Notifications
SmartMy Transit tells parents when the bus starts, nears the stop and their child boards. It tells the office about SOS alerts and riders not riding, and keeps people asking for a vehicle informed. Each event has its own recipients and channels: phone notification, in-app, WhatsApp, SMS or email.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Parents call the office every morning to ask where the bus is.
- A parent drops the child at school but the bus still waits at the stop.
- An SOS from a bus reaches nobody until the driver phones.
- When a parent says they never got the message, nobody can check what was sent.
How it works
- Something happens on a run, a booking or a vehicle. The run starts, the bus is 10 minutes from a stop, a child boards, or a tracker sends SOS.
- The event finds its recipients: the people told about each rider, by their ticked topics. Or the transport office, the driver and helper, or the people on a booking.
- It goes out as a phone notification to people signed in to the Rider or Crew app and into the in-app inbox. It also goes on the first of WhatsApp, SMS and email that works for that person.
- Every message leaves a line in the Delivery Log, with the reason when it could not be sent, for example no mobile number.
- An administrator can switch an event off for everyone or one Entity, change its channels per Entity, and change the wording.
Everything it does
To riders and parents, on a run
- Run Started: the driver starts the run; topic Trip
- Vehicle Near the Stop: the bus is the set minutes away (10 to start with); needs live tracking; topic Trip
- Vehicle at the Stop: the bus reached the rider's stop; topic Trip
- Rider Boarded and Rider Dropped: marked by the Crew app or a card reader; topic Boarding
- Rider Missed the Vehicle: the run ended and the rider was never marked; topic Boarding
- Run Delayed: later than Delay Alert After (15 minutes to start with); topic Changes
- Vehicle / Driver Changed: another bus or driver takes today's run; topic Changes
- Run Cancelled: the office cancelled it or a no-transport day was added; topic Changes
- Each person told about a rider ticks Trip, Boarding and Changes (all on to start with); with nobody listed, the rider is told
To the transport office and crew
- Transport Alert: SOS, overspeed, power cut or tamper, device offline, long idle and ignition out of hours. Also sudden fuel drop, breakdown, abnormal mileage and trip checklist alerts; to the transport office
- Rider Not Riding and Rider Riding Again: to the transport office and the people named to be told on the Entity. Also the run's driver and helper. Phone notification, in-app and email
Vehicle bookings
- Booking to Approve: to the approvers of the level that is next
- Booking Approved and Booking Rejected: to the requester and passengers
- Booking to Assign: to the transport office when a booking is approved
- Booking Assigned: to the requester, passengers and the driver
- Booking Cancelled: to the requester, passengers and the driver if one was assigned
Other messages and to-dos
- Transport stopped: fees unpaid: to the people told about the student and the office, at most once a day, in the inbox and by email
- To-dos for the transport office: a driver or helper on leave, or a paper about to expire (30 days before). Also a service due soon or overdue, or a booking to approve
Channels and delivery
- Channels: phone notification (push), in-app, WhatsApp, SMS and email
- Transit events go to the phone notification and the in-app inbox, and to the first message channel that works: WhatsApp, then SMS, then email. Not riding notices use email only
- WhatsApp and SMS need a provider and approved templates on your account
- Phone notifications reach people signed in to the SmartMy Transit Rider or Crew app
- Templates per event, channel and language
- Delivery Log: every message with its status and, when not sent, why
People's own choices and quiet hours
- Run Started, Vehicle Near the Stop and Vehicle at the Stop can be switched off by each person
- Every other Transit event cannot be switched off by a person, only a channel such as SMS or email; in-app always arrives
- No Transit event waits for quiet hours: messages go out at once, early morning runs included
Who uses it
Parent or riderGets trip, boarding and change messages for the riders they are told about, and switches off trip messages if they wish.
Transport officeGets alerts, not riding notices, bookings to assign and to-dos, and chooses each person's topics on the rider.
Driver or helperGets not riding notices for their run and bookings assigned to them.
AdministratorSwitches events and channels per Entity, edits the wording and checks the Delivery Log.
Where you use it
- Web: the inbox of each user, and Notifications > Delivery Log, Analysis and Configuration (Events, Entity Settings, Templates, Opt-outs, Push Devices)
- The SmartMy Transit Rider and Crew apps: phone notifications (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- WhatsApp, SMS and email for parents without the app
- Portal: the parent's notification settings
What you control
Settings
- Tell Riders When Minutes Away: 10
- Delay Alert After (minutes): 15
- Topics per person told: Trip, Boarding and Changes, all on
- People to tell about not riding, on the Entity
- Per event: on or off and its channels, for everyone or per Entity
- Templates per channel and language
Works with
SmartMy CampusParents' logins come from the student record, so the right parents are told without typing numbers again.
Questions
Are parents told the moment their child boards?
Yes, when boarding is marked by the Crew app or a card reader on the bus. The Crew app is built and in testing, not in the app stores yet; no card reader has been tested yet.Can a parent stop the bus-started messages?
Yes. Run Started, near the stop and at the stop can be switched off by each person. Boarding, delays, changes and cancellations always reach them.Do messages wait until 7 in the morning?
No. Transit messages go out at once, at any hour, since runs start early.Do parents get WhatsApp and SMS?
Where your account has a WhatsApp or SMS provider with approved templates. Each message goes on the first that works for the parent, after the phone notification.Can the father get boarding messages and the mother only delays?
Yes. On the rider, each person told has their own Trip, Boarding and Changes ticks.How do I check whether a message was sent?
Open Notifications > Delivery Log. Each message shows its status, and the reason when it was not sent, such as a missing mobile number.Related features
MESSAGES TO RIDERS AND PARENTSParents told when the bus starts, nears the stop and the child boardsRiders and parents hear when the run starts, when the bus is a few minutes away and when it reaches the stop. Then they hear when the rider boards, is dropped or misses the bus. Delays, a change of vehicle or driver and a cancelled run are told too, the moment they happen.TRIPS, KILOMETRES, ALERTSAlerts: SOS, overspeed, tamper, idle and fuel dropThe transport office is alerted to SOS, overspeed, a tracker's power cut or tampering, and a device offline. Also to long idling, use outside your hours and sudden fuel drops. Each alert is acknowledged with a note of what was done."NOT RIDING""Not riding" for a day or one legA parent, the rider or the transport office says a rider will not ride on a day, for one leg or both. The run's rider list changes at once, and the office, the people you name and the driver are told.VEHICLE BOOKINGVehicle booking with approvalAnyone with a login asks for a vehicle from the back office, a web page or the Rider app. The request goes through your approval chain, the office assigns a free vehicle and driver, and the trip records the odometer.ARRIVAL TIMESExpected arrival times that learn from real runsEvery stop of a running run gets an expected arrival time, worked out again every minute from where the vehicle is. Arrival and departure are recorded by themselves when the vehicle enters and leaves the stop's circle. The times between stops learn from the route's recent runs on the same weekday.ACROSS SMARTMY TRANSITApproval chainsA request for a vehicle goes to the right people in the right order before the transport office assigns a vehicle and a driver. You set the levels without code, from no approval to several named people, and every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.
See your own routes on the map.
Send us your stops and routes and we will show you a demo with them.