Driver Link & Proof of Delivery
The driver does not sign in to UpChannels. They open a link you sent them, see only their own stops for one day, and the link stops working after 48 hours. Everything they tap flows straight back to the Routes board and onto the order.
Getting the link to the driver
On the Routes board, each route in the Route arranger card has two buttons:
- Copy link — copies the driver's route link, valid for 48 hours. The route needs a driver first.
- Text link — if the route has a driver, texts that driver straight away. If it has none, a row opens where you type any Phone number (and optionally a name) and click Send; that number becomes the route's driver. Texting needs your store's own texting set up and a plan that includes SMS (Pro or Premium). Copy link has no such limit — paste the link into any message.
A link stops working when it is more than 48 hours old, when you deactivate that driver in Drivers & recipients, or when the owner switches off Delivery & Routes. The driver's screen then says "Ask your dispatcher to send you a fresh route link." Fix the cause (activate the driver again, or have the owner switch Delivery & Routes back on), then send a new link — nothing already recorded is lost.
Dissolving a route does not end the link. The driver just sees the deliveries still assigned to them, or "No stops on your route for this day yet."
What the driver sees and taps
The top of the screen shows your store name, the driver's name, the date and progress (for example "Marcus Reed · Friday, Sep 18 · 1/4 done"). Below is the stop list in route order. Each stop shows its number, a status (Up next, En route, Arrived, Done, Partial, Not delivered or Cancelled), the planned time in the phone's own time zone, and the address. Tap a stop to open it. Cancelled stops are faded and cannot be opened.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Open in Maps (top of the screen) | Opens Google Maps with directions through every remaining stop, in route order |
| Navigate | Opens Google Maps with directions to this one stop |
| Call customer | Dials the number on the stop |
| I'm on my way | Marks the stop En route. The office sees it at once, and the customer gets an "on the way" text or email with a tracking link |
| I've arrived | Marks the stop Arrived |
| Complete this stop | Opens the four-step proof-of-delivery flow |
| Send note | Sends a note to the office ("gate code wrong", "customer not answering"). It shows in Driver activity on the Routes board and in the order's delivery activity |
| Report damage | Files a property damage report for the office, not the customer. Delivery stops only, at any time — even after the stop is done |
The status buttons appear one at a time, in order: I'm on my way, then I've arrived, then Complete this stop. Once a stop is Done, Partial or Not delivered, they disappear — the driver cannot redo a stop from the phone.
A delivery stop whose items are all already marked handed over (taken at the counter, or the order completed in the office) carries an amber Check with the office on the stop list, and the open stop says what to do: deliver as usual if the goods are on the truck; if they left another way, the office cancels the stop. It is the same stop the Routes board marks Nothing left to deliver.
Service visits on the same route use I'm on my way, then Arrived — start work, then Mark complete. Mark complete finishes the visit straight away, with no photos or signature. A service visit sends the customer no "on the way" message.
Without signal
The driver's screen keeps a saved copy of the route. Out of signal it says "No connection — showing the last saved route. Status updates need signal." Proof of delivery and damage reports are saved on the phone and send themselves when signal returns, while the route page is open; a blue bar counts what is waiting. Status taps and notes are not saved for later — tap them again once there is signal.
Proof of delivery, step by step
Four steps, and the header counts them: Items → Photos → Signature → Review.
- Items. Every line on the manifest starts as Delivered at the full quantity. Tap Refused, Damaged, Not on truck or Short to change it — that sets the count to 0, and + records how many were actually handed over. Marking nothing delivered is allowed — it is recorded, not hidden (see the results below). A stop with no items opens on Photos.
- Photos. Three slots — Before, After, Damage, one photo each. "Photos protect you in disputes. Take what applies — none are required." Before and After photos appear on the customer's tracking page; Damage photos stay internal.
- Signature. The customer signs with a finger, then the driver types who signed in Signed by (the box starts empty, with the customer's name shown as a hint). If no one can sign, press Next and say why in the notes; there is no separate "no signature" button. A name on its own is never recorded as a signature — with nothing drawn, the name is not kept at all.
- Review. A summary of what will be recorded, then:
- Reason — only when nothing was delivered, and then required: Not home, Refused or Damage — aborted.
- Damage waiver — shown when any line is marked Damaged, with its own signature box. Signing it is optional. The wording is the standard waiver text; there is no setting to change it.
- Haul-away (old unit removal) — Not requested, Done ✓ or Not done ✗. It is recorded in the activity only and changes no stock or price.
- Notes for the office (optional) — free text.
Then Finish stop. Cancel at the top throws away everything captured, without asking.
UpChannels works out the result from what this visit handed over, not from what the phone previewed. Only Done looks at the whole order:
| Result | When | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| Done | Every product on the order is now delivered | The delivered units leave stock. The order is marked delivered, and becomes Completed if no service jobs on it are still open. The customer gets a "delivered" text or email, with a 24-hour pay link if a balance is still open and your store takes card payments |
| Partial | This visit delivered some of what it was carrying, and products on the order are still undelivered. That includes a driver who delivered everything on the truck while other lines of the order were not on this stop | A follow-up delivery for the rest is created for the next day, in the same window, marked Proposed on the Routes board until someone confirms it. The customer gets a "partial delivery" message |
| Not delivered | This visit delivered nothing — whatever earlier visits delivered | A failed attempt, recorded with the reason. The stop stays under the date it was attempted, and no further follow-up is created. The customer is told the delivery could not be completed (see Sent to the customer below). The order goes straight back to Unscheduled orders on the Routes board, at the top with a red Failed — reschedule badge; Schedule there books the next attempt and cancels this one |
A line marked Not on truck also raises the follow-up for whatever is still owed.
Property damage report
Separate from the waiver, and available at any stop at any time: the driver describes what happened — "What happened? (e.g. scratched hardwood in hallway while moving the range)" — adds up to two photos and taps Send report. It is for the office, never the customer, and changes nothing on the order or in stock. With no signal it is saved and sent later.
The office sees a damage reported entry — with what the driver wrote — in the order's delivery activity and on the Routes board, and the photos under the order's proof-of-delivery photos.
What the office sees afterwards
Open the order and go to its Delivery tab:
- Delivery appointments — every appointment for the order, newest first, with its status. Automatic follow-ups carry a Follow-up badge. Each shows who signed and the driver's notes.
- View signature — opens the customer's signature, when one was drawn.
- Proof-of-delivery photos — before, after and damage photos, including photos from damage reports.
- Activity — the delivery event log: status taps, notes, proof of delivery, haul-away and damage reports. Automatic notes appear here too, for example when a handover took stock that other orders were holding.
- Reopen — owner only, on Done or Partial deliveries, for a stop completed by mistake. It asks for a reason and sets the stop back to Arrived so the driver can capture proof of delivery again. It keeps the earlier proof-of-delivery history, and deliberately does not change stock: corrections go through returns or adjustments, so the ledger never silently disagrees with the shelf.
On the Routes board, Driver activity shows each tap and note as it arrives, and the day map shows the driver's last known position from their latest tap.
What the customer sees
Every delivery order gets a tracking page of its own — a link with no login. The delivery messages (scheduled, rescheduled, on the way, delivered, partly delivered) and the day-before reminder link to it. If you run the Customer Portal, they link to the portal's order page instead. The tracking link lasts 60 days.
