What is Three-way Messaging?
Mobile workers and dispatchers are able to have a real-time three-way conversation with the customer using SMS messages directly from within vWork. Everyone involved in the conversation sees the messages sent and received.
To learn more about Three-way Messaging, read the article: What is Three-way messaging?
In this article
This article explains how users of the Android and iPhone vWork mobile apps communicate with a customer and dispatcher using Three-way Messaging.
In this article
To learn more about how dispatchers communicate using Three-way messaging in the web app, please see the article: Dispatcher: view and send Three-way Messages.
How do mobile workers view Three-way Messages?
View SMS messages from a customer in the mobile app
All customer messages show for a specific Job under Messaging.
When the customer sends an SMS message the mobile worker receives a vWork app notification.
To open the message:
- tap the notification, or
- open the message from the job under Messaging.
The message shows in a message thread specific to the job. It is triggered by an alert, such as an ETA Alert or a Job Created Alert and this is the first item in the message thread. Alerts show as an incoming message on the right and in a Green box. The customer’s SMS shows on the left and in a Blue box.
View Three-way Messages sent by a mobile worker in the mobile app
Whenever a mobile worker sends a message from within the message thread it goes to both the customer and the dispatcher. It shows in the thread in a purple box. The customer receives it as an SMS.
Note: all messages seen by the customer show in a purple box.
View Three-way Messages sent by a dispatcher in the mobile app
Dispatchers can send messages to both the mobile worker and the customer, or just to the mobile worker.
Whenever a dispatcher sends a message that goes to the customer it shows in the message thread in the worker’s phone in a purple box. The customer receives it as an SMS.
When the dispatcher sends a message solely to the worker It displays in an Orange box in the message thread.
Note: All messages sent by a worker as part of a three-way message thread go to the customer. This means that any reply to an Orange message by a mobile worker will go to the customer in addition to the dispatcher.
How do mobile workers send Three-way Messages?
A mobile worker can only send messages to customers after an SMS Alert is sent to the customer. The SMS Alert goes to the customer as an SMS message, and to the mobile worker and dispatcher as an in-app message. The SMS Alert is the beginning of the message thread.
To send a message:
- Open the message thread for the job.
- Scroll to the Send a Message area and enter a message using the phone’s keyboard.
- Click Send. The message will show in a purple box in the job's message thread.
Note: Whenever a message is sent from the message thread in a job it goes to the customer and the dispatcher. If the mobile worker wants to message the dispatcher without including the customer, they must create a new message not connected with the three-way message thread.