How to Send on-my-way texts

On-my-way texts directly impact your bottom line and customer experience. When customers know their technician is 15-20 minutes out, they're prepared and waiting, which eliminates the time wasted knocking on doors or making phone calls from the driveway. This translates to an extra job per technician per day for many contractors.

These notifications also reduce anxiety for customers who've blocked out their afternoon waiting for service. A simple text with your technician's name, photo, and ETA builds trust and professionalism. You'll see fewer angry calls to dispatch asking "where is my technician?" and better online reviews mentioning punctuality. For commercial clients, it allows facility managers to have the right person ready to grant access, avoiding delays that push your crew into overtime.

Here's how to send on-my-way texts manually, the method many smaller contractors still use:

1. Create a message template: Draft a standard text including company name, technician name, estimated arrival time, and contact number. Save it in your phone's notes or as a text replacement shortcut.
2. Check your route: Before leaving the previous job, confirm travel time using GPS. Add 5-10 minutes buffer for traffic or equipment loading.
3. Pull the customer's number: Look up the contact number in your work order, CRM, or dispatch system.
4. Send the message: Personalize the template with the specific ETA and send it when you're actually en route, not earlier.
5. Update if delayed: If you hit traffic or the previous job runs long, send a follow-up text with the revised ETA.

This manual process takes 2-3 minutes per job and requires technicians to handle their phones while managing tools, paperwork, and driving — not ideal for safety or efficiency.

FieldFlow eliminates the manual work of learning how to send on-my-way texts by automating the entire notification process. When your technician marks a job complete or starts traveling to the next appointment, the system automatically sends a branded SMS to the customer with real-time arrival estimates based on actual GPS location.

The platform includes customizable message templates with merge fields for technician name, service type, and dynamic ETAs that update if your tech gets delayed. Customers receive a text with a tracking link showing the technician's approximate location on a map, just like rideshare apps they're already familiar with.

FieldFlow also handles the edge cases that trip up manual systems: if a job gets rescheduled, customers receive updated notifications automatically. If a technician is running more than 10 minutes late, the system sends a courtesy update without any dispatcher intervention. This keeps your whole team accountable and your customers informed without adding administrative overhead or requiring technicians to text while driving.