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Automatic messages (Triggers)

The Triggers page controls the automatic messages Tellem sends customers — for example an arrival heads-up or a running-late notice. You choose which are on. Two rules keep it safe:
  • Messages only send during the messaging hours you set, so customers aren’t contacted at odd times. A new account starts at 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM in your business timezone; change it any time on the Account page.
  • Nothing goes out unless you’ve turned the relevant trigger on. Tellem never messages a customer behind your back.
  • Message templates are created and controlled by Tellem for Tellem.ai Service Alerts. They carry only approved appointment details (customer name, business name, appointment time, ETA, worker name) and never links or promotional content. Templates aren’t editable in the dashboard — contact support to change one.
Two of these messages are time-based: the reminder (by default the day before) and the same-day confirmation (the morning of). They go out on schedule whether or not the assigned worker’s phone is sharing location, so a worker who hasn’t started tracking yet never stops the customer hearing that the appointment is still on. A booking made for later works exactly as you’d expect: the reminder goes out the day before (or at whatever lead time you’ve set), and the same-day confirmation follows on the morning of. The reminder names the day it is talking about, so it reads “arrive tomorrow” for a normal booking; anything further out names the date. A booking made for today, at short notice, gets exactly one message — never both and never neither. Normally that’s the same-day confirmation (“we’re still on for today”), since it’s the message built for exactly this moment. If the confirmation can’t go out — the same-day confirmation trigger is turned off, or the appointment is booked too close to the start time for the confirmation window to cover it — Tellem falls back to sending the reminder instead, so the customer always hears from you. In that fallback case the reminder reads “arrive today” rather than “arrive tomorrow.” The one case where no message goes out at all is an appointment whose start time has already passed by the time Tellem first sees it. If you want same-day bookings to always get the reminder instead of the confirmation, turn the same-day confirmation trigger off, or narrow the confirmation window under Triggers — either escape hatch lets you choose which message a same-day customer gets. Location isn’t required for the running late notice either — without it, Tellem goes by the clock and sends the notice without an ETA. It is required for the on the way and arriving messages, which have nothing to say unless they know where the worker is. Each message sends at most once per appointment; if you reschedule the appointment, the messages for the new time can send again. One exception: once the worker has marked — or been detected — as arrived, the same-day confirmation is skipped, because telling the customer you’re still coming isn’t useful when you’re already at the door.

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Send a one-off email

From an appointment on the Schedule page, choose Email customer to send a one-off email right now. Write it yourself, or tap AI draft to get a few suggested wordings you can edit before sending.
You always review and approve the message — the assistant only proposes wording, it never sends on its own.
One-off texts aren’t available: for Tellem.ai Service Alerts, Tellem controls the SMS content, so appointment texts are sent only from the standardized templates above. Use email for anything you need to say in your own words.

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About text messaging

Text messages are sent through Tellem.ai Service Alerts, the informational SMS program Tellem operates on a Tellem-controlled toll-free number. Tellem controls the message templates, sending rules, and HELP/STOP handling. Messages are limited to appointment and service-status updates — never marketing or promotions. Every text opens by naming the program and your business, so the customer can tell at a glance who is texting them and why:
Tellem.ai Service Alerts for Beacon Plumbing: Hi Jane, we’re running a bit behind for your 9:00 AM appointment. We’ll send you an updated ETA as soon as we’re on the way. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help.
Every message ends with Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. The first text a customer ever receives from Tellem also carries Msg&data rates may apply. Before a customer can be texted, an SMS consent record must be on file for that number. For a new customer, that happens when you tell them why you’re texting them before you ask for their number, and confirm it in Tellem while booking — their handing you the number is the consent, there’s no separate question to ask. For a number that was already on file before this process existed (most often an imported customer), one sentence at your next contact with them covers it — see Appointments for both. There is no public sign-up form a customer can fill in on their own.

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The enrollment confirmation

When you record a customer’s consent, Tellem texts them a short confirmation — as long as it’s the first text your business has ever sent that number:
Tellem.ai Service Alerts: You’re enrolled for Beacon Plumbing appointment texts. Msg frequency varies. Msg&data rates may apply. HELP=help, STOP=opt out.
This is the customer’s receipt. Because consent is given out loud on a phone call, they otherwise have nothing in writing and no way to opt out until their first appointment text arrives — the confirmation closes that gap immediately. A customer gets one of these. Booking them a second job doesn’t send another, and a customer you were already texting before this existed won’t suddenly get one — they’ll simply keep receiving their appointment messages as usual. It’s also skipped until you’ve saved your Account page at least once. It isn’t one of the automatic triggers, so it doesn’t appear on the Triggers page and can’t be switched off there — it’s part of how consent works, not a notification setting. For the same reason it sends right away rather than waiting for your messaging hours: it’s a direct reply to something the customer just agreed to, and it’s what gives them a way to opt out. If the customer had previously texted STOP, no confirmation is sent and they stay opted out — recording consent on their behalf doesn’t override their own opt-out. Importing a spreadsheet doesn’t send these. An imported number lands as “notice pending” — not consent — so nothing is texted to it at all until a rep confirms the continuing-updates notice on that customer’s appointment. That confirmation is what triggers this same enrollment text; there’s no separate version for imported customers. When a customer has both a phone and an email, Tellem texts them. These updates are time-critical — a text gets read in minutes, where an email might not be opened until after the visit is over. Email is the automatic fallback, not a second message: a customer only gets the email version when the text can’t go out, which covers a customer who has texted STOP, a number with no SMS consent on file yet, or an account whose text messaging isn’t enabled. Nobody gets both copies of the same update. Email works immediately. If text messages aren’t sending yet, it’s usually because text messaging hasn’t been fully enabled for your account yet — your Tellem contact can confirm where that stands. Until then, customers with an email on file keep getting these updates by email. One exception to the text-first rule: the Email customer one-off you send yourself from the Schedule page is always an email, by design (see above).

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Branding and opt-out

Customer emails go out in a clean, Tellem-branded layout with your business name and contact details, so they look professional in the inbox. Every email also includes an Unsubscribe link. If a customer unsubscribes — or texts STOP to a message — Tellem records it and automatically stops sending them further updates, so you don’t have to track opt-outs yourself. If a customer texts HELP, Tellem replies with an approved help message (our support email and phone) and logs it.

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Seeing what was sent

The Messages page lists every text and email Tellem has sent or received, so you always have a record of customer communication.