HelpNotificationsHow customers are notified

How customers are notified

A waiting visitor always knows where they stand. Two channels are free and never fail — the tracking link and the lobby TV — and WhatsApp and email are best-effort nudges on top.

Owner & Manager Where: Notifications 3 min read
turnda doesn't send phone text messages. The channels are WhatsApp, email and the free tracking link — no per-text charges, ever.
Live tracking link Your turn Updates on its own — nothing to install

Three channels

Every waiting visitor gets, at minimum, their tracking linkThe always-free web page a visitor gets when they join — it shows their number, how many are ahead, and an estimated wait, and updates on its own. and your lobby TV. If you collected a phone or email (with their consent), turnda can also send a WhatsApp or email nudge at the key moments.

Each visit has exactly one of those extras, picked at the door by what the visitor gave you — a phone number gets WhatsApp, an email gets email.

How the extra channel is chosen

What they gave youWhat they get
A phone number WhatsApp updates (when they can be sent), plus the tracking link and lobby TV
An email address Email updates, plus the tracking link and lobby TV
Neither Just the tracking link and lobby TV
If a WhatsApp update can't go out, nothing goes out in its place. There is no address to try — someone who gave a mobile number gave you a number, not an inbox.
The fallback They still keep the tracking link and lobby TV, and the guest is flagged Not told — call them on the queue so a person can call their name.

The ones that never fail

The tracking link and lobby TV are free and unconditional — they work whatever your message switches say. A visitor is never left guessing just because a message didn't send.

Free floor (tracking link + lobby TV) with best-effort WhatsApp/email on top Best-effort — needs a phone or email WhatsApp nudge Email nudge layered on top Always free — the floor · never fails Free tracking link Lobby TV
The tracking link and lobby TV are the always-free floor — they work no matter what your switches say. WhatsApp and email are best-effort nudges layered on top, for visitors who gave a contact. No text messages.

The best-effort extras

WhatsApp Email
Costs you Nothing extra Nothing extra
Needs The visitor to message you first, which opens a free 24-hour window Nothing extra — reaches someone who has never messaged you
Monthly ceiling Yes, per location, so it can't run away No ceiling
Can it quietly fail No — if the window is shut, it isn't sent, nothing more Yes — it can land in spam or bounce
Turn off per line ✓ ✓
Both reach someone who has walked away from the tracker — which is exactly when a nudge earns its keep. The wording is yours on both.

Turning a channel off for one line

The two extras are switched per line, not just per account, in Line settings → Notifications & timing. Both are on to begin with.

In Line settings → Notifications & timingWhat happens
Use WhatsApp on this line Off stops this line asking for a phone number at all, and stops it drawing on your WhatsApp allowance.
Use email on this line Off stops this line asking for an email address.

They are per line because one branch's lines don't all want the same thing — a walk-in counter that turns tables in four minutes has no use for a message that arrives after the customer is served, while an appointment line does.

Turn both off and the line still works. Visitors still get the free tracking link and lobby TV — that floor never moves. Keep a person watching the Not told — call them flag on the queue.
What the screen saysWhen
Both WhatsApp and email are off — visitors only get the free tracking link. On the settings screen, when you turn both channels off.
Message didn't arrive? That's why the tracking link exists — the visitor's place is safe regardless. Check Did it arrive? to see what sent, and call anyone a message gave up on.

Related: The public board