GIDAYVirtual Reception

Giday and ServiceM8: the booking becomes the job

Most answering services take a message and email it to you, and someone types it into the job system later. With the ServiceM8 link on, a booking your receptionist takes on the phone is a scheduled job in your ServiceM8 before you've put the tools down. Here is exactly what it writes.

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What happens when a booking is made

The customer.

Giday looks for a customer with that name in your ServiceM8 and uses it if it's there. If not, it creates one with their name and mobile.

The job.

A job is created against that customer as a Work Order, with what the caller said they need as the description, the address if one was given, and Giday marked as the source.

The contact.

The caller's name, mobile and email (if they gave one) go on the job as the job contact.

The schedule.

The job is scheduled at the time that was booked, against the staff member you pick in your dashboard.

The caller gets their text confirmation and you get your text and email as usual. The ServiceM8 job is in addition to those, not instead of them.

When a booking moves or is cancelled

Moved: move a booking in your Giday calendar and the same ServiceM8 job is re-scheduled to the new time. You don't end up with two jobs for one piece of work.

Cancelled: the scheduled time is taken off your ServiceM8 diary and the job goes back to a Quote. The job itself is never deleted — it's your record, not ours.

Good to know before you switch it on

  • Where the times come from. The times Giday offers come from the calendar you've connected and the hours and capacity you've set. If you also schedule work directly in ServiceM8, keep it showing in that calendar too, so the same time isn't offered to a caller.
  • Where the prices come from. Quotes come from the price list you approve inside Giday, on the Busy plan and up.
  • Invoicing stays where it is. The job Giday creates is an ordinary ServiceM8 job, so you quote and invoice it in ServiceM8 exactly as you do now.
  • Test bookings stay out. A test booking never touches your job system.

How you connect it

In ServiceM8, go to Settings, then Developer / API, and create an API key. Paste it into the ServiceM8 card in your Giday dashboard. Giday tests the key before saving it. If you'd rather not do it yourself, we'll do it with you on a call.

Straight about the key: it lets Giday create and schedule jobs in your ServiceM8, which is a real responsibility. It is encrypted before it's stored, it is never shown again (the dashboard shows only the last four characters so you can tell which key it is), and it's used for nothing except your bookings. Disconnect and the key is deleted from our side; the jobs already created stay in your ServiceM8.

If ServiceM8 is having a moment

The booking never waits on the job system. If ServiceM8 can't be reached when a booking is made, the booking still stands, the caller still gets their text, and you still get yours — the job just hasn't been created, and you add it yourself. A job-system hiccup should never cost you the customer.

Which plan

The ServiceM8 link is included in Busy ($199 a month) and Flat Out ($399 a month), AUD with GST included, no setup fee. On Starter and Steady every booking still lands in your calendar and on your phone; it just isn't written into ServiceM8. All four plans are laid out on the pricing page, and the rest of what Giday connects to is on the integrations page.

Running a trade? The tradies page has the whole call, start to finish.

Straight answers

Does Giday integrate directly with ServiceM8?
Yes, on the Busy plan and up. You connect it with a ServiceM8 API key, and each booking Giday takes becomes a scheduled job in your ServiceM8.
Where do the times Giday offers come from?
From the calendar you connect and the hours you set. If you also schedule work directly in ServiceM8, keep it showing in that calendar too.
What happens to the ServiceM8 job if the customer cancels?
The scheduled time is removed and the job goes back to a Quote. The job is never deleted.
Does it work after hours?
Yes. Giday answers around the clock, and a booking taken at 9pm is written to ServiceM8 the same way as one taken at 9am.
What about invoicing?
It stays in ServiceM8. The job Giday creates is an ordinary ServiceM8 job, so you invoice it there exactly as you do now.
Is there a setup fee?
No. There's no setup fee on any plan.

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