Your users can now receive notifications via SMS!
You can opt in to send SMS notifications to users for any of the following events:
To an occupier when a job is instructed to a contractor
To an occupier when an appointment has been set
To an occupier the day before a set contractor appointment, as a reminder
To an occupier, leaseholder, landlord or external users, when you require them to provide feedback
To occupiers or leaseholders when a block/building or estate notification is sent
To occupiers, leaseholders, agents, landlords or external users when a comment is sent
Benefits include
- Improved communications
- Fewer unseen notifications
- Faster responses
This means...
- No more missed/forgotten appointments
- No more feedback requests going unanswered
- Less time chasing people
- Reduced time between contractors requesting appointment confirmation from occupiers and them accepting or rejecting, which reduces problems regarding access
- A better customer and client experience!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SMS notification set up
To set up SMS notifications in your system please follow the guide below.
1. On the left-hand side, select ‘Setup' (please note only Administrator users have access to Setup)
2. Then click 'Settings' from the dropdown
3. Next, click ‘T&Cs’ on the top right-hand side
4. At the bottom of this page, click the dropdown titled ‘Additional feature - SMS’
5. To enable SMS notifications please read (via the provided link) and then accept the T&Cs using the tick box and selecting 'Activate feature'
Once accepted, click the link that appears in the sentence ‘"You will automatically send the SMS messages you select from here" as below.
You can also reach this via the ‘notifications’ tab at the top of the page.
Next, select ‘Occupier notification defaults’, you can then select the SMS notification types you wish to enable under the ‘setting’ column. Don't forget to save your choices!
You can then continue to choose your notification settings for other user types including landlords, contractors and external users.
Once selected, you’re all set and notifications will begin to be sent for your chosen events.
SMS content
All SMS content is pre-determined and cannot be edited. Each message will include date & time and a unique link to further information.
Occupier - job awarded:
“A contractor has been allocated to an issue at your property. View more information here: [issue url]"
Occupier - appointment set:
“A contractor is awaiting your acceptance of a proposed appointment date for [date & time, e.g. Thu, 21 January 2021, anytime] to attend your property. Please respond and view more information here: [issue url]”
OR
“A contractor has booked an appointment to attend your property on [date & time, e.g. Thu, 21 January 2021, anytime]. View more information or decline here: [issue url]”
Occupier - appointment reminder:
“A contractor is due to visit your property on [date & time, e.g. Thu, 21 January 2021, anytime]. View more information here: [issue url]”
All users - feedback required
“You have been asked to provide feedback about a job recently carried out. Provide feedback and view more information here: [issue url]”
Building/Estate notification
“Your property manager has sent a notification with the subject: [subject line here]. Click here to view: [issue url]"
All users - new comment received
“You've received a comment for [issue number]. Click here to view this: [issue url]"
SMS Billing
All SMS messages are charged at 4p per message. An invoice will be raised monthly on 1st of each month and payment will be taken via your existing payment option (Direct Debit, Credit Card or Bank Transfer).
Example: An account with 500 properties has 50 reactive repairs in a month, and have set up occupier notifications via SMS for appointment bookings, reminders and feedback. At 4p per SMS, billing for the month will be £6.00. (4p * 50 repairs * 3 SMS per repair), assuming that all contractors create appointments via Fixflo.
Tracking and Monitoring
It is important that you have the ability to track and monitor the volume of SMS messages that are being sent from your Fixflo account. This allows you to reconfigure your settings as and when required, to allow more or fewer messages to be sent.
The best way to track volumes would be via the 'Reports' button on the left-hand navigation. In here, type 'SMS' to view two SMS reports:
- SMS notifications - history
- SMS notifications - summary of types and costs
Both reports can be scheduled to be sent to relevant individuals, and can also be exported manually as and when required.
SMS notifications - history
This is the most in-depth report on SMS, and allows you to track individual texts in the date range specified in the report. It will detail the time and date the SMS was sent, who it went to (name, number, and email), as well as the notification type that was triggered to send the SMS itself:
SMS notifications - summary of types and costs
This report allows users to monitor volumes and costs per notification type. It will be broken down by the specific notification types available (only displaying if any SMS has been sent for them in the relevant period), alongside the count of SMS and the total cost for that period (this will always be the 'count' multiplied by 0.06).
You may want to schedule this report to send weekly showing the data for 'Current month', in order to accurately track your spending for the month. To do this, select the 'Date range' as 'Current month', then hit 'More options':
Select the weekday you wish to receive the report, as well as the time. Add any CC emails and when you're ready, then simply hit 'Save'. This will automate the report to be sent to you (the email address of the logged in agent) at the specified day and time.
FAQs
Can I choose when the SMS is sent?
No, SMS are sent at set times and are tied to email notifications that are also sent to the relevant user.
Appointment SMS messages are sent when the appointment is booked
Reminder SMS messages are sent at 10 am the day before the appointment
Feedback SMS messages are sent the following morning after an issue has been closed
Where does the link in the message go to?
The link in the SMS will re-direct the user to their Fixflo profile, where they can view full details of the issue
Can I exclude certain users from receiving SMS messages?
Not at the moment, but this feature is coming soon!
Can agents receive SMS notifications as well?
This is something we’re looking into. If you’d like to request further SMS improvements please submit an idea.
Are there any restrictions?
The SMS feature is only available to Fixflo Essentials and Fixflo Professional customers in the UK.