AI Messaging

AI-Powered Dispatch Messaging

Klau's AI dispatcher sends personalized text messages to your drivers that sound like they're coming from a real person, not a computer. Every message is tailored to your company's voice and each driver's communication style.

Personal

Messages adapt to each driver

Natural

Sounds like a real dispatcher

Reliable

Falls back to templates if needed

1. What Is AI Messaging?

Before AI messaging, every driver on every team got the exact same text. A morning message always looked like: “Good morning Mike! 6 jobs today. First up: delivery at ABC Construction. Let's roll.” It worked, but it felt robotic.

With AI messaging, Klau writes each text the way a good dispatcher would — short, casual, and personalized. Your veteran driver who likes things brief gets a quick heads-up. Your new hire who needs more detail gets the full rundown. A driver who prefers Spanish gets a message that sounds natural, not machine-translated.

The Bottom Line

AI messaging takes the same job information Klau already has and wraps it in a message that sounds like it came from someone who actually knows the driver. No extra work on your part — it just happens.

2. How It Works

When Klau needs to send a driver a text, the AI considers three things:

Your Company's Voice

The overall tone and personality. Are you laid back or buttoned up? Do drivers call the yard “home base” or “the shop”?

The Driver's Style

How does this driver prefer to communicate? Some want just the facts. Others appreciate a “nice work” when they finish a tough job.

The Job Details

What's the job type, customer name, container size, and how many jobs are left today? The AI turns this into natural-sounding dispatch info.

Built-In Safety Net

If the AI is temporarily unavailable for any reason, Klau automatically falls back to its standard message templates. Your drivers still get their notifications on time, every time. You never have to worry about a missed message.

3. Setting Up Your Company Profile

Your company SMS profile controls the overall personality of messages sent to all your drivers. Think of it as teaching Klau how your office talks.

Brand Voice

Choose the overall tone for your company. Options like “professional-casual” (the default) strike a balance between friendly and businesslike. You can also pick something more relaxed or more formal depending on your team culture.

Tone Notes

Free-form instructions for the AI. For example: “We always end messages with 'stay safe'” or “Never use the word 'waste'—we say 'materials'.” This is where you fine tune the personality.

Yard & Location Nicknames

Map your official location names to what drivers actually call them. If your yard at “123 Industrial Blvd” is known as “the shop,” set that up here. Same for dump sites (“Republic Transfer Station” might be “Republic”) and frequent customers.

Constraints

Rules the AI should always follow. Examples: “Never mention specific addresses in texts” or “Always include the portal link.” These are hard rules, not suggestions.

Operating Norms

Things the AI should know about how your operation works. For example: “Our drivers start at 5:30 AM” or “We run split shifts on Fridays.” This context helps the AI write messages that make sense for your operation.

4. Driver Preferences

Each driver can have their own SMS profile that tells the AI how to talk to them specifically. This is what makes the messages feel personal instead of generic.

Preferred Name

Does your driver go by “Mike” instead of “Michael”? Or maybe “Guero” instead of “Carlos”? Set it here and the AI will use it naturally.

Communication Style

Choose how the driver likes their messages: brief (just the facts), standard (balanced), detailed (extra context), encouraging (positive reinforcement), or direct (no-nonsense).

Experience Level

A new hire might need more context (“head to the Republic transfer station on 5th”) while a veteran just needs “dump at Republic.” Options: new-hire, learning, competent, veteran, mentor.

Language

Klau supports English and Spanish natively. For Spanish-speaking drivers, you can also add a language nuance like “Mexican Spanish” or “Central American Spanish” for more natural phrasing.

Driver Notes

You can also add free-form notes about a driver, like “Prefers to be reminded about weight tickets” or “Doesn't like being called 'buddy'.” The AI takes these into account when writing messages.

5. Message Types

Klau sends several types of automated messages throughout a driver's day. Here's what each one is and when it goes out:

Shift Start

Sent about an hour before the driver's first job. Includes their job count for the day, first assignment, and a link to their schedule.

Job Assignment

When you manually assign a new job to a driver during the day. To avoid blowing up their phone, only the first couple of assignments trigger a text — after that, they check the portal.

Next Up

After a driver finishes a job, they get a heads-up about their next one. Keeps them moving without needing to call in.

Route Change

If you rearrange a driver's schedule mid-day, they get a notification about the change so they're not heading to the wrong site.

End of Day

When the last job is done. Tells the driver whether to keep their container on the truck (same size tomorrow) or drop it at the yard. Includes tomorrow's first job if available.

Klau logs every AI-generated message alongside the standard template version, so you can always see what the AI sent versus what the template would have said.

Rating Messages

In the Operator Console under SMS conversations, you can rate any AI-generated message. Rate it thumbs-up if it sounded right, or thumbs-down with a quick note about what was off. This feedback helps the system learn what works for your team.

What Gets Better Over Time

Tone matching for your company
Driver-specific phrasing
Natural use of nicknames and slang
Appropriate level of detail per driver

What You Can Track

How often AI-generated messages are used vs. templates
Average message generation speed
Your rating history and feedback
Driver reaction patterns

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Can I turn AI messaging off?

Yes. There's an “AI messaging enabled” toggle in your company SMS profile. Turn it off and all messages go back to standard templates instantly. You can turn it back on at any time.

Does it cost extra?

AI messaging is included in your Klau subscription at no additional cost. The same SMS rates apply whether the message is AI-generated or template-based.

What languages does it support?

English and Spanish. For Spanish, you can specify a regional variant (Mexican, Central American, etc.) so messages sound natural for your drivers, not like a textbook.

What if the AI writes something weird?

Every AI message is constrained to 155 characters and follows strict rules — no emojis, no corporate jargon, no mentioning that it's an AI. It also never makes up information; it only uses the actual job data from your dispatch board. If something does look off, rate it in the Operator Console and the system will learn from it.

Will my drivers know it's AI?

That's the whole point — they shouldn't. The AI is designed to write messages that sound exactly like a dispatcher texting from their phone. Most drivers won't notice a difference, except that their messages feel more personal.

Do I need to set up profiles for every driver?

No. Drivers without a profile still get AI-personalized messages using their name and your company's default settings. Adding a profile just makes messages even more tailored. Start with your most experienced drivers and work from there.

What happens if the AI goes down?

Klau automatically falls back to standard message templates. Your drivers still get their notifications on time. You won't even notice unless you check the message log, where template-based messages are clearly marked.