Table of Contents

Technician On My Way Notification: Setup & Usage

Jennifer Trower Updated by Jennifer Trower

Read Time: 10 mins

When a technician finishes one job and heads to the next, the contacts at the next job often have no idea when to expect them. The On My Way notification closes that gap. It’s a triggered message, sent by SMS, email, or both, that your team sends on demand from the Jobs table, from the job completion window, or from the Sonar Field Tech app.

Each job can receive one On My Way notification. If the job is rescheduled, the notification can be sent again. Sonar records the time each notification was sent, so dispatchers can see at a glance whether contacts have been told their technician is on the way.

Prerequisites

  • Outbound SMS is set up in your instance. See Using Outbound SMS, if you’re sending by SMS.
  • A signature is set up if you’re sending by SMS.
  • The account’s contacts have a mobile phone number that can receive SMS or an email address for email messages.
  • The account is subscribed to the messaging category used by the triggered message.
  • A triggered message is set up using the A technician notifies a customer they are en route to the next job trigger. Setup is covered below.

Permissions

Before getting started with the feature, your user roles will need to be adjusted to account for the permissions required to use the Technician On My Way notification feature.

If you're a Super Admin, you already have full access and no changes are needed. To learn more, see the User Role Creation & Best Practices article.
Entity
Permission
Reason
Job
View all jobs
See scheduled jobs in the Jobs table.
Job
Update a job
Send the notification for any technician assigned to a job.
Job
Allows a user to complete any job
Complete any technician's job and send the notification for that technician's next job.
Job
Allows a user to complete their own job
Complete your own job and send the notification for your next job. Without Update a job or Allows a user to complete any job, you can only send for jobs you're assigned to.
Misc
Create a new triggered SMS message
Set up the On My Way triggered message for SMS.
Misc
Update a triggered SMS message
Edit the triggered message, such as its signature or messaging categories.
Misc
Create a new triggered email
Set up the On My Way triggered message for email.
Misc
Update a triggered email
Edit the email content, such as adding the ETA variable.

Feature Details

How the notification works

The On My Way notification is a triggered message your team sends when a technician is headed to a job. It goes to the account’s contacts by SMS, email, or both, depending on how the triggered message is set up.

Keep these rules in mind:

  • The notification can be sent once per job.
  • If the job is rescheduled, the notification can be sent again.
  • The ETA is the number of minutes until the technician arrives. Sonar pre-fills an estimate based on the travel time from the technician’s previous job to this one, and any message that includes an arrival time requires an ETA.
  • Notifications are queued when sent, so contacts receive them shortly after.
Send the notification when the technician is actually leaving for the job, not at the start of a gap between jobs. If the technician stops for a break first, an ETA sent early will be wrong.

Setting up the triggered message

Use this section to create the message the account’s contacts receive.

  1. Go to Communication Tools > Configure > Triggered Messages and click Create.
  2. Check Enabled and enter a Name.
  3. Select one or more Messaging Categories. The message will only be received by accounts subscribed to these categories.
  4. In the Trigger field, select A technician notifies a customer they are en route to the next job.
    The Trigger list in the Create Triggered Message window, with A technician notifies a customer they are en route to the next job underlined.
  5. Check Send as SMS Message, Send as Email Message, or both.
    The Create Triggered Message window with Enabled checked, a name entered, a messaging category selected, and the trigger set to A technician notifies a customer they are en route to the next job, with an info banner explaining how the notification is sent.
  6. For SMS, select a Signature. Sonar fills in the From Phone Number and the On My Way message automatically.
  7. For email, fill in the email fields as described in Email wording below.
  8. Click Create.
Check Also send to child Accounts if contacts on child accounts should also receive the notification.
SMS wording

The SMS wording for this trigger is supplied by Sonar and can’t be changed. The message reads:

*|CONTACT_NAME|*, your *|COMPANY_NAME|* technician *|TECHNICIAN_NAME|* is on the way to your *|JOB_TYPE|* appointment and should arrive in about *|TECHNICIAN_ETA|*. Reply STOP to Unsubscribe.

The SMS section of the Create Triggered Message window, showing the From Phone Number, a locked Saved Message, a Signature selection, the message preview with the default On My Way wording, and a notice about per-segment charges.
The only part of the text message you can change is the signature. The signature you select for this trigger supplies the contact details sent with the message.
The text message includes the technician’s arrival time, so an ETA is required when this notification is sent by SMS. If Estimated minutes away remains empty, an error appears after you send.
SMS triggered messages are charged per message segment, and the number of segments depends on the data filled into the message variables. When you save, Sonar asks you to confirm, and clicking Save results in a deduction from your Available Funds.