The page shows your store name and the order number, then the delivery window — or Delivered / Partially delivered, with "Signed by …" when someone signed, once the driver has finished. After a partial delivery it usually shows the follow-up's window instead, because the follow-up is now the newest delivery. Below that is a Timeline in your store's time zone:
| Event | Reads as on a delivery | Reads as on a service visit |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled | Delivery scheduled | Visit scheduled |
| Rescheduled | Delivery rescheduled | Visit rescheduled |
| Confirmed | Delivery confirmed | Visit confirmed |
| En route | Out for delivery | Technician on the way |
| Arrived | Driver arrived | Technician arrived |
| Completed | Delivered | Visit completed |
| Partial | Partially delivered | — (not shown) |
| Failed | Delivery attempted | — (not shown) |
| Cancelled | Delivery cancelled (not shown when the delivery was cancelled because a new booking replaced a visit recorded as Not delivered) | Visit cancelled |
An order can carry both — a delivery and a service visit on the same job. Each row is worded for the kind of stop it came from, so a technician's tap never tells the customer their goods have arrived.
Below it, Delivery photos — the Before and After photos the driver took. Damage photos, damage reports, notes, signatures and prices are never shown, and nor is a photo the office has removed. If your store has a phone number or email on file, the page ends with how to contact you.
Tips
- Ask drivers to keep the route page open until the blue "waiting to sync" bar is gone. Saved captures send only while the page is open, and they live only in that phone's browser.
- A red "could not be sent" bar means that capture's route link is no longer accepted. It stops retrying on its own — send that driver a fresh link, and it goes on the next try.
- If the phone said "Saved — it will sync to the office when you have signal.", do not redo the stop. It keeps showing Arrived until the capture reaches the office.
- A contractor does not need to be in your team. Text link to any phone number adds them to Drivers & recipients automatically.
Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| The driver sees "This link has expired" | The link is more than 48 hours old. Send a new one with Copy link or Text link |
| The driver sees "This link is no longer active" | That driver was deactivated in Drivers & recipients. Activate them again, or send the route to an active driver |
| The driver sees "Delivery is not enabled for this organization" | The owner switched off Delivery & Routes. The owner turns it back on in Settings → Delivery & Routes |
| The driver sees "No stops on your route for this day yet." | There is no route for that driver on that date, or the route was dissolved or closed and the deliveries are not assigned to them. Check the route's driver and date on the Routes board |
| Text link fails with a plan or texting message | Use Copy link and send the link yourself, or set up texting. The refusal changes nothing: a number you typed is not added as a recipient, the route keeps the driver it had, and the board updates at once |
| A stop says Partial although the driver delivered everything on the truck | Other products on the same order were not on this stop. A follow-up for them is waiting on the Routes board as Proposed |
| A follow-up visit where nobody was home says Not delivered | That is right: each visit is judged on what it delivered, so an empty-handed visit is a failed attempt even when an earlier visit delivered part of the order. No second follow-up is created, and the customer is told the delivery could not be completed. The order is back in Unscheduled orders on the Routes board with a Failed — reschedule badge: Schedule it there, or use Schedule delivery… in the order's window, and the failed visit is cancelled as the new one is booked |
| The customer did not get an "on the way" message | It goes once per delivery, on the first I'm on my way. It goes by text if the customer accepts texts and has a phone number, and by email if the text cannot be sent or there is no phone — with neither, nothing is sent. Service visits send none |
| The blue "waiting to sync" bar will not clear | The phone needs signal with the route page open. A capture for a delivery that has since been cancelled, or for a stop that already has proof of delivery, is refused for good: the driver sees "Not recorded: …" and it leaves the bar by itself. A stop taken off the driver's route overnight keeps waiting, and sends once the office puts it back on a route for that driver |
| A red "… capture(s) could not be sent — call the office" bar | That capture's route link is no longer valid — usually the 48 hours ran out, or the driver was deactivated. It has stopped retrying. Send that driver a fresh link for the same day and it sends on the next try. If no fresh link will ever be opened on that phone, record the stop another way and tap Discard on the bar to clear it |
What's next
- Run the day: Routes board
- Let customers pick their own window: Customer Portal
- Settings that shape all of this: Delivery & Routes overview
Detailed reference
Every button, icon, field and message on this page, for when you need the exact detail. Each panel starts closed — open the one you need.
Page header and toolbar
The driver's screen has no tabs: a header that stays at the top, then the stop list. The browser tab is titled "Route".
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store name | Header, top left | Shows your store's name | Reads "Route" when the store has no name |
| "… · … · n/total done" | Header, under the store name | The driver's name, the route date (for example "Friday, Sep 18") and how many stops are finished | Done counts Done, Partial and Not delivered stops. Cancelled stops count in the total but never as done. The route's name is not shown on the phone |
| Open in Maps (blue) | Header, right | Opens Google Maps directions from the phone's current location through every remaining stop, in route order | Shown while at least one stop is still open. Uses each stop's address, or its map pin when there is no address. Opens Google Maps (the app, if installed), not Apple Maps |
| Amber "No connection — showing the last saved route. Status updates need signal." | Under the header | The list on screen is the copy saved on this phone | Appears when the latest refresh failed. With no saved copy at all, the full-screen "No connection — retrying…" shows instead |
| Amber "Showing a saved copy — refreshing…" | Under the header | Meant for a saved copy on screen while a refresh runs | Not normally seen — whenever a saved copy is showing, the "No connection" bar above is shown instead |
| Blue "… capture(s) waiting to sync — they'll send automatically when you have signal." | Under the header | Counts proofs of delivery and damage reports saved on this phone that the office has not accepted yet | Retries when the page opens, every 60 seconds, and when the phone reconnects — only while the route page is open. Captures that have stopped retrying are counted in the red bar instead. See the Offline panel |
| Red "… capture(s) could not be sent — call the office and ask for a fresh route link." | Under the header | Counts saved captures whose own route link was refused, which have stopped retrying | Each capture remembers the link it was taken under. Opening a fresh link for the same driver gives them another try automatically. Discard on the bar asks first ("The office never received … Discarding deletes … from this phone for good, photos and signature included. Call the office first so they can record the stop another way. Discard?"), then removes them and says "Discarded. The office has no proof of delivery from those captures." |
| Amber "You have … open routes for this day — following the first one. Ask dispatch to dissolve the extras." | Under the header | The driver has more than one open route on this date; the phone follows the oldest | The office dissolves the extra route on the Routes board |
| Amber "An earlier route is still open — unfinished stops from it may be re-routed to today." | Under the header | A route from an earlier date was never closed | Routes from earlier days are closed automatically |
| Green or amber notice (for example "Stop completed. On to the next one!") | Below the header | Says what the last proof of delivery or damage report recorded | Green for a full delivery, for a damage report and for the demo. Amber for a partial delivery or a failed attempt, which are not successes. Stays until the next proof of delivery or damage report starts. All texts are in Messages you may see |
| Red error box | Below the header | Why the last tap failed | Clears when a stop is opened or closed, or a new action starts |
| Automatic refresh (nothing to tap) | Whole screen | The list reloads every 60 seconds, when the driver comes back to the browser tab, and when the phone reconnects | There is no refresh button. "Pull down" in the empty-list text means the phone browser's own pull-to-refresh |
Section: Stop list
