SMS and WhatsApp settings - Cargoflow Support

Overview

The system can text drivers, visitors and hosts: that they have a door, that it changed, that their job is finished, that their arrival was recorded. Under Admin › SMS / WhatsApp (page title Messaging Settings) you decide which notices go out, to which countries, over which channel and how many messages at most. How this fits with internal alerts and customer emails: Three notification systems.

Before you start

Module: external notifications (SMS/WhatsApp), contracted separately.
Permission: Configure Users; by default, only the super admin.
Provider: the messaging provider account and sender number are set up by Cargoflow; they are not entered here. If they are not configured, the whole screen fails to open, not just the tests.
Per warehouse: each warehouse has its own settings, log and counters. Check the active warehouse in the top bar.
Phones: drivers and visitors must have their phone entered with the country code.

The screen, field by field

At the top, status and usage; below, the master switch, notice types and limits.

Field	Default	What it accepts
Enable Messaging System	On	Master switch. Off, nothing goes out.
Notification types	Assignment, update and completion on; the rest off	One switch per notice.
Daily SMS limit	1000	0 to 10,000.
Monthly SMS limit	25,000	0 to 100,000.
Allowed country codes	`+1`	Required. Prefixes that get SMS, comma separated.
WhatsApp country codes	Empty	Prefixes that get WhatsApp instead of SMS.
Rate limiting	On	Limits messages per phone number.
Max SMS per phone per day	10	1 to 100.

At the top: system status, daily usage and monthly usage (sent / limit). Save your changes when done. The reset counters button zeroes the day’s and month’s usage after confirmation; counters also reset by themselves when the day and month change.

What is sent and when

Notice	To	Exact moment
Dock assignment	Driver	When a door is assigned on the board, if the supervisor answers yes to "Do you want to notify the driver?". Only for docks of type Dock, never Waiting.
Dock update	Driver	When a job’s dock changes, if the notice is confirmed and the driver has a phone.
Job completion	Driver	When Finish is clicked on the board and the supervisor answers yes to notifying.
Arrival confirmation	Driver or visitor	When their arrival is registered in visits, if they gave consent and a phone.
Visitor arrival (host)	Host	When their visitor arrives, if the host has messages on and a phone.
Visit invitation	Visitor	When an invitation is sent, with their quick-entry code.
Visit reminder	Visitor	Before the visit.

The last three only show with the visits module. Each message goes out in the driver’s or visitor’s language. See Driver notifications and Invite visitors.

SMS or WhatsApp: channel by country

The system checks the WhatsApp list first, then the SMS list: a prefix in both gets WhatsApp.
A number that starts with none of the prefixes in either list gets nothing and the attempt is logged as blocked.
WhatsApp only delivers messages with approved templates, one per type and language, set up by Cargoflow. Without a template the message is logged as failed and is not sent by SMS instead.
Every SMS ends with the fixed English text "Reply STOP to unsubscribe."

Enter phones with the country code and no spaces: +15551234567.

Usage limits

When the daily or monthly limit is reached, messages (SMS and WhatsApp together) stop until the next day or month.
Rate limiting per phone stops one number getting too many messages in a day, for example from an error repeating the notice.

Important: although the on-screen help says "0 = unlimited", a limit of 0 blocks every message. If you want no limit, enter a high number (up to 10,000 a day and 100,000 a month).

Send a test message

Scroll down to the test section. There is an SMS test box and a WhatsApp test box.
Enter the phone number with country code and a test message (up to 160 characters).
Click the send button in that box.

The test goes through the same rules as a real notice (master switch, countries, limits) and counts toward usage. The number must be in one of the two lists even though you chose the channel.
Possible results: sent successfully; blocked by system configuration or limits; or an error followed by a technical text. Today that error does not show a reference number: note the time and phone for support.
The WhatsApp test sends free text, which WhatsApp may not deliver to a number that has not messaged your line recently.

The message log

The recent message log shows the warehouse’s last 50: date and time, phone, type, status, driver and the shortened message with any error. Type and status show internal names: sent, failed, blocked, and statuses reported later by the provider such as delivered or undelivered.

Export downloads a CSV of the warehouse’s whole log: date, phone, type, status, message, driver, job, user and error.

Why a message does not go out

First, without leaving a trace in the log, the system drops the message if:

the messaging module is not on in the warehouse;
the master switch is off;
that notice type is off;
the person has no phone.

Then, now logged as blocked, it stops the message if:

the prefix is in neither list;
the daily or monthly limit was reached;
that phone reached its daily maximum.

Example: opening messages to drivers from Mexico

The Principal warehouse gets carriers from the United States and Mexico.

Allowed country codes: +1. WhatsApp country codes: +52.
Daily limit 300, monthly 6000, max per phone 8. Save.
SMS test to a +1… number: sent. WhatsApp test to +52…: sent.
The next day, a Southern Logistics driver with a +52… phone gets their Dock 4 assignment on WhatsApp. The log shows sent and then delivered.

Good practices

Set realistic limits, never 0.
Keep rate limiting per phone on.
Add only the country codes your drivers come from.
Send a test after every change, in each warehouse.
Check the log when a driver says nothing arrived; if it is not there, check the switches and the phone.

Troubleshooting

The screen shows an error when opening.

The provider account is not configured. Contact Cargoflow.

No messages go out and the limits are 0.

A limit of 0 blocks everything. Enter a higher number.

A notice does not go out and is not in the log.

Check the master switch, that type’s switch and the person’s phone. For assignment, check the supervisor answered yes and the dock is not a Waiting one.

Drivers from one country get nothing.

Their prefix is in neither list, or their phones were entered without a country code.

WhatsApp numbers do not get one type of message.

The approved template for that type in that language is missing. Tell support.

The test shows an error with odd text at the end.

The provider rejected the message. Send support the time and phone of the test.

FAQ

Do the settings apply to all my warehouses?

No. Each warehouse has its own, with its own log and counters. Switch warehouse and configure it too. See Working with several warehouses.

What happens if a driver replies STOP?

They get an opt-out reply, but the system does not store the opt-out: the screen does not show it and does not exclude them. The messaging provider may block further messages to that number on its own.