Configuring a location
Automation rules
An automation rule reads as one sentence: when this has been true for this long, do that. They exist for the class of problem nobody is standing there to notice — the person who has been waiting forty minutes while everybody was busy.
Where to set them up
Location settingsAutomation.
Needs the permission locations.update_all_settings (update all locations settings). Owners and Admins have every permission by default.
The four triggers
Every trigger is a duration, deliberately. Anything caused by somebody's click is already handled by the action that caused it — a customer being called already sends a message. What was missing is the thing that happens because nothing happened.
Someone has been waiting too long
A visitor is still on the waitlist after this many minutes.
You set the threshold — minutes waiting — with a default of 20.
Someone was called but hasn't come
A visitor was called this many minutes ago and still hasn't been served.
You set the threshold — minutes since called — with a default of 10.
A booking is still unconfirmed
A booking starts within this many minutes and nobody has confirmed it.
You set the threshold — minutes before the booking — with a default of 1440.
A booking has been missed
A booking started this many minutes ago and nobody arrived.
You set the threshold — minutes past the start time — with a default of 15.
The four actions
Message the customer
Sends one of your customer messages on their usual channel.
Email the team
Emails the addresses you list here.
Mark it as a no-show
Sets the visit or booking to no-show and frees the slot.
Cancel it
Cancels the booking or removes the visitor from the queue.
Where a rule messages the customer, you choose which of your existing customer messages it sends — restricted to the ones that make sense for that trigger, so a rule about an unconfirmed booking cannot send “booking cancelled”.
A rule fires once per visit, not once per check
This is the property that makes automation safe to switch on. Conditions are checked every few minutes, and a rule that acted every time its condition still held would text somebody thirty minutes past a twenty-minute threshold every few minutes for the rest of their visit.
Each rule acts at most once on each visit or booking, and that is enforced in a way two simultaneous checks cannot get round.
Failures are remembered too
An action that cannot succeed — messaging a customer with no contact details — is recorded as attempted rather than retried forever.
Editing a rule clears its history
Change what a rule means and it starts fresh. A rule changed from “email me” to “cancel it” would otherwise skip exactly the visits the new version most needs to act on.
How fast rules act
Conditions are checked every five minutes, so a twenty-minute threshold means somebody is acted on between twenty and twenty-five minutes in. Set thresholds with that in mind rather than expecting to the minute.
Each rule acts on at most twenty-five visits per check. Switching a rule on at a busy shop with a hundred stale entries therefore works through them over several checks rather than sending a hundred messages at once.
Rules worth having
- Reassure the forgotten. Somebody waiting longer than expected gets a message updating them. Costs you a message and saves a complaint.
- Chase unconfirmed bookings. A day before, anything still unconfirmed gets a reminder — so you find out about the cancellation while you can still sell the slot.
- Close out the vanished. Somebody called fifteen minutes ago who has not appeared is marked a no-show, so the list reflects reality and your figures mean something.
- Tell a manager. Rather than acting, email somebody who can decide.
Where to be careful
Automatic no-shows and cancellations are irreversible
Both actions close a visit, and a closed visit cannot be reopened. Set the threshold generously — somebody who nipped to the cash machine should not lose their place — and consider starting with an email to a manager instead until you trust the timings.
- Every automatic message spends your allowance. A rule on a busy queue can send more than you expect.
- Rules are per branch, so a threshold that suits your quiet shop may be wrong for the busy one.
- Start with one rule. Watch what it does for a week before adding a second.
Automation, or a team alert?
An automation acts without asking. A team notification tells a person and leaves the judgement to them. Use the alert while you are still working out the right response, and the automation once you know it.