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stop card | Each stop | Tap to open the stop; tap again to close it | One stop open at a time. Opening a stop clears the note draft, the "Note sent" tick and any red error. A cancelled stop cannot be opened |
| Number circle (1, 2, 3…) | Left of each card | The stop's place in the route | Black until finished, green once Done, Partial or Not delivered. With no arranged route, stops are numbered by the start of their delivery window |
| Stop title | Card, first line | The stop's label, else the customer's name, else "Stop" | The label is captured when the route is arranged. With no arranged route it reads "Deliver #…" (the order number) or "Delivery" |
| Up next (grey) | Card, beside the title | Not started | — |
| En route (blue) | Card | The driver tapped I'm on my way | — |
| Arrived (amber) | Card | The driver tapped I've arrived, or Arrived — start work on a service visit | — |
| Done (green) | Card | Proof of delivery recorded as complete, or the service visit marked complete | — |
| Partial (orange) | Card | Proof of delivery recorded as partial | — |
| Not delivered (red) | Card | Proof of delivery recorded as a failed attempt | — |
| Cancelled (grey) | Card | The office cancelled this delivery or visit | The whole card is faded and cannot be opened. Only on an arranged route — without one, cancelled deliveries are simply left off the list |
| "… · …" (second line) | Card | Planned start time and address | Time is in the phone's own time zone. "No address" when there is none |
| Check with the office (amber) | Card, under the address | Every product on this delivery stop is already marked handed over — counted the way proof of delivery counts it, the stops the Routes board marks Nothing left to deliver | Only before the visit is recorded, and never on a service visit or a cancelled stop. The driver can still deliver as usual |
| "No stops on your route for this day yet. Pull down or check back later." | Instead of the list | No stops for this driver on this date | Also what the driver sees after the route is dissolved or closed, unless deliveries are assigned to them directly |
Section: Open stop — delivery
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer name | Top of the open stop | The customer's name | Only when known |
| Instructions (amber box) | Under the customer name | The delivery's instructions — gate codes, "call first" and so on | Only when there are instructions |
| Navigate | Button row | Opens Google Maps directions to this stop only, from the phone's current location | Always shown |
| Call customer | Button row | Opens the phone's dialer with the customer's number | Only when the stop has a phone number |
| Report damage (amber outline) | Button row | Opens the full-screen Property damage report | Delivery stops only. Available at every status, including Done |
| "Check with the office: every item on this stop is already marked handed over. If the goods are on your truck, deliver them as usual; if they left another way, the office cancels the stop." (amber box) | Under the buttons | The stop has nothing left to deliver on the office's books | The same stops as the Check with the office mark on the card |
| Items list ("… ×2" or "… 1/2") | Grey box under the buttons | The stop's manifest. Before the stop is finished it shows the planned quantity (×2); afterwards delivered out of planned (1/2) | Only on deliveries with items. "Item" when a line has no description |
| I'm on my way (blue) | Action row | Marks the stop En route and updates the Routes board. Sends the customer an "on the way" text or email with a tracking link | Only while the stop is Up next. Reads "Saving…" while sending. Needs signal. The customer message goes once per delivery |
| I've arrived (amber) | Action row | Marks the stop Arrived | Only while En route. Needs signal |
| Complete this stop (green) | Action row | Opens the full-screen Proof of delivery flow | Only while Arrived. Gone once the stop is Done, Partial or Not delivered; only the owner's Reopen on a Done or Partial delivery brings it back |
| Note box ("Add a note for the office…") | Bottom of the open stop | Free text for the office | At every status. Up to 2,000 characters |
| Send note | Under the note box | Sends the note. The office sees "… left a note" with the text in Driver activity on the Routes board, and the note in the order's delivery Activity | Greyed out until something is typed, and while another tap on this stop is saving. Needs signal — if it fails, the typed note stays |
| "Note sent" (green) | Beside Send note | The note went through | Clears when the driver types again or opens another stop |
Section: Open stop — service visit
The same as a delivery stop, without Report damage and without the items list. The instructions box shows the job's Work description from the Schedule page, so the technician arrives knowing what the visit is for.
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instructions (amber box) | Under the customer name | The job's Work description, as typed on the Schedule page | Only when the job has one. Blank or whitespace-only shows no box |
| Navigate, Call customer, note box, Send note | As on a delivery stop | Same as on a delivery stop | — |
| I'm on my way (blue) | Action row | Records that the driver is on the way to the visit | Only while Up next. Sends the customer nothing |
| Arrived — start work (amber) | Action row | Marks the visit Arrived and sets the service job to in progress | Only while En route |
| Mark complete (green) | Action row | Marks the service visit complete straight away | Only while Arrived. No photos, no signature, no confirmation |
Section: Offline, location and route clean-up
| Action | Without signal |
|---|---|
| Opening the route | Shows the last copy saved on this phone, with the amber "No connection" bar. If the route was never opened on this phone: "No connection — retrying…". The page itself opens offline once it has been visited |
| I'm on my way, I've arrived, Arrived — start work, Mark complete | Not saved for later. The tap fails with a network error in the red box — tap again when there is signal |
| Send note | Not saved for later. The typed note stays in the box |
| Finish stop (proof of delivery) | Saved on the phone: "Saved — it will sync to the office when you have signal." and the blue "waiting to sync" bar. The stop keeps showing Arrived until it syncs |
| Send report (damage) | Saved on the phone: "Damage report saved — it will sync when you have signal." |
| When saved items send | Only while a route link page is open in that browser: when it opens, every 60 seconds, and when the phone reconnects. Photos already uploaded are not sent twice, and a capture is never recorded twice |
| Where saved items live | In that phone's browser only. Clearing the browser's site data, or switching browser or phone, loses anything not yet sent. The sample route at /drive/demo never writes there, so it cannot leave anything behind on a phone that also works real routes |
| When a saved item is dropped | When UpChannels refuses it for good — the delivery was cancelled, the stop already has proof of delivery, the stop no longer exists for the store, its manifest no longer matches, or everything on the order has come back to the store ("Everything on this order has come back to the store, so there is nothing to deliver at this stop. Call the office.") — the driver sees "Not recorded: …" and the item is removed. So is a capture UpChannels cannot read at all. A refusal while the photos are going up counts the same way, which matters because photos and signatures are sent first. Everything else keeps it saved: a stop taken off the route overnight, a lost connection or a server problem are all retried |
| When a saved item stops retrying | When its own route link is refused (expired, or the driver deactivated), whether that happens as the photos go up or as the record itself is sent. It moves to the red "could not be sent" bar and waits there — it is not tried again on the link that was refused. Opening a new link for the same driver clears the block and tries again |
| Which link sends a saved item | The one it was taken under. A capture taken on another driver's link is never sent on this one, so two drivers sharing a phone cannot record each other's stops |
Location. Every status tap, proof of delivery, damage report and note asks the phone for its location. The browser asks for permission the first time; if there is no answer in about 4 seconds, the tap goes ahead without it. Status taps and proofs of delivery also move the driver's dot on the Routes board map, shown for 4 hours (hover: "… — last seen …"). The first tap on a route marks it active.
Route clean-up. Every 15 minutes, UpChannels closes routes from earlier days, and today's routes after the owner's Route auto-close time (Settings → Delivery & Routes). Unfinished stops come off the closed route, and deliveries left En route or Arrived more than 12 hours after their window ends go back to Up next. Once a route is closed, the driver's phone lists only the deliveries assigned to that driver directly.
Dialog: Proof of delivery
A full-screen flow opened by Complete this stop.
