Question
Does SMS messaging work when Toast is offline?
How does SMS messaging work in Offline Mode?
Will SMS text messages still get sent to guests when I'm offline?
Answer
SMS or text messaging outages occur when either Toast has a service outage or our SMS partner, Twilio, has an outage of its own. Neither of these scenarios will put your restaurant into Offline Mode, but your staff and/or your guests won't receive text messages. Due to the nature of the situation, there is no indication to Toast customers or their guests that SMS is not working. Your guests may inform your staff about not receiving a text that they expected to or your staff may report a similar situation.
This includes:
Order ready texts from the Orders Hub (Manage Order Ready Texts From the Orders Hub)
Order fulfillment texts from a Kitchen Display System (KDS) device (Enable Notifications for KDS-Fulfilled Orders)
SMS digital receipts (Configure Digital Receipts)
eGift cards (Manage Gift Card Sales)
Staff text alerts and manager notifications (Set Up Text Alerts and Manager Notifications)
Currently, there is no workaround for this situation until the SMS service is restored. If you're using the above SMS features, the best way to help your employees and your guests is to follow these suggestions:
Inform employees and guests that SMS messaging is down, and they will want to check on orders accordingly.
Let guests know that they cannot receive digital receipts or gift card alerts via text message during this period.
Unfortunately, the staff text alert and manager notification feature is currently unavailable.