At Routal you can enable the sending of SMS as a direct communication channel with your customers. You will be able to send all the necessary information in real-time to make a successful delivery.
How does sending SMS work?
To use SMS as a communication channel, you must first link a phone number to each client (you can include it in your Excel file or directly in Routal). You must take into account that it will be necessary to include the telephone prefix.
Within the Customers tab, in Notifications, access the SMS page.
On the SMS page you will find up to 5 communication templates that you can maintain with your customers:
Stop created: Notify your customer once the stop is created in Routal.
Route Started: Notify your customer when the driver starts the route.
The driver is close to delivery: Notify your customer when the driver is two stops short.
Canceled stop: Notify your customer when the driver marks the stop as canceled.
Stop Completed: Notify your customer when the driver marks the stop as complete.
Despite the templates, you can also create your personalized messages, since the content is fully customizable. Data such as (label, external ID, comments, etc.) can be included in SMS by clicking on this symbol that will appear when hovering over the message.
In addition to being able to include all kinds of information such as labels or comments, you can also include the link for live tracking of the route. This can be enabled by clicking Include Link and the route link will automatically appear in the body of the SMS message.
If you want to save a draft SMS message, you just have to write it and when you finish, click Save.
SMS limitations
SMS has a maximum limit of 153 characters per message. The character limit will automatically update as you use them, at the bottom of the page. An SMS delivery can be made up of several messages (when they exceed 153 characters). This limit is 5 SMS per sending, so the character limit is 153 for 5 messages in total.
Enable the use of SMS in Routal
To enable the use of SMS in Routal, you just have to click on Enable sending or Enable SMS (at the top right). Next, a message box will appear, in which you must click on Contact Us. When you press, a direct dialog box will open with the Routal team, who will offer you the different rates and you will be able to make the contract instantly.