Email wording

Email content can be customized. When Send as Email Message is checked, fill in the following:

The email section of the Create Triggered Message window, with the variable button highlighted in the message toolbar and a message built from Contact Name, Company Name, Technician Name, Job Type, and Technician ETA variables.
  1. Optionally, choose a Saved Message Category and a Saved Message Prefill to start from a saved message. Selecting a prefill overrides any values already entered.
  2. Enter a From Name and a From Email Address.
  3. In the English tab, enter a Subject and a Message. You can also add an Inbox Preview, a short sentence shown as a preview in compatible email clients.
  4. If you send messages in French, fill in the French tab as well.
  5. Optionally, attach Files.

To include the technician’s arrival time, click the variable button (x) in the message toolbar and select Technician ETA. Variables appear in the message as labeled chips, and the preview shows the variable codes, such as *|TECHNICIAN_ETA|*. The ETA displays in minutes, for example, “30 minutes.”

The Technician ETA variable already includes the word “minutes.” Don’t type “minutes” after it in your message, or it will appear twice.

If your email includes the *|TECHNICIAN_ETA|* variable, enter the number of minutes until arrival every time you send the notification.
Click Save Message to store this email’s content for later reuse in other messages.

Sending from the Jobs table

Use this option when a dispatcher or office user sends the notification on the technician’s behalf.

  1. Go to Scheduling > Jobs Table.
  2. Find the job. It must be scheduled and not yet completed.
  3. Click the arrow next to Check In and select Send On My Way Notification.
    The Jobs table with the row menu open on a scheduled job, showing Send On My Way Notification at the top of the menu, above Unschedule Job, Reschedule, Edit, Delete, View Details, and Clone.
  4. In the Technician On My Way window, review the job details. Sonar pre-fills Estimated minutes away (optional) with the travel time from the technician’s previous job. Adjust it if needed.
  5. Click Send On My Way Notification.
    The Technician On My Way window asking whether to send an On My Way notification, showing the job’s details, an Estimated minutes away (optional) field set to 30, and Cancel and Send On My Way Notification buttons.
  6. A confirmation appears saying the notification has been queued.
    A confirmation reading “The on-my-way notification has been queued.”

Sending from the job completion window

Use this option when the technician completes a job and is heading straight to the next one. The notification goes to the contacts at the technician’s next scheduled job.

  1. Open the job the technician is finishing and click Complete.
  2. Fill in the completion details as usual.
  3. Check Notify the next job’s customer that the technician is on the way.
    The Complete Job window with Successful selected and the Notify the next job’s customer that the technician is on the way checkbox checked, above the Cancel and Complete Job buttons.
  4. Click Complete Job.
  5. The Technician On My Way window opens with a message saying the previous job is complete. Review the technician’s next job. Sonar pre-fills Estimated minutes away (optional) with the travel time from the job just completed to the next one. Adjust it if needed.
  6. Click Send On My Way Notification.
    The Technician On My Way window after completing a job, with a message saying the previous job is complete, the next job’s details, an Estimated minutes away field, and the Send On My Way Notification button.
The On My Way checkbox appears only when an enabled On My Way triggered message exists and the job has a scheduled date and time. If a user doesn’t see it, check that the triggered message is enabled and that the user can notify for the technician. See the Permissions section for details.
If the technician has no later scheduled job, a message appears saying there is no next scheduled, incomplete job for this technician. The send button stays disabled, so close the window. Nothing is sent.

Sending from the Sonar Field Tech app

Use this option when the technician sends the notification from the field. The technician can send it when heading to a job, or right after completing the previous one.

When heading to a job

  1. In the Sonar Field Tech app, open the job from the Job Schedule.
    The Field Tech app’s Job Schedule showing three jobs for today, with the first job highlighted.
  2. Tap I’m On My Way.
    A job’s details in the Field Tech app with a Not Started status and the I’m On My Way button highlighted.
  3. On the Let the customer know? screen, review the ETA and adjust it if needed. See Setting the ETA in the app below.
  4. Tap Send with a number min ETA.
    The Let the customer know? screen with a 19 minute ETA, drive time with traffic, and the Send with a 19 min ETA button highlighted.

