Team alerts: new online bookings, client replies and day sheets
Get told on your phone, computer or by email when a client books online, replies, or sends a flagged form or feedback, plus morning day sheets.
Team alerts tell the right people when something happens that needs them: a new online booking, a client's reply, a consultation form that flags an allergy, feedback after a visit. They pop up on phones and computers like a text message, even when FullColumn isn't open, and can come by email too. Each person chooses their own; the salon sets the defaults.
What the team can be alerted about
| Alert | When it comes |
|---|---|
| Online bookings | New online bookings, and booking requests to approve (once paid, if they need a deposit); clients cancelling, moving or withdrawing a request with their booking link; and clients asking to change or cancel. Choose Off, My appointments or The whole salon. |
| Client replies | A client texts back, or asks to change or cancel from their booking link, and someone needs to read it. A "Y" that confirms an appointment, or a STOP, doesn't alert anyone. |
| Forms with answers to check | A consultation form comes in that flags something, like an allergy (or any filled in, when the form has Alert the team whenever it’s filled in on): for your own clients, or the whole salon's if your online bookings alerts are for the whole salon. |
| Feedback | A feedback form comes in with flagged answers (or any, when the form has Alert the team about every response on). Choose Off, My appointments or The whole salon. Only offered to people with See clients’ feedback. |
| Gift vouchers bought online | Someone buys a gift voucher from your gift shop. |
Bookings and changes the team makes in FullColumn don't send alerts: they're for what clients do online. Someone without Book and change other team members' appointments only ever hears about their own appointments. A read-only salon sends no alerts.
Alerts about clients' feedback
Feedback alerts tell you when a client sends in a feedback form with flagged answers, like a low rating, or every one sent in when the form has Alert the team about every response on. They only go to people with See clients’ feedback (owners and managers to start with), and the Feedback choice only shows for them:
- Off: no feedback alerts.
- My appointments: feedback about visits you were on.
- The whole salon: all feedback, including forms sent from a client's profile that aren't about an appointment. It needs Book and change other team members’ appointments. It's the choice everyone starts on; people without that permission start on My appointments.
A shared device set to Full access has a Feedback switch of its own, off to start with, since feedback often names the team and shows on the lock screen. Front desk devices don't offer it (shared devices).
Choosing your own alerts
- Open Settings → My account.
- Under Notifications, choose what to hear about, and how: On my phone or computer and By email (to the email address on your profile).
- Press Save changes.
Until you change something, you're on the salon's defaults; Use the salon's defaults goes back to them. Anyone on the team can choose their own.
Turning on alerts on your phone or computer
- On the phone or computer, sign in to FullColumn and open Settings → My account.
- Under Phones and computers, press Turn on alerts on this device, and allow notifications when the browser asks.
- Press Send a test to check one arrives.
On an iPhone or iPad, add FullColumn to your Home Screen first (tap Share, then Add to Home Screen), open it from there and sign in (phones and tablets). If notifications are blocked, allow them for FullColumn in the browser's site settings.
Your devices are listed with when each last got an alert, or why the last one didn't arrive. Turn off here stops alerts on the device you're using, and the bin button removes another. A device that stops accepting alerts is removed by itself; turn alerts on there again. Tapping an alert opens the booking or message it's about.
Setting the team's default alerts
Settings → Team alerts sets what people get until they choose for themselves, and needs Change salon settings (hours, online booking, messages, branding) (owners have every permission). To start with, everyone hears about online bookings for their own appointments, client replies and forms to check, on their phones and computers, and people who can see clients' feedback hear about the whole salon's feedback to check.
Who gets what lists each person, whether they're on their own choices or the salon's defaults, and what they get: bookings (Whole salon, Their own or Off), replies, how many devices have alerts on (None yet when they haven't turned any on), email, day sheet and monthly stats. No address means they've chosen an email they can't get, because there's no email address on their profile (add one in Settings → Team & roster).
What a team alert shows
Alerts are short enough for a lock screen: the client as "Sarah J.", "(new client)" for a first visit, the date and time, the services with the stylist, and any deposit paid. An email alert has more, like the client's alert and the appointment's notes, with a link to open it in FullColumn. A booking request's email says when it will be declined automatically if nobody answers. A form alert says "Form answers to check" (or "Form filled in"), and a feedback alert "Feedback to check" (or "New feedback"), with the client, the form and the visit.
Clients' phone numbers and email addresses are only in alerts for people with See clients' phone numbers and email addresses; for everyone else they're hidden, in notes and replies too.
Getting your day by email each morning
Email me my day each morning (in Settings → My account → Morning day sheet) emails you your appointments, booking requests, notes and to-dos for the day, so you have them even if the internet is down. Nothing comes on a day you have nothing booked and no notes or to-dos just for you. See, print or email my day shows any day's sheet, with Print and Email it to me. More about day sheets: the Today page and day sheets.
The time they go is Send them at in Settings → Team alerts → Day sheets (7:00am to start with, salon time), and the Morning day sheet default there turns them on for everyone with an email address.
Getting last month's numbers by email
People with See reports for the whole salon can have last month's numbers emailed on the 1st: takings, appointments, new clients, rebooking and more, next to the month before and the same month last year. Turn on Email me last month's numbers in Settings → My account → Monthly stats; the owner gets it unless they turn it off. See last month's shows it now. It isn't sent after a month with nothing booked or sold.
Alerts on a shared salon device
Your own alerts don't show on a shared salon device like the front-desk iPad, since they'd pop up for whoever's using it. A shared device can have alerts of its own for the whole salon (bookings, replies, forms and vouchers, and feedback on a Full access device), with clients' contact details left out unless you choose them. They're set in Settings → Team & roster → Shared devices (shared devices).
Common questions
Why didn't an alert come through on my phone?
Check that On my phone or computer is ticked, the device is listed with alerts on, notifications are allowed for FullColumn, and on an iPhone that you opened FullColumn from the Home Screen. Send a test shows whether alerts reach it.
Do I get alerted when a colleague books one of my clients?
No. Booking alerts are for online bookings and changes clients make themselves.
Can I get alerts by email only?
Yes: untick On my phone or computer and tick By email.