Your settings

Your settings

In this article, you'll learn about each of the options under Settings in the Touchbase app. You can access this section by clicking Settings in the main menu.

Reception profile

Your profile is the bread and butter of Touchbase Real Estate.

It is the powerhouse that allows us to send messages and requests to the right people based on their preferences and availability.

To set up your profile, open your Touchbase app and go to Settings in the main menu.

Click Reception profile. You will notice that you have two tabs at the top of your screen: Destinations and Other options.

Destinations

A Destination is any cell phone number, email address, or device with the Touchbase app, that allows you to receive messages. We'll explain more in detail below.

Current status

Your profile is valid: if you see this text, with a blue dot, all is well! You are ready to send and receive messages through Touchbase and your MLS.

If your profile shows as not valid, that usually indicates that at least one type of message is not assigned to a Destination.

What does that mean?

In Touchbase, there are 6 types of messages:

  • Showing request
  • Showing confirmation
  • Showing cancellation
  • Showing feedback
  • Information on a property
  • Other message

In order for your profile to be active, or 'valid', you need to ensure that every type of message has somewhere to go. This could be all sent to the same device, i.e. by text message on your cell phone, or, you can choose to receive different messages on different devices. Next, we'll show you how to set up each Destination to your liking.

Destinations

As previously mentioned, a Destination is any cell phone number, email address, or device with the Touchbase app, that allows you to receive messages.

In this section you have the option to Add and email or Add an SMS. This is completely up to you - remember that having the app on your phone or tablet counts as a destination!

If you choose to add an email or cell phone number (SMS), you can then choose to include or exclude certain types of messages for that Destination.

For example, if you want to receive only showing feedback by email, you could add your email address and deselect everything except for showing feedback. Remember, though, that each message type must be assigned a Destination, or you won't receive any messages at all!

We recommend setting all message types on your Touchbase app, and adding any additional Destinations (devices) you prefer.

Other options

This tab allows you to customize your account settings.

These settings include:

Being active in the Touchbase duty schedule - this is the duty roster from your office which allows unassigned calls from the office to be assigned to you.

Receiving automatic showing feedback requests - you can choose to turn off this option if you do not want to give feedback on properties you've shown.

Receiving 'notice on property' messages - you can exclude yourself from these messages if you do not wish to receive notifications such as price adjustments on properties you showed.

Access Touchbase SMS reply feature - this feature is only applicable for those receiving their Touchbase messages via SMS. It is most useful for those who do not have data on their phone, and therefore can only answer via text message. The SMS reply feature includes a 3-digit code that must be entered to reply to the message.

Receive compact messages on my smartphone - This option will truncate messages if they are too long, and will only display essential information.

Notes

User notes are specific to each agent, and can be seen both within Touchbase and via your MLS. These notes are useful in that they are visible before a showing request or other message is even sent. This can help eliminate redundant or useless steps in the showing process. Things like ''I check my messages every 2 days, will get back to you soon.'' are great examples of useful user notes.

You can set these up by opening your Touchbase app and selecting Settings > Notes.

To add a new note, click on Add a note under Actions. Enter the note you would like to display when someone pulls up your name or one of your listings (up to 250 characters).

Covering period

You can customize your notes so that they are displayed only during certain days and/or times. To do this, simply enter the From and To period throughout which you want the note to appear. For example, you could choose December 1st to December 20th.

To display the note until further notice, simply click on the toggle icon in the Custom period button so it shows All the time.

Applying a filter

You can take the covering period a step further, by choosing a time of day and selecting specific days of the week.

For example, you can choose to show the note from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. This is just one example of the many uses of a custom covering period.

To display the listing note 24 hours/day, simple leave the toggle under Filtering to No filter.

Be sure to click Save when you're done.

Replacements

Touchbase Replacements allow you to take time off without worrying that your messages are going unanswered.

You can use Replacements to forward your messages when going on vacation, taking a day off, or even just a few hours on specific days of the week.

These replacement settings can be repeated on a weekly basis (ex: every Monday from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.), added as a one-time occurrence, or turned on until further notice.

You can set up your replacement by opening your Touchbase app and selecting Settings > Replacements > Add Replacement.

Choose your replacement

You will see a list of your colleagues when you select Add replacement. Choose the person you want receiving your messages. You can then fine-tune the details under the Covering period and Filtering sections.

Covering period

Enter the From and To period throughout which you want the replacement to occur. For example, you could choose December 1st to December 20th.

To continue to be replaced until further notice, simply click on the toggle icon in the Custom period button so it shows All the time.

Applying a filter

You can take the covering period a step further, by choosing a time of day and selecting specific days of the week.

For example, you could choose to receive your messages from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 7 days per week and forward them the rest of the time.

To keep the replacement active 24 hours/day, simple leave the toggle under Filtering to No filter.

You can choose whether or not you would like to be copied in while you are being replaced. Just use the Copy me in toggle. Don't worry, however: if you choose not to be copied in, you can always access the messages in your reports.

Be sure to click Save when you're done.

My team

If you have an assistant or work as a team with another agent, this feature can be very useful to you. It allows you to create a team in Touchbase, and then to assign messages to each member of your team, including:

  • Showing requests
  • Showing confirmations
  • Showing cancellations
  • Showing feedback
  • Information on a property
  • Other messages

These message types can also be assigned depending on the time of day. For example:

  • During office hours
  • Outside office hours
  • Always
  • Never

For example, your 2nd listing agent could receive all messages outside of office hours (determined by the admin at your office).

In order to set up your team, go to Settings > My team > Add a team member. You will see a list of names from your brokerage. Select the name of the person(s) you want on your team.

Important: to form a team, each member must accept each other member's request.

Once your team is formed, you will need to access the classic version of Touchbase to assign each message type.

To do this, go to https://services.touchbaserealestate.com/ and log in. You will see a red and green grid that allows you to assign each type of message, as previously described.

Any team members will appear under your name, to the left or the grid.

If you prefer, you can contact our support team by email or at 1(800)469-1664 to have them help you with the setup.

Showing feedback

Feedback is an important part of the showing process for many agents. In order to offer impeccable service, it is a good idea to ask specific questions about each listing and send an automated showing feedback request after each visit.

Automated feedback requests can be customized to suit your needs. You can choose the delay after which each request will automatically be sent out. For example, you could decide that you want to allow 6 hours to pass between the time of the showing (ex: 3:00 p.m.) and the time that the feedback request is sent (ex: 9:00 p.m.).

To do this, go to the main menu of your Touchbase mobile app and select Settings > Showing feedback. The very first option allows you to choose the delay before requests are sent. You can select anything from 15 minutes to 3 days. You also have the option to select 'Don't send' if you would rather not send feedback requests at all.

If you do not wish to receive requests for showing feedback, you can choose to turn off this feature in your settings. Learn how.

To learn more about setting up custom feedback forms, click here.

Calendar synchronization (BETA)

This feature allows you to sync your Touchbase calendar with other calendars on your phone, such as Google Calendar.

To use this feature, go to Settings > Calendar synchronization (BETA) > copy the link to your clipboard.

Then, you'll need to access the calendar you want to copy to. For this example, we'll use the Google Calendar. Under Other Calendars (on the left), click the + and select From URL. Paste the URL you previously copied in Touchbase.

Learn more.