In Auto Shop Writer, we have used emails for a variety of purposes, including automated followup, emails of anything printed directly to a client, and reminders.

We also used a text system that was no cost which allowed you to email texts to your clients, but you had to know their provider and put it into the system.

We finally found a very affordable alternative to the text system and we’re just completing it’s full integration into ASW.  It is very useful for marketing, notifying the client when the car is ready, or asking them to call at their convenience.  We’re even setting it up to text automated appointment reminders.  

Our email system for all automated processes works fine with SMTP setups, but many people use online email and don’t have access to an SMTP channel.  In addition, those who have a dedicated system just seem to have a lot of problems getting it to work.  The reasons are pretty straightforward.  Email service providers have new rules, or are not providing SMTP services to their clients.  They want to have everyone use an online email service.  In other cases, some are using MAPI services with Outlook, but now Windows 11 is not providing that access cleanly, and it may not work, or be intermittent.

We can also use the same company for email that does the texting.  The company is called Twilio and you can read all about it not he web.  ( Twilio.com ).  It is large, well established, and likely to stick around.  A basic Twilio account would cost you about $20/month but you could use it to do extensive marketing emails.  With that, you can send up to 100,000 emails per month.  You could use it to create templates for newsletters, or tips, and keep in touch with your clients in addition to the tracking and marketing you can set to happen automatically with ASW.

 

SO HERE IS THE QUESTION:  Are you successfully connected to your email service so Auto Shop Writer is able to send emails directly ?  Would you prefer an easier connected service like Twilio to handle all of your outgoing emails ?

 

Here is how it works.  The system would be fully setup so all of your outgoing emails go through Twilio.  They will include your “Reply To” address so all responses would go to your normal business email address.

 

Please let us know by sending an email to timstone@masterlinksoftware.com. It would be greatly appreciated to hear from you.

In Version 12, we have built in core elements to provide for tech advances coming in the future years, plus we’ve made enhancements, and modifications, based on your input.  We’ve done all of this maintaining a model where you do not need to be concerned about extra costs for 3rd party services while maintaining full service capabilities.

Two areas that have concerned us for a long time are text messaging and email.  For text messaging, we use the older technology that allows you to send a text email to the client’s service provider ( if you know it ).  The cost is free, and return messages come back as emails.  For email, we have established the interface so you can use your current email service ( via an SMTP connection ).  Of course this doesn’t work if you use “webmail” where you sign online to send and receive emails rather than using a local program like Outlook.  For many people this has become complicated and thus they don’t use the features.

We have the ability to add a different methodology now.  We are looking at using Twill, a communications service, that can provide both texting and email services.  We can weave it tightly into the service writer software.  We can also set it so you have all correspondence saved on your system, and reviewable ( along with service histories, etc ), and even tie it to work orders, vehicles, and clients.

The company is very large with very good ratings.  You can check it out on the web.  They also offer other services, but these are the two we would most likely integrate at this time.  A quick look at pricing suggests text messages, sent to and from your shop computers, would be less than a penny each, and a sufficient email account would be $20/month.  Of course, you would have your own account with them, and can expand, discontinue, or simply not implement it as you wish.  

SO HERE IS WHERE WE NEED A RESPONSE FROM YOU.   Could you please email timstone@masterlinksoftware.com to express your interest, or not, to have us move forward on this addition to MLS12 ?  Please do it right away.

One last note.  We get a steady stream of proposals from companies who want us to offer their products.  In this case, we referred to this company by other developers.  Many salespeople are out there with a lot of pitches and promises.  A few years from now, many of those companies will be acquired by disinterested investors, or simply disappear.  We are selecting this one because of the long term prospects for it being there for you in the long term.  You can visit their website to see what they offer.  Because the integration with each company will differ, we cannot integrate to multiple service providers.  

SO PLEASE DO THINK ON THIS AND GET BACK WITH YOUR THOUGHTS ASAP.