Email and SMS sharing
The offline sending queue
How emails and texts entered without a network are kept on the booth and sent automatically when the connection returns, and how to monitor the queue.
Feature being rolled out. Depending on your version of BoothX, queue monitoring may be located elsewhere in the app.
Many reception venues have weak mobile coverage and no reliable Wi-Fi. BoothX is built for this: when a guest asks for their photo by email or text, the request is saved on the booth in a queue. It goes out as soon as a connection is available, whether that's right away, an hour later or the next day.
How it works
- The guest enters their address or number and confirms.
- The request is written to the booth's disk: it survives BoothX being closed, a restart or a power cut.
- If the booth is online, the message goes out within seconds.
- Otherwise, BoothX retries automatically, at increasing intervals, and as soon as the network comes back.
- Once our servers accept the message, the request moves to Sent.
The guest doesn't have to do anything: they receive their message once the booth has been able to send it.
Sending statuses
| Status | Meaning | What to do? |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | The request is waiting for the network or its turn. | Nothing: it will go out on its own. |
| In progress | The message is being sent. | Nothing. |
| Sent | Our servers accepted the message. | Nothing. Final delivery depends on the guest's carrier or email provider. |
| Failed | The send was rejected (invalid address, out of credits…). | Read the reason; fix it, then retry if possible. |
Monitoring the queue
The event's sharing area shows:
- the number of sends pending, sent and failed;
- the list of sends with their status and any failure reason;
- a button to retry now, handy as soon as you've restored a connection.
Keep an eye on this counter at the end of the event: ideally, the queue should be empty before you pack up the booth.
Clearing the queue after the event
If the venue had no network:
- Don't delete the event and don't reinstall BoothX.
- Connect the booth to the internet: hotel Wi-Fi, a phone's hotspot, or back at the office. See Working offline.
- Open BoothX, signed in to the same account.
- The queue goes out automatically; check that it empties, or click retry now.
Guests then receive their messages, a few hours late. Let them know on the sharing screen: “Your photo will arrive as soon as possible.”
The queue and credits
Each send uses quota or credits at the moment it's saved, and the count is then confirmed by our servers when the booth reconnects:
- Offline, BoothX accepts sends within the limits of what it knows about your account (remaining free quota, or credits known at the last connection). Quotas shown offline are therefore an estimate.
- When the network returns, our servers confirm each send. If your balance is no longer enough, the affected sends move to Failed: out of credits; top up, then retry them.
- Each send has a unique ID: a send retried several times is never counted twice.
See Sharing consent, costs and credits.
Why a send can fail
| Reason | Explanation | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Invalid address or number | A typo by the guest. | Correct it if you know the right address, otherwise drop the send. |
| Out of credits | No quota or credits left for this service. | Top up on our website, then retry. |
| Sharing disabled | The service has been disabled for the account. | Check the account status, contact us. |
| Too many attempts | The queue retried for a long time without success. | Check the connection, then retry manually. |
Best practices
- Before the event, do a test send with a network, to check the account and credits.
- During, if a network is available even intermittently (Wi-Fi from a phone), the queue takes advantage of it on its own.
- After, reconnect the booth as soon as possible: a guest will gladly wait an hour, less so a week.
- Don't unplug the booth while the queue is emptying.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I turn off the booth with pending sends? Nothing is lost: the queue is on disk and resumes at the next startup.
Is the queue tied to an account? Sends go out with the account signed in at the time of sending. Reconnect the booth with the same account you used during the event.
Can I clear the queue without sending? Yes, by deleting the pending sends; they will be neither sent nor counted. Let the guests concerned know if possible.