A towing company should text a stranded driver back with two things: a safety line, and a request for location. In GoHighLevel that is the Missed Call Text Back feature with a carefully written message, backed by Call Connect so a call forwarded to a driver's phone that hits voicemail still counts as missed. The bottom line: a driver on a roadside will call the next company quickly, and the first reply that helps wins the job.
What a stranded driver needs to hear
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation says drivers should never exit the vehicle when close to active lanes, should pull as far from traffic as possible, and should call a tow truck, roadside assistance, or 911. It also tells drivers to pay attention to their location and notes that green mile markers sit every tenth of a mile on interstate shoulders. A state trooper quoted in an Ohio news story says to stay in the vehicle unless there is a fire or another immediate danger. Your text can carry that guidance briefly and ask for the mile marker or a shared location.
Dispatch needs the same details each time. A towing blog advises drivers to give the location, vehicle type, and the issue, so the right equipment is sent, and another notes that a flatbed is less common than a wheel lift truck, which can stretch the wait.
The message and the fields
| Line | Purpose |
|---|---|
| If you are near traffic, stay in your vehicle with your seat belt on and hazards on | Safety first |
| If in danger, call 911 | Sends emergencies to the right place |
| Reply with your location, a mile marker or a shared pin | Sends the truck to the right spot |
| Vehicle, and what happened | Chooses the truck and the equipment |
Build it in GoHighLevel
- Forward your main number to the on call driver's phone and turn on Call Connect in the phone number's settings so a voicemail is not counted as an answered call.
- In your sub account, click Settings, then Phone System, then Voice, then Voicemail & Missed Call Text Back, then Missed Call Text Back.
- Tick the box to enable the feature, write your message, add merge fields such as the contact name, send yourself a test, and save.
- Write the safety message from the table, and keep it short enough to read at a glance.
- Build a workflow with a missed call trigger that sends an internal notification to dispatch and creates a task with a five minute due time.
- Add a second message after five minutes if no reply: a link to share location or a callback number.
- Tag every job that started as a missed call so you can count them.
GoHighLevel's help page says the path is Settings, Phone System, Voice, Voicemail & Missed Call Text Back, then Missed Call Text Back, and that you enable the feature, customize the message with merge fields, send a test, and save. Its phone number guide adds that Call Connect plays a whisper message so only calls answered by a human count as connected, which it recommends for missed call text back automations because it stops voicemail from being counted as an answered call. That whisper only plays when the call is forwarded to an outside number, and it does not play if the call is answered in the HighLevel app.
Speed matters, but the best known study covers web leads, not phone calls. A Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads found that firms that contacted a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as firms that waited even an hour longer, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited 24 hours or longer. The same authors audited 2,241 US companies and found 37 percent responded to a web lead within an hour while 23 percent never responded. Treat the multiples as a direction, not a promise for a phone call.
What the workload looks like
For example, if a company misses 12 calls a week during busy stretches and recovers a quarter of them into jobs, that is 3 tows a week (12 times 0.25), or 156 a year. Even at a modest price per tow, that is a significant number of jobs from calls that would have ended in voicemail.
Mistakes to avoid
- Asking a driver to type while in danger. Lead with safety and 911.
- Not enabling Call Connect. Voicemail can register as an answered call and block the text.
- Sending price promises. Give a range only when you can honor it.
- Ignoring after hours. A stranded driver at 2 a.m. still needs an answer.
How this was handled before
Dispatch has always been a phone job, and a driver on a shoulder calls the next number when no one picks up. A text does not replace dispatch. It keeps the driver engaged and collects the location and vehicle so the call back is shorter.
Check before you switch it on
US text messages sent from a standard 10 digit number need A2P 10DLC registration. The HighLevel support portal says registration is required for texts to US recipients from 10 digit long code numbers and that toll free numbers do not require it. HighLevel's opt in guidelines also say a person cannot be forced to agree to text messages in order to submit a form, so keep the consent box optional. One compliance guide separates informational texts, which need documented consent, from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent. Ask your attorney which category your reminders fall into. Never ask the driver to reply while driving or standing near traffic. This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
Why turn on Call Connect?
GoHighLevel's phone guide says it plays a whisper message so only human answered calls are marked connected, which it recommends for missed call text back.
What should the text tell the driver?
Stay safe, call 911 in danger, and share location, vehicle, and issue. PennDOT advises staying in the vehicle near active lanes.
Where do I find the mile marker?
PennDOT says green mile markers on interstate shoulders appear every tenth of a mile.
Ready to try it yourself? Start a GoHighLevel account here.
You can also see this in action in our GoHighLevel capabilities demo.