Send customers an On my way text with a live ETA

Overview#

When a technician taps On my way, TradesWork texts the customer once: "{Company}: {Tech} is on the way to you now. Your visit: {link}". The link is the job's One Link. While the tech is driving, that page shows the tech's first name, photo, a short bio, an approximate position and an arrival estimate. It refreshes every 30 seconds and stops at arrival. There is no separate text with the minutes in it; the live estimate is on the link.

Before you start#

• Texting must be connected for the text to go out. Without a texting provider, the text is recorded as Not sent and your team shares the link from their phone instead.

• Your company needs a texting number, and US numbers need an approved texting (A2P 10DLC) registration. Until then, texts are not sent and the reason is shown.

• The customer needs a mobile number on file and must not have replied STOP.

• For the live position and estimate, the tech's truck tracker or phone must be sending positions. Phones need the tech to accept the monitoring notice.

• Owners and admins change these settings.

Steps#

Turn the text and the live ETA on#

1. Go to Settings › Communications › Customer Notifications.

2. Under Automatic texts, make sure On my way is ticked. It is sent even during quiet hours.

3. Click Save text settings.

4. Go to Settings › Integrations › GPS and find Arrival detection and customer ETA.

5. Tick Live ETA on the customer's One Link. It is on by default.

6. Click Save arrival settings.

Have technicians set up their card#

1. In the field app, on Today, the tech opens the Location card and taps Your card for customers.

2. They can Choose a photo or Take a photo, and fill About you (optional), for example "12 years with furnaces and heat pumps."

3. They tap Save. Customers see the first name, photo and this line next to the arrival time.

What happens on the day#

1. The tech taps On my way in the field app. The text is triggered by this status change from the field app.

2. The customer gets the On my way text once per appointment, even if the app retries.

3. On the link, the customer sees:

   • "About 18 min, around 2:40 PM" while the tech is driving. "(rough estimate)" is added when no drive-time service is configured.

   • A small map with one approximate dot for the tech and a dot for "You".

   • "We'll show an arrival estimate as soon as {name}'s location comes in." if no recent position exists.

   • "{name} is arriving now." once the job's geofence sees the tech.

   • "{name} has arrived." once the appointment is Working.

4. After arrival, the position and estimate disappear.

Settings that change this#

• Settings › Communications › Customer Notifications: the On my way switch and quiet hours.

• Settings › Phones › Phone Numbers, Call Recording & Texting: the texting connection, numbers and registration.

• Settings › Integrations › GPS › Arrival detection and customer ETA: Live ETA on the customer's One Link.

• Settings › Integrations › GPS › Geofences: the job fence decides when "arriving" shows.

Tips#

• Privacy is built in. The customer never sees a route or history. The dot is snapped to about 250 m.

• The live view only shows for 4 hours after On my way, so a forgotten tap does not leave a dot running all day.

• A position older than 10 minutes is not shown. The customer sees the waiting message instead of a stale dot.

• The estimate counts from when the position was recorded, so it does not drift later when a point is a little old.

• Drive time comes from a routing service if your server administrator configured one. Otherwise it is a straight-line estimate, always labelled "(rough estimate)".

Troubleshooting#

• The customer got no text. Cause: texting is not connected, no number, registration pending, no mobile number, the customer replied STOP, or On my way is switched off. Fix: open the job's messages panel. A text marked not sent or failed shows the reason under it. Fix the cause, or use Copy link and share it by hand. If On my way is switched off, no text is recorded at all.

• The link shows no ETA. Cause: Live ETA on the customer's One Link is off, the appointment is not en route, more than 4 hours passed, or no position in the last 10 minutes. Fix: check the setting and that the tech is sharing location.

• The estimate always says "(rough estimate)". Cause: no drive-time service is configured on the server. Fix: ask your administrator. The estimate still works.

• The page says "arriving" while the tech is next door. Cause: the geofence is large or the address geocoded badly. Fix: reduce Radius (m) or correct the fence.

• No photo shows. Cause: the tech has not set up their card. Fix: have them open Your card for customers.

FAQ#

Is there a "running late" text? Not today. The live estimate on the link updates instead.

Does the customer see the tech's exact location? No. One approximate point, only while driving, never before or after.

Can I send the link again? Yes. On the job's messages panel, click Text link (or Copy link to share it yourself).

Does the On my way text respect quiet hours? No, by design. It goes out because the tech is already driving.

Coming from ServiceTitan#

• ServiceTitan sends a "technician on the way" notification, with live tracking from its GPS add-on.

• TradesWork sends the On my way text from the field app tap, and the job's One Link shows the tech card and live estimate.

• Different: off-duty privacy and a coarse 250 m position protect the tech; the live view switches off at arrival.