Header and footer
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Header | The stop's label, else "Delivery" | — |
| "Step … of 4 · Items" (or Photos, Signature, Review) | Header, under the title | Step counter | A stop with no items opens on "Step 2 of 4 · Photos" |
| Cancel | Header, right | Closes the flow and discards everything captured — photos, signature, choices | No confirmation |
| Red error box | Top of the step | "Pick a reason for the failed delivery.", "Not recorded: …", or "Could not save" (or a message from the browser) | See Messages you may see |
| Back | Footer, left | Goes to the previous step. Item counts, Signed by, the reason, haul-away and notes are kept | Hidden on the first step. Greyed out while saving. Photos and the signature are kept and are still on screen when you return: a filled tile still shows its photo and its ×, and the signature step shows the signature already captured with Sign again and Clear |
| Next | Footer | Goes to the next step | Steps 1 to 3. Nothing on those steps is required |
| Finish stop (green) | Footer, on Review | Saves the capture on the phone, then sends it — photos first, then the record. Reads "Saving…" while working | Blocked only when nothing is marked delivered and no Reason is chosen. Asks for the phone's location (waits about 4 seconds) |
Step 1 — Items (one card per manifest line)
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Item name | Item card, left | The order line's description | "Item" when there is none |
| − (label "Less") | Item card, right | Lowers the delivered count by 1 | Never below 0. Does not change the chosen chip |
| "… / …" counter | Between − and + | Delivered out of planned for this line | Starts at the full planned quantity |
| + (label "More") | Item card, right | Raises the delivered count by 1 | Never above the planned quantity |
| Delivered | Item card, chip row | Marks the line delivered and resets the count to the full planned quantity | Default for every line |
| Refused | Item card | The customer refused the line. Sets the count to 0 | + still works afterwards |
| Damaged | Item card | The line is damaged. Sets the count to 0 — press + if the customer keeps the damaged unit | Adds the Damage waiver box to Review |
| Not on truck | Item card | The line was not loaded. Sets the count to 0 | Raises a follow-up delivery for whatever is still owed on the order |
| Short | Item card | Fewer units arrived than planned. Sets the count to 0 — use + to record how many arrived | — |
| Amber hint | Under the item cards | "Nothing marked delivered — this will be recorded as a failed attempt." or "Partial delivery — the office gets an automatic follow-up for the rest." | Whenever the total delivered is below the total planned |
Step 2 — Photos
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Photos protect you in disputes. Take what applies — none are required." | Top of the step | Instruction | — |
| Before tile (camera icon) | Tile 1 | Opens the phone's rear camera (a file picker on a computer). One photo per tile | The customer sees it on the tracking page |
| After tile (camera icon) | Tile 2 | Same | The customer sees it on the tracking page |
| Damage tile (camera icon) | Tile 3 | Same | Internal only — never shown to the customer |
| "…" in a tile | In the tile | The photo is being shrunk before it is saved | The tile is greyed out meanwhile |
| Thumbnail with × (label "Remove … photo") | Top right of a filled tile | Removes the photo | To retake: remove it, then tap the tile again. The thumbnail and its × are still there if you step away and come back |
| Caption | Under each tile | Repeats the slot name | — |
Step 3 — Signature
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signature box | Top of the step | The customer signs with a finger | Optional |
| "Sign above" / "Signed" | Under the box, left | Whether anything has been drawn | — |
| Signature already captured | In place of the box | Coming back to this step after signing shows the signature that was drawn, labelled Signed | — |
| Sign again (underlined) | Under a captured signature | Gives the empty box back so the customer can sign over the top | Only shown when a signature has already been drawn |
| Clear (underlined) | Under the box, right | Wipes the signature | Works on a signature captured earlier in this flow too |
| Signed by (placeholder: the customer's name) | Under the box | Name of the person who signed | Starts empty, so the name is always typed by the driver. It is only kept when a signature was drawn — with an empty box, no name is recorded |
| "No one available to sign? Skip this step — note why on the next screen." | Bottom of the step | Instruction | To skip, press Next |
Step 4 — Review
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Everything delivered" / "Partial — … of …" / "Could not deliver" | Summary card | The phone's preview of the result, from the Items step | The recorded result comes from what this visit handed over and can differ (see below). A stop with no items always previews "Everything delivered" |
| "Signed by …" or "No signature" · "… photo(s)" | Summary card | What was captured | "Signed by customer" when a signature was drawn but the name field is empty. "No signature" means no name is recorded either |
| Reason: Not home, Refused, Damage — aborted | Under the summary | Why nothing was delivered | Only when nothing is marked delivered, and then one is required |
| Damage waiver (text, signature box, Clear) | Under Reason | The waiver for the customer to sign | Only when a line is marked Damaged. Optional — Finish stop is not blocked without it. The standard text, with no setting to change it: "I acknowledge the delivery conditions noted (tight access, stairs, or pre-existing damage) and release the delivery team from liability for damage resulting from proceeding as instructed." |
| Haul-away (old unit removal): Not requested, Done ✓, Not done ✗ | Under the waiver | Records whether the old appliance was taken away | Default Not requested (records nothing). Done ✓ or Not done ✗ adds a "haul away" entry to the activity. No stock or price change |
| Notes box ("Notes for the office (optional)") | Bottom | Free text saved with the proof of delivery | Shown on the order's Delivery tab. Up to 4,000 characters are kept |
What happens on Finish stop
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| Every product line on the whole order is now delivered | The stop becomes Done. The order is marked delivered, and Completed if no service jobs on it are still open. The customer gets a "delivered" text or email, plus a 24-hour pay link when a balance is open and your store takes card payments |
| This visit handed some units over, and products on the order are still undelivered | The stop becomes Partial. A follow-up delivery is created automatically — next day, same window, Proposed on the Routes board and marked Follow-up on the order's Delivery tab. It carries only what is still to be handed over, never something the customer has already signed for. The customer gets a "partial delivery" message |
| Everything on the truck was delivered, but other lines of the same order were not on this stop | Also Partial, with a follow-up — even though the phone previewed "Everything delivered" |
| Nothing handed over on this visit — whatever earlier visits delivered | The stop becomes Not delivered, with the chosen reason. No further follow-up is created, and the customer is told the delivery could not be completed. The stop stays under the date it was attempted, and the order goes back to Unscheduled orders, first, with a Failed — reschedule badge. Schedule there, or Schedule delivery… in the order's window, books the next attempt and cancels this stop in the same step. If the customer can book their own delivery, their portal offers them new windows too, and a booking there replaces the stop the same way |
| This stop had nothing left to deliver: every item was already handed over, on an earlier visit, over the counter, or because the order was completed in the office while the goods were on the truck | Recorded, never refused: the signature, photos and notes are kept. The stop becomes Done, unless the driver picked Not home, Refused or Damage — aborted, which records Not delivered. An automatic note on the order's activity reads "Nothing was left to deliver on this stop: every item had already been handed over.", and after Not delivered adds "If the customer does not have the goods, arrange the next delivery by hand." A Done visit marks the order delivered and sends the "delivered" message as usual, with the pay link when a balance is open. A Not delivered visit does not mark the order delivered or change its delivered date. The customer's message says you will be in touch, and offers a new time online only while something else on the order is still to be delivered, because the portal cannot book an order with nothing left. The Routes board marks such a stop Nothing left to deliver beforehand, and Check whether the customer has the goods after a failed visit. A stop carrying only service lines is not one of these |
| A product handed over that your Inventory has no stock record for at the order's location | Nothing is refused, and the stop's result is worked out as usual. For a product that tracks inventory, a stock record is made at the order's location, at 0 and at the line's cost price, and the units leave it, so its On Hand and Available there go below zero. An automatic note on the activity says so, for example: "Handed over, but the stock at this order's location did not cover it: Range Hood took 1 unit more than was on hand; there was no stock record for it here, so one was started at 0. Available there is now below zero. Receive or count that stock there." For a product with Track inventory off, no stock record is made and no stock moves: the line counts as delivered on what was handed over, and stays delivered if the product is received there before a later visit. Either way the order is marked delivered once everything is handed over, and Completed if no service jobs are open, so the sale is booked with its cost. A line reserved at another location, because its order was moved there after it reserved, is taken from the stock record it reserved on, not from a new one here. A line already recorded as fulfilled is not taken out of stock a second time. Three kinds of order still stay open, each with a note saying which it is: one with no store location ("Handed over, but stock could not be updated for … — the order has no location to keep its stock record at. The order stays open until it has one."), one filed at a location that belongs to another store ("… — the order is filed at a location that is not one of this store's own, so there is no stock record here to update. The order stays open until it is filed at one of the store's locations."), and one whose line names another store's product ("… — the product is not one of this store's own, so there is no stock record here to update. The order stays open until the line names one of the store's products."). |
