When setting up your Spectora Advanced Automations, one common question is "What's the difference between inspection requested and inspection scheduled (confirmed)?"
These "events" are based on how the inspection is booked and whether or not it is automatically confirmed.
What is When This Happens for an Advanced Automation?
Let's break down what this means! The first step in creating your Automation, similar to Actions "Event", use this to choose and set up the event that determines when your message is sent.
When you click to edit, you'll see clear descriptions for each scenario to help you decide what will work best.
Need a Refresher on Confirmed or Unconfirmed? Click here!
Need a Refresher on Confirmed or Unconfirmed? Click here!
Confirmed inspections are hard-scheduled inspections that have a solidified date and time on your calendar. Typically, these inspections automatically send an email and/or text notification to the client that you will be there at the specified date and time.
Unconfirmed inspections are unverified inspections that have a placeholder date and time on your calendar. Unconfirmed inspections do not send notifications, as all notifications are automatically disabled. Usually, unconfirmed inspections are preferred by inspectors who may have another job, want to be more in control of their time, or by larger companies to ensure appointments don't risk overlapping.
What Does "Inspection Requested" Mean?
The event "Inspection Requested" refers to an inspection that was booked (either internally or externally), but has not been confirmed. With our scheduling tools, you can set all inspections booked to be confirmed or not confirmed automatically.
When your schedulers are set to automatically have all inspections show on your calendar as unconfirmed, the inspections would be considered a "request" for an appointment. Think of it this way - a request is a nice way of asking for something. For example, airline passengers are requested to check in two hours before the flight. You don't have to check in two hours before your flight, but the airline asks you to do so for logistical reasons.
So with an inspection requested event, the action will trigger when the client/agent fills out the scheduler and essentially asks if you're able to perform the inspection on their preferred date and time.
Check out this walk through video below on creating an automation for "Inspection Requested":
Click your profile picture in the top right corner of the Dashboard
Click "Automatons (Adv)" in the dropdown menu
Click "+ New Automation"
Name your automation
Click "Start" on "When this happens"
This is the 'event' for your automation
Select "Inspection Requested"
Click "Save"
Click "Add Condition" on "Only send if"
Set your conditions
Or, skip the conditions entirely to send the automation for all inspections regardless of service
Click "Save"
Click "Add communication" on "Do this"
Select "Email" for email
Or text for a text message
Add a subject line
Fill out your email body and utilize the placeholders on the right to auto-fill important inspection data like address, date, and time
Here you can set additional settings and the time frame of when you want the message to send
Click "Save" and then "Save as active"
Here you can also utilize "Send Test" to send a test email before saving
What Happens When I Confirm an Inspection?
As we covered above, the "Inspection Request" event is used when your inspections are set to automatically show as unconfirmed on the calendar. When you confirm the inspection, you are telling the client/agent "Yes, this date and time works for me!"
When you're ready to confirm the inspection and notify the client/agent, be sure to click the "Confirm and Send Notifications" button at the top of the Inspection Details page:
This turns the notifications on for the inspection and triggers your confirmation email to the client and agent.
The confirmation email is the same Automation used for "Inspection Scheduled (Confirmed)" which we'll go over next!
⚠️ Note: If you click the "Confirm with Notifications Disabled" button instead, this will prevent your emails and text messages from going out to the client and agent! This will keep your Automations in the queue and they will need to be manually sent out instead.
What Does "Inspection Scheduled" Mean?
An inspection scheduled is one completed through the internal scheduler (with the "+New Inspection" button) or if you have your schedulers set to not require confirmation. A scheduled inspection usually is automatically confirmed, so having your Automation event as "Inspection Scheduled (Confirmed)" means the inspection has a set date and time and is fully booked on your calendar.
Check out this walk through video below on creating an automation for "Inspection Scheduled (Confirmed):
Click your profile picture in the top right corner of the Dashboard
Click "Automatons (Adv)" in the dropdown menu
Click "+ New Automation"
Name your automation
Click "Start" on "When this happens"
This is the 'event' for your automation
Select "Inspection Inspection Scheduled"
Click "Save"
Click "Add Condition" on "Only send if"
To send the automation on every inspection (regardless of service or inspection detail), leave the conditions empty
To send the a for only specific services or details, add conditions here
Click "Save"
Click "Add communication" on "Do this"
Select "Email" for email
Or text for a text message
Add a subject line
Fill out your email body and utilize the placeholders on the right to auto-fill important inspection data like address, date, and time
Here you can set additional settings and the time frame of when you want the message to send
Click "Save" then "Save as active"
Here you can also utilize "Send Test" to send a test email before saving
✨ Interested in learning more about Advanced Automations? Check out this article!
If you have any questions or feedback, write into our chat bubble or email support@spectora.com!
