Get a text when an important client emails

The prompt

The problem

Phone notifications for email are all or nothing, or they match a sender list you have to keep up by hand. The client who matters this week gets the same buzz as a shipping update, so you turn the buzz off and miss the client.

What you need

• Your email connected.
• Your phone connected, and Texts from alfred_ on under Settings → Notifications. See Text messages.

What you get back

alfred_ repeats the rule back so you can check it before it’s saved:

Then, when Dana writes:

Then

Answer by text straight away (“reply and say Saturday at 9 works”), or leave it for later; it’s on Home either way. To change or stop the alert, ask (“stop texting me about Harbor Facilities”) or edit it under Settings → Rules.

Limits

• Rules that text you respect quiet hours. Alerts during quiet hours wait and arrive together as one text when they end.
• A rule acts on each email as it arrives. For a round-up instead of an alert, like “every afternoon, the client emails I haven’t answered”, make a routine.
• Name the domain when a client writes from several addresses.

Related

• Email rules
• How alfred_ decides what needs you
• Create an inbox rule: for moving or archiving mail
• Proactive AI: event triggers vs schedules

Variations

Best for

The few clients whose emails can't wait for the next time you open the inbox: a property you service, a key account, a case with a deadline.