Fullbay + Texting: Our Newest Feature

Want to let your senior tech know they’ve been assigned to a job while they’re on a break? Need a customer to authorize a repair, but don’t know if they’re hanging out in the customer portal? Want to let a customer know exactly what their repair status is?

Man, have we got some cool updates for you.

You may already be using and loving our text message notifications. Well, we’ve made them even better: you can now send alerts to your customers as repairs on a vehicle progress.

Ready to dive in and learn more? Let’s go!

INTERNAL TEXT MESSAGE NOTIFICATIONS

This originally launched with Fullbay Connect, but we’re including a refresher here.

Even the hardest-working person on your staff steps away from their station now and then. They might end up in the bathroom, or go on a coffee break, or start a different job. Our internal text message notification feature lets you alert members of your crew to various events that apply to them in real-time.

Let’s say you assign a tech to a new job coming in this afternoon. Fullbay will send them a text message indicating this, so they know today isn’t the day to take a long lunch. If some parts are ready for pricing, all you need to do is toggle that within the order and your parts manager will get a text telling them they need to get those parts priced.

All in all, you’re looking at faster reaction times and an increase in communication. Don’t worry, though—you and your crew can set “Do Not Disturb” hours to ensure their cell phones aren’t dancing the jitterbug when they’re off the clock.

CUSTOMER TEXT MESSAGE NOTIFICATIONS

This entirely new feature lets you reach out to your customers to let them know about certain events.

Don’t get nervous just yet—you don’t need to have long, drawn-out text sessions with your customers. Two-way texting is not enabled; these are updates that are sent as a repair or maintenance session progresses.

Here’s the whole list (so far!):

• Service Order / Quick SO is invoiced and ready for payment.
• A Lead Technician has been assigned to your Service Order.
• Service Order / Quick SO Action Item has authorized the tech to begin repairs.
• Parts have arrived for your Service Order.
• Your Service Request has been approved, a tech will be dispatched.
• An estimate needs your authorization.
• Counter Sale is invoiced and ready for payment.
• Parts for your Service Order have been ordered.
• Repairs on your Service Order are complete and ready for invoicing.
• Payment is made in the customer portal.
• A new credit card has been added to your account via the customer portal.
• A new bank account has been added to your account via the customer portal.
• A payment was deleted.

The notification will include a link to their Customer Portal, so they can land right on the estimate or invoice.

Texts also work with approval thresholds. If a customer has pre-authorized you to make any repair up to $1,000, you can send them a text notifying them that you’ve approved a repair on their behalf.

Keeping customers up-to-date while securing faster approvals and payments? Yes, please! And automating these notifications? Oh heck yes. That’s right—you don’t actually have to send these things manually. They send as the job progresses in Fullbay. Imagine all the phone calls your shop will be able to avoid, imagine the frenzied phone-typing your technicians will be spared…

Just imagine.

COOL! HOW DO I TURN ON THESE NOTIFICATIONS?

If your techs and customers have their cell phone numbers within Fullbay, you’re all set. Just turn on Fullbay Connect and toggle text message notifications “on.” Then head to the pages for your staff members and decide which events will lead to a text message notification. For example, select “You are assigned as lead tech on a Service Order,” or “Service Order needs parts priced.”

You’ll configure customer text messages at the customer contact level; each contact listed under a customer can receive a custom notification mix. Customers can opt into or out of specific message types as they like, but you’ll be the one turning those notifications on and off.

And by the way, we’re planning to expand this feature. In the near future, you’ll be able to send PM-related texts (“Yo, your PMs are due!”…in so many words, of course) to customers to make sure they know about scheduled maintenance and inspections.

If you’re not using Fullbay yet, but you dream of being able to send automatic notifications instead of picking up the phone or scribbling on a whiteboard, why not give us a try? We’d love to walk you through our free demo and show you what else we can do!

Suz Baldwin Suz Baldwin got her start in the automotive industry, writing and editing for several motorcycle and classic car magazines straight out of college. In the years that followed, she’s written all sorts of copy for brands big and small while consuming enough coffee to paralyze a dinosaur.