The real problem: too many places, too many pings
In most shops the tech's phone is a mess. A customer note arrives by personal text, the address change comes in a group chat, the part number is in an email, and the office calls while the tech is under a sink. Things get missed not because people are careless, but because there is no single place to look. The fix is not more messages. It is fewer, in the right place, at the right time.
One channel per job
Every message about a job should live with that job: the call notes, the customer's gate code, the photo of the old unit, the office's note that she wants a quote for a second bathroom. When the tech opens the job, everything is there. When the job is done, the history stays with the customer for next time.
- Job chat: anything about this job. Parts, access, customer requests, photos.
- Crew or team chat: things that are not about one job. Truck swaps, who is covering lunch, the supply house closing early.
- Phone call: anything urgent that needs an answer now.
- Personal texts: nothing about jobs. They vanish when a tech leaves and nobody else can see them.
What goes to the tech and what stays with the office
A useful test: does this change what the tech does in the next hour? If yes, send it. If no, the office keeps it.
| Send to the tech | Keep with the office |
|---|---|
| The next job moved or was canceled | A customer asking about an invoice |
| Access notes: gate code, dog, park on the street | Billing disputes and payment plans |
| What the customer said on the call | Next week's schedule shuffle |
| An emergency added to their day | Supplier price changes |
| The customer is running late or not home | A review that came in (share it later, at the meeting) |
The office should answer customer questions without calling the tech whenever it can. That only works if the tech's notes and photos go into the job as they work, not in a summary at 6 pm.
Push, text or call, and how not to flood them
- Push notification in the app: routine updates. A job added for tomorrow, a note on the next visit, a parts reminder.
- Text: a backup when the app cannot reach the phone, or for a tech who is off the app.
- Phone call: urgent and time-bound. An emergency, a safety issue, a customer who is angry at the door. If it needs an answer in five minutes, call.
Write the rule down and teach it. Techs relax when they know a ring means urgent and a buzz can wait until they come out from under the house.
Do not flood them
Every alert pulls a tech's hands off the work. Too many and they turn notifications off, and then the important one is missed too.
- Cap routine alerts. Pick a small daily number of non-urgent pushes per person and hold the rest for the next day. Urgent ones always go through.
- Batch. Three notes about tomorrow's first job are one message, not three.
- Quiet hours. No routine messages to a tech at night unless they are on call. Pick a window, such as 8 pm to 6 am, and hold anything routine until it ends.
- Group chats with care. A 20-person chat about lunch is noise. Keep job talk in the job.
The morning list
The single most useful message of the day goes out the evening before or first thing in the morning. It should show, for each tech:
- Their jobs in order, with arrival windows and addresses.
- What each customer said on the call, in their words.
- Parts or tools to load before leaving.
- Any access notes, permits or inspections.
- Who to call if something goes wrong.
A short note the night before about tomorrow's first job lets the tech plan the drive and load the truck. Then the day runs on the job screen, not on texts. See how to dispatch techs efficiently for building the board itself.
Scripts the office can use
A schedule change
Sam, your 2 pm moved to tomorrow, customer asked. Your next is now Ava Reyes, 1:30 window, notes are on the job. No need to reply.
An emergency added
(Call, then the note.) Taylor, emergency no-heat call added after your current job. Address and notes are on the job. Jordan has called your 3 pm to say you will be about an hour late.
The customer is not home
Sam, Ava texted she is 15 minutes out. Wait or start the next one, your call. Let me know which.
Notice the pattern: who, what changed, what to do, and whether a reply is needed. "No need to reply" saves a tech a dozen taps a day.
Common mistakes
- Calling a tech for things the job notes already answer.
- Letting customers text techs' personal numbers. Give customers the shop's number.
- Sending the same note by text, push and email at once.
- Forgetting the helper. If the crew follows the lead, make sure the lead tells the helper what changed.
- Never training on it. Cover the rules in onboarding; see how to train new technicians.
How SWITCHBOARD handles this
In the SWITCHBOARD tech app, each visit fills the screen with what the customer said on the call, photos and crew chat tied to the job. Team messages are off until the owner turns each one on, such as tomorrow's first job at 6 pm the night before. Routine pushes are capped per person each day (6 by default, and the shop can change it). Extras are held to the next day, never dropped, urgent ones go straight through, and each person gets quiet hours. If a push cannot land, it falls back to text, then email.
Questions people ask
Should techs text customers from their personal phones?
No. Use the shop's number, so the office can see the conversation and it stays with the customer when the tech moves on.
How many notifications a day is too many for a tech?
There is no fixed number, but pick a small daily cap for routine alerts, hold the rest for tomorrow, and let urgent ones through. If techs start muting the app, you are sending too many.
When should the office call instead of message?
When it is urgent and needs an answer within minutes: an emergency, a safety issue or an upset customer at the door.
What should be in a tech's morning list?
Jobs in order with windows and addresses, what each customer said, parts to load, access notes and who to call if something goes wrong.