon as their answers are in, before anything has
been made for them, so it can't contain their result — there isn't one yet.

The **video delivery** is the one that matters. It's sent once their video
exists and carries the link to it, usually on a button. On most layouts it can
also show a short animated preview of their video — **Show animated preview in
results email**, under **Appearance**, on unless you turn it off.

You can turn either off on its own. Turning off the video delivery means
nobody is told their result is ready, so only do that if you're delivering the
link some other way.

## You don't have to use any of it

Delivery is one way to reach people, not the only one. Turn both emails off and
we send nothing at all — the results still exist, on each person's row in
**Leads** and at their own result link.

Plenty of people prefer that: they send from their own CRM or sequencer, and use
[outbound webhooks](/en/customs/automation/outbound-webhooks/) to be told the
moment a result is ready. You can also do both — keep our emails and still get
told when each one goes out.

## Customs without a quiz

If people arrive by [import or webhook](/en/customs/people/bring-people-in/)
rather than by answering questions, the instant reply is hidden. There's nothing
to confirm — they never filled anything in. The video delivery and the SMS work
exactly as usual.

## Editing them

Pick a message from the timeline on the right and it opens in the editor — the
emails are on the **Email** tab, the SMS on the **SMS** tab. What you change
there is part of your draft, so it reaches nobody until you
[publish](/en/customs/overview/publishing-a-custom/). **Send test** puts the
current version in your own inbox first.

Under **Appearance**, each email has its own **Layout**, next to the email's
colours and, on layouts that show one, the **Logo** switch.

A few lines have a length limit: the short line that goes with the title, the
greeting and the postal address in the footer take up to 300 characters, the
sign-off up to 500. A counter shows under the line while you write in it, and
typing stops at the limit. Longer text belongs in the body of the email, which
every layout has.

If a change can't be saved, a message tells you why, and **Publish** won't go
ahead until it's sorted — what goes live is always what you see in the editor.