Texts and emails to customers
Read customers' texts, reply, send a text or email from a repair, log a phone call and check that a message arrived.
Every text, email and logged call with a customer is kept in one conversation, so anyone at the counter can pick up where someone else left off. Messages in the left menu is your store's inbox. The number beside it counts texts from customers nobody has read yet.
The Messages page
The tabs choose what the list shows:
- From customers: conversations with texts customers sent you.
- Everything: every conversation, including messages you sent.
- Not delivered: texts and emails that failed.
Pick a conversation to read the whole thread and reply on the right. Use the search box to find a customer or a word in a message. Mark all read clears the unread count.
The page also says how texting works at your store. With two-way texting, texts go out from your store's own number and customers' replies land here. With one-way texting, texts come from a shared number that doesn't take replies, and a customer who answers is asked to call.
Send a message
- On Messages, click New message and find the customer by name, phone or email. Or open their profile and click Text with their first name.
- Choose Text, Email or Phone call.
- Type your message. For an email, add a Subject.
- Click Send text or Send email.
The quick replies under the box fill in common words, such as that a repair is ready for pickup. For texts, a counter shows the length. Past 160 characters, the message goes as two texts.
When the customer has a repair in the shop, the box offers Start with the update for the repair's status. Leave it on to begin with the standard words for that status, and add your own note after them.
Log a phone call
Choose Phone call, type what was said, and click Log the call. Nothing is sent. The call is kept in the conversation for the record.
Texts from someone who isn't a customer yet
A text from an unknown number shows as Not a customer yet. You can reply by text. Click Add as a customer to create their profile, and their earlier texts move into it.
Send from a repair
On a service order, open the Activity tab and choose Messages with the customer's first name to see everything said about that repair. Click Notify customer, choose how, decide whether to start with the status update, add a note and send. The preview shows exactly what they'll get.
While a repair waits for pickup, Abandonment notice sends the notice that an uncollected device may be disposed of. See Automatic customer messages for the messages OnSite sends by itself.
Check a message arrived
Each message you send shows its state:
- One tick: sent.
- Two ticks: delivered. Hover over it to see when.
- Failed: it didn't go through, with the reason. Click Try again on a failed text to resend the same words.
- Not sent: texting or email isn't set up yet, so it was recorded but not sent.