Report Email Settings
There are 3 options to send completed reports to your customers:
- Reports can be sent automatically upon completion by either email or text message.
- You can trigger the email or text message send manually, which also gives you the ability to edit the message prior to sending.
- Not at all.
Before the automation can work it is important that you review your settings so that it works the way you wish.
On the Settings page you will find a Report Options tab. Click that and you’ll find all of the settings available:
Auto email reports on completion: turn this setting on if you wish for the system to automatically send reports upon completion. If you leave this setting off you will have the ability to email the reports manually (or not at all). Note that you also have settings on each property: send by email or text, and which contacts receive the report.
Reply-to email address: should be set to your business email address — this is what is put into the email itself so that if the client replies to the email the reply comes to you.
Report BCC email address: if you want all reports to be blind copied to a particular address you can fill that in here (normally left blank).
Report email template: the email your clients receive is an Email Template. This dropdown picks which Report template is used; the Edit button beside it opens that template. The subject line, the wording, your logo, colours and merge tokens such as {{contact.firstname}} are all edited there, under Manage Lists → Email Templates. (The former Report email subject line and Report email body template boxes were copied into your default Report template, so nothing was lost.)
Report text message template: this is the base message to be used when sending the report via text message. The text will also include your company name and the report link — it is important to keep this message as short as possible.
Changes on this tab are saved automatically a moment after you stop typing — you will see a Settings saved confirmation. There is no separate Save button.
Once you have updated these company settings, each property also has a setting as to whether or not the reports should be sent via email, text message, or not at all — the Send reports by email and Send reports by text switches on the property’s Reports tab — and each contact has a Receive Reports switch. You will find more details on these options in The Property Screen.
The end result of these settings:
1 — If Auto email reports on completion is ON, and the property has either (or both) Send reports by email and/or Send reports by text on — the report message is sent within seconds of completing the report (and it syncing) without you having to do anything.
2 — If Auto email reports on completion is OFF, and the property has either (or both) of those switches on — the report is sent when you manually initiate the send. To do this, go to the Reports/Tasks screen and switch the status filter to Completed. Reports that have been previously emailed show the email status and date on the report’s details; reports that have not been emailed show no date information.
Open the report you wish to send. The Email & text panel shows the text to use for the Email Subject, Email Body and Text Message. Make any edits you may require and click Send Report to email the report to your client. A report that has already gone out shows Resend Report instead.
I turned off Auto email reports so I can check my team’s reports first. How will I know a report is done? You will not get a separate alert. Go to the Reports/Tasks screen and switch the status filter to Completed. A report with no email status or date has not been sent yet. Check this list once or twice a day.
Where do I check and send a report? On a computer: open the report from the Completed list. Click Open Report to look it over. If something needs fixing, click Reopen for Editing. When it is ready, click Send Report. On the phone: open the completed report in the HWIT app and tap Send Report.
Will my own reports wait too? Yes. This setting is for the whole company, so everyone’s reports wait, including yours. There is no way to turn it on for one person only. To have reports go out on their own again, turn Auto email reports on completion back on.
What happens if nobody sends a report? It is never sent. The client does not get it. That is why it is worth checking the Completed list every day while this setting is off.