| A product handed over that the store did not have free at the order's location — a line that was never reserved, taking units other orders were holding, or more than was on hand | Nothing is refused: the goods are with the customer, and the stop's result is worked out as usual. The units leave stock, so Available there drops below zero, and an automatic note on the activity names what was taken, for example: "Handed over, but the stock at this order's location did not cover it: Fridge took 2 units promised to other orders. Available there is now below zero. Restock it, or free the units on an order that was holding them." When nothing was promised to anyone, the note says the units were "more than was on hand" and asks you to receive or count that stock. Until it is put right, a new order for that product there, for the counter or for delivery, is refused unless Allow Oversell is used. Stops already booked still go ahead: proof of delivery is never refused over stock. The stock movement on the order carries the same words. Lines reserved when the order was saved — the usual case — never do this: their own reserved units are the ones handed over |
| Any line marked Not on truck | A follow-up is created for whatever is still undelivered — even when the stop is recorded as Not delivered |
| The recorded result does not match the phone's preview — for example "Partial" recorded as Done because this visit finished the order | An automatic note starting "driver outcome … disagrees with derived status …" is added to the activity. A preview of "Everything delivered" recorded as Partial adds no note |
| Service and other non-product lines | Never change the result |
| Stock | Delivered units leave stock at this moment. The stock record is locked while it changes, so two stops finishing at once for the same product can't both start from the same figures |
Dialog: Property damage report
A full-screen form opened by Report damage on a delivery stop.
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title "Property damage report" | Header | — | — |
| "… — for the office, not the customer" | Header, under the title | Reminds the driver the report is internal | Starts with the stop's label |
| Cancel | Header, right | Closes without saving | No confirmation |
| Description ("What happened? (e.g. scratched hardwood in hallway while moving the range)") | Body | What was damaged in the home | Required |
| Photo 1 tile | Body | Optional photo, same camera tile as proof of delivery | Internal only |
| Photo 2 tile | Body | Optional second photo | Internal only |
| Send report | Footer, full width | Saves the report on the phone, then sends it. Reads "Saving…" while working | Greyed out until a description is typed. Asks for the phone's location. Changes nothing on the order or in stock, and does not move the driver's dot on the Routes board map |
| Red error box | Top of the body | Why the report could not be saved on the phone — "Could not save" or a message from the browser | The report is not saved; try again. Once saved, it is kept and retried, and dropped only when UpChannels refuses it for good — for example the stop no longer exists for the store, which reads "Not recorded: …" |
Where the office sees it: a "damage reported" entry in Driver activity on the Routes board and in the order's Delivery tab Activity, both showing the description the driver typed, and the photos under the order's Proof-of-delivery photos as "damage · …". Driver activity also shows how many photos came with it.
Sub-page: Link problems and loading screens (driver)
| Screen | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Truck icon, "This link is invalid" and "Ask your dispatcher to send you a fresh route link." | The link is incomplete or malformed — often only part of it was copied | Send a fresh link |
| Truck icon, "This link has expired" and the same line | More than 48 hours since the link was made | Send a fresh link |
| Padlock icon, the reason, and "Ask your dispatcher to send you a fresh route link." | UpChannels refused the link: "Invalid link", "This link has expired — ask for a new one", "This link is no longer active", "Delivery is not enabled for this organization" or "This link is no longer valid" | The route copy saved on the phone is deleted. Causes are in Messages you may see |
| "Loading your route…" | First load | — |
| Antenna icon, "No connection — retrying…" | The first load failed and the phone has no saved copy | Also shown when the server has a problem. Retries every 60 seconds |
Sub-page: Customer tracking page
Read-only — the customer has nothing to click. The browser tab is titled "Delivery status".
| Element | Where | What it shows | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Store name and "Delivery status for order …" | Header | Your store and the order number | — |
| "Scheduled window" and "…, …–…" | Top card | The window of the newest delivery that is not cancelled | In your store's time zone. After a partial delivery, the newest delivery is the automatic follow-up, so its window shows |
| "Status" and "Delivered" / "Partially delivered" | Top card | Once that delivery is done or partial | Also Delivered when no delivery is booked (or only cancelled ones) and no service visit is still to come, but the order is marked delivered and no product is still to hand over: the goods went over the counter and the stop was cancelled, for example. Not when every product came back, which reads Nothing left to deliver |
| "Status", "Not delivered" and "We couldn't complete your delivery on …. We'll be in touch to book another." | Top card | The driver recorded that delivery as Not delivered, nothing has been booked in its place, and a product is still to hand over | The day is the one attempted, in your store's time zone. The attempted window is never shown as the scheduled one. Once the order is booked in again, the failed visit is cancelled and the new window shows. If the order is marked delivered instead, the card reads Delivered; if nothing is left to bring (everything came back, even on an order still Completed, or the order was cancelled), Nothing left to deliver — either way no booking is promised |
| "Signed by …" | Top card | The Signed by name | Only once delivered or partial, and only when a signature was actually captured |
| "Scheduled visit" and "…, …–…" | Top card | The order has no delivery appointment (or only cancelled ones) but has a service visit still to come: the earliest one's day and times | The visit's own day and wall-clock times, as booked on the schedule |
| "Status" and "Nothing left to deliver" | Top card | The order has no delivery appointment and no service visit still to come, and has a product line but nothing left to bring: it was cancelled or refunded, or every product came back. Every product coming back reads this even while the order is still Completed or marked delivered (a sale that kept its delivery fee stays Completed) | The same words as after a failed visit on such an order. An order with no product line (service only) reads "No delivery scheduled yet" instead |
| "No delivery scheduled yet" | Top card | The order has no delivery appointment and no service visit still to come, and is not marked delivered or still has a product to hand over | A cancelled delivery counts as none: its window is never shown. An order marked Completed whose product was never handed over reads this too: it is still in Unscheduled orders on the Routes board |
| Timeline | Middle | Customer-safe events, oldest first, the latest dot in blue, each with date and time in your store's time zone. From a delivery: Delivery scheduled, Delivery rescheduled, Delivery confirmed, Out for delivery, Driver arrived, Delivered, Partially delivered, Delivery attempted, Delivery cancelled. From a service visit on the same order: Visit scheduled, Visit rescheduled, Visit confirmed, Technician on the way, Technician arrived, Visit completed, Visit cancelled | Up to 100 events. Notes, damage reports, haul-away and waivers never show. A partial or failed service visit has no customer wording and is not shown. When a new booking replaces a visit recorded as Not delivered, the failed visit's cancellation is left out, so the customer reads "Delivery attempted" then "Delivery scheduled" |
| Delivery photos | Below the timeline | Up to 12 Before and After photos, two per row | Damage photos, damage-report photos, signatures and waivers never show, and nor does a photo removed on the order's Delivery tab. Not clickable |
| "Questions? Contact … at … or …." | Footer | Your store's contact details | Only when the store has a phone number or email on file |
| After paying | Top of the page | A customer who pays through the 24-hour pay link in the "delivered" message comes back to this page and sees a green note: "Payment received — this page will update shortly. Refresh in a moment to see it reflected." | The note only says the payment was taken; it states no amount, because this page shows no prices. The delivery details below are unchanged until the payment is confirmed, which usually takes a few seconds |
| Truck icon, "This link is invalid" or "This link is invalid or has expired", and "This tracking link may have expired — contact the store for an update on your delivery." | Whole page | A bad or expired link | Links last 60 days from when the message was sent |
Office side: sending the route link (Routes board)
Each route row in the Route arranger card on the Routes board.
