Autodots will message customers automatically through the lifecycle of a job, and surface the things you need to action on the dashboard. Here's exactly what's available, where to turn it on, and what's still on you.
Customer notifications (job lifecycle)
Settings → Notifications exposes the messages a customer receives at each stage of their job. Toggle per shop:
- Job created — confirmation when a workboard card is opened for the customer.
- Work started — sent when the card moves into In progress.
- Inspection complete — sent when the inspection is done and items need approval.
- Awaiting parts — sent if the job pauses while a part is on order.
- Vehicle ready — sent when the job is marked Completed. The biggest "stops customers calling to ask" toggle.
- Payment confirmed — sent when the invoice is paid.
Estimate automations
Settings → Notifications → Estimates. Automatic emails to the customer when an estimate is created, updated, or approved/rejected. Combined with the e-sign link (see Send an estimate), this gets you signatures without a phone follow-up.
Appointment reminders
On every appointment, the Reminder notification toggle (default on) sends a single customer reminder before the appointment. Pick the timing per appointment:
- 30 minutes before — for time-critical pickup-and-drop slots.
- 1 hour before — final-stretch nudge.
- 1 day before — the standard. Best balance for most shops.
Low-stock alerts
Controlled per product via the Reorder level field (see Add a product). When a product drops to or below its reorder level, the dashboard shows a "Out of stock" alert tile.
Dashboard alert tiles
The home dashboard surfaces:
- Overdue jobs — workboard cards past their due date.
- Unpaid invoices — outstanding receivables.
- Pending estimates — sent but not yet signed or rejected.
- Out of stock — products at or below reorder level.
These are visual nudges, not push reminders — review the dashboard daily and action what surfaces.
Things still on you
- Unpaid invoice chase — there is no automated multi-step dunning. Use the dashboard's unpaid-invoices tile, or build a marketing audience with the Has unpaid invoice filter and run an SMS campaign.
- "Service due" customer reminders — Service Intervals (Settings) flag the next-due service in the vehicle passport, but reaching out to the customer is manual today. Run a marketing campaign against an audience filtered by last-visit date for re-activation.
- Overdue-job mechanic chase — surfaced on the dashboard but not pushed to the mechanic. Glance at it once a day.