Notifications Quick Start Guide

October 2026

Overview

Notifications in Geotab Advanced Routing & Optimization (AR&O) help you keep customers informed, alert drivers, and connect dispatch activity to other business systems.

Use the option that matches your goal:

1. Appointment Tracking: Share a link for one appointment so the customer can follow progress.
2. SMS or email rules: Send a message when an appointment reaches a selected status.
3. Webhooks: Send supported dispatch events to a warehouse, ERP, customer portal, or other HTTPS endpoint.

Start with one use case and one test branch. Confirm the result before enabling the workflow for live operations.

How Notifications work

SMS and email notifications are driven by active rules. A rule connects an appointment event to a message template, recipient, channel, and optional send window.

Webhooks are configured per endpoint. Each endpoint can have its own URL, authentication, event subscriptions, template, and delivery status.

Customer tracking links are created for an eligible appointment and are shared directly with the intended customer.

Getting started

Before you begin, have the following ready:

1. An AR&O administrator who can configure Notifications and branch Dispatch settings.
2. A test branch, appointment, route plan, and assigned resource.
3. A test phone number or email address.
4. For a webhook, an HTTPS endpoint owner, authentication details, required event types, and expected payload format.
5. An owner who will monitor delivery results and respond to failures.

Keep passwords, API keys, and tokens in approved secure credential fields and secure handoff processes. Do not place secrets in message templates, URLs, or shared documents.

SMS and Email credentials setup

SMS and email require the appropriate provider credentials to be configured for your tenant before messages can be delivered. Work with your AR&O administrator to verify the connection using a test destination before creating customer-facing rules.

A message will not be delivered when the required recipient contact information is missing or invalid.

Part 1 — Create a Message Template

A message template contains the text a customer or driver receives. Create the template before creating the rule that uses it.

Create a new template

1. Open Productivity > Advanced Routing > Optimization Admin in MyGeotab.
2. Open Configuration > Notifications and select Templates.
3. Select + Template.
4. Enter a clear internal name, such as En route - Customer SMS.
5. Select SMS or EMAIL.
6. Enter the message. For email, also enter a subject.
7. Add supported variables by selecting them from the variable list. Use variables to insert appointment, customer, driver, address, or ETA information.

Keep customer messages short, clear, and action-oriented. For SMS, avoid unnecessary length that could create a multi-part message.

Save the template

Select Save. The template is now available when you create a notification rule. Create separate templates when the audience, channel, or event requires different wording.

For webhook integrations, use the endpoint's selected standard or custom payload template. Confirm the required JSON or XML shape with the receiving system before production use.

Part 2 — Create a Notification Rule

A notification rule connects an appointment event to a template, audience, channel, and optional send window.

Create a new rule

1. From Configuration > Notifications, select Rules.
2. Select + Rule.
3. Give the rule a descriptive internal name, such as Completed - Customer Email.
4. Select the branch where the rule should apply.
5. Select SMS or EMAIL. This must match the template type.
6. Select the recipient: Customer or Driver.
7. Select the message template.
8. Select the appointment status that should trigger the rule.
9. Choose a send window if messages should be restricted to business or driver working hours.

Rules are branch-specific. Create a separate rule for each branch that should send the notification.

Save and activate the rule

Turn Active on, then select Save. Keep the rule inactive while testing if you are not ready to send messages.

Use one rule per use case at first. Multiple active rules for the same event and recipient can create duplicate messages.

Part 3 — Test Your Notification

Test in a non-production branch before sending messages to customers or connecting a live business system.

Open the rule

From the Notifications list, open the rule you want to test.

Send a test message

Use the rule's more options menu and select Send Test. Enter a test phone number for SMS or a test email address for email, then select Send.

For a webhook, publish one test route plan after the endpoint and event subscription are configured. A branch administrator may need to enable plan-publish webhooks for the test branch.

