Notifications guide

Tell customers when to be ready

Give customers information they can act on: that work is arranged, when to prepare, and what happened at the handoff.

Updated October 23, 2026

Start with the next action the customer needs to take. A status update confirms progress. An ETA reminder gives time to get ready. A tracking link lets the customer check again without calling the office.

Choose a small message plan

Moment	Purpose	Use
Work is assigned	Confirm that a driver has the job; avoid promising that travel has already begun.	A Job Notification for the relevant assigned state.
Arrival is approaching	Ask the customer to prepare access, items, or the handoff.	An ETA Notification based on time before arrival.
Work is completed or cancelled	Close the loop and explain the next step.	A Job Notification for the relevant completed or cancelled state.

Review existing notifications before adding more. A customer who receives email, SMS, and push for every minor state change may find it harder to notice the message that matters.

Use a geofence alert for crossing or dwelling inside a boundary, such as a depot. It does not mean a customer's job is complete. See Choose the right notification for all three types.

Check the recipient and channel

You need access to the site's notification settings and a customer record with usable contact details. The Customer recipient is the customer attached to the job; entering a different contact at a stop does not automatically make that person the notification recipient.

In Settings → Site Settings → Notifications, check that the chosen Email, Push, or SMS channel is allowed. A site administrator must change these settings.
For email, verify that messages reach your test customer. The application's default email service may already handle delivery; configure Mailgun when you want to send from your own domain.
For SMS, configure your messaging provider and verify a received test message. A saved template is not delivery proof.
For push, check the customer's app/browser permission and registered device. Review the customer's own notification preferences.

Use a test customer and delivery destination you control when checking messages.

Add a useful progress update

Open Settings → Job Notifications and select Add Notification.
Choose the Workflow State for the moment you want to communicate. Use your site's actual label and meaning.
Select Customer as Recipient and choose one Delivery Method.
Write the Title for email or push, and the Body. SMS uses the body without a title.
Check Enabled, then select Save.

For an assigned-state message, a useful body is:

Your job {{job_number}} has been assigned to {{driver_name}}. View updates: {{tracking_url}}

Use the variables shown in the form. A state name such as Assigned does not itself mean the driver is on the way, so keep the message aligned with the real event.

Give customers time to prepare

Open Settings → ETA Notifications → Add Notification.
Set Trigger Type to Time Before Arrival.
Set Minutes before arrival to the notice your handoff needs. For example, use 10 when the customer needs time to meet the driver or open a loading area.
Choose Customer and the delivery method.
Write the message, leave Enabled on, and select Save.

Your driver {{driver_name}} is expected in about {{eta_minutes}} minutes for job {{job_number}}. Please be ready for the handoff. Follow updates: {{tracking_url}}

The message is evaluated as ETA updates arrive and the stop is within the threshold. It is an estimate, not a guaranteed appointment time. The same rule can notify for each upcoming stop on a multi-stop job, so keep the wording suitable for that job's customer and test the full journey.

Distance Away can be useful when proximity matters more than preparation time. Start with a time threshold when traffic or preparation needs vary.

Verify the complete customer experience

Create a new test job for the customer you control, with an assigned test driver and valid stop addresses.
Move the job into the configured state. Check the received message's wording, variables, and sender.
Open its tracking link and confirm that it shows the expected job. Review location sharing if precise driver positions should be hidden.
For ETA alerts, use a controlled driver test with location updates and a changing ETA. Confirm the alert arrives as the driver approaches, before marking arrival.
Check every stop on a multi-stop job and every enabled channel for unnecessary duplicate messages.

Saving the rule verifies configuration. Receiving the message and opening the correct tracking page verifies the customer's experience.

Troubleshooting

The status update did not arrive

Confirm the job entered the exact configured workflow state, the rule is enabled, the customer is attached to the job, and that channel is allowed by both site and recipient settings. Then check contact details, provider delivery results, spam folders, or push permissions as appropriate.

The ETA reminder did not arrive

Check for current driver location and ETA data. The stop must still be awaiting arrival; arrived, completed, and cancelled stops are skipped. A reminder already sent for that rule and stop is not a fresh test: use a new test job.

Customers receive more reminders than expected

Inspect all enabled rules and channels. ETA rules apply per stop, so a pickup-and-dropoff job may produce more than one approach message.

A distance threshold seems wrong on a metric site

The current distance field is labeled Miles away, while evaluation follows the site's distance units. Use Time Before Arrival for an unambiguous reminder and confirm your site's units before relying on a distance threshold.

For branding and the public tracking experience, see Customize and share the tracking page.