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copy link (link icon, tooltip "Copy the driver route link") | Route row | Makes a fresh driver link and copies it: "Route link copied — valid for 48 hours." | Needs an active driver on the route, otherwise: 'Assign a driver first, or use "Text link" with a phone number.' (no driver) or "Driver not found or inactive" (the route's driver was deactivated). Works on every plan and sends nothing |
| Text link (message icon, tooltip "Text the route link") | Route row | With a driver on the route: texts that driver straight away, no confirmation. With no driver: opens a row to type a number; click again to close it | "Route link texted to … (…)." Needs your store's own texting set up and a plan that includes SMS (Pro or Premium, or a free trial) with texts left this month. Each text counts toward your monthly texts |
| Phone number | Row under the route | Number to text | Only when the route has no driver |
| Name (optional) | Same row | Name for a new recipient | Left blank, a new recipient is named "Driver" plus the last 4 digits. If the number already belongs to a recipient, that recipient is used and the name is ignored |
| Send | Same row | Texts the link. A new number becomes a recipient in Drivers & recipients, and the route is assigned to them | Greyed out until a number is typed. If the text is refused or fails, nothing changes: no recipient is added, and the route keeps the driver it had |
| "Any phone works — contractors get a recipient record automatically." | Same row | Helper text | — |
| The text the driver receives | Driver's phone | "…: your route for … is ready. Open your stops here: … (link expires in 48h)" | Store name, then the date as year-month-day |
| Deactivate / Activate | Drivers & recipients card | Deactivating a recipient ends all their links at the next tap: "This link is no longer active" | Activate makes new links possible again |
Office side: the order's Delivery tab
| Control | Where | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Loading delivery history…" | Whole tab | Shown while the tab loads | — |
| Delivery appointments | Top section | Every appointment for the order, newest first: its window, then badges | Windows and activity times are shown in your store's time zone, named under the heading ("Times in your store's time zone (America/Chicago)"), so they match the Routes board and what the customer was told. With no store time zone set the heading names this computer's zone instead. Badges: Follow-up on automatic follow-ups, the appointment status (for example "proposed", "confirmed", "completed") and the driver status (for example "not started", "arrived", "partial", "failed") |
| "Signed by …. …" / "Received by …. …" | Appointment card | Who took the delivery, and the driver's review notes | "Signed by" when a signature was captured. Some older deliveries hold a name with no signature — those read "Received by", which is what they prove |
| View signature | Appointment card | Opens the customer's signature in a new tab | Only when a signature was drawn. The damage-waiver signature has no viewer here. If it cannot be opened, the reason appears under the button — for example "Could not open the signature: Forbidden", or a note that your browser blocked the new tab |
| Reopen | Appointment card | Asks "Reopen this delivery? POD history is preserved; stock is NOT changed — use returns/adjustments for corrections. Reason (required):" then sets the stop back to Arrived (and the appointment back to confirmed) so the driver can capture proof of delivery again | Owner only, and only on Done or Partial deliveries. A blank reason, or Cancel, does nothing. Reads "Reopening…" while working. The driver needs a link that is still valid for that day. If it fails, the reason appears in a red bar at the top of the tab, with a Dismiss button; the appointments, photos and activity stay where they are |
| Proof-of-delivery photos ("… · …") | Middle section | Opens each photo in a new tab: before, after and damage, including damage-report photos | Only when the order has delivery photos. Each button reads the photo type, then the file name. A photo that cannot be opened says so under its own button, and leaves the other buttons alone. A removed photo is not listed |
| × beside a photo ("Remove … · …") | Middle section | Asks first, then removes the photo for good: from the order, and from the customer's tracking page | The owner or a manager, or the person who added the photo (a driver's photos record nobody, so they are a manager's). Photos cannot be edited once added, so a wrong one is removed. The Activity shows "photo removed". If the removal is refused, the reason appears in the red bar at the top of the tab and the photo stays |
| Activity | Bottom section | The last 50 delivery events, newest first: time, event, who did it, in words ("Driver · " and the driver's name, "Staff · " and the team member's name, "Customer (portal)" or "System"), any reason, and the driver's words in quotes — a note, or a damage report's description | Haul-away shows as "haul away" without Done or Not done. "No delivery activity." when there is none |
| "No delivery appointments yet — use More actions (⋯) → “Schedule delivery…” at the top of this window, or the Routes board." | Top section | Empty state, with a link to the Routes board | The only Routes board link on this tab |
On the Routes board, Driver activity ("Status taps and notes from the road, for this day.") shows each driver event with the driver's name, a badge, the order number and the time: on the way, arrived, completed, partial delivery, failed, or the event name such as "damage reported", "pod captured", "haul away" or "waiver signed". Notes show "… left a note" and the text. With nothing yet: "No driver activity for this day yet."
