Set up customer notifications
Set up automatic SMS and email updates in Upper: pick your channels, turn on the messages you want, and customers get updates as drivers work the route.
This walks you through turning on customer notifications in Upper so your customers get automatic email and SMS updates as their delivery moves through the day. It's a one-time setup — once it's on, Upper sends the messages for you on every route you run.
Labels in Upper are configurable per workspace. This article uses the driver / Delivery defaults. A workspace set up for service businesses may instead show Technician / Service — for example "Out For Service" instead of "Out For Delivery." The features are the same either way.
Before you start
- Customer contact details on each stop. A message only sends if the stop has the matching detail — an email address for email, a phone number for SMS. Add these when you import stops or when you build a route.
- SMS has extra requirements. SMS is not available on the Starter plan, and turning it on can also require a depot address on your account ("Depot address is required to send SMS notifications"). SMS sending draws on a balance you manage through a Marketplace add-on. See SMS pricing and how to purchase credits before you rely on it.
Notifications only send to stops that have the required contact info. A stop with no email is skipped for email messages, and a stop with no phone number is skipped for SMS. Check your stop data before you turn things on.
Set up your notifications
Open the Notifications page
Go to Manage > Settings and open the Notifications page. Its subtitle reads "Send Delivery updates to your customers via email or Text Message (SMS)."
Set your Company Name and date format
At the top of the page, set your Company Name (use the pencil to edit). This fills the [Company Name] tag wherever you use it in a message. Then pick a Choose Date Format option — this controls how dates appear inside your messages.
Turn on a channel
Use the master toggles to enable Email delivery updates, Text Message (SMS), or both. When a channel is off, its message cards are hidden.
Turn on the messages you want
Each channel offers the same four event messages, each with its own enable toggle. Turn on the ones you want to send.
| Message | When it sends |
|---|---|
| Out For Delivery | When the stop is out for delivery |
| After Delivery | After the stop is completed successfully |
| Missed Delivery | When the stop could not be completed |
| Notify to Next Customer | A heads-up to the upcoming customer that the driver is approaching |
Choose which stop types each message applies to
Each message card has a stop-type selector. Choose which kinds of stops trigger that message — the options are Delivery, Pickup, and Stop.
Edit the wording (optional)
Click the pencil on a message card to open the editor. You can edit the Subject (email only) and the Message, drop in tags such as [Customer Name], [Earliest Time], [Latest Time], and [Tracking Link], and check the What your customers will see live preview before saving.
Save
Save your settings. Notifications start sending on your next route.
Notify to Next Customer only appears if your account has it enabled, so you may not see it on every account.
Tips for a smooth rollout
Start with one channel. Many teams turn on email first, watch a week of routes, then add SMS once they trust the flow.
Test with your own contact details first. Add yourself as a stop on a test route with your own email or phone number, run it, and confirm the messages arrive the way you expect.
Keep SMS short. The SMS editor shows a 140-character counter and how many segments a message will use — longer messages can cost more. Let the tracking link carry the detail.
Troubleshooting and FAQ
Related
Set up custom notification triggers
Upper fires customer notifications on four built-in events. You control the message, channel, and stop types per event; new trigger events go through support.
SMS limitations by country and region
Why some customer SMS notifications in Upper don't arrive: number type, formatting, and per-message length limits — plus how to use email as a reliable fallback.