GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Technician App

Automatic On-the-Way Texts From the Garage Door Tech's Phone

“Between 8 and 12” is the phrase customers hate most in home services. A garage door customer with a broken spring has a car stuck in the garage and a day on hold. Every hour of waiting without news feels like three. An on-the-way text turns a vague window into a clear heads-up: the tech is coming now.

Texts That Send Themselves

A good on-the-way text also prevents the skipped calls described in Skipping a Garage Door Call for No Access or No One Home, and Noting Why. A customer who knows the tech is coming can be home, move the car and put the dog away.

In GarageDoorBossPro, on-the-way texts go out automatically as the tech works their route. The tech does not type anything, does not look up a phone number, and does not stop to write a message. They work the list in route order, and the customer gets the text.

That matters because a text that depends on a tech remembering to send it is a text that does not get sent on a busy day. Automatic means it happens on the tenth call the same as the first.

Customers Pick Their Alerts

Not every customer wants the same messages. Some want to hear everything. Some only want to know when the tech is close. GarageDoorBossPro lets customers choose their alert preferences:

• Night before. A reminder that the visit is tomorrow.
• When they're next. The heads-up that the tech is headed their way.
• When the tech arrives. The arrived text, covered in the next guide.

A tune-up customer on a yearly plan might only want the night-before reminder. A customer with a broken spring will usually want all three. Respecting the choice keeps texts welcome instead of annoying.

Replies Go to the Office

Customers reply to texts. “Great, I'll open the garage.” “Can you come after 2 instead?” “The code is now 4417.” Those replies come to the office through two-way texting, not to the tech's personal phone.

That is better for everyone. The tech is not reading texts while driving or answering them from under a door. The office sees the reply, acts on it, and if it matters to the tech, such as a new code, updates the access notes on the address so the card shows it.

It also keeps customer conversations in one place. When the owner looks back at what a customer was told, the whole thread is there.

Text Allowances and Keeping Messages Short

Every GarageDoorBossPro plan includes a monthly text allowance: 500, 1,000 or 2,000 texts sent and received on Start, Pro and Crew, for the US and Canada. Automatic alerts and two-way replies both count.

For most garage door companies that is plenty, especially if you keep messages short and plain. A good on-the-way text says who is coming and roughly when, and nothing more. Fancy punctuation and long paragraphs make messages longer than they need to be.

Why It Pays Off

The on-the-way text looks like a courtesy. It is also an operations tool:

• Fewer no-shows. Customers who know the tech is coming are home.
• Fewer “where are you?” calls. The office phone is quieter.
• Faster starts. The garage is open, the car is out, and the tech gets to work.
• Better reviews. Customers notice when a company keeps them informed, and they mention it.

Combine the text with the live map in the customer app, which shows today's route and the customer's place in it (“You're stop 12 of 20 — the tech is 5 stops away”), and the customer has no reason to call at all.

Keeping the Texts Accurate

Automatic texts are only as accurate as the route. If a tech skips around the list instead of working it in order, the wrong customer may get the heads-up. If the office moves a call on the dispatch board, the tech's list and the texts follow the new order.

So the same habits from earlier guides apply: work the list top to bottom, tap Start and Complete when they happen, and let the office handle changes on the board. Route order is covered in The Garage Door Tech's Day in Route Order: Working the Call List Top to Bottom.

For commercial stops, the on-the-way text can go to the site contact instead of the owner of the building. A maintenance supervisor who knows the tech is on the way can have the dock clear and the right person waiting. That alone can turn a call that would have started with a long wait in the parking lot into one that starts on time.

Next: The Arrived Text

The on-the-way text gets the customer ready. The arrived text tells them the tech is in the driveway. That is the next guide. For the full list of tech app features, visit the GarageDoorBossPro garage door technician app page.