Overview
Deskie keeps members and admins informed through three separate notification channels: email, SMS text messages, and push notifications. Different events use different channels, and in many cases the same event is delivered across more than one channel at once. Each person controls which notifications they receive from their own settings, so the experience can be tailored per individual rather than forced on everyone in the workspace.
This article explains how each channel works, what controls members and admins have over their notifications, and some important behaviors to be aware of.
The three channels
Email is the most widely used channel. It is sent through SendGrid. On many emails the workspace name is used as the sender display name, so messages read as coming from your space rather than from a generic system address. Email covers the broadest range of events, from message notifications and invoices to newsletters and admin alerts.
When an email is sent with workspace context available, it is recorded in your workspace email archive so you have a record of what went out. Sends that run without a workspace context (for example certain background jobs) are not added to the archive. For more on customizing email appearance, see Branding and custom emails.
SMS (text messages)
SMS is sent through Twilio. It is used for time-sensitive admin alerts where a quick heads-up matters, such as a new resource booking, a tour booking, a visitor arriving, a new pass or event purchase, a new member signup, or a paid invoice.
SMS is outbound only. Deskie sends text messages out to recipients, but it does not receive or process replies. There is no inbound SMS inbox or reply handling in the platform. If a member or admin replies to a Deskie text message, that reply is not captured or routed anywhere inside Deskie. Treat SMS as a one-way alert channel, and use Messages or the email inbox for two-way conversations.
SMS messages require a valid phone number on the recipient. For admin SMS alerts, Deskie pulls the phone number from each admin or owner profile, formats it into international (E.164) format using your workspace country, and only sends to admins who have a phone number on file and have the relevant SMS notification turned on.
Push notifications
Push notifications are real-time alerts delivered to a device. Deskie supports two kinds of push:
- Mobile app push to the Deskie mobile app, delivered through Expo.
- Web push to a browser, delivered through standard web push.
When someone signs in to the mobile app or enables browser notifications, their device registers a push subscription tied to their user account and the current workspace. Each device is tracked separately, so a single person can receive push notifications on more than one device at once. Push is used for events like new messages and admin alerts.
Deskie automatically cleans up dead subscriptions. If a device token becomes permanently invalid (for example the app was uninstalled or the browser permission was revoked), Deskie deactivates that subscription so it stops trying to send to it.
Member notification preferences
Every member can manage their own notification preferences from their settings, under the Notifications section. Preferences are stored per member, per workspace, and per notification type, so a member who belongs to more than one workspace controls each one independently.
Members can turn the following notifications on or off:
- Messages. Notifications when they receive a new message.
- Visitor check-ins. Notifications when a visitor arrives for them.
- Newsletters. Whether they receive newsletters from the workspace.
A key behavior to understand: notifications are opted in by default. If a member has never touched a particular toggle, Deskie treats that notification as enabled. A member only stops receiving a notification once they explicitly turn it off. This means new members start out receiving the relevant notifications without having to opt in first.
When a member subscribes or unsubscribes from newsletters, that change is recorded on their member activity timeline, so admins can see who opted out and when. See Member activity and billing for where this appears.
How messages are delivered to members
New message notifications use the single Messages preference to control both push and email. When a member receives a message and has Messages notifications enabled:
- A push notification is sent in real time to their devices.
- An email is sent as well, but it is throttled to at most one message email per 24 hours per workspace. This keeps a rapid back-and-forth conversation from filling someone's inbox with one email per reply.
If a member turns Messages off, they receive neither the push nor the email for new messages.
Admin notifications
Admins and owners have an additional Admin Notifications panel in their settings, available to those with workspace management permission. This panel covers operational alerts about what is happening across the space.
What makes the admin panel different is that each event type can be controlled per channel. For every admin notification there are three independent toggles: Push, SMS, and Email. An admin can, for example, receive new booking alerts by push only, get paid-invoice alerts by email, and turn off SMS entirely, all without affecting any other admin.
The admin notification events include:
- Resource bookings. New resource booking notifications.
- Booking starting in 15 minutes. A reminder 15 minutes before a resource booking starts.
- Booking ended. A notification when a resource booking ends.
- Booking cancelled. A notification when a resource booking is cancelled.
- Tour bookings. New tour booking notifications.
- Tour in 1 hour. A reminder one hour before a tour.
- Tour starting now. A notification when a tour is starting.
- Pass purchases. New pass purchase notifications.
- Event purchases. New event ticket purchase notifications.
- Asset signups. New asset signup notifications.
- Support tickets. New support ticket notifications.
- New member signups. A notification when a new member signs up.
- Invoice paid. A notification when an invoice is paid.
As with member preferences, admin notifications are opted in by default. Each toggle only suppresses a notification once it is explicitly turned off. Because the channels are independent, an admin receives an alert on a given channel only when both that specific channel is enabled and they meet the channel's requirements (for example, having a phone number on file for SMS, or a registered device for push).
Workspace-level controls
Beyond individual preferences, the platform has switches that can suppress sending entirely. These are typically used in development or staging environments rather than day to day. When notifications are globally disabled, Deskie logs what it would have sent instead of actually delivering it, and when push is disabled it skips push delivery specifically. In normal production operation these switches are off and notifications flow as described above.
SMS and email also depend on their underlying integrations being configured. SMS is delivered through Twilio and email through SendGrid. If a channel is not configured, notifications on that channel cannot be delivered even when the recipient has the preference enabled.
Related topics
- Messages covers the two-way messaging that triggers message notifications.
- Newsletters explains broadcasting to members, which respects the newsletter preference.
- Visitors and check-in covers the visitor arrivals that trigger check-in notifications.
- Branding and custom emails covers customizing how your emails look.