The Flag, Stop All and Stop Promotions status markers can be applied to any contact at anytime. These markers will stay on the contact and be visible to all users on your team until someone changes the contact's status back again. The markers can be applied to a group of contacts at the same time by first selecting them in the Phonebook, then using the Flag or Stop All buttons on the toolbar, or you can Drag and Drop them into the Stop Promotions Group located on the left side of your Phonebook. You can also change the status of a single contact in the Phonebook by clicking on the orange circle next to the contact's name - look for the Flag, the red hand sign, and the No $ symbol.

If you are chatting with a contact who likes to hear from you directly, but they don't want to receive any marketing texts, then you can quickly add them to the Stop Promotions Group by clicking the blue circle next to their name in your Record area - under the Add to Sales Group section you will see the Stop Promotions Group. Use this same drop down menu in your Record area to mark individual contacts with a Flag or Stop All in response to various situations that may occur throughout your day. Below are some situations where using these markers will help:

1) Flag / Unflag

"What does the Flag mean?" you may be asking. It means whatever you or your team wants it to mean. It could mean a customer satisfaction issue occurred, or the customer is waiting for a part to come in, or just someone that requires further follow-up at the end of your day. Flagging a contact simply allows you to find them quickly later by using the Show Contacts with Flags filter in the upper left hand corner of the Phonebook. First you might want to remove any Flags still on contacts belonging to you. Go to your Phonebook, select yourself in the Show Contacts Assigned To filter, then apply the Show Contacts with Flags filter up above, then press the [Select All] button on the toolbar, then the [Flag On-Off] toggle button - also on the toolbar - twice - until all Flags are removed.

Let's say that you have received several texts from customers looking for a back-ordered part, or if you schedule appointments - maybe there are patients looking for an open appointment. Throughout your day, start marking all contacts with a Flag that have expressed interest in the part (or want the earliest appointment possible). When the part shipment arrives (or an appointment opens up), use the Show Contacts with Flags filter in the Phonebook to retrieve those contacts. Now you can instantly update them on the new part availability or appointment opening.

2) Stop All / OK to Send

If an issue develops with a certain contact and you want to alert your teammates quickly, use the Stop All marker (the red hand sign). This will immediately Stop All outbound texts from going to that customer and will remain in effect until someone marks the contact 'OK to Send.' Since this works like an emergency off switch, the User name who marks a contact with Stop All will be displayed in the contact record. If you want to explain the reason for the Stop All to your teammates, you can Add an internal Note to the contact record by going to the blue circle next to the contact's name in your Record area and selecting Add Note. This allows you to internally document the reason for the Stop All event and save it with the contact history. Add Notes are never sent out to the contact - they are for your teammates eyes only. Contacts marked Stop All will appear underlined in Red when placed inside the Messenger's TO: address field, and they will remain behind even after clicking the Send Now button. This reminds you that they were not included in your last outbound send. Use the grey button that says ‘Message’ on it to erase any contacts left behind in the Messenger.

3) Stop Promotions / OK to put into Sales Groups

If you hear a customer say, "I love receiving personal texts from you, but please do not send me any marketing or other promotional texts," then please put them in the Stop Promotions Group. It is also a good idea to put yourself, other iViP Users and fellow company employees in the Stop Promotions Group so that you all can avoid receiving your own company's marketing ads or sales related alerts. When a contact is marked Stop Promotions, it will automatically be removed from all Sales Groups and be skipped by default whenever part of a Group Send list (6 or more contacts at once). Contacts in the Stop Promotions Group enjoy protection from all marketing advertisements and, under most circumstances, should never have their protected status removed. The only reason might be if the mobile phone # now belongs to an entirely different customer who specifically requests to be added to a Sales Group. Contacts marked Stop Promotions will appear underlined in Brown when placed inside the Messenger's TO: address field. Brown underlined contacts will remain behind after you click the Send Now button. This reminds you that they were not included in your last outbound send. Use the grey button that says ‘Message’ on it to erase any contacts left behind in the Messenger.