Canned Responses & Templates
Canned responses are reusable email and SMS messages that help your team reply faster, stay consistent, and personalize communication without rewriting the same message every time. In OctopusPro, they can be created for different recipients and record types, then selected when sending messages from inquiries, bookings, quotes, invoices, customer profiles, and fieldworker profiles.
They are ideal for common communication such as follow-ups, photo requests, service updates, quote reminders, invoice notices, customer support replies, policy updates, and operational notices to fieldworkers. Instead of typing the same message repeatedly, your staff can select a pre-written response, review it, make any final edits if needed, and send it in seconds.
On this page: What are canned responses? | Canned responses vs other templates | Benefits and use cases | Create a canned response | Use template placeholders | Where you can send canned responses | Send canned responses to fieldworkers | Set up email and SMS delivery | Communication history and audit trail | Best practices | Related guides
What are canned responses?
Canned responses are pre-written messages that office staff and admin users can manually insert into emails and SMS messages inside OctopusPro. They help standardize communication while still allowing personalization through dynamic placeholders, also known as merge fields.
For example, a canned response can automatically insert details such as the customer’s name, trading name, booking number, booking date, invoice number, quote number, service name, or company phone number. This makes messages faster to prepare while keeping them accurate and relevant to the record being contacted.
Each canned response is configured using:
- Name – an internal label for your team
- Subject – used for email canned responses
- Template Type – Email or SMS
- Receiver Type – Customer or Fieldworker
- Item Type – the type of record the response is used from, such as Booking, Inquiry, Estimate, Invoice, Customer Profile, or Fieldworker Profile
This setup ensures users only see relevant canned responses in the correct places, which keeps communication workflows more organized and easier to manage.
Canned responses vs other templates
This is one of the most important distinctions to understand:
- Canned Responses: reusable quick-reply style messages that staff manually select when sending an email or SMS.
- Email Templates: the built-in system email templates used for common workflows such as booking confirmations, reminders, invoices, password resets, and other standard communications.
- SMS Templates: the built-in system SMS templates used for reminders, updates, overdue notices, “on the way” alerts, and other operational messages.
- Automations: scheduled or trigger-based workflows that automatically send communications using the templates configured in OctopusPro.
If you want to create a reusable custom message that your team can manually select when sending a message, use Canned Responses. If you want to edit the default system messages OctopusPro sends for common workflows, use Email Templates or SMS Templates. If you want messages to send automatically based on timing or business rules, use Automated Procedures.
This distinction helps prevent confusion, especially for teams deciding whether they need a manual quick reply, a system template update, or a full automation workflow.
Benefits and common use cases
Using canned responses can help your business:
- Save time by reducing repetitive typing
- Keep communication consistent across your team
- Reduce mistakes by reusing approved wording
- Personalize messages at scale using placeholders
- Improve response speed for customers and fieldworkers
- Support better service quality with clear, professional messaging
Common examples include:
- Inquiry acknowledgements and follow-ups
- Requests for photos, measurements, or access details
- Quote follow-ups and offer reminders
- Booking preparation instructions
- Service updates and reschedule notices
- Invoice reminders and payment instructions
- Customer support replies
- Fieldworker notices, policy updates, and operational messages
How to create a canned response
Go to Settings > Communications > Templates & Canned Responses. This is the main library where your team can create, manage, and update canned responses.
Click New Response to create a new canned response.
Complete the form as follows:
- Name: Enter a clear internal name such as “Quote Follow-Up”, “Invoice Reminder”, “Photo Request”, or “Fieldworker Safety Update”.
- Subject: Add the subject line for email canned responses. SMS responses do not use an email subject line in the same way, but keeping a clear internal subject can still help your team identify the template.
- Template Type: Choose Email or SMS.
- Receiver Type: Choose Customer or Fieldworker.
- Item Type: Choose where the response will be used, such as Booking, Inquiry, Estimate, Invoice, Customer Profile, or Fieldworker Profile.
- Body: Write the message content and insert placeholders where needed.
Once saved, the canned response becomes available anywhere that matches its selected item type and receiver type.
Example: a canned response configured as Email + Customer + Booking will appear when sending an email to a customer from a booking, but it will not appear when messaging a fieldworker or when sending from an invoice.
How to use template placeholders
Template placeholders allow you to automatically insert live data into your canned responses. This helps you personalize messages while keeping them reusable.
Examples include:
- {customer_first_name}
- {trading_name}
- {booking_num}
- {invoice_num}
- {company_phone}
When creating or editing a canned response, click View template placeholders to open the placeholder library, then insert the placeholders you need into the body of the message. You can also use Preview Canned Response to review how the final message will look before saving or sending it.
The list of placeholders shown is filtered based on the selected Template Type, Receiver Type, and Item Type. This helps prevent invalid placeholders and ensures each template only uses data available for that communication context.
To learn more, see Template Placeholders for Email, SMS & WhatsApp Templates.
Where you can send canned responses
Admin users can manually send canned responses from multiple areas across OctopusPro. The available canned responses depend on the item type and receiver type configured for each template.
Send canned responses from inquiries
Inquiry canned responses are useful for lead acknowledgements, follow-ups, qualification questions, requests for photos, pricing preparation, and next-step instructions.