Messages you may see
On the driver's phone
| Message | When it appears | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "This link is invalid" | The link is malformed, or only part of it was copied | Send a fresh link |
| "This link has expired" | The link is more than 48 hours old | Send a fresh link with Copy link or Text link |
| "Ask your dispatcher to send you a fresh route link." | Under every link error | — |
| "Invalid link" | UpChannels could not verify the link | Send a fresh link |
| "This link has expired — ask for a new one" | The link passed 48 hours while the page was open | Send a fresh link |
| "This link is no longer active" | The driver was deactivated or removed | Activate them in Drivers & recipients, or send the route to an active driver |
| "Delivery is not enabled for this organization" | The owner switched off Delivery & Routes | The owner turns it back on in Settings → Delivery & Routes |
| "This link is no longer valid" | Any other refusal | Send a fresh link |
| "Loading your route…" | Opening | Wait |
| "No connection — retrying…" | No signal and nothing saved on this phone yet, or a server problem | Get signal. It retries every 60 seconds |
| "No connection — showing the last saved route. Status updates need signal." | No signal, with a saved copy | Status taps and notes need signal; proof of delivery and damage reports can be saved |
| "Showing a saved copy — refreshing…" | Not normally seen; the "No connection" bar shows instead | Wait |
| "… capture(s) waiting to sync — they'll send automatically when you have signal." | Proofs of delivery or damage reports saved on this phone and not yet accepted | Keep the route page open with signal. Do not clear browser data |
| "You have … open routes for this day — following the first one. Ask dispatch to dissolve the extras." | The driver has two or more open routes that day | The office dissolves the extra route |
| "An earlier route is still open — unfinished stops from it may be re-routed to today." | A previous day's route was not closed | Nothing — earlier routes are closed automatically |
| "No stops on your route for this day yet. Pull down or check back later." | No stops for this driver and date | Check the route's driver and date on the Routes board |
| "Saving…" | On a button while it sends | Wait |
| "Note sent" | The note was accepted | — |
| "Notes can be up to 2,000 characters. This one is …; shorten it and send it again." | The note is over 2,000 characters. Rare: the note box stops at 2,000 | Shorten it |
| "Write a note before sending it." | A note with nothing in it. Rare, because Send note stays greyed out until something is typed | Type the note |
| "Stop completed. On to the next one!" (green) | Everything was handed over and the office accepted the proof of delivery | — |
| "Sent. The office recorded this stop as …, which is not what you marked. Call the office if that is wrong." (amber) | The office accepted the proof of delivery but worked out a different result from the counts, for example Partial when a line could not be settled | Call the office if it looks wrong |
| "A saved capture reached the office, recorded as …." (green when Done, amber otherwise), or "… saved captures reached the office: …" | Captures that waited on the phone have now been accepted, with what the office recorded for each | When you finish a stop and older saved captures go with it, this follows the notice for that stop in the same bar. Captures are sent one batch at a time, so the minute's automatic send never sends the stop you are finishing a second time |
| "Partial delivery recorded — the office gets a follow-up for the rest." (amber) | Some units were handed over; the office accepted it | A follow-up delivery is raised for the rest |
| "Recorded as a failed attempt. The office has it." (amber) | Nothing was handed over; the office accepted it | The office reschedules the stop |
| "Saved — it will sync to the office when you have signal." (green) | A full delivery saved on the phone but not yet accepted | Keep the page open with signal. Do not redo the stop |
| "Partial delivery saved — it will sync to the office when you have signal." (amber) | A partial delivery saved on the phone | Keep the page open with signal. Do not redo the stop |
| "Failed attempt saved — it will sync to the office when you have signal." (amber) | A failed attempt saved on the phone | Keep the page open with signal. Do not redo the stop |
| "Damage report sent to the office." | The damage report was accepted | — |
| "Damage report saved — it will sync when you have signal." | Damage report saved on the phone | Keep the page open with signal |
| "This delivery was cancelled" / "This visit was cancelled" | A status tap on a stop the office cancelled | Skip the stop |
| "Stop not found on your route" | The stop is no longer on this driver's route for that date (moved, dissolved or closed) | The office checks the assignment and sends a fresh link |
| "This stop is already marked …, so it can't go back to …." or "This stop is already finished (…)." | A status tap out of order — the stop is already further along, for example on another phone | Nothing: the list refreshes to show where the stop is. Statuses only move forward |
| "Failed to update the stop" / "Failed to update the visit" / "Update failed" | A server problem on a status tap | Try again |
| A short network error from the browser | A status tap or note with no signal | Tap again when there is signal |
| "Nothing marked delivered — this will be recorded as a failed attempt." | Proof of delivery, Items step, every count at 0 | Choose a Reason on Review |
| "Partial delivery — the office gets an automatic follow-up for the rest." | Items step, some but not all delivered | — |
| "Photos protect you in disputes. Take what applies — none are required." | Photos step | — |
| "No one available to sign? Skip this step — note why on the next screen." | Signature step | Press Next and explain in the notes |
| "Everything delivered" / "Partial — … of …" / "Could not deliver" | Review summary | — |
| "Signed by …" / "No signature" · "… photo(s)" | Review summary | — |
| "Pick a reason for the failed delivery." | Finish stop with nothing delivered and no reason | Tap Not home, Refused or Damage — aborted |
| "Not recorded: …" | Proof of delivery only: UpChannels refused the capture for good, and it is removed from the phone | The office checks the delivery |
| "Could not save" (or a message from the browser) | The phone could not store the capture — for example when the browser blocks site storage | Allow site storage for UpChannels, or use another browser |
| "Describe the damage." | A damage report sent with no description. Rare, because Send report stays greyed out until something is typed | Type what happened |
Sent to the customer (by text when the customer accepts texts and has a phone number; by email when there is no phone, texts are not accepted, or the text cannot be sent. Emails carry a Track your delivery button, View your delivery on the "delivered" message, and View details or Pick a new time on the "couldn't complete" one)
| Message | When it appears | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "…: your delivery is on the way (window …). Follow along: …" | First I'm on my way on a delivery stop | Email subject "Your delivery is on the way — order …". Can end with "Estimated arrival: about … minutes." when an arrival estimate is available — the driver's phone must share its location. Sent once per delivery |
| "…: order … was delivered. Photos and details: …" | Proof of delivery recorded as Done | Email subject "Delivered — order …". Adds "Balance due — pay securely here (link valid 24h): …" when a balance is open and your store takes card payments |
| "…: part of order … was delivered today; we'll follow up to schedule the rest. Details: …" | Proof of delivery recorded as Partial, which only happens when that visit handed something over | Email subject "Partial delivery — order …" |
| "…: we couldn't complete your delivery for order … (…). We'll be in touch to book another. Details: …" | Proof of delivery recorded as Not delivered. The window in brackets is the one attempted | Email subject "We couldn't complete your delivery — order …". When the link goes to your portal, Customer self-scheduling (portal) is on and the order still has goods to deliver, the middle reads "Pick a new time here, or we'll be in touch to book another:" instead. An order with nothing left to deliver (every item already handed over) keeps the "We'll be in touch" wording, because the portal cannot book it. Sent once per visit. Turn it off with Missed delivery message in Settings → Delivery & Routes; then contact the customer yourself |
On the customer's tracking page
| Message | When it appears | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "This link is invalid" / "This link is invalid or has expired" with "This tracking link may have expired — contact the store for an update on your delivery." | The tracking link is altered or more than 60 days old | Send the customer an update, or use the Customer Portal |
In the office
| Message | When it appears | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Route link copied — valid for 48 hours." | Copy link | Paste it to the driver |
| 'Assign a driver first, or use "Text link" with a phone number.' | Copy link on a route with no driver | Assign a driver |
| "Driver not found or inactive" | Copy link on a route whose driver was deactivated | Activate the driver in Drivers & recipients, or assign another driver |
