A keyword claims inbound traffic on a shared number. When a customer texts a
shared number, the keyword in their message decides whose inbox it lands in — see
Inbound Messages for the routing rules.
Requesting a keyword
Why approval is required
Active keywords have to be globally unique across the whole platform, not just
within your account — otherwise two accounts could both claim SALE on the same
shared number and routing would be ambiguous.
Uniqueness is therefore re-checked at the moment of approval, not at the moment of
request. Two accounts can both have a pending request for the same keyword; only
the first to be approved gets it.
Administrators can also assign a keyword directly, in which case it is approved
and active immediately.
Auto-reply
When a message matches, the auto-reply is sent back to the customer.
An auto-reply is a normal outbound SMS. It costs credits, and it is sent for
every matching inbound message. A keyword that matches high volumes of traffic
will consume credits without further action from you.
Match counting
Each keyword records how many messages it has matched, which is the quickest way
to confirm a keyword is live and receiving traffic.
Deleting
Removes the keyword and frees it for another account to claim.
Dedicated numbers do not need keywords
If you own a dedicated inbound number, everything sent to it routes to you
regardless of content. Keywords only matter for shared numbers. 