Review the test message

Confirm that:

1. Variables were replaced with readable values rather than template tokens.
2. The recipient, address, ETA, and status are correct.
3. The wording is clear and appropriate for the audience.
4. The receiving webhook system accepted and processed the event.
5. Request Monitor shows the expected delivery record.

Make adjustments if needed

Edit the template or endpoint configuration, save it, and repeat the test. Test a reschedule, reassignment, and repeated publish before enabling the workflow broadly.

Customer Contact Preferences *future feature

Before sending customer SMS or email, confirm that the appointment has valid contact information and that the customer's communication preferences permit the selected channel.

1. Use the appointment's customer email address for email.
2. Use the appointment's primary phone number for SMS.
3. Respect any Do Not Email or Do Not Text setting exposed in your environment.

If a customer does not receive a message, check the contact details, preference settings, branch rule, and template channel before escalating.

Notification Delivery

Tracking Notification Status

Open Administration > Configurations > Notifications > Request Monitor to review notification delivery records.

Delivery records can show SENT, FAILED, or ERROR, with error text or a skipped reason where available.

Treat SENT as confirmation that the request was handed off. It is not proof that the receiving system accepted the business data. Validate the result in the receiving system as well. An endpoint that returns HTTP 200 with an application error in the response body may still appear as SENT.

Appointment Tracking Links

An Appointment Tracking link is a shareable URL for a specific appointment. The customer opens it to view appointment progress—such as its status, estimated arrival time, and when available - the driver's approximate location area, not exact vehicle position.

Customers may see confirmation or one of the following statuses:

1. On the way
2. Arrived
3. Completed
4. Not completed. Please contact your service provider.

Open Administration > Configurations > Notifications > Appointment Tracking to create and manage links, including changing its expiry or regenerating it.

1. Search by appointment ID, customer name, or address to view and manage active tracking links
2. Click + Link to create a link for an eligible assigned appointment. It is recommended that you test the new link in a private browser window before sharing it.

Note: Creating a replacement tracking link invalidates the previous link immediately.

Webhooks

A Webhook is an automated message sent from one application to another over the web when a specific event happens. The most common uses with Advanced Routing is to send Proof of Delivery (POD) photos, Customer signatures, and published Route plans with appointment assignment.

Open Administration > Configurations > Notifications > Webhook Settings and configure a named HTTPS endpoint. Click + Add Endpoint, then:

1. Give it a Name.
2. Enter the endpoint URL
3. Select the agreed authentication method from the dropdown
4. 1. The Credentials in payload body and Bearer token exchange methods require additional unique configuration. Please see the Geotab Advanced Routing & Optimization: Webhooks Quick Start Guide for more information.
1. Choose from All events or Selected events only. Subscribe only to the event types the receiving system needs
2. Enable the endpoint, then click Save

Each endpoint is independent, so one endpoint's failure does not need to block another endpoint.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is a customer not receiving a notification?

Confirm that an active rule exists for the appointment's branch and status, the template matches the channel, the appointment has valid contact information, and the customer has not opted out of that channel.

Can I test before going live?

Yes. Use Send Test for SMS or email. For webhooks, use a test endpoint and publish one test plan before connecting production systems.

Can I configure multiple branches?

Yes. SMS and email rules are branch-specific, so create a rule for each branch that should send the message. Webhook plan-publish behavior is also enabled at the branch level.

Can customers follow an appointment?

Yes. Create a tracking link from Administration > Configurations > Notifications > Appointment Tracking and share it with the intended customer. Replace a link only when necessary because the previous link becomes invalid immediately.

What should I do when a webhook shows SENT but the downstream system did not update?

Check the downstream system's logs and response-body validation. Request Monitor records the transport result, while the receiving system must confirm business-level acceptance.

What is the safest rollout approach?

Start with one branch, one use case, and one test recipient or endpoint. Validate the result in Advanced Route, Request Monitor, and the receiving system before expanding the workflow.

How often is the driver’s location refreshed in the Appointment Tracking link?

The location refreshes about every 30 seconds. When the appointment is en route, the map shows an approximate location circle rather than a precise vehicle position.