Texting and call usage

The Notifications page

Settings → Notifications is split into four tabs:

You need the Settings permission to see Credit & usage (see Roles and permissions). Without it, the tab is hidden. The page opens on Credit & usage if your company prepays for texts and calls, and on Rider messages if not.

Tip: To send someone straight to a tab, add ?tab=credit, ?tab=number, ?tab=riders or ?tab=staff to the page link.

What you're charged for

The same list, with your current prices, is under What you're charged for in Settings → Notifications (below Rider replies on the Rider messages tab). Charges apply as shown there.

Example: 200 rides in a month, each with a booking text, a reminder text and an answered reminder call: 400 texts × 3¢ + 200 calls × 5¢ = $22, plus any texts riders send you and the replies to them.

Keeping costs down

• "Automatic reply only" is the lowest-cost Rider replies setting: nothing is forwarded and your team is not alerted. See When a rider texts back.
• Each rider gets at most one automatic reply every 12 hours, however many texts they send.
• Forwarding stops after 3 texts from one rider in 10 minutes; every text still shows on the Dispatch screen.
• Mute a rider who keeps texting: no more replies or forwarding for them. Their texts are still received and count as texts received.
• Turn off the rider trip messages you don't need, or Also call the rider to stop reminder calls.

See your usage

The Texting and call usage card on the Credit & usage tab shows one row per month: this month so far and the five months before it, in your company's time zone.

If messaging charges are not on your invoice yet, the card says so, and the amounts show what they would be.

Text and Calls Credit (prepaid)

Some companies pay for texts and calls ahead of time from a balance called Text and Calls Credit. If yours does, the Text and Calls Credit card is at the top of the Credit & usage tab. Each day's texts and calls come out of the balance the next morning, at the same prices.

The card shows:

• Your balance and its status: Good, Running low, Below zero, Paused or Needs funds.
• How long it lasts: "Lasts about N days at your current rate", based on your average day over the last 14 days. It's hidden when you've had no recent use.
• This month: what texts, calls and the total have cost so far this month, and the day it's counted through. Own-number fees are included in the total.
• A usage bar: how much of your last recharge you've used.

Add funds

Company admins pick an amount ($50, $100, $250 or $500) and click Add $… from my card. The card in Settings → Subscription & billing is charged.

While the payment goes through, the card shows Processing your $… payment — usually under a minute, and you can't start a second payment. The card checks back by itself and the balance goes up as soon as the payment is through. You don't need to refresh.

Auto-recharge

Turn on Auto-recharge and fill in one sentence: When balance drops below [trigger], add [amount], up to [limit] /month. Leave the monthly limit blank for no limit. Click Save. Only company admins can change it.

For the trigger, choose:

• Suggested (recommended): about 3 days of your recent use, worked out from your average day over the last 14 days. It updates every morning and is never under $15.
• Custom amount: a whole-dollar amount you choose. If it's lower than the suggested amount, you'll see a warning that your balance may run out before a recharge goes through.

If an automatic recharge fails, the card tells you. After 3 failures in a row, auto-recharge stops until you add funds or turn it off and on again. Check your card in Settings → Subscription & billing.

Credit activity

The Credit activity card lists every recharge, bonus and daily texts-and-calls charge, newest first, with the balance after each one. Click Show more to see older entries.

If the balance runs out

Your balance can go up to $25 below zero, so nothing stops right away. Past that, reminder calls pause first. Ride texts keep going for 3 more days, then pause too. We email your admins when your balance runs low and before ride texts pause, and everything turns back on as soon as you add funds.

Some companies are set up so nothing sends without a balance. For them, texts and calls stop at $0, and the card shows Texts and calls are off until you add funds with the Add funds controls.

Tip: Turn on auto-recharge with the suggested trigger so you never have to think about it.

Export records (CSV)

The Export records card on the Credit & usage tab downloads every text and call in a date range as a spreadsheet. Anyone who can see Credit & usage can export, including roles that can only view settings.

1. Pick a date range. It starts as this month so far. You can export up to 92 days at a time.
2. Leave Include message text ticked to include what each text said, or untick it to leave the text out (for example, before sending the file to someone outside your company).
3. Click Download CSV.

Days run midnight to midnight in your company's time zone. Today is still counting.

What each column means

The file has one row for each text and call:

Daily totals

Below the rows is a Daily totals section with one line per day: texts, automatic replies, texts received, answered reminder calls, calls to your number, the cost of texts and calls, own-number fees, and the Day total. If you prepay, Deducted from credit shows what came out of your balance that day. The day totals match the daily Texts and calls charges in your Credit activity, and the last line adds up the whole range.

Tip: Keep the export as proof of usage. It shows every text and call behind a charge, so you can check a bill, answer a question from your accountant, or show what was sent to a rider and when.

Good to know

• A text costs 3¢ whatever its length. ZeitRide keeps texts short, so a long one never counts twice.
• Voicemail counts as answered. Calls that ring out, are busy or fail are free.
• A text counts once the phone carrier accepts it, even if the rider's phone is off or can't take texts. To stop paying for those, see Texts that can't be delivered.
• A call put through to your office counts as 2 calls (10¢), because it uses two phone lines.
• Muting a rider doesn't stop the charge for texts they send. Their texts still arrive, so each counts as a text received (1¢); muting stops the replies, alerts and forwarding.

Tip: Most of your texts come from rider trip messages. To send fewer, turn off the messages you don't need in the Rider trip messages card on the Rider messages tab. To stop reminder calls, turn off Also call the rider. For texts riders send you, see Keeping costs down.

Related: Rider trip messages · Texts that can't be delivered · Adding members