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.
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 page is read-only. Messages are sent by workflows, plugins, and settings in other parts of ToolbagCRM; you cannot compose or send messages directly from this page.
- 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 or a plugin sends 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.
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.
- The Communications page is read-only today — message sending is controlled by workflows, plugins, and settings in other parts of ToolbagCRM.
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, then retry from the workflow that created the message; the Communications page itself is read-only.
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 sent from your account yet. Messages are created automatically by ToolbagCRM workflows — for example, when a job reminder is sent, an invoice pay link is delivered, or a customer notification is triggered. If you expect messages but see none, confirm the workflow that should trigger the message is active and that the channel provider is connected.