The Three Layers
Notifications turn on or off at three levels:
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Master toggle — the kill switch for the whole queue. Off means nothing goes out, ever. On means notifications follow the rules in the layers below.
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Channel toggles — SMS and email are separate. SMS on / email off is a common setup (most customers prefer SMS). Both can be on at once; the platform sends to whichever the person provided.
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Per-entry preference — when a person joins, they (implicitly) tell us what they want. Provide a phone, get SMS. Provide an email, get email. Provide both, get whichever you prefer (defaults to SMS). Provide neither, get nothing.
If a notification isn't going out, the question is always: which of the three layers turned it off?
SMS vs. Email
SMS reaches people who are physically nearby and won't open their email mid-shopping. Email is good for longer messages, branded confirmation, and people who explicitly prefer it.
SMS has costs (each message costs your account a small amount) and rules (you must have a configured sender — see Setting Up Your SMS Sender). Email is essentially free.
Most queues run SMS-only. Some run SMS + email for the join confirmation only and SMS-only for the it's-your-turn page. Both modes are valid.
Opt-In Rules
By default, joining a queue with a phone number is implicit consent to receive notifications about that queue. This is how walk-up queues normally work and what most jurisdictions allow.
If your jurisdiction requires explicit opt-in (some healthcare contexts, some EU rules), turn on the "require opt-in" toggle in queue settings. Joiners then see a checkbox and have to actively check it before notifications fire.
The platform records the consent state per entry, so audits can confirm what each person agreed to.
The Five Notification Events
Five events can trigger a message:
- Added — "You're in the queue, position X, estimated wait Y. Track here: link." Fires when the person joins.
- Paged — "It's your turn — please come to the front." Fires when staff press the Page button.
- Reminder — "You're almost up." Optional; fires when the person is 1-2 positions away.
- No-show — "We missed you. You've been removed from the queue. Reply JOIN to rejoin." Fires after page timeout expires without the person showing up.
- Requeued — "You've been re-added. Your new position is X." Fires when staff manually re-add a no-show or paged customer.
Each event can be enabled or disabled independently. Each has its own template — see Customizing SMS Templates.
Troubleshooting
If a person says they didn't get a message, work through the layers in order:
- Is the queue's master toggle on?
- Is the relevant channel (SMS / email) on?
- Did the person provide a phone (for SMS) or email?
- If opt-in is required, did they check the box?
- Is your SMS sender configured and approved? (A pending sender silently drops messages.) See SMS Sender Setup.
- Did the person reply STOP at any point? STOP unsubscribes from all SMS for that phone number.
If all six pass and messages still aren't going out, contact support — the issue is platform-side.