The job’s status changes to On The Way, and the job shows the time the customer was notified along with the ETA.

A job’s details with the status On The Way, showing the customer was notified at 10:49 AM with a 19 minute ETA.

After completing a job

When the technician completes or fails a job, the app asks Head to your next job? and shows the next scheduled job’s time, job type, account, and address.

  1. Tap I’m On My Way. To open the job first, tap View next job.
  2. Review the ETA and adjust it if needed.
  3. Tap Send with a number min ETA.
The Head to your next job? screen after completing a job, showing the next job with the I’m On My Way and View next job buttons highlighted.
The notification can only be sent once per visit. If the job is rescheduled, it can be sent again.

Setting the ETA in the app

The app estimates the ETA for you:

  • Location access turned on: the estimate is based on the technician’s current location. The screen shows the drive time with traffic and the distance to the job.
  • Location access turned off: the estimate uses the travel time from the technician’s previous job, the same as in the web app.

While it’s estimating, Estimating drive time… appears under the minutes field. If no estimate comes back, the field stays empty. Set the ETA in one of these ways:

  • Tap a quick pick: 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes.
  • Use the − and + buttons to change the time in 5-minute steps.
  • Type a number from 1 to 480.
In the Sonar Field Tech app, an ETA is always required. The send button stays disabled until one is set, even if your messages don’t include an arrival time.

Location access

After a notification is sent, the app may ask Always allow location? Allowing it lets the app tell when the technician arrives at the job and prompt them to check in. The app only collects location while the technician is on the way to a job, until they check in.

The Always allow location? prompt explaining that the Field Tech app uses location to tell when the technician arrives at a job.
For the most accurate ETA, have technicians allow location access for the Sonar Field Tech app. The estimate then starts from where they actually are, not from their last job.

After the notification is sent

On iPhone, a live countdown to the technician’s arrival appears on the lock screen and in the Dynamic Island, based on the ETA they entered. It shows the job, the address, and the time remaining. The countdown is only a reminder for the technician. It doesn’t send anything or change the job. Tapping it opens the job.

The Sonar Live Activity on the iPhone lock screen showing the Basic Install job, its address, an On My Way status with a 10:08 countdown, and a prompt to allow Live Activities from Sonar Field Tech.
The iPhone Dynamic Island showing a car icon and a live countdown to the technician’s arrival.
The first time, iPhone asks whether to allow Live Activities from Sonar Field Tech. Tap Allow to see the countdown. If the technician taps Don’t Allow, the notification still sends, but no countdown appears.
The technician’s phone needs a data connection to send the notification. If the technician has no service, the app can’t notify the customer.

Seeing when a notification was sent

Once the notification is sent, Sonar records it in three places:

  • Job History: an Action on Job entry says an on route notification triggered message was sent to the account’s contacts, and names the technician.
    The Job History tab showing an Action on Job 1313 entry that says an on route notification triggered message was sent to 1 account contact for technician Jennifer, with the Technician En Route Notification Sent time of November 10, 2026 10:45.
  • Job details: the Technician En Route Notification Sent field shows the date and time in the Job History entry and in the job side panel’s Activity section.
    The job side panel’s Activity section showing the same on route notification entry, with the Technician En Route Notification Sent time of November 10, 2026 10:45.
  • Sonar Field Tech app: the job details screen and job list show Customer notified with the time.

To see the message itself:

  1. Open the account and go to the Correspondence tab.
  2. Under Email Messages, find the On My Way message and click View in the Content column. The message text opens in the Content window, where you can click Copy Text to copy it.
    An account’s Correspondence tab with the Email Messages list, showing the Technician on the way email marked Sent, and the Content window open with the message text and a Copy Text button.

Here’s an example of the email a contact receives:

An On My Way email with the subject Technician on the way, telling the contact their technician Jennifer is on the way to their Basic Install appointment and should arrive in about 35 minutes, followed by the company’s contact details.

Sending again after a reschedule

If a job is rescheduled after the notification was sent, the notification can be sent again for that job using any of the methods above.

If the job has already been notified and hasn’t been rescheduled, the Technician On My Way window shows a warning that the job cannot be notified, and the send button stays disabled.

Need a hand?

Our Support Team is here to help

How did we do?

Setting Up Schedules General Overview

Contact