HVACBossPro Blog — HVAC Software

Two-Way Texting and Automatic Alerts in HVAC Software

Your customers text. They text their kids, their boss and the dentist. When they need their air conditioner looked at, many of them would rather text you too. And when the tech is on the way, a text is the one message they will actually see. HVAC software that cannot text is missing the channel customers use most.

After the Form, the Conversation

In Website Request Forms and Maintenance Plan Sign-Ups in HVAC Software, the advice was to answer every overnight request by text. This guide covers how texting works in HVACBossPro, from the office conversations to the alerts that send themselves.

Two-Way Texting From the Office

Two-way texting means the office can text a customer from HVACBossPro, and the customer's reply comes back to HVACBossPro, attached to that customer. That sounds simple, but it fixes a real problem in small HVAC shops: customer conversations scattered across the owner's cell, the office phone and three techs' personal numbers.

With texting in one place:

• Anyone in the office can pick up the thread. If the owner is on a roof, the office manager sees the reply and answers it.
• History stays with the customer. “What did we tell them about the drain line?” is answered by scrolling up.
• Techs' personal numbers stay private. Customers text the company, not the tech.

Automatic Reminders and Alerts

The texts that do the most work are the ones nobody has to remember to send. HVACBossPro sends reminders and alerts automatically, by text and email:

• Night before. “Your heating tune-up is tomorrow.” Gives the customer time to plan to be home.
• When they are next. A heads-up that the tech is about to head their way.
• On the way. Sent automatically from the tech app.
• Arrived. Lets the customer know the tech is at the door or in the side yard.

Customers choose which of these they want in the customer app, so nobody gets more texts than they find useful. For a business where nearly every visit needs someone home to open the door and reach the thermostat, these alerts cut down on wasted trips more than any other single feature.

Estimate Follow-Ups and Past-Due Reminders

Alerts are not just about the schedule. Estimate follow-up emails go out on their own when a quote sits unapproved, and past-due follow-up reminds customers about invoices that have not been paid. Both are the kind of task a busy office means to do and forgets in July.

Writing Texts Customers Read

A few rules make HVAC texts work better:

• Keep them short. One clear message per text. “Hi, this is [your company name]. Your tech is on the way, about 20 minutes out.”
• Say who you are. Customers get a lot of texts from numbers they do not know. Lead with the company name.
• Ask for what you need. “Please leave the side gate open for us” or “Someone 18+ needs to be home to let us in.”
• Use plain characters. Fancy punctuation and emoji can make a text longer than it looks, which uses more of your allowance.

Texts Techs Do Not Have to Send

Before software, the on-the-way message usually came from the tech's own phone, typed at a red light, if it came at all. With the tech app, the on-the-way and arrived texts are sent automatically, so the tech keeps both hands on the wheel and the customer still gets the heads-up. If the customer replies, the reply goes to the office, which can answer it without interrupting the tech on a roof or in an attic.

The Monthly Text Allowance

Every HVACBossPro plan includes a monthly text allowance: 500, 1,000 or 2,000 segments on Start, Pro and Crew. Both texts sent and texts received count. A segment is one standard text of up to 160 plain characters; a longer message counts as more than one.

For planning, think about how many customers you see in a month and which alerts they get. A one-van shop sending night-before and on-the-way texts to its customers sits comfortably on a smaller allowance. A five-van shop with lots of two-way conversations will want more. Texting is available in the US and Canada.

The HVAC Software Pricing: What $59, $89 and $199 a Month Cover guide walks through choosing a plan.

Texting and the Rest of the Day

Texting ties the whole system together. The office books by text, the night-before reminder confirms, the tech app sends on-the-way and arrived alerts, the invoice arrives in the customer app, and a reply about a new thermostat turns into the next estimate. Billing is next, in HVAC Invoicing and Card on File: Getting Paid When the Job Is Done.

To see how texting and alerts fit with the rest of the system, visit the HVAC software page.