In this article, you'll learn how to send an On My Way text and how to add a live map link the customer can follow. It means fewer "where are you?" calls, and the customer knows you're coming before you pull up.
There's no send button for this. When you set a job's status to OMW, the text goes out from your CRM number on its own. Every company starts with an OMW status under In progress, and the plain text works from day one. The live map link is the part you switch on in Features.
To send the text from a job:
- Open the job.
- Next to Status:, click the status box.
- Pick OMW, which sits under In progress.
A few seconds later the customer gets the text, with their first name and your business name in it. You'll see "On-my-way text is going out to the customer." The same status box opens when you click a job on the schedule.
The phone app works the same way. Open the job, tap the box next to Status: and pick OMW under In progress.
From the Home screen
On the web, every card under Upcoming work has a three-dot menu. Click On my way, then Yes, on my way when it asks "On my way to …?". If more than one of your statuses means on my way, the menu lists each one. On a touch screen you can also swipe a card in Needs attention to the left, tap On my way, then tap Yes, on my way.
On the phone app, tap the three dots on an Upcoming work card, tap OMW (or the truck's entry, like OMW - Junk truck), then tap Yes, on my way. You can also swipe a Needs attention card to the left and tap On my way.
Change the wording
Every job gets the same text. To change it:
- In the menu, click Settings, then Templates.
- Under Jobs, open On my way and edit the Text message.
You can use {firstName}, {business} and {trackingUrl}. {business} is your company's name, so there's nothing to fill in. Leave {trackingUrl} in, because that's where the map link goes. The CRM won't save the text without it.
If a text goes out without a map link, the CRM drops the whole sentence that holds {trackingUrl}, so the customer never sees a sentence that just stops. Keep the link in its own sentence at the end, the way the default text does. The same Templates tab is in the app's Settings.
Add a live map link
Out of the box, the text only says you're on your way. To add a live map, turn the feature on first.
To turn on OMW:
- In the menu, click Features.
- Under Customer messages, flip the switch on the OMW tile. The OMW page opens.
To set it up:
- Under How customers follow the crew, pick one. Your pick saves right away.
- Off sends the plain text with no link.
- Phone GPS follows the phone of the tech on the job, so there's no hardware to buy.
- Vehicle (Bouncie) follows a Bouncie tracker in the truck.
- If you picked Vehicle (Bouncie), click Connect with Bouncie under Connect your trackers and sign in. You can't finish setup until the trackers are connected.
- Click Complete setup.
The link works for two hours or until you arrive, whichever comes first.
To get back to this page later, click Settings, then OMW under Phone & booking. On the phone app, tap OMW in the menu. You can switch modes in the app, but connecting Bouncie only works on the web.
Choose which statuses send
Once setup is done, the OMW page lists your job statuses under Send automatically:
- On Phone GPS, set each status to Send or Don't send.
- On Vehicle (Bouncie), pick which truck each status follows. You can also pick This phone or Don't send.
When you connect Bouncie, each truck gets its own status under In progress, named after the truck, and the plain OMW status is hidden. Pick the truck's status when it heads out. To rename a truck status, type over its name in this list.
What the customer sees
The link opens a map with your business name and their street. It shows roughly how many minutes away you are, your speed (or "Stopped"), and when your position last updated. Once you get there, it says "has arrived". After the link runs out, the page says "This tracking link has expired".
Sending it again
If the job already got an on-my-way text in the last six hours, the CRM checks with you first: "This customer was already sent an on-my-way text 20 minutes ago. Send it again?" Click Send again if it really is a second trip. Click Cancel if you picked the status twice by mistake.
When there's no GPS or tracker
- Phone GPS, nobody on the job: The CRM asks "Who's on their way?" Whoever you pick is added to the job, and the customer follows their phone. To send the plain text instead, click Send without a map link.
- Phone GPS, the tech's location is off: The CRM checks the crew's phones before it sends anything. If none of them can share a location, the customer still gets the text, just without the link, and the tech is told their location is off. To choose who hears about it, go to Settings, then Notifications, then On-my-way location alerts. That section only shows up while you're on Phone GPS.
- The Bouncie tracker hasn't reported in over a day: The customer still gets the text, but without the map link, because the link would show nothing. Check the tracker, or switch to Off so plain texts go out.