Skip to content

SMS mid-job authorization

Authorize the extra work by text. No phone tag.

Half of the day a service advisor used to spend on the phone was spent re-explaining things the customer had already seen. Pitlane collapses that. The tech finds something on the job, adds the line, taps send. The customer sees the new items on their phone, taps authorize or decline on each one, signs with a finger. The RO updates. The tech keeps working.

Per-line authorize or decline. With a signature.

The customer sees each new line on the RO with the description, the price, and Authorize / Decline buttons. They can authorize three, decline one, and ask a question about the fifth. Each decision lands on the right line on the RO. Declines stay on the vehicle record so you can follow up later. Authorizations are signed with the customer's finger on a canvas. That signature lives on the line as proof the work was approved.

No phone tag. No "she said yes but I don't have it in writing." The audit trail is in the RO itself.

Tokenized links that expire.

The link the customer taps is one-time and tokenized. The plain token never lives in the database — only its hash. The link expires after the customer responds or after the configured window, whichever comes first. Same security model Pitlane uses for text-to-pay.

Customers never need an account. They never need a password. They tap the text, they see the items, they decide, they sign.

The owner gets notified the second the response lands.

Authorization or decline triggers an in-app notification to the owner and the advisor on the RO. Decline a $400 line and the recovery follow-up sequence kicks in 30 days later automatically. Authorize a $400 line and the tech sees the green check and keeps moving.

The whole loop — find, send, sign, continue — takes a customer about 30 seconds. The advisor doesn't pick up the phone once.

Runs on your shop's own number.

Pitlane registered a per-shop subaccount and a Sole Proprietor brand in the A2P 10DLC framework so your shop sends from your own dedicated number. The customer sees the shop name on every text. STOP and HELP work the way carrier rules require. You don't deal with any of the carrier paperwork — that registration is owned by Pitlane and applied to every shop at onboarding.

How it works.

01

Tech finds the extra work, adds the line

Mid-job. The tech is under the car. Drops the new finding into the RO as a line with a price.

02

Send the request

One tap. Pitlane sends the SMS from the shop's own number with a tokenized link to a customer-facing approval page.

03

Customer authorizes, signs, work continues

Per-line buttons, finger signature on a canvas. The decision lands on the RO. The tech keeps going. The owner gets notified.

This runs for your shop on a 30-day free trial.

Every feature on this page is included in the trial. No credit card. Live in under 10 minutes.

Questions about sms mid-job authorization.

Does the customer need to install anything?

No. The text contains a link that opens in any phone browser. No app, no account, no password. They see the line items, tap to authorize or decline each one, sign with a finger. That's the whole flow.

Is the signature legally binding?

It's a signed electronic record on a timestamped RO line, captured per the E-SIGN Act and most state UETA equivalents. Most shops use it the same way they'd use a customer initialing a paper RO. Talk to your attorney if your state has specific rules about electronic signatures for auto repair authorizations.

What if the customer doesn't respond?

The link has a configurable expiry (default 4 hours). If the customer hasn't responded by then, the request expires and the line stays in pending status. The advisor can resend, call, or hold the work — Pitlane doesn't auto-charge or auto-approve anything.

More features.