Scheduled requests, SMS replies, and documents you can download

1:07

George Automations and Documents (1:07 video). Open on its own page

Set up an automation

Open George in the sidebar and switch from Chats to Automations. There are three ways to create one:

• Describe it in the box at the top ("Every weekday at 6:30 PM, recap today's routes and text it to me"). George opens a chat and shows you the automation on a card. Nothing is set up until you say yes. Creating an automation needs an office role (Owner, Administrator or Office Manager); technicians can run the ones made for them but not create their own.
• Use a suggestion: when the same question comes up with George again and again (each tech's chemical usage, who has no card on file), he notices overnight and suggests an automation under Suggested for you, with how often it came up and a schedule that matches the time of day you usually want it. Open it to adjust and save, or choose Not now and it won't come back. George may also offer it in a chat the next time it comes up.
• Start from an idea: End-of-day route recap, Missed pool alert, Payment method chase, Sunday look-ahead, Monday money check, Monthly profitability, Callback list, Filter cleans due. Click one, adjust it, and click Turn on.
• Or in any chat, tell George: "every Monday at 8, send me who still has no payment method." He sets it up the same way.

Each automation has a name, What should George do? (the request in your words), how often (Every day, Weekdays, Weekly on the days you pick, Monthly on a day of the month, or Once on a date) and a time. Times are in your company's time zone. A monthly automation set for the 29th, 30th or 31st runs on the last day of shorter months. The editor shows when it will run next.

Only notify me when there's something to report makes it an alert: George still checks on each run, but you only hear from him when something needs you (a missed pool, a failed payment). Runs with nothing to report show as "Nothing to report" in its history and send nothing.

Automations that run when something happens

An automation can also run whenever something happens in Pool Founder instead of on a schedule: "when a tech reports an issue, look into it and draft a repair work order", "when a lead comes in, size it up and draft a reply", "when my phone assistant takes a message, see if you can handle it (a task on their next visit, resending an invoice) and draft a text back to the customer". In the editor, switch When to When something happens and pick what starts it, or describe it to George.

What can start one: the alerts owners and administrators get. A tech reports an issue, skips a visit or a checklist task, runs late, creates a work order that needs review, or reports a truck problem; a route is late to start; pools weren't serviced; a visit is flagged for review; a customer gives a visit a thumbs down, requests service, wants to cancel, or answers a quote; a Google review comes in; a payment fails, an invoice goes overdue, or a payment is disputed; a lead comes in from your website or your phone assistant; your phone assistant takes a message for the team (from a text or a call: George gets what the customer asked and who they are, and anything he would change still waits on an approval card); a voicemail comes in; a chemical or part runs low; parts for a work order are ready. Anything else can't start an automation, but a scheduled one can check for it ("at 6 PM, tell me if…").

• George gets the alert and the records it is about, so the request can say "this issue" or "this customer".
• It runs as you, with your role, so only owners and administrators (who get these alerts) can use them. It never runs for something you did yourself.
• Each automation has at most 10 runs an hour, so a burst of alerts can't flood you. Turn on Only notify me when there's something to report to hear only when it matters ("only if it's a pump problem").
• Changes George prepares wait for your OK in the run's chat, the same as any chat.

How results reach you

• App push: a notification on the Pool Founder phone app, if you are signed in to it with notifications on.
• Email: the result, formatted, to the email you sign in with, with an Open in George button.
• Text: a text from George's number, once your phone is verified (below). Long results come as a short summary and a link.

Every run is also saved as its own chat on the George page, marked with a ⚡ and the automation's name, so you can open it and keep the conversation going ("now break that down by route"). If George prepared a change during a run, it waits in that chat for your OK, the same as in any chat.

From the menu on an automation you can Run now (one run right away, the schedule doesn't change), see its Run history with every result, Edit it, or Delete it. The switch pauses and resumes it. An automation that fails three times in a row pauses itself; switch it back on once you have fixed what it needs.

Each person has their own automations (up to 20). Nobody else at the company can see or change yours.

Text with George

Owners, administrators and office staff can text George from their own phone. On the Automations view, in Text with George, enter your mobile number, tick the consent box, click Send code, and enter the 6-digit code you receive. One phone number can belong to one person.

• Text George a question as you would in the app ("how many stops does Carlos have left today?"). He answers by text, in short plain sentences. Everything you text is saved in a chat called Texts with George on the George page.
• When George prepares a change, the text tells you what it is. Reply YES to approve it, or open the link to review the card.
• Charts and tables can't be sent by text; George writes a document and texts you its link instead.
• Reply STOP to opt out of all George messages, START to resume, and HELP for help. You can also remove your number from the same card.

Documents George writes

When an answer is long or something you'll keep (a week's schedule, a list of everyone who owes money, a checklist, a draft letter), George writes it as a document: a card in his reply that opens beside the chat. Or request one directly: "put that in a document", "make me a CSV of those customers".

• Copy, Download (.md for documents, .csv for spreadsheets you can open in Excel or Google Sheets) and Print or save as PDF are at the top of the document.
• Ask George to change it ("add each tech's phone number", "shorter") and he revises the same document. Earlier versions stay available from the version picker.
• A document is a snapshot of what George found when he wrote it. It does not update itself; ask George to refresh it.
• Only you can open documents from your chats. Links in texts and emails need you to be signed in.

In the technician app, documents show as the same card under George's reply. Tap it to read the document (spreadsheets show as a table you can scroll sideways), switch between versions, and tap the share button to send it to Mail, Messages, Notes or another app. Download and Print are on the web dashboard only.

Automations in the technician app

In George in the technician app, tap the menu button at the top left, then Automations. You see your automations with when each runs next, and can:

• Turn one on or off with its switch.
• Tap one to see what George does, how the result reaches you, and its recent runs. Tap a run to open its chat. Run now runs a scheduled automation right away, and Delete automation removes it.
• Tap Ask George to change it to start a chat with the request ready to finish ("Change my "Sunday look-ahead" automation: make it 7 PM"). George shows the change on a card before anything changes.
• Describe a new one in the box, tap an idea, or tap Set it up on one George suggests. Each opens a chat where George sets it up and shows you the card first. Not for me hides a suggestion for good.

The technician app has no form editor for an automation's schedule and delivery: ask George, or use George → Automations on the web dashboard. Verifying your phone number for texting George is on the web dashboard only.