How does the message centre work?
The Message Centre is two tabs: Templates — reusable email and SMS content, including the automatic notices your dispatch flow sends — and Broadcasts, for one send to many customers with the guardrails that keep it out of trouble.
System messages are yours to reword, never to delete
The automatic customer notices — Out for snow removal, Approaching customer, Visit complete — live at the top of Templates. Edit the copy to match your voice; they can’t be deleted because the dispatch and visit flow depends on them.
Build your own templates
A template has a name, a category, and whichever channels you enable — email (subject + body) and/or SMS (with a character and segment counter). Insert field drops merge tokens like {{first_name}} that render per recipient, and the preview pane shows the fully branded email as you type — no saving needed to see it.
Compose a broadcast
A broadcast is a name, content (write it custom or pick one of your templates), and an audience. Everyone matching mode targets by filters — customer status, labels, property tags, has-email/has-phone — and stays live: the audience updates as your book changes. Pick individually does exactly what it says.
The review gate shows you everything before anything sends
Review & send builds a preview you can’t skip: who will receive it, who’s excluded and why — hard-suppressed, opted out of marketing, no consent on file, no reachable address — a sample render per channel, and Send a test to your own inbox or phone. Only then does Start broadcast unlock, with a final confirm. Mid-send you can still Stop; messages already out can’t be recalled.
Consent is handled for you — with one policy switch
Opt-outs — STOP replies, unsubscribes, hard bounces, spam complaints — are always honoured, no configuration needed. The switch in Settings → Notifications (“Require express consent”) tightens marketing sends to customers with express consent or a recent transaction — turn it on if you ever load a purchased or cold list.
Every message lands in the customer’s Communications log
Each customer’s Communications tab is the paper trail: quotes, invoices, reminders, broadcasts, and their inbound replies, each with delivery status through to opened or bounced. When a customer says “I never got it,” this is where you look.
What emails look like is Branding; what address they come from is Emails & Portal — see “How do I customize the emails my customers receive?”.