Technicians can send a text message to the customer from the app letting them know they're on the way to their property.
How to Send "On the way" Message from the Mobile App
From the schedule screen
Click on any job or route stop to expand the view.
Click the "On The Way" link
NOTE: For the tech to be able to send the "On The Way" message, the primary contact on the route stop or job must have a phone number saved in Pool Brain. On the way messages are always sent via SMS and not sent via email.
In the message window that opens, techs can select an ETA in one tap. If the technician has permission (see below), they can edit the message further. If they don't have permission, they can't edit the message.
Customers will receive the text message instantly at the number displayed above the "on the way" icon.
The message is sent from a rotating pool of phone numbers. The technician's mobile number is never shared with the customer. You can set a custom "reply to" number or auto-reply message in settings (see below).
Note: this is always the primary contact phone number for the customer account - this number can be updated in web dashboard
A green checkmark icon will display to let the technician know the message was sent successfully. The technician can send another message if they choose by tapping the "On The Way" text again.
Configure "On the way" Text Message Settings
The default text message and reply to number can be configured based on your company's preferences.
From the web dashboard:
Customize "on the way" text message
Go to Settings
Scroll down to "Send 'on the way' text message from technician app" section
Set the default text message your customer will see by editing the text in the box below "Message to customer"
Note: The message "Your technician will be arriving in about (X) minutes" will always display on top of whatever you enter in the "Message to customer" field and the amount of minutes shown will be determined by what the tech selects when sending the message
Customize Replies
Choose what happens if customer replies to the text message:
Send reply to phone number
You can set a "reply to" phone number so that you can receive all replies at a central messaging system such as Podium, Zen Desk or many other text to customer platforms.
Send customer No-Reply message
You can customize the "no reply" message sent to the customer such as providing your office phone number if you want customers to call the office.
Set Technician Permissions
Technicians must have the "can edit 'on the way' text message" permission active to be able to edit the default "on the way" message.
If activated for a technician, they can edit the default "on the way" message to say anything they want.
If a technician doesn't have this permission activated, they can select the number of minutes for their ETA but they can't alter the message in any other way.
This gives the office control over what message the customer sees, but still allows the tech to quickly choose their ETA which also gets communicated to the customer.
For more information about technician permissions, see the Technician Permissions article.