When a guest is waiting for a reply from a person, WeSpeak can alert you on your phone or computer, even if the panel isn't open. The alert says who wrote and through which channel, and tapping it opens that conversation.
In this article
- How to turn them on for each device and for several hotels
- When you get an alert
- What the alert shows
- What to do if you don't get them
- Frequently asked questions
How to turn them on
Alerts are turned on per person and per device: each user turns them on on every phone or computer where they want to receive them. If you work with several accounts, you can choose them from one place: see If you work with several hotels below.
On Android
- Open WeSpeak in Chrome and sign in.
- Go to your Profile, to the Notification settings card.
- Turn on Browser alerts and tap Allow when the browser asks.
That's it: you can now close the tab or the browser and keep getting alerts.
On iPhone or iPad
You need iOS 16.4 or later and to add WeSpeak to your Home Screen: alerts don't work in a Safari tab.
- Open WeSpeak in Safari and sign in. If you add the icon before signing in, WeSpeak doesn't get installed.
- Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
- Open WeSpeak from the new icon and sign in. You have to do this even if you already signed in on Safari.
- Go to your Profile, to the Notification settings card.
- Turn on Browser alerts and tap Allow.
If you delete the icon from your Home Screen, you stop getting alerts.
On a computer
It works on Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
- Go to your Profile, to the Notification settings card.
- Turn on Browser alerts and allow notifications when the browser asks.
You can close the WeSpeak tab, but the browser has to stay open.
ℹ️ If you already had browser alerts turned on, turn the switch off and on again to also get them with the tab closed.
If you work with several hotels
When you turn alerts on, Your hotels appears under the switch, with a checkbox for each hotel you have access to. The hotel you're in comes first, marked Current hotel, and its checkbox does the same as the switch. That way you don't have to go into each one.
If you have 8 hotels or more, the list starts closed: tap Choose hotels to open it. There you can also search for a hotel by name.
- Check the hotels you want alerts from on this device, or tap Turn on for all.
- Uncheck a hotel to stop getting its alerts, or tap Turn off for all.
- While you search, the buttons only apply to the hotels you see in the list.
The list applies to the device you're using, so you choose again on each phone or computer.
If a hotel has Restrict contacts to users turned on, go into that hotel once so your alerts match your role. Until then, you only get alerts for conversations assigned to you or unassigned.
When you get an alert
You get alerts for messages the assistant won't answer: the conversations where a person has to reply, on every channel.
| Situation | Do you get an alert? |
|---|---|
| Conversation with the assistant paused and WeSpeak closed | Yes |
| The assistant is going to answer the message | No |
| You're looking at Conversations and used the panel in the last 5 minutes | No, on none of your devices: you're already looking at the chat |
| Conversations was left open, but you haven't touched anything for more than 5 minutes | Yes |
| Conversations is open behind another tab or application | Yes |
| Several messages arrive in a row from the same contact | A single alert, which gets updated |
| Your phone was offline | You get it when it reconnects, if less than an hour went by |
If your account has Restrict contacts to users turned on, people with the User role only get alerts for the conversations assigned to them or unassigned. Administrators and supervisors always get them. Learn more in Permissions and roles.
What the alert shows
- Title: "New message from" and the contact's name. If the name can't be shown, it just says "New message".
- Text: the channel it came through (for example, WhatsApp or Instagram).
It never includes the content of the message, so it doesn't stay visible on the lock screen.
What to do if you don't get them
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Alerts are blocked in the browser…" | Allow notifications for WeSpeak in the browser settings and turn the switch on again. |
| "On iPhone and iPad, alerts only work…" | Follow the steps in On iPhone or iPad and open WeSpeak from the icon. |
| "Alerts only while this tab is open…" | Turn the switch off and on again. |
| "The alert could not be turned on in this browser…" | Try again and check that notifications are allowed for WeSpeak. If you use Brave, see the question about Brave below. |
| "The change could not be saved…" | That hotel's checkbox went back to how it was. Try again. |
| The switch doesn't appear | Your browser doesn't support alerts. Try Chrome. |
| The switch is on, but you don't see any alerts | Check that your phone or computer doesn't have Do Not Disturb or a focus mode turned on, and that the browser is allowed to show notifications in the system settings. |
Frequently asked questions
Do I get alerts for every message?
No. You get alerts for the messages the assistant won't answer, that is, the conversations where a person has to reply.
I was looking at the chats on my computer and my phone didn't ring.
That's on purpose: if you're already looking at the chats, we don't alert you on your phone as well. If you leave the screen or go a few minutes without using it, alerts come back.
Can the guest's message be seen on the lock screen?
No. The alert shows who wrote and through which channel, never the content of the message.
How do I turn alerts off?
Turn off the Browser alerts switch on that device. That turns off the alerts of the hotel you're in, and your other devices keep getting them. To turn off all your hotels, tap Turn off for all under Your hotels.
I signed out and stopped getting them.
When you sign out, that device stops getting alerts from all your hotels, so they don't reach someone else using the same browser. When you sign back in, turn the switch on again and check your other hotels.
I haven't opened WeSpeak on that device for a while and they stopped.
If 30 days go by without opening WeSpeak on a device, that device stops getting alerts. Just open WeSpeak on it again, in any of your hotels, and the alerts come back on their own. You don't need to touch the switch.
Does it work on Brave?
Yes, but you have to turn on a browser setting. Go to brave://settings/privacy, turn on Use Google services for push messaging, restart Brave and turn the alerts on again.