Phone numbers and texts (Twilio)
The three phone things FieldQuo does — texts to clients, the AI receptionist's number, and the crew texting line — which number each uses, what each costs, and what is deliberately not a text.
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FieldQuo touches the phone network in three separate places, and they use three different numbers. Texts to clients — the On my way text and appointment reminders — go out from FieldQuo's shared texting number with your company name at the start. The phone receptionist answers on a number you rent under Settings → Phone receptionist. Crew texting uses a third number, set up on the Crew inbox page, that your crew text photos to.
Twilio carries the texts and supplies the numbers; Retell runs the receptionist's voice. This article says what each of the three does, what leaves the building, what comes out of your phone credit, and what FieldQuo deliberately does not text.
Overview
| What | From which number | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| On my way text, appointment reminder | FieldQuo's shared texting number, with your company name first | Nothing — client texts are not metered |
| Phone receptionist | A local or toll-free number you rent, or your own number forwarded to it | $4/month local, $9/month toll-free, plus 35¢ a minute (40¢ toll-free), from phone credit |
| Crew texting line | A number of its own, bought for the company, or FieldQuo's shared test line on loan for 7 days | $4/month for your own line, 2¢ a text and 5¢ a photo, from the same credit |
Phone credit is one prepaid balance, shown on Settings → AI credit as Phone credit and on the receptionist page as Credit. Top up in $10, $30, $50 or $100 — or any amount from $5 to $1,000 — with a card, or turn on Automatic top-up to charge the card on file when the balance drops below $5, $10 or $20. See AI credit and phone credit.
Texts to clients
Exactly two texts go to clients, and both are yours to word under Settings → Client messages: On my way, sent when a visit is marked on the way, and Appointment reminder, sent 2, 24 or 48 hours before a visit once you choose a lead time under Settings → Notifications. Each is sent in the client's language. The reminder ends with Reply STOP to opt out; a client who replies STOP is never texted again by your company, and START lifts it.
These texts come from FieldQuo's shared number, not from a number of your own — the receptionist's number cannot text, and there is no setting today to give client texts a company number. The message starts with your company name, but the number the client sees is shared. This is the one client-facing surface where FieldQuo's plumbing shows; see Client texts: On my way and reminders.
There is no client texting inbox. A homeowner who replies to a reminder with a question is not read — the text points them to your phone number instead. FieldQuo does not text invoices, quotes, review requests or booking confirmations; those are emails. See Texting clients: what is and is not automated.
The receptionist's number
- Open Settings → Phone receptionist and find Your number. Pick a local number by area code from the ones Twilio has free, or a toll-free one, or keep your own number and forward it — the recommended way, because the number on your van stays the same.
- The first month's rental comes out of your credit as soon as you pick one. Your first number also adds $10.50 of credit — 30 free minutes — to start with.
- Press Start answering calls. From then on the receptionist answers in the caller's language (English, French or Spanish), takes the details, books a visit against your real availability, and never quotes a price. Each call lands on the Receptionist screen with its recording, transcript and summary.
- To stop, press It's answering — turn off: the number stops answering but stays yours and keeps being rented. To give the number up, use Release and type the number to confirm — that is irreversible and the rest of the month is not refunded.
Rent is taken every 30 days from credit. If credit runs out, the number keeps working for 7 days while FieldQuo emails you, then is released and lost. Automatic top-up is the safeguard. Porting a number in is a request FieldQuo handles by hand, not a button; nothing is charged until the port is live.
The crew texting line
Your crew text photos to one number and they are filed to the right job — by the job named in the text, by GPS when the phone sends it, or by the only job that person is on that day; when none of those decide it, the office picks the job under Needs you — pick the job. The person is recognised by the mobile on their worker record. Set-up is on the Crew inbox page, not under the receptionist: Buy your crew a number of their own at $4 a month, or Use the FieldQuo test line for 7 days first.
Every text in or out costs 2¢ per 160 characters and a photo 5¢, from the same phone credit. An incoming photo is always received and charged; if credit is $2 overdrawn the line is disconnected and the page reads Crew texting is paused because your credit ran out. Top up and it reconnects. See The crew inbox.
The shared test line is the same number client texts leave from. While it is on loan to your crew, a client's STOP reply to it lands in the crew inbox and is not read as an opt-out — one more reason to buy the crew their own number.
What leaves the building
- Twilio receives a client's phone number and the text of a reminder or On my way message, and the crew's texted photos before FieldQuo re-hosts them.
- Retell receives the live audio, the recording and the transcript of every call the receptionist takes. The recording is played back from the Receptionist screen.
- A number you rent for the receptionist is bought on Retell's Twilio account; a crew line is bought on FieldQuo's. Neither is a number you can take with you when you leave, which is why forwarding your own number is the recommended choice.
Who can see it
Settings → Phone receptionist and its number, credit and top-up controls are for the owner, administrators and the Manager and Dispatcher levels. The Receptionist call log needs full view of clients in the access grid. The Crew inbox row shows for everyone, but a Crew or Estimator login sees only the photos they sent themselves, and setting up, buying or turning off the crew line is for the owner, administrators and a Manager with job costing — it spends the company's credit.
Часті запитання
Can my clients text me back?
Not into FieldQuo. Replies to the shared number are read only for STOP and START; anything else is acknowledged and dropped, and the On my way text gives the client your phone number to call.
Do reminders cost credit?
No. On my way texts and appointment reminders are free; credit pays for the receptionist's minutes and rental and for crew texting.
Can I get a number for texting clients under my own name?
Not today. Client texts leave from FieldQuo's shared number with your company name at the start; the receptionist's number answers calls but cannot text.
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