Let your customer follow your drive
Your customer gets a tracking link inside the reminders and booking confirmations you already send. When you tap On my way, the page behind it shows how many minutes away you are and roughly when you will arrive, until you get there. Nothing extra is sent, and they never see a map or where you are.
What it does
Live ETA puts a tracking link in the messages your customer already gets from you. When you tap On my way, the page behind the link goes live: how many minutes away you are and roughly when you will arrive, updated from your phone as you drive. It stops when you arrive.
Nothing extra is sent when you set off. Your customer already has the link, and looks if they want to. The page shows your business name, the service, your first name and an arrival time. Never a map, and never where you are.
What each plan includes
| Plan | Live ETA |
|---|---|
| Solo | Not included |
| Pro | The link in your day-before reminder and booking confirmation emails, Send it, the page going live when you tap On my way, and when the customer first opened it |
| Autopilot | Adds the link in the 1 hour reminder, how often the customer checks, a note from the customer, Leave by alerts, and a review request on the page once the job is complete |
Before you start
You will need:
- Pro or Autopilot (a trial includes it)
- A postcode on the job, so the page knows where you are heading
- A booked date. A job with its date still to arrange gets the link once it has one
- The TradeBooked iPhone or Android app for a live countdown. On my way from the web gives your customer an estimate instead, and team members share from the web app, as an estimate
What your customer sees
The link opens a page with your business name and logo, and the service and day (Boiler service, today). It names the person the job is assigned to by first name, Dave in the examples below. There is no customer name and no address on it, because a link can be forwarded.
While you drive, a line shows how far along the journey you are and when the page last updated. Under it sit a Call button for your business number (when you have one on file) and one line: "You see an arrival time, not Dave's location. Dave's Plumbing can see when this page is open."
The page refreshes itself every 15 seconds while it is open. Nothing is sent to your customer as it changes: they see it when they look.
On Autopilot the page also offers Leave a note for Dave, up to 200 characters ("use the side gate"). It shows on your Today card and the job, never back on the page. Once the job is complete, the page asks How did Dave do? with stars that open your review page.
The page, state by state
| What the page says | When |
|---|---|
| The booked day and time, with Come back on the day | Opened before the day of the visit |
| Not set off yet, with the booked time | On the day, before you tap On my way |
| 12 min away, and Dave should be with you around 10:40 | While you drive, updated from your phone |
| Arriving now | 2 minutes or less away |
| Live updates paused, with the expected time | No update from your phone for 3 minutes, such as in a signal black spot |
| An expected time, marked Estimate | You set off from the web, or your phone is not sharing its location |
| Running later than expected | During a pause or an estimate, once the expected time has passed |
| Dave is nearby. Live updates have stopped. | Your phone is within about 150 metres of the job |
| Dave has arrived | You tap Arrived & starting |
| Live updates have stopped | You tapped Stop, your phone sent nothing for 30 minutes, or 3 hours passed since you set off |
| No live arrival time is showing for this visit | On the day, 30 minutes past the booked time (or the end of the window) with nobody set off |
| This tracking link has finished | From the day after the visit, with Book Dave's Plumbing again and Call |
| This visit is not going ahead | The booking is cancelled or declined |
| Live updates are off for this visit | You switched Live ETA off for the job or the business |
When sharing stops
Sharing stops by itself, and your position is deleted, when:
- you tap Arrived & starting
- your phone is within about 150 metres of the job (the page says you are nearby)
- you tap Stop
- your phone sends no position for 30 minutes
- 3 hours have passed since you set off
After Stop, or a gap in signal, the job stays On my way and the Live ETA box offers Share again, which carries on the same drive. Share again is not offered once sharing has stopped near the job.
Live updates only run on the day of the visit. On my way on another day records the journey, but the page does not go live.
What it never does
- It never texts or emails your customer when you set off, or when you are late. They have the link and look when they want to
- It never shows a map, your position or your route. Your customer sees minutes and a time
- It never names you in a message. Messages carry your business name, and your first name only appears on the page
- It never keeps a record of where you have been. Only your latest position is held during the drive, and it is deleted when sharing stops
- It never sends anything when you change the setting or a job's switch
Follow the full setup in TradeBooked
This is a Pro feature. Start a 10-day free trial to follow the step-by-step setup. No card needed.
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Common questions
Does my customer get a text when I set off?
No. Nothing is sent when you tap On my way. The tracking link goes out earlier, in the reminders and booking confirmations you already send, and your customer opens it when they want an update.
Can my customer see where I am?
No. The page shows how many minutes away you are and roughly when you will arrive. Never a map, your position or your route. Your phone sends its position to TradeBooked to work out the minutes. Only the latest one is kept, and it is deleted when sharing stops.
Why does my customer see an estimate?
A drive is an estimate when you tap On my way on the web, when a team member taps it (team members use the web app), when you chose Share an estimate instead, without my location, or when location is off for TradeBooked on your phone. In that last case the box says so, with Open Settings. To go back from the estimate, open More, Settings, Reminders and tap Use my location under Sharing an estimate from this phone.
I have just turned Live ETA on. Do jobs already booked get the link?
Turning it on sends nothing. A job with a reminder still to go gets the link in that reminder. A job with nothing left to carry it says Sarah has not had the tracking link yet, with Send it.
Why did the page not go live when I tapped On my way?
Live updates only run on the day of the visit, so on another day On my way records the journey and nothing more. The job also needs a postcode. A tap made with no signal waits on your phone (Saved on your phone. It will sync when you are back online.), and if it reaches TradeBooked more than 2 minutes later the page stays as it was: tap Share on the Live ETA box to start it.
Can I start it without opening the app?
On iPhone, say "On my way in TradeBooked" to Siri, or tap On my way on the Next job widget. "Stop sharing in TradeBooked" stops it. Neither opens directions.
Can my team use it?
Yes, from the web app, as an estimate, because team members cannot sign in to the phone apps. The page names whoever the job is assigned to. If someone else on the job is already sharing, TradeBooked says so and does not start a second drive.
What plan do I need?
Live ETA is on Pro and Autopilot. Pro covers the link, the page, Send it and On my way going live, and shows when the customer first opened the link. Autopilot adds the link in the 1 hour reminder, how often the customer checks, their note and Leave by alerts. The On my way card, with Open directions and Directions app, is on every plan.
Related guides
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