Tracking service requests from SMS
Triage resident issues submitted by text — assign, update, and resolve.
Updated
Service requests let your team track resident issues — potholes, missed trash pickup, noise complaints — with status, priority, and assignment, even when the report arrived as a text message.
Open the queue
Go to HelloCivic Text → Service Requests. The table shows all requests with filters for status, priority, category, and free-text search.
Click a row to open the detail panel with full history, linked conversation, and internal notes.
How requests get created
Requests can originate from:
- SMS report intake — when a resident texts a report keyword or follows an automated intake flow linked to a conversation.
- Staff — click New request to create one manually (useful for phone calls or walk-ins you want tracked alongside SMS reports).
Working a request
From the detail view you can:
- Change status (new → in progress → waiting → resolved → closed).
- Set priority (low, medium, high, urgent).
- Assign a category (configure categories in workspace settings).
- Add internal notes visible to staff only.
- Link back to the originating conversation in the inbox.
Resident updates
When configured, status changes can trigger outbound SMS updates to the resident ("Your request #1042 is now In progress"). Platform or workspace ops can pause resident-facing updates during maintenance — staff notes still work.
Tips
- Use categories consistently so reporting and filters stay useful.
- Resolve requests promptly — residents remember agencies that close the loop.
- Link every SMS-origin request to its conversation so staff have full context.
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