Communications
The Communications page shows recent outbound emails, text messages, push notifications, and voice calls in one place. Use it to distinguish messages awaiting send, accepted by a provider, confirmed as delivered, simulated, or failed. To call a customer or queue a one-off email or text message, use the Communications card on that customer's profile.
Open Communications from the main navigation. Communications is an always-on core feature — it does not need to be enabled separately.
When to use Communications
Use Communications when you need to:
- Check whether a customer received a text reminder, email confirmation, or payment receipt.
- Investigate why a message failed to deliver.
- See which delivery channels (SMS, email, push, voice) are connected to a real provider.
- Review the message history for a specific workflow or notification.
Before you start
- Communications is an always-on core feature — you do not need to enable it.
- The main Communications page is read-only. To queue a one-off email or text, open the customer's profile and use its Communications card.
- Viewing the customer card requires Communications read access. Text and Email also require Communications write access. Call and Text need a phone number on the customer, while Email needs an email address.
- Check the channel card before relying on a message: Live can send through the named provider, Simulation records activity without contacting the customer, and Unavailable has no delivery provider.
What the page shows
Summary cards
The top of the page counts messages that are Awaiting send, Provider accepted or simulated, Confirmed delivered, and Failed.
Channel readiness
Each channel reports its current delivery mode:
| Channel | Used for |
|---|---|
| SMS | Text reminders, job updates, and customer notices |
| Invoices, quotes, account notices, and system alerts | |
| Push | Mobile notifications for team activity and alerts |
| Voice | Automated calls for reminders and urgent notices |
- Live — the channel can send through the provider named on its card.
- Simulation — ToolbagCRM records the message for testing but does not contact the customer.
- Unavailable — no provider is registered for the channel.
Message list
The read-only list shows recent outbound messages with:
- Channel — SMS, Email, Push, or Voice.
- Recipient — a masked phone number, email address, or device destination.
- Status — the current delivery state.
- Detail — whether the record was simulated, the provider's status, or a safe failure message.
- When — when the message was created.
Message contents are never shown on this page.
Message statuses
Messages move through these statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pending | Queued but not yet picked up by the delivery worker. |
| Sending | The delivery worker is handing the message to the provider right now. |
| Provider accepted | The live provider accepted the message, but customer receipt is not confirmed. |
| Simulated | ToolbagCRM recorded a test send without contacting the customer. |
| Confirmed delivered | A provider receipt confirmed delivery to the recipient. |
| Failed | The provider rejected the message or delivery could not be completed. |
A message can be Provider accepted without being Confirmed delivered. Provider acceptance means the delivery service received the request; it does not prove the customer received the message.
How outbound messages work
When ToolbagCRM, a plugin, or an authorized user queues a message:
- The message is written to the communications outbox with status Pending.
- A background delivery job is queued.
- The delivery worker picks up the job and hands the message to the right provider.
- The page records provider acceptance, simulation, or a safe failure message.
- Confirmed delivered appears separately when a provider receipt is available.
This pattern means every message has a single source of truth: the Communications outbox row. Operators can answer "did this customer get the message?" with one record lookup.
Queue a message from a customer profile
- Open Customers, then open the customer you want to contact.
- Find the Communications card. It shows the customer's five most recent communication attempts with masked destinations.
- Select Call to open the saved phone number in your calling app, or select Text or Email to compose a tracked message. A missing phone number or email address disables the matching action.
- Enter a Message. Email also requires a Subject. A text can contain up to 1,600 characters; an email subject can contain up to 200 characters, and its message can contain up to 10,000 characters.
- If the card shows Preferred language: Spanish, review or translate your staff-written message before queueing it. ToolbagCRM shows the preference warning but does not translate the message for you.
- Select Review message and verify the To destination, subject when applicable, and message body.
- Select Queue text or Queue email. The new attempt is added to communication activity with its delivery status; a queued message is not yet proof of provider acceptance or customer delivery.
- Select View all activity to open the main Communications page filtered to that customer. Use Back to customer to return to the profile.
Duplicate prevention
ToolbagCRM prevents duplicate sends when a workflow retries the same logical message. If a message is queued twice with the same deduplication key, the second send returns the existing record instead of delivering a second copy. This protects customers from receiving the same reminder or receipt twice.
Tips
- Check the Communications page after sending important notifications to confirm delivery.
- Check for a Live channel before relying on customer delivery; Simulation does not contact the customer.
- Use the masked recipient and safe failure detail to confirm the correct record before retrying from the workflow that created it.
- Review failed messages weekly so customer communications do not fall through the cracks.
- Use the customer profile's Communications card for one-off messages, and use the main Communications page to review broader delivery status and channel readiness.
- Always use Review message to verify the destination and staff-written content before queueing it, especially when the customer's preferred language is Spanish.
For supported automated or template-driven messages, ToolbagCRM resolves the customer's message language when delivery is queued and saves the rendered subject and body with that attempt. Retrying the same attempt reuses that saved content, so a later language-preference change cannot switch it halfway through delivery or create a duplicate. Messages composed from a customer profile stay exactly as staff reviewed them; start a new send when the customer needs different wording or a different language.
Troubleshooting
A message shows Pending for a long time
Check the channel's readiness card. Unavailable means there is no provider for that channel, while Simulation records activity without sending to the customer. Ask an account administrator or ToolbagCRM support to review the provider when the channel is not Live.
A message shows Failed
Review the masked recipient and the safe failure detail in the row. Correct the customer's contact information or provider issue. For a one-off message, reopen the customer's Communications card, review the destination and content, and queue it again; for an automated message, retry from the workflow that created it.
A message shows Sent but the customer says they did not receive it
Provider accepted means the delivery service accepted the request, but it does not guarantee the recipient saw it. Check for:
- Carrier filtering — SMS messages with promotional content may be filtered by the recipient's carrier.
- Spam folder — email messages may land in the recipient's spam or junk folder.
- Wrong contact details — confirm the phone number or email address on the customer record is current.
Use Confirmed delivered only when ToolbagCRM shows that separate receipt-backed status.
The page shows no messages
If the Communications page is empty, no messages have been queued from your account yet. Messages can come from ToolbagCRM workflows — for example, a job reminder or invoice pay link — or from a customer's Communications card. If you expect automated messages but see none, confirm the workflow is active and the channel provider is connected. For a one-off message, confirm it appears in the customer's recent activity after queueing.
Text or Email is unavailable on a customer profile
The Communications card requires Communications read access. Text and Email also require Communications write access, and ToolbagCRM disables either action when the customer does not have the corresponding phone number or email address. Add the missing contact detail or ask an administrator to review your access.
"Couldn't queue this message. Review it and try again."
Select Back to edit and confirm the required subject and message are present. If the customer's email address or phone number changed after you opened the review, refresh the customer profile, reopen the composer, and review the current To destination before trying again.