| "Route link texted to … (…)." | The text was sent | — |
| "Enter a full phone number to text the route link to." | Send with a number that is not a valid phone number | Check the number |
| "This store has no texting number to send from yet. Contact UpChannels support to connect one, or use Copy link meanwhile." | Text link with texting connected but no number or messaging service to send from | Ask UpChannels to connect a number (the Contact Sales form on SMS setup), or use Copy link |
| "Messaging is not configured for your organization. Contact UpChannels support to set up texting." | Text link while your store's own texting is not set up, or only partly | Ask UpChannels to connect it (the Contact Sales form on SMS setup), or use Copy link |
| "Your plan does not include SMS. Upgrade to Pro or Premium to send messages." | Text link on a plan without SMS. Shown as the Upgrade required pop-up with an Upgrade button, like the three below | Use Copy link, or upgrade |
| "No active subscription. Subscribe to Pro or Premium to send SMS." | Text link with no subscription | Use Copy link, or subscribe |
| "Monthly SMS limit reached (…/…). Upgrade your plan or wait for the next billing cycle to send more." | No texts left this month | Use Copy link, or wait or upgrade |
| "Your subscription is inactive or your trial has expired. Update billing to send SMS." | Billing is not active | Update billing, or use Copy link |
| "This recipient is deactivated" | Text link or Send to a deactivated recipient | Activate them, or use another driver |
| "This recipient has no valid phone number" | The recipient's phone number cannot be texted | Fix the number, or use Copy link |
| "This number cannot take texts…", "This number has replied STOP…", "The texting service refused this store's texting credentials…" or "The route link could not be texted just now…", each ending "The route was left with its previous driver." | The text could not be sent | Use Copy link. See Routes for each one |
| Red bar at the top of the order's Delivery tab (for example "Only the organization owner can reopen a delivery" or "Reopen failed") | Reopen did not go through | The tab itself is unchanged, so check the delivery's status below the bar, ask the owner if needed, and press Dismiss when you are done with the message. A bar that appears when the tab first opens is a loading problem instead, and offers Try again |
Who can use what
| Who | Can do | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Driver (anyone holding the link) | See one driver's stops for one date, tap statuses, capture proof of delivery, report damage, send notes | No sign-in, no app. The link reaches only deliveries assigned to that driver, or stops on that driver's open route for that date |
| Link lifetime | 48 hours from when it was made | Stops at once if the driver is deactivated or the owner switches off Delivery & Routes. Dissolving a route does not end it |
| Plan | Delivery & Routes is part of every plan | The owner can switch it off: Settings → Delivery & Routes → Enable Delivery & Routes |
| Any signed-in staff who can open Routes | Copy link, Text link | Text link also needs your store's own texting set up and a plan that includes SMS (Pro or Premium; a free trial counts) with texts left |
| Owner only | Reopen a Done or Partial delivery; change delivery settings such as Route auto-close | — |
| Customer (anyone with the tracking link) | Read-only tracking page for 60 days | The page keeps working even if Delivery & Routes is later switched off |
Demo mode (/drive/demo)
- Open it: no button in the app opens it. Add /drive/demo to your UpChannels web address. The driver screenshot at the top of this page is taken from it.
- Banner: "Demo route. Sample data; taps are disabled and nothing is sent." with a Show proof of delivery button, which opens the proof-of-delivery flow for stop 2 (David Kim, washer and dryer).
- Disabled: I'm on my way, I've arrived, Arrived — start work and Mark complete do nothing, and statuses never change. Send note shows "Note sent" but sends nothing. Nothing loads from a store, no copy is saved for offline use.
- Still works: opening stops; Open in Maps, Navigate and Call customer (real links to the sample addresses and numbers); the note box; Complete this stop on stop 2; Report damage on delivery stops; every proof-of-delivery step and the damage form.
- Leave: there is no back button — close the tab or use the browser's back button.
There is no guided tour on this demo.
| # | Stop | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jennifer Walsh | Done | Refrigerator. Instructions "Leave in the garage, code 4417." |
| 2 | David Kim | Arrived | Washer and dryer. Instructions "Side gate is unlocked — please call 15 minutes before arriving." |
| 3 | Maria Gonzalez | Up next | Dishwasher |
| 4 | Washer hookup & haul-away (Michael Torres) | Up next | Service visit. Instructions "Old unit goes back on the truck." |
The header reads "Your Store" and "Marcus Reed · Friday, Sep 18 · 1/4 done". Times show in your own time zone (9:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM and 4:30 PM in US Central).
Differences from the live page: the demo's damage waiver reads "I accept the item(s) in their current condition and release the store from further liability for the damage noted above." — real stores get the standard text in the Proof of delivery panel. Finish stop and Send report work, and record and send nothing: an amber line on each screen says so before you press, the screen then closes with "Demo — nothing was recorded and nothing was sent.", your location is never asked for, and nothing is written to the phone — so no "waiting to sync" bar can appear. Send note reads "Demo — not sent" and keeps what you typed.
Common questions
The driver says the link does not work. What do I do? Read what the screen says. "This link has expired" means it is more than 48 hours old; "This link is no longer active" means the driver was deactivated; "Delivery is not enabled for this organization" means the owner switched off Delivery & Routes. In every case, fix the cause and send a fresh link with Copy link or Text link. Nothing the driver already recorded is lost.
The driver finished a stop without signal. Did it save? If the phone said "Saved — it will sync to the office when you have signal.", the capture is stored in that phone's browser. It sends when the route page is open and has signal, and the blue "waiting to sync" bar disappears. Until then the stop still shows Arrived on the phone — the driver should not redo it. Status taps and notes are not stored this way; they must be tapped again with signal.
Why is a stop Partial when the driver delivered everything on the truck? Because the order is not finished. A visit is Done only when the whole order has been delivered; if other products on the order were not on this stop, the visit is recorded as Partial, and a follow-up delivery for the rest is created for the next day in the same window, marked Proposed on the Routes board.
Nobody was home for the follow-up. What does UpChannels record? Not delivered, because that visit handed nothing over — an earlier visit having delivered part of the order makes no difference. No further follow-up is created. The customer is told the delivery could not be completed and that you will be in touch — or, if your portal lets them book their own window, that they can pick a new time (unless you turned Missed delivery message off in Settings → Delivery & Routes). The stop stays under the date it was attempted, and the order is back in Unscheduled orders on the Routes board straight away, first, with a Failed — reschedule badge. Schedule it there, or use Schedule delivery… in the order's window, and the failed stop is cancelled as the new delivery is booked.
Can a driver retry a failed delivery, or fix a stop completed by mistake? Not from the phone — once a stop is Done, Partial or Not delivered, its buttons disappear. A failed delivery stays open for the office to reschedule. For a stop completed by mistake, the owner clicks Reopen on the order's Delivery tab and gives a reason. The stop goes back to Arrived so the driver can capture proof of delivery again. Stock is not changed — use a return or adjustment for that.
Does the customer see damage photos or damage reports? No. Only Before and After photos appear on the tracking page. Damage photos, property damage reports, notes, signatures and waivers stay internal.
The delivery record says "Received by …" instead of "Signed by …". Why? Because that record holds a name with nothing signed. Signed by … is used only where a signature was actually captured; a name without one reads Received by … on the order's Delivery tab, and the customer's tracking page shows no line at all. You will only see it on older deliveries: a typed name is kept only when a signature is drawn with it.
Was the customer told the driver was on the way? On the first I'm on my way tap for a delivery, the customer gets one "on the way" message with a tracking link. It goes by text if they accept texts and have a phone number, otherwise — or if the text cannot be sent — by email; with neither, nothing is sent. Service visits and failed attempts send nothing.
Where do I read what the driver wrote in a damage report? On either screen: Driver activity on the Routes board and the order's Delivery tab both show the damage reported entry with the description the driver typed, and Driver activity adds how many photos came with it. The photos themselves are under the order's Proof-of-delivery photos. None of it reaches the customer.