ONE SHARED INBOX
Three phones, one customer: why the office never knows what the tech said
A Doral property manager texts the tech about a unit. She emails the office about the invoice. She leaves a voicemail on the main line about a second unit. Three conversations, three phones, one customer. When she calls to ask "what did you decide?", nobody has all three.
A note on what this is. It is about where messages live. Not a promise that everyone will read them; that is still a person's job.
How a customer ends up on three phones
The tech gave her his cell so she could reach him on site. The office replied to her from its email. The main line is a number nobody checks after five. None of this was a decision. It is what happens when a company grows past one phone.
One thread per customer
- Every text, call, voicemail and email from her lands on one thread, under her name.
- The tech replies from the company number on his phone. She sees one number. He never gives out his cell again.
- The office sees the same thread. When she calls, whoever answers can read what the tech said this morning.
- A private note on the thread ("she wants Spanish invoices") is visible to the team and never to her.
- When the tech leaves the company, the conversations stay.
THE COMPANY NUMBER
What "one inbox" does not mean
It does not mean the owner reads every message. It means the owner can. Most companies set it up so the office watches the inbox, techs see their own customers, and anything unanswered for an hour turns a color.
The Doral version
Managers run several buildings. The thread is per person, and the person is linked to each building she manages. Ask "what did we say to her about building B?" and the answer is on one screen.
Voicemails are transcribed onto the thread, so the message she left at 5:40 PM reads like a text at 7 AM.
Questions we get asked about this
Does the tech need a second phone?
No. An app on his own phone. It sends from the company number and keeps his personal number private.
Can a customer still call the tech directly?
If she has his cell, yes; that is his to manage. Over time customers use the company number because that is the one that always answers.
What about email?
Email to the company address lands on the thread too. Most trade customers text; email is there for the managers and the invoices.
Related
Count the phones
How many different numbers can a customer reach your company on right now? Count them, then book a 30-minute call and we show you what one looks like.