Customers → Broadcasts, if the module is switched on for your account.
What it is for
Operational messages, not marketing. Weather warnings, road and pass closures, a pickup reminder for a group, a recall on a batch of vehicles. It reaches people mid-hire, which is exactly when marketing would be unwelcome and safety information is not.
Two channels
Text and email. That is the full list. There is no WhatsApp broadcast — if you have seen WhatsApp mentioned elsewhere, that is a contact link on your hire email, not a channel you can send to.
You choose the order they are tried. A customer with a mobile who has not opted out gets the text; everyone gets the email if you leave the record copy on, which is worth keeping for your own trail.
Choosing who gets it
Pick a booking state:
- On hire now — people currently in your vehicles.
- Picking up within… a number of days.
- Returning within… a number of days.
- All upcoming bookings.
- Specific bookings, if you have a list.
Then narrow further by location, vehicle or vehicle group. A closure on one pass affects the people driving it, not your whole book.
The audience is worked out when you send, not when you write it. A broadcast queued this morning for "on hire now" goes to whoever is on hire at the moment it actually sends.
Personalising it
These merge tags fill in per recipient:
{first_name} {vehicle} {rego} {pickup_date} {return_date} {branch} {operator_name}
Save a message you send often as a template under Broadcast templates.
Before it sends
The send confirmation shows how many people it will reach on each channel and an estimated cost, since texts are charged per message and a long one counts as more than one. Check the recipient count here — it is the last point before real messages go to real customers.
The rules it follows
- STOP is honoured. A customer who has replied STOP to a text is never messaged again by text. They still get the email.
- No mobile, no text. They get the email instead.
- Every message is recorded on the booking timeline, so months later you can show exactly what a customer was told and when.
If it did not work
- Broadcasts is not in your sidebar. It is an optional module and is off until switched on. Turn it on under Settings → Explore features; it is included in your plan. Email works straight away, and SMS needs your Kudosity credentials in Broadcast settings.
- Fewer recipients than you expected. The audience resolves at send time, and opted-out numbers and customers with no mobile fall through to email. The confirmation screen breaks this down before you commit.
- A text did not arrive. Customer texting needs to be set up for your account separately from the staff alert texts on the Communications screen — they are different systems.