SMS & Conversations

What it is

Texting in Joby lives in two places, and they do different jobs.

Both live in the left menu under Today: Today›Conversations and Today›SMS History. On a phone, Conversations is the Chat tab in the bar along the bottom, and SMS History sits under the More tab.

When to use it

• Answering a customer who just texted you, and keeping the whole back-and-forth in one place.
• Sending an appointment confirmation, an "on my way" note, or a follow-up after a quote.
• Sending a photo, a quote or a document to a customer's phone.
• Writing a text now but having it go out at a sensible hour tomorrow.
• Checking whether a text actually reached someone before you accuse them of ignoring you.
• Pulling a month of texts into a spreadsheet for a manager or a dispute.

Use Bulk SMS instead when you want to text a whole list of people at once — Conversations is for one customer at a time. Use Emails when you need attachments, formatting or a paper trail longer than a text.

Before you start

• Your business has to be approved to send texts. Mobile carriers require every business to register before its texts will be delivered in the United States. The owner completes this under Settings›Phone Registration. Setup takes about five minutes and approval usually takes two to five days. Until it is approved you will see a banner across the top of the app saying SMS is paused, and texts will not go out.
• You need at least one phone number. Buy or connect one under Settings›Phone Numbers.
• Pick the number texts are sent from. An owner or admin sets this under Settings›SMS Configuration (see Choosing the sending number below).
• Your role needs access. Under Settings›Team Roles, in the Communication group, the switches are called Conversations and SMS History. Without them the menu items are hidden.

Step-by-step

Reply to someone who texted you

1. Open Today›Conversations.
2. Click the Unread button above the list to see only threads nobody has answered yet. The number in brackets is how many are waiting.
3. Click a thread on the left. The whole history with that person opens on the right.
4. Type your reply in the box at the bottom and click the round send button (the paper plane). On a computer you can also just press Enter — hold Shift and press Enter if you want a new line instead.

The grey chip above the typing box says From: followed by the number the text will be sent from, so you can always see which of your numbers the customer will see.

Start a brand new text

1. Open Today›Conversations.
2. Click the round pencil button (New message) to the right of the search box at the top of the list.
3. In the To box, search for a contact by name, or just type a phone number.
4. Type your message and send.

You can also start a text straight from a record: the little speech-bubble button labelled Send SMS next to a phone number on a lead or a client opens the thread for that number.

Use a saved reply

Above the typing box there is a row of shortcut buttons. Your starred templates appear there as one-click buttons, and the Templates button next to them opens the full list grouped into categories. Clicking one drops the text into the box — it does not send anything, so you can still edit it first.

To create one on the spot, click Templates›Create template, give it a name and a category, and click Save & use — it is saved and dropped into your message in one go. To edit, rename or reorganise templates properly, go to Templates›Manage templates, which opens Settings›Communication Templates.

Fill in customer details automatically

A template can carry placeholders that Joby swaps for the real customer's details when you pick it. They look like this:

• {{Lead.first_name}} — the customer's first name
• {{Lead.last_name}} — their last name
• {{Lead.lead_number}} — the job number
• {{Lead.lead_datetime}} — the booked appointment date and time
• {{Lead.full_address}} — the full job address, including the apartment/unit, city, state and zip
• {{Lead.job_type}} — the service type

There are many more, including your own custom fields. Rather than memorising them, open Settings›Communication Templates and pick them from the list while you write the template. Placeholders only fill in when the thread is linked to a job — in a thread from an unknown number they stay as written, which is why you should always read a template before pressing send.

Attach a photo or a file

1. Open the thread.
2. Click the paperclip button next to the typing box.
3. Choose one or more files. A small preview appears above the typing box.
4. Type a message if you want one, then send.

Photos and videos arrive as a picture message on the customer's phone. Anything else — a PDF quote, a document — is uploaded and sent as a download link added to the bottom of your message. Files must be 20 MB or smaller; anything bigger is refused with an Attachment too large message. To remove a file before sending, hover its preview and click the small red x.

Schedule a text for later

1. Type the message as normal.
2. Click the clock button next to the typing box.
3. Pick a date and time, then confirm. The default is the top of the next hour.

Scheduled texts use your company's time zone, not your laptop's. Anything waiting to go out appears in a small bar just above the typing box with its send time. Click the x on that bar to cancel it. If it has already gone out you will see Message already sent instead — nothing is quietly cancelled behind your back. If a scheduled text fails, it stays in that bar with a warning icon until you dismiss it.

Let Joby AI write or tidy the message

The Joby AI button above the typing box has three options:

• Write SMS reply — drafts an answer based on the conversation so far.
• Correct spelling — fixes typos and grammar in what you have typed.
• Write it better — rewrites your draft in a more professional tone.

The result lands in the typing box for you to read and edit. Nothing is sent automatically. The button only appears if your role has AI Helper (Conversations) switched on under Settings›Team Roles.

Switch between text and email

If the contact has an email address on file, a small two-button switch appears at the left of the typing box: a speech bubble for Send via SMS and an envelope for Send via Email. Switching to email adds the From, Reply-To, Subject and Cc boxes above your message. The switch is hidden when there is no email address to send to.

Tidy up your inbox

Once a conversation is finished, click Archive at the top right of the thread. It leaves your inbox but stays fully searchable — click the Archived button above the list to see archived threads, and Unarchive to bring one back. Every archive action shows an Undo option in case you clicked the wrong row.

How to check it worked

Joby tells you what happened to a text in three places.

1. In the thread. Under each message you send you will see one tick (handed to the carrier), two ticks (delivered to the phone), or a red Failed label. The line also shows who sent it, or Sent from automation if an automation did.
2. On the SMS History page. Open Today›SMS History, type the customer's number into Search by phone..., and set the date box to the right period. The Status column shows delivered, sent, received, queued or failed for each message.
3. By replying. When the customer answers, the thread jumps to the top of the Conversations list with an unread badge, and the badge in the left menu goes up.

A quick sanity check for a new setup: send yourself a text from a customer thread, confirm it arrives on your own phone, reply to it, and confirm your reply shows up in Conversations within a few seconds.

Common mistakes