Phone System Overview
How calls and texts reach your shop — providers, numbers, routing rules, the AI receptionist, voicemail, and an emergency backup.
Shop Commander is a complete phone system for the shop: incoming calls ring your team in the browser or the mobile app, texts land in Messages, and every call is matched to the customer, vehicle and repair order it belongs to. You do not need a separate phone company or a desk full of equipment.
Phone provider and account
Shop Commander phone systems use Telnyx:
- Shop Commander managed — the default. Shop Commander provides the phone service; you choose a number and start answering calls. Nothing to set up elsewhere.
- Your own Telnyx account — keep numbers and billing in a Telnyx account you already own.
The choice is made under Settings → Phone & Messaging. BYO credentials are stored encrypted and never shown again; the page shows only the last few characters and when they were set. Changing a connection that already carries a number requires a supervised cutover; the credential form will not take a serving line down.
See Phone & Messaging settings for the setup steps.
What happens when someone calls
- The call arrives on one of your phone numbers.
- Shop Commander looks up the caller and finds the customer, their vehicles, open repair orders and upcoming appointment.
- The first routing rule that matches (business hours or after hours, known or unknown caller) decides what happens: ring a ring group of staff, hand the call to the AI receptionist, take a voicemail, or forward to another phone.
- Staff who are signed in and available see the call ring in the Phone page with the caller's context beside it.
- If nobody answers, the rule's fallback runs — the AI receptionist, voicemail, forwarding, or a missed-call text — and the call is logged for follow-up.
Every call ends up on the customer's timeline and on the repair order it was about, with the outcome, the duration, a recording or transcript when you have those turned on, and a short AI summary.
Texting
Text messages use the same provider and the same numbers. Two-way conversations live in Messages; automated texts (estimate ready, appointment reminders, review requests) come from the templates on the Messaging tab and the CRM modules. Some countries require registration before a number may send texts; the Phone numbers card shows that status.
When the phones go down
Routing decides what happens when staff do not answer. Emergency failover decides what happens when Shop Commander itself cannot take the call — an internet outage at the shop, for example. The phone company sends those calls straight to a backup number you choose. Set it up and use the non-disruptive test from the Emergency failover card; it is the one setting you will be glad you verified before you needed it.
Who can change what
Access is split so a front-desk lead can tune routing without being able to change the provider:
| Permission | Lets a person |
|---|---|
| View settings | See the Phone & Messaging tab |
| Manage phone provider | Choose the provider and enter credentials |
| Manage phone numbers | Search, buy, bring in, port and release where the active provider supports it |
| Manage emergency failover | Set and test the backup number, edit caller ID |
| Manage call routing | Rules, ring groups, voicemail, recording, desk phones |
| Manage AI receptionist | The AI receptionist's greeting, booking and transfer settings |
| View calls | The Phone page and call history on customers and repair orders |