Send Bulk Notifications to Commercial and Residential Clients

When service changes on a Commercial and Residential route, your clients need to hear it from you. Bulk notifications let you message every client on a route with one action.

Weather, holidays, and truck breakdowns all move routes. A quick email or text up front saves you from fielding “Where is my pickup?” calls all day.

We recommend email because text messages use your monthly message allotment. Every message you send, by email or text, appears in your Notification Log. 

Before You Start

Here are a few things to know before you continue: 

• Bulk notifications are only available for Commercial and Residential routes.
• Email has no message limit and no added cost. Text messages draw from your monthly message allotment. Docket shows how many messages you have left and any overage charge before you send.
• Docket sends emails only to clients with an email address on file and texts only to clients with a mobile number on file. Docket shows a warning when a client has neither. 
• Depending on your permissions, you may not be able to perform all of the functions listed in this article. Please reach out to your Admin if you require additional access.

Create a Bulk Notification

Docket does not notify clients automatically when you change a route. You can notify all clients on a route using a bulk notification.

There are 4 ways to create a bulk notification:

1. Reassign Remaining Stops: In Route Tracker, click on the three-dot menu at the top of a route and click on “Reassign Remaining...”. After you confirm the reassignment, Docket offers to notify your impacted clients. 
    

   
    

2. Add an Adjustment: In Recurring Routes, select a route, click into the Configuration tab, and click on “Add Adjustments” in the Adjustments area. Select an Adjustment Type and fill in additional details regarding the adjustment. After you save the adjustment, Docket offers to notify your impacted clients. This gives clients advance notice of a change to a future date. 
    

   
    

3. Pause an Occurrence: In Recurring Routes, select a route, click into the Occurrences tab, and click on “Pause” next to a run date. The row changes to Paused and an Unpause button appears. This covers a single day. After you pause the date, Docket offers to notify your impacted clients. 
    

   
    

4. Send Notification: In Route Tracker, click on the three-dot menu at the top of a route and click on “Send Notification”. You don’t need to change your schedule to use this option. Docket messages every client on the route for the date shown. 
    

   

Please Note: “Send Notification” is only available in Route Tracker.

Which method you use depends on why you’re notifying your clients:

• Use Reassign Remaining Stops, Add an Adjustment, or Pause an Occurrence when you change service. Docket offers to notify your impacted clients right after you make the change. 
• Use Send Notification to send a heads-up when your schedule stays the same, like a price change or a general delay. 

Please Note: If you select several stops and use the bulk action to trigger a schedule adjustment, Docket does not offer the notification prompt. Use one of the methods above to send the notification.

Compose and Send a Bulk Notification 

All four methods lead to the same windows. You pick email or text, review who receives the message, and send it. 

Send a Bulk Email Notification

Email is the recommended way to notify your clients. It has no message limit and no added cost.

The “Notify Impacted Clients” window opens after you start a notification from any of the methods shown in Create a Bulk Notification.

To send an email notification, follow the instructions below:

1. In the “Notify Impacted Clients” window, click on “Send Email”.

   
   
    

2. Review the names in the Recipients field. Click on the “X” next to a name to remove that client.
3. Enter or edit the Subject.
4. Enter or edit your Message.
5. Click on a placeholder button below the Message field, if needed. Docket adds the placeholder where your cursor sits.

6. Click on “Send [number] Emails” in the bottom right corner.

   
   

You’ll now see a message confirming that Docket queued your emails.

Send a Bulk Text Message Notification 

Text messages reach clients who don’t check email. They draw down your monthly message allotment, and Docket shows how many messages you have left before you send. Use them when a client is more likely to see a text than an email. 

The “Notify Impacted Clients” window opens after you start a notification from any of the methods shown in Create a Bulk Notification. 

To send a text message notification, follow the instructions below:

1. In the “Notify Impacted Clients” window, click on “Send Text Message Instead”.

   
   
    

2. Review the names in the Recipients field. Click on the “X” next to a name to remove that client.
3. Review the Text Messages panel and the “This Send” summary. They show how many messages you have left in your plan, how many messages this notification sends, and any overage charge. 
4. Enter or edit your Message. Text messages don’t have a Subject field.
5. Click on a placeholder button below the Message field, if needed. Docket adds the placeholder where your cursor sits. 
6. Check the character count in the bottom right corner. Each text message holds 160 characters, and a longer message sends as more than one text message. 

7. Click on “Send [number] Texts”.

   
   

Email and Text Message Details Overview

Here are a few things to consider when you send bulk email or text message notifications: 

• Placeholders fill in each client’s details when Docket sends the message. They appear as gray chips in your Subject and Message fields for emails, and in your Message field for texts. Click on the “X” inside a chip to remove it. The placeholders you see depend on the type of notice:
  • Move or Reassign: Client Name, Business Name, Business Phone, Route Name, Service Date, and New Service Date
  • Pause: Client Name, Business Name, Business Phone, Route Name, Pause Dates, Pause Start Date, and Pause End Date
  • Send Notification: Client Name, Business Name, Business Phone, Route Name, and Service Date

• Docket sends your email to the primary contact for each client with an email address on file. Docket sends your text to the primary contact for each client with a mobile number on file. The Send Email and Send Text Message Instead cards show how many clients each includes.
   

  
   

• A yellow warning in the “Notify Impacted Clients” window shows how many clients have no phone number or email address on file. Docket does NOT notify those clients.

  
  
   

• Text messages draw down your monthly message allotment. If a send goes over your plan, the “This Send” summary shows how many messages are over your plan and the overage charge. 
   

  
   

• If no clients have a mobile number on file, the Send Text Message Instead card is greyed out.
   

  
   

• Move and pause notifications open with a message already filled in. Edit it as needed.

• The Send Notification message opens empty. Enter a Subject and a Message to turn on the “Send [number] Emails” button, or enter a Message to turn on the “Send [number] Texts” button.

  
              
   

• Click on “Not Now” in the “Notify Impacted Clients” window to close it without sending a message.

  
  

View Sent Notifications 

Your Notification Log keeps a record of every message you send. Use it to confirm that a client received a notice.

To find your sent notifications, click “Notification Log” in the left-hand menu.

Each message shows a status of Delivered or Failed. Click here to learn more about the Notification Log.


If you have any questions, please reach out to our Support team through the chat widget on the bottom of this page or by sending an email to support@yourdocket.com!