One Text, Not Forty Emails
One alert setting for the whole workspace means the store manager and the finance lead hear about everything the same way, and both stop listening. My alerts lets each person choose email, push or a text message for each kind of alert, inside what the workspace allows.
The operations manager at a three-branch hardware distributor put her request in one sentence: she wanted a text on her phone before the morning meeting, not forty emails she would get to at lunch. Her finance lead wanted the opposite. He reads email at his desk from eight, and a phone that buzzes about stock levels is a phone he puts face down. Both were right, and a single setting for the whole workspace could only ever suit one of them.
We separated the email from the in-app notice for the whole workspace earlier this month, in mute the email, keep the alert. That was the workspace’s decision about which doors exist. This is the next level down: each person choosing which of those doors they walk through, alert by alert.
Your row, your channels
Settings › My alerts, on the web and in the mobile app, lists the alerts you can receive, one row each, with three columns: Email, Push and Text message. Tick the ones you want. The five kinds of alert are the ones that cost money when they are missed.
| Alert | Who can receive it | A choice that often fits |
|---|---|---|
| Stockouts and low stock | People who can view items | Text for the store manager, email for purchasing |
| Margin drops | People who can view the accounts | Email for the finance lead |
| Stuck approvals | People who approve something | Push for the approver who is out of the office |
| Failed workflow and QuickBooks syncs | People who can view workflows or integrations | Email and push for whoever fixes it |
| Aging receivables | People who can view invoices | Email for the credit controller |
Margin drops are the newest of the five, and how that check decides an item has slipped is in the margin nobody was watching. For deciding which alerts deserve to make a phone buzz at all, the three-question test in which alerts deserve a phone buzz still applies, and it applies twice over to a text.
The workspace still sets the ceiling
A person can choose less than the workspace allows, never more. If the workspace has switched text messages off for low stock, that cell shows a padlock on everyone’s My alerts page, and nobody can tick it. The people who manage settings decide which channels exist; each person decides which of them they use.
The second limit is the record behind the alert. Nobody can subscribe to an alert about records they could not open. A cashier who cannot see the accounts never gets the margin-drop alert, whatever they tick, because the alert would tell them what the books say.
What changes on the first day
Nothing, unless someone changes it. The Admins who already received these alerts keep email and push as before. Text messages start off for everyone, because each one costs the workspace money, so a text is something a person asks for rather than something they receive by surprise.
Why the text says so little
A text is at most 160 characters, a single message, and it carries counts only. The low-stock text reads, in full: “AWRA: 4 items are at or below their reorder level. Open AWRA to reorder.” No item names, no customer names, no amounts. The detail is one tap away in the app, behind a sign-in.
That is deliberate. A phone on the counter of a busy shop shows its lock screen to whoever is standing nearby, and many teams share a phone between shifts. “3 requests are waiting for approval” is useful to the approver and tells a bystander nothing. “Invoice to Mwangi Hardware, KES 486,000, 94 days overdue” is a different matter.
A lock screen is read by whoever is standing next to the phone. Write the text for them too.
Four things before a text goes
-
The workspace allows it
Text messages are switched on for that alert in the workspace’s notification settings.
-
You asked for it
You ticked Text message on that row in My alerts.
-
There is a sender
The workspace has a working SMS provider set up.
-
Your number is valid
Your profile carries a phone number in a form the provider can dial, such as +254 712 345 678.
If any of the four is missing, no text goes, and your email and push choices carry on as before. When a manager asks why the text never came, look at the fourth one first: a profile with no phone number at all is easy to miss, because email and push never needed one. Check your profile before you decide texts are not working.
Ten minutes with My alerts
Who acts on stock before they open a laptop?
Look for
Store managers, branch supervisors.
Then
Ask them to tick Text message on low stock, and check their phone number.
Which alert emails are filed by an inbox rule?
Look for
Approvals, low stock, overdue invoices.
Then
Untick email for that person and keep push, or the reverse.
Who approves while travelling?
Look for
Directors, regional managers.
Then
Push on stuck approvals; one tap opens the request.
Does everyone who should get an alert have the permission to see the record?
Look for
A supervisor missing view items or view invoices.
Then
Fix the role, not the alert. The alert follows the permission.
What AWRA OpsHub does today
- Settings › My alerts on the web and in the mobile app, one row per alert and a column each for email, push and text message.
- Five kinds of alert: stockouts and low stock, margin drops, stuck approvals, failed workflow and QuickBooks syncs, and aging receivables.
- The workspace switch as the ceiling on every channel, shown as a padlock where it is off.
- Alerts only about records the person may open.
- Email and push kept for Admins by default, and text messages off until a person opts in.
- Texts of at most 160 characters carrying counts only, sent when the workspace switch, the personal opt-in, a working SMS provider and a valid phone number are all in place.
More we can add to your workspace
- WhatsApp and Slack delivery of these alerts, chosen per person alongside email, push and text.
- Margin alerts by product category, for a buyer who watches a range rather than single items.
- Quiet hours, holding a person’s alerts overnight and delivering them at the start of their day.
Where we point you to a specialist
- Texts carry counts, never names or amounts, and we keep it that way. A lock screen is read by whoever is standing next to the phone, and the detail belongs behind a sign-in.
Per-person chat delivery builds on the WhatsApp and Slack connectors a workspace can already set up for its notification settings.
Your alerts, on your terms
My alerts covers email, push and text today. Three requests come up most often from teams that have started using it.
WhatsApp and Slack per person
The same alerts delivered to a person’s own chat, chosen on the same row as email, push and text.
Category margin alerts
A margin alert for a whole product range, for the buyer responsible for it.
Quiet hours
Alerts held overnight and delivered when your working day starts.
Choose how you hear
Open Settings › My alerts, tick the channels you will actually read, and check the phone number on your profile.
Talk to us about alertsFrequently asked questions
Can each person choose how they receive AWRA OpsHub alerts?
Yes. In Settings, My alerts, each person ticks email, push or text message for each kind of alert: stockouts and low stock, margin drops, stuck approvals, failed workflow and QuickBooks syncs, and aging receivables. The page is on the web and in the mobile app.
Can a person turn on a channel the workspace has switched off?
No. The workspace setting for each channel is the ceiling. Where it is off, the cell shows a padlock and cannot be ticked.
Why did I not receive a text message alert?
Four things must all be true: the workspace allows text messages for that alert, you ticked Text message in My alerts, the workspace has a working SMS provider, and your profile has a valid phone number. If any one is missing, no text is sent.
What does an alert text message contain?
Counts only, in at most 160 characters, for example the number of items at or below their reorder level. It never includes item names, customer names or amounts, because a lock screen can be read by anyone nearby.
Can anyone subscribe to any alert?
No. A person only receives alerts about records they are allowed to open. Someone who cannot view the accounts never receives margin-drop alerts.
