Send the parent of a pet in your care a photo and a short line on WhatsApp. It takes a few seconds and puts their mind at rest.
It works for boarding and daycare pets once they are checked in. A pet that is booked but not here yet cannot get one.
Before you start
- Your role needs Show updates. It is in the Updates group, under Staff Management, then Roles & Permissions. The business owner always has it. Other roles may need it turning on, so ask whoever manages your roles.
- The customer needs a mobile number on their profile, with its country code.
- The phone or computer you send from needs WhatsApp, unless your business uses the WhatsApp Inbox.
Send from the Updates page
- Go to Updates in the sidebar. On a phone, press More, then Updates.
- The page opens on the first pet still waiting for today's update. To pick another on a computer, use the Pets in the facility today list or its search box. On a phone, tap a pet in the row at the top, or See all when there are many.
- If the booking has more than one pet, tick the ones this update is about under This update is about.
- Under Message, write a short line, or tap one of the ready-made ones above the box.
- Press Add photo to add a picture. On a phone you can press Add video instead, then choose Choose from gallery or take one there and then.
- Press Send on WhatsApp, and follow the steps for your device below.
One update carries one photo or one video. To send another, send a second update.
To check the wording first, press Preview what the parent gets. The message starts with a hello to the parent by first name.
The first time you open the page, a short tour points out each part.
What happens when you press Send on WhatsApp
How it goes out depends on what you send from. The line under the button tells you which applies.
With the WhatsApp Inbox
If your business uses the WhatsApp Inbox and your role can open it, one press sends it. The update goes straight to the customer.
On a phone or tablet
The phone's share menu opens with the photo and message together. Choose WhatsApp, then the customer's chat, and send. If the phone cannot share the file, WhatsApp opens on the customer's chat with the message typed. Attach the photo yourself, then send.
On a computer
It takes two presses and a paste.
- Press Prepare message. Happy Pet copies the photo for you.
- Press Send on WhatsApp. WhatsApp opens on the customer's chat with the message typed.
- Paste the photo with Ctrl+V, or Cmd+V on a Mac, then send it in WhatsApp.
If it says the photo could not be copied, attach it from your computer in the chat instead. Videos cannot be sent from a computer, so send those from your phone.
Once it has gone, the page moves on to the next pet still waiting. The one you sent for moves to Sent today.
Send from the booking
Open the boarding or daycare booking and go to its Updates tab. Press Send the first update, or Send an update once one has gone out. The same message box opens over the booking, headed Send an update.
On a phone, a Send update button also sits under the booking's header on its other tabs.
You can also send from the boarding or daycare list. Open the three dots menu on a checked-in pet's row and choose Send update on WhatsApp.
What gets recorded
Happy Pet notes an update when it hands it to WhatsApp. It cannot see whether the customer got it or read it. On a computer, the update counts as sent once the chat opens, so finish sending it in WhatsApp.
Every update is listed on the booking's Updates tab under Update history. On the Updates page it is under the message box. Each entry shows the time, the message, how many photos or videos went with it, and who sent it.
The list keeps how many photos or videos went with each update, not the files themselves.
If something goes wrong
A pet is not on the Updates page
Only pets checked in to boarding or daycare are listed. Check the pet in first. You also see only your own branch, unless your role has Show other branches' updates.
The Updates tab is missing from a booking
Only boarding and daycare bookings have it. Your role also needs Show updates. Before the pet is checked in, the tab says Not checked in yet and has no button.
Send on WhatsApp will not work
Add a photo or write a message first. The box says so under the button.
It cannot find a phone number
You see this message:
We couldn't find a phone number for this customer.
Add a mobile number to the customer's profile, with its country code, then try again.