Notifications are highly configurable in Service Minder. This article explains how notifications work and some of the configuration options.
Notifications for purposes of this article come in two flavors: En Route and Notifications (referring to notices for Proposals, Appointments (but not En Route), and Invoices.
Configuration Settings
Most setting configurations are here: https://serviceminder.io/ControlPanel/NotificationSettings.
In this Control Panel, there are two tabs. Invoice, Appointments, and Payment notifications are on the first. The second tab allows you to determine whether contacts, users, or service agents are eligible to receive email notifications configured on the user's profile in the control panel.
There are also specialized notifications throughout the Control Panel: https://serviceminder.io/ControlPanel under each section, e.g., Invoices or Proposals. For instance, under Proposals, you may determine how many reminders are sent and how frequently.
Notification Settings
Here are screenshots of setting up Notifications. These are "master switches" that determine the types of Notifications your organization uses. They will only be available to contacts if they are on.
Contact Settings
Once Notifications are configured in the Control Panel, they appear as options in Appointments, Invoices, and Proposals. Note that only the En Route (if configured) is visible on a Contact; the other types are only on Appointments, Invoices, or Proposals.
Here is an example of a Contact with the En Route notifications.
Go to the Appointments grid to see the En Route default notifications. They may only be modified individually.
Reminders on Appointments, Invoices and Proposals
Invoices in Service Minder are assumed to be part of a payment option. If they are, the system automatically handles them, sending out notifications and creating Failed Payment alerts in the left menu. Once set in the Control Panel, these notifications function automatically.
If a payment option is NOT selected when the invoice is created, it is the responsibility of the salesperson to monitor payment (checks or cash) manually. It should be part of the monthly tasks to filter for invoices without payment plans (check or cash payers) and verify that the Contact is meeting your agreements for payment. To audit payment plans or lack thereof, go to the invoice grid and sort by Payment Plan:
Any invoice on a payment plan will follow the default notification schedule set up in Notification Settings (see below). The best way to monitor these is to keep an active eye on the Failed Payments menu and deal with them in near real-time.
Here is an article on how to stop unwanted reminders for a specific invoice. https://serviceminder.io/support/index/153
The Credit Hold button is not recommended in the Mosquito Squad workflow. For more on managing credit, see this article: https://mosquitosquad.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023785574-Managing-Credit-in-SM-CRM.
En Route Notifications
En Route notification defaults are set on Appointments and visible on the Contact. You may NOT change an En Route notification preference on the Contact, but you'll need to do so in an Appointment.
Changing En Route Default Notifications
To change the En Route Notification for a Contact, go to the next appointment on the Contact's screen.
Edit and change that appointment to the type of notification you want (text, voice, or robocall), and then click the box to change ALL appointments. Once you click the box, the Default En Route Notification on the Contact will be changed to your selection.
Notes to be integrated later from SM:
The default en route is updated when a future appointment is updated (as described in our FAQ) or when a client accepts a proposal and future appointments are scheduled (either then or in the future).
Just changing the default on the proposal only changes what default the client will see when they accept. They can keep that or change it to something different. The default en route is then updated when that happens. So, it's still tied to when appointments are scheduled or updated.
En Route Triggers in the Mobile App
En Route notices go out once the technician triggers the first en route by hitting the Send En Route button at the top of the My Schedule page in the app. Technicians should hit that when they leave the shop. The remaining appointments will have their en routes sent when
- The previous appointment is completed (and the [ ] Send en route box remains checked)
- The appointment is within the "En Route Window" of any other en routes being sent. For example, if the window is 30 minutes and you send the en route for one appointment on finish, we'll also send for any future appointments scheduled to start within that same window. That creates a "rolling window" for you to provide more advance notice.
- The Send En Route button will always be available at the top of My Schedule for the next appointment that has yet to have its en route sent.
- When going on lunch after the current appointment, clear the [ ] Send En Route checkbox when finishing. When returning from lunch, use the button at the top of My Schedule.
The flag will be cleared when appointments are re-queued/rescheduled and they have the en route sent.
You can see more on mobile in the mobile app FAQ.
Notifications in Bulk Proposals
Bulk Proposals take the default En Route notification as set when the Proposals are created.
When accepted by a Contact, the En Route notification, if changed, is updated on the Contact for future use.
Automated Email Templates
The system uses four automated email templates for invoices. https://serviceminder.io/EmailMessages
Some notes added by SM in October 2021 are valid and need to be integrated into the above article.