> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.tellem.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Alerts to your business

> Some Tellem messages are for you, not your customer — a heads-up that a job needs staffing, or a customer reply that needs a human. This page covers both and…

Some Tellem messages are for *you*, not your customer — a heads-up that a job
needs staffing, or a customer reply that needs a human. This page covers both
and where to control them on the **Account** page.

## Unstaffed-appointment alerts

If a job's start time is approaching and no technician has been assigned,
Tellem warns you automatically — once on the morning of the job, and again
about two hours before it starts. This runs for every account; there's
nothing to turn on. Once you assign a worker, the alerts stop for that job.

**Alerts to your business**, a card on the **Account** page, is where you
choose which channel(s) carry these warnings:

* **Email me about unstaffed appointments** — sent to the contractor email
  set in the **Business details** card above it.
* **Text me about unstaffed appointments** — sent to your cell, same place.

Both are on by default. Turn either off if you'd rather not hear about it
that way — turning off *both* means Tellem won't alert you about unstaffed
jobs at all, and the page tells you so.

**Texting needs a valid cell number.** If you turn texting on but the cell
number on the Business details card is missing or not a real US number, the
Account page shows a note right next to the toggle, and you'll only get these
alerts by email until you add one — saving still works either way, you just
won't get the text half of the warning. This is different from your customers'
messages, which are unaffected by anything on this page.

## Customer reply routing

When a customer replies to a Tellem text with something other than a STOP or
START keyword, Tellem forwards it to you so you can respond — this is the
**Customer reply routing** card, just below Alerts to your business.

* **Forward customer replies** is the master switch. Turn it off to drop
  free-form replies without notifying you; STOP and START are always handled
  regardless.
* **Email me when a customer replies** and **Text me when a customer
  replies** work independently, each with its own optional override address
  or number — set one if you want replies routed somewhere other than your
  main contractor email or cell (e.g. a shared dispatch inbox).

Email is on by default; text is off by default, because texting your own
number counts against your SMS throughput and most accounts don't have a
texting number wired up on day one. If you turn text on before that is in
place, those texts are dropped — they are not held and delivered later — so
leave email on as well until you've confirmed texts are arriving.