Question

We use whatsapp with our clients at log... how do others keep track of text message etc communication with clietns?


Userlevel 2

A lot of our clients respond 100% better when we use an instant messaging app like whats app… my concern is a lot of communication is not being captured agains the client/jobs in Karbon. Does  anyone have a good way to resolve this? 


20 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

Hi Pauline!

Our firm isn’t the greatest at this, but I’m a huge fan of screenshots. I have a button on my house that activates the screenshot program (I personally like ShareX). 
 

I snap a pic capturing the appropriate time stamps and to/from information and it’s automatically copied to my clipboard.

Then I paste it into the appropriate Karbon task/note/timeline.

Does that help at all?

I’m curious how others handle this situation.

Userlevel 2

Thanks Max, Yep - we have snip & have done similar things.. trouble is it’s about 5 steps  and so the team just doesn't do it… takes away the ‘instant’ part of instant messaging. 

I have been looking at having my own app written that triggers an email to a generic email that can be triaged - but I’m looking at 20K… 

Anyone else got good ideas! 

Karbon - this is an area what I’d really like to hear your ideas on. 

  1.  
Userlevel 7
Badge +19

Interesting idea! Have you looked into Twilio? Looks like you might be able to use Zapier to turn replies into emails (https://zapier.com/apps/twilio/integrations):

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +10

SAME!  I am a big fan of the screen snip to capture all types of info to add to a note, task or comment but it is not ideal.  We have stayed away from the lure of the instant message with clients but that is not ideal either and I am sure it will not last.  I will be following this thread to see what other amazing ideas show up.

I’m with you on this one I’m always copying stuff from WhatsApp and posting as a note in Karbon.   We really need Karbon to develop an integration with WhatsApp in the same way as they have with emails.    I have asked this as a feature request and

???can everybody here please ask this as a feature request as well please??

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

I have asked this as a feature request and

???can everybody here please ask this as a feature request as well please??

Karbon is working on adding the feature requests to this community so that you can make a request, post comments, and get feedback from the product team. It’s not released yet, but it should be coming out soon. 😀

Userlevel 3
Badge +2

Hi Pauline!

 

Our firm, doesn’t use WhatsApp and text messaging system. 

 

But we highly use NimbusNote snipping tool whenever we want to take a screenshot and add it to any Karbon timelines/work items.

Userlevel 5
Badge +6

This is a big black box for us and I am glad that it was mentioned!  So far we are not tracking any text message communication in Karbon, and that has long been a concern of mine.  I’m liking the suggestions so far.

Userlevel 1
Badge +1

@max or anyone else…. Have you tried Twilio? I’m thinking it will update contact information but I’m not sure I see whether or not it could convert an instant message to an email and add to a client timeline.

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

@max or anyone else…. Have you tried Twilio? I’m thinking it will update contact information but I’m not sure I see whether or not it could convert an instant message to an email and add to a client timeline.

Check out my post above:

I’m not using Twilio for this, but I think all the pieces are there and I have played around with it on a different project.

So using Twilio ( which we already use for business texting) I created a Zap that sends the SMS as an email to a gmail account for our Tax Director, then of course the email lands in Triage and we can then click to add it to a Work or a Contact

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

So using Twilio ( which we already use for business texting) I created a Zap that sends the SMS as an email to a gmail account for our Tax Director, then of course the email lands in Triage and we can then click to add it to a Work or a Contact

I love this and am looking into it for our firm. Can you give a little more detail about how you setup and use Twilio for business?

Sure, I think the easiest way to explain is over a call, lets schedule some time to chat: https://www.synergyworksbest.com/design-schedule

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

I did some reading on the Twilio site and think I can accomplish the following:

  • Text out to clients from a dedicated sms/mms line
  • Receive sms/mms as notes in Karbon assigned to a specific person (possibly also attach it to the client’s timeline)
  • Redirect incoming calls to the dedicated sms/mms line to our main phone line

Are there other use-cases that I’m missing? I would love to be able to generate sms/mms from Karbon. Perhaps there’s a way by using outgoing email with a + code (smsemail+15555551234@gmail.com) and some Zapier handling. This email could be added to the client so that it’s a possible recipient when selecting a contact in Karbon.

What do y’all think?

Sure, I think the easiest way to explain is over a call, lets schedule some time to chat: https://www.synergyworksbest.com/design-schedule

I scheduled a time to chat with you.

Userlevel 2

We have solved this sort of! Our soft phone system also allows text messaging & all text RECEIVED only are sent via email to one email only… So not perfect by any means but at least I have ½ an audit trail … Really I’d jus love it as a feature in Karbon… Power Diary can do it! Surely there is a way? 

Userlevel 2
Badge

You can use Email to Text functionality. No 3rd party software needed.
 


Note: I only know this specifically works in the US and CAN.
This functionality has been out for years but few people seem to know about it.

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

You can use Email to Text functionality. No 3rd party software needed.
 


Note: I only know this specifically works in the US and CAN.
This functionality has been out for years but few people seem to know about it.

@Paul McCarthy I learned about this years ago. The MMS email addresses usually have much larger limits for text length.

The one hang-up for me was finding the correct carrier, because that’s important. I wonder if there’s a carrier discovery api available to automatically add phone number email text messages to contacts when cellphone numbers are added in the business card section.

On the whole, I would love a Twilio or some such integration to Karbon to allow text communication by design, but this is a great first start. 😀

Some interesting information here: SO Post

I haven’t looked into any of the resources listed, but the data247 website is up and still charges 12/mo to look up the carrier of phone numbers via api.

Userlevel 2
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I never had a length problem when using it but I’m also fairly straightforward in my comms.

I use that free service as a manual action so someone has to look it up. I typically recommend not sending an email and texting as I hate when people both text and email me and blow up my phone as it’s annoying as hell. Preference is email because of the threading but if someone wants a text there are options.

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +19

We’re thinking of using texting as a means of escalation.

  • email first
  • phone call to follow-up
  • text client tasks
  • certified letter (lol, some of our clients like to wait to the last minute)
Userlevel 2
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I was always a little bit more ruthless in terms of ‘dormant clients’. Rule was if you hadn’t heard from a client in a month/all the client task reminders ran out it was a phone call from a manager re: are you moving on?

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