Paperticket vs. a group text and a whiteboard
Most small service shops start the same way: calls come in to one phone, jobs go out in a group text, and the whiteboard in the shop says who's where. It costs nothing and everyone already knows how to use it.
It works until it doesn't. This page is about where that line usually is, and what changes when you move the same work into Paperticket.
Stick with a group text and a whiteboard if…
- It's you and one technician, and you talk every morning anyway.
- Nobody needs to look up what was done on a unit last year.
- Paper invoices never go missing between the truck and the office.
Paperticket fits if…
- A call gets posted and more than one person thinks someone else has it.
- The answer to "what did we do on that rooftop unit last time?" lives in one person's head or camera roll.
- Invoice slips and job notes have to make it back to the office before anyone can bill.
| Paperticket | A group text and a whiteboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns a call | Offer it to the crew or assign it; everyone sees who accepted | Whoever replies first, if anyone does |
| Job details | Customer, site, equipment, notes and photos on one job | Spread across the thread, voicemail and paper |
| Equipment history | Specs, photos and past service for each unit | Memory and camera rolls |
| Getting to billing | Invoice photo, notes, parts and time on site go to To be priced | Paper slips carried back to the office |
| No signal | Loaded jobs stay readable; notes, photos and completions wait to sync | Texts wait to send |
| Price | US$149/month per company plus applicable sales tax, unlimited users | Free |
Where the group text breaks
A group chat is good at telling everyone something at once. It's bad at making one person responsible. When a no-heat call is posted to four people, each can reasonably assume another has it.
The thread also becomes the record. Scroll back three weeks to find a model number, and the answer is somewhere between parts photos and who's grabbing coffee. The whiteboard gets erased at the end of the day.
What changes in Paperticket
The office takes the call, finds the customer by phone number, and puts the job on the board. It goes to one technician, or it's offered to the crew and the first to accept owns it. Everyone can see who's on what.
The technician has the site, the equipment and past work on their phone, and closes out with notes, parts and a photo of the invoice slip. The office sees completed work waiting to be priced instead of waiting for paper.
What Paperticket doesn't do (yet)
It isn't an accounting system. It exports billing data to CSV, but doesn't sync with QuickBooks or take card payments. It doesn't text customers from US shops yet. Accepting a call needs a connection.
What it costs
A group text is free. Paperticket is US$149 a month plus applicable sales tax for the whole company, however many technicians and office staff you add. New shops get a 14-day free trial with no credit card, and the demo runs in the browser with sample data.
See it with sample data. The demo runs in your browser: no signup, no card.
Try the demo