Enabling appointment confirmations and/or reconfirmations texts for a zee

Modified on Wed, 13 Nov, 2024 at 12:01 PM

To enable appointment confs for a zee, here's what you need to know:

- Difference in terms:

CONFIRMATIONS are sent when a NEW or RESCHEDULE event occurs. i.e. when they add a new appt to the calendar for an estimate, or when they drag+drop to move an existing appt around. Same for project days.

RECONFIRMATIONS are the things sent a few days before (default: 2) the appointment. This is to give the customer a chance to call if they can't make the time work for some reason.

Compass has the following types:

Type	Setting to enable	When is it sent?	Template?
New Estimate Appt	Notify on new estimator appointments	Once appt created, plus number of minutes specified in "Minutes to wait before sending text message" - UNLESS "Only notify once per day?" is set, in which case only once a day.	New Appointment Text Message
New Project Appt(s)	Notify on new job schedule	Once project dates scheduled, plus number of minutes specified in "Minutes to wait before sending text message" - UNLESS "Only notify once per day?" is set, in which case only once a day.	New Project Scheduled Text Message
Rescheduled Estimate Appt	Notify on rescheduled estimator appointments	Once appt date updated, plus number of minutes specified in "Minutes to wait before sending text message" - UNLESS "Only notify once per day?" is set, in which case only once a day.	Rescheduled Appointment Text Message
Rescheduled Project Appt(s)	Notify on job reschedule	Once project dates updatec, plus number of minutes specified in "Minutes to wait before sending text message" - UNLESS "Only notify once per day?" is set, in which case only once a day.	Rescheduled Project Scheduled Text Message
Reconfirm Estimate Appt	Send reconfirmation texts ahead of estimate appointments?	"Days ahead of estimator appointment to reconfirm via text?" setting drives it.	Reconfirmation Appointment Text Template
Reconfirm Project Appt(s)	Send reconfirmation texts ahead of projects?	"Days ahead of project to reconfirm via text?" setting drives it.	Reconfirmation Project Text Template

Zees can see what is about to go out by going to Settings>Scheduled Text Messages. They can also cancel individual messages if they need to stop one going out.

When does a message NOT get sent?

1) If the 'send notification SMS' checkbox is unchecked on the customer record, we wont send

2) If theres no phone number

3) We avoid duplicates.. so basically we wont send a new text if we recently sent the same type (new, reschedule, reconfirm) to that same customer for the same project.

We do actually send to 'all' phone numbers, but of course if its not a cell the message wont be delivered even though it is 'sent'

Things to do to protect our zees:

1) Biggest risk is the zee does unexpected rescheduling and is then surprised.

1a) Ask the zee do they move things on the calendar without telling the customer (common reasons: scheduling every project under a 'dummy tech' and only assigning to the 'real tech' a day ahead of the job. Known zees who do this: Corpus)

1b) Ask the zee if they 'park' jobs (i.e. when a tech calls in sick etc, do they move things on the calendar without informing the customer.. known zees who do this: COS)

1c) Ask the zee if they do ANYTHING in the calendar which they wouldn't want their customer to know about.

If they say yes to any of the above, refer to WG and do not turn it on for them until we clear up the issue.

2) Make sure they are trained that for the first few days, to keep an eye on the 'Scheduled Text Messages' screen to see how their actions are causing text messages.

3) Reconfirmations - make sure they understand that if they let the system send reconfirmations, customers can reply 'yes' and it'll automatically "make the checkbox apepar" on the calendar for that item

To actually turn on a zee:

1) Interview the zee to confirm the above so they arent surprised.

2) Turn on the texting feature overall in Enabled Features. If this is not done, none of the other settings will do anything.

3) Ask the zee which things they want to do (new appts, rescheduled, reconfirmations)

4) In settings, turn on the items shown in the table above based on what the zee wants to do.

break glass procedure:

1) Disable the 'text messaging' feature in Enabled Features - this will terminate all scheduled sends instantly.