Go to Inquiries, open the relevant inquiry, then use the email or SMS icons in the customer section.
When sending an email from an inquiry, you can choose the recipient, add CC addresses, set the subject, attach files, select a canned response, review the content, and then send.
When sending an SMS from an inquiry, you can choose the destination number, select a canned response, review the text, and send the message.
Send canned responses from bookings
Bookings are one of the most common places to use canned responses. Typical uses include service preparation instructions, scheduling updates, manual reminders, photo requests, and post-service follow-ups.
Go to Booking Details, then use the email or SMS contact options in the customer section.
For more related communication tools from bookings, see Booking Communication.
Send canned responses from quotes and estimates
Quote and estimate canned responses are useful for sales follow-ups, reminders, clarification requests, pricing discussions, and next-step instructions.
Go to Quotes & Estimates, open the relevant quote, then use the available communication options for the customer.
Send canned responses from invoices
Invoice canned responses are useful for payment reminders, payment instructions, invoice clarifications, proof of payment requests, and overdue follow-ups.
Go to Invoice Details, open the relevant invoice, then use the email or SMS options in the customer section.
Send canned responses from customer profiles
You can also send canned responses directly from the customer profile. This is useful for general customer communication that is not tied to one specific inquiry, booking, quote, or invoice.
Go to Customer Profile, then use the email or SMS icons for the relevant customer.
Send canned responses to fieldworkers
OctopusPro also allows admin users to send canned responses to fieldworkers. This is useful for operational messages, policy updates, reminders, onboarding communication, and targeted notices to selected teams or individuals.
For more detailed communication options, see How to Contact Fieldworkers by Email, SMS, Chat or Call.
Bulk-send to all fieldworkers, filtered groups, or selected users
From the Fieldworkers page, admin users can send email or SMS to:
- All fieldworkers
- All with filters, such as activity status, service, or town/city
- Some fieldworkers selected individually
When sending SMS to fieldworkers, you can also choose whether to send to the main mobile number only or to all mobile numbers saved on the fieldworker profile.
For bulk email sends, OctopusPro can populate recipients based on the selected group. For bulk SMS sends, each fieldworker receives a separate text message.
Send a canned response to one fieldworker
You can also send a canned response to an individual fieldworker from the fieldworkers list or from the fieldworker profile.
This is useful for shift changes, reminders, operational instructions, onboarding steps, training messages, and direct follow-up communication.
Set up email and SMS delivery
Business email authentication
To send email canned responses from your business identity, you must verify at least one email address or authenticate your domain. This helps improve deliverability, protects your brand, and ensures your emails are sent from an approved sender.
- Single email address authentication is suitable if you want to send from one specific address.
- Domain authentication is recommended if you want multiple users or templates to send from your business domain.
See Business Email Authentication for full setup instructions.
SMS via Twilio
To send SMS canned responses, your account must be connected to a Twilio number through the Digital Phone System settings.
See Twilio Digital Phone System Setup for the full process.
Once email and SMS delivery are configured, your team can send canned responses through the appropriate channel using your approved business sender settings.
Communication history and audit trail
After your team sends canned responses, OctopusPro helps you keep a record of those communications for follow-up, troubleshooting, and compliance.
- Customer Communication History lets you review email, SMS, and call records saved against the customer profile.
- Outbound Email Log provides a company-wide email audit trail.
- SMS History Log & Notifications helps you track incoming and outgoing SMS activity.
- Fieldworker Email Log helps you review fieldworker email activity.
- Workflow Automations Log helps you confirm what automated communications ran, when they ran, and how many records were affected.
This is especially useful for checking whether a message was sent, confirming what wording was used, and keeping a reliable history of customer and fieldworker communication.
Best practices
- Use clear internal names so staff can quickly choose the correct response.
- Keep messages concise, especially for SMS.
- Use placeholders where helpful to personalize messages without creating too many template variations.
- Match the item type correctly so the response only appears where it is relevant.
- Review templates regularly to update wording, links, pricing, policies, or seasonal offers.
- Use canned responses for manual communication and Automated Procedures when the message should be sent automatically.
- Keep email templates and SMS templates aligned so messaging stays consistent across channels.
- Check the preview before sending when using important placeholders or more complex message content.
Examples of useful canned responses include:
- New inquiry acknowledgement
- Photo request
- Quote follow-up
- Booking preparation message
- Access instruction reminder
- Invoice payment reminder
- Fieldworker notice or policy update
- General customer support reply
Well-structured canned responses help your business respond faster, communicate more consistently, and improve the experience for both customers and fieldworkers.
Related guides
- Email Templates
- SMS Templates
- Template Placeholders
- Business Email Authentication
- Twilio Digital Phone System
- Automated Procedures
- Mailing Lists, Bulk Messaging & Marketing
- Creating a New Inquiry
- View & Manage Booking Details
- View & Manage Quotes & Estimates
- View & Manage Invoice Details
- View Customer Details
- Contact Fieldworkers by Email, SMS, Chat or Call
- Customer Communication History
- Outbound Email Log
- SMS History Log & Notifications
- Workflow Automations Log
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