Optimize logistics communication with integrated messaging

by Chris Meyns 7 months ago 7 min read

In logistics and transportation, you’re often dealing with complex operations with many moving parts, from warehousing to order fulfillment. You want to be flexible and quick to respond to any market changes. Oh and yes, pretty much everything is time-sensitive.

In such a fast-paced sector, which has been impacted by uncertainties in global trade, the last thing you need is for miscommunications and slow status updates to hold you back. Whether you’re operating a regional transport hub or a global supply chain: transparent, efficient, and secure communication is crucial for everything to run seamlessly. When customers and partners can easily communicate directly, you can dramatically reduce the time and effort needed to keep everyone aligned. So that you can deliver all the goods on schedule.

But what to look for when setting up a central messaging solution that fits your logistics needs? In this article we’ll cover six features that can help you use the power of an integrated messaging and notification center to ensure seamless digital communication in your transport and logistics operations.

All communication in one central place

A main challenge with communications in a complex logistics operation, is the sheer number of parties that will have to exchange information to keep everyone aligned. Hence, the first thing you want from a messaging center is to efficiently bring all these different streams of information together into one single place, integrated into your website or app.

For example, air cargo industry startup Frontline Dynamics introduced a TalkJS chat solution as a replacement for email, phone, and fax. By streamlining these processes into a fully connected service enablement platform, Frontline Dynamics was able to connect air carrier companies, freight forwarders, and truckers and enabled them to collaborate.

A central message center will allow anyone—from drivers to warehouse operators—to share information faster, because they no longer have to switch devices and channels. It can also help make communication more transparent, because everyone involved can easily get an overview of all shipping or order information they need, and so execute more efficiently. When drivers or truckers have the option to directly share their location, that allows customers to easily track a shipment.

A TalkJS message inbox. On the left side is a conversation list, with a conversation with the heading ‘Order 0743556117’ selected. On the right is the content of the selected conversation. One person asks about the details of a delivery order, upon which another person shares a PDF with the delivery order details. — A dedicated conversation per order, with in-message file-sharing.

At the same time, you want your messaging solution to be flexible enough to organize communications with different parties in the way that suits your needs. Those options will likely include one-to-one private messaging, such as with a driver, a warehouse operator, manufacturer, or a customer. For example, you could have a dedicated chat to allow each customer to ask questions about the status of their order. Or you could have a group chat for conversations internal to a specific team.

you want your messaging solution to be flexible, to organize communications in exactly the way that suits your needs

Further, you’ll also likely want the ability to organize conversations around specific topics. For example, you could organize communication in searchable channels, such as a dedicated channel with notifications and updates per purchase order, for everyone involved in the order.

In international logistics operations, you can find yourself often having to send or receive documents such as reports, contracts, delivery orders, or details of shipment charges. You want drivers and partners to be able to exchange those documents efficiently, without having to exit their regular conversation flow.

Hence it’s key to find a messaging solution that not only allows you to have real-time conversations, but that also supports file-sharing—so that people involved in the supply chain can send all relevant information they need, by using your messaging center as a file-sharing system.

TalkJS allows you to securely share files of any type through your messaging center. This way, you’ll be able to replace the exchange of paper documents, faxes, and emails with a simple, easy-to-use, contemporary messaging experience.

Need to check back that compliance form sent earlier this year? No problem. TalkJS preserves the history of all messages and documents sent on your platform indefinitely. That means that with a simple search, you can get the entire history of any conversation, including any of the files shared.

TalkJS preserves the history of all messages and documents sent on your platform indefinitely

Frontline Dynamics did exactly this. CEO Todor Todorov explains: “We are introducing TalkJS … as [a] data bank for conversation history where documents can be stored”. With unlimited data retention for messaging history and documents, your messaging center becomes a digital archive and data store, accessible whenever you need it.

Notifications, sync via email, and video calling integration

Part of an effective centralized messaging center that keeps everyone aligned, lies also in offering partners, contractors or customers the flexibility to use the channels that work best for them at that particular moment. This is where support for multi-channel communication comes in: the ability to choose from among multiple communication forms the one that suits them best at that time to provide updates.

TalkJS allows people to sync their conversation messages via email. When a warehouse operator has unread messages, they will receive an email notification. By hitting ‘Reply’, they can send a response that will automatically be synced back into the conversation in the message center on your platform—making sure that no information gets lost. TalkJS also has built-in support for customizable SMS notifications. When someone has gone offline, they automatically receive a notification about any messages they may have missed.

A TalkJS chat interface with a conversation between two people about shipping volumes and warehousing. In the right of the top header of the chat there is a video icon. In the conversation itself, one of the participants shares a link to a zoom call. — Integrate video calling with Zoom directly into your messaging center.

Sometimes jumping on a call can be a quick way to sort things out with a shipment. With TalkJS, anyone can send voice messages. Plus you can easily integrate voice and video calling solutions such as Zoom to be available directly from your messaging center for real-time conversations with partners or clients.

Localization and real-time translation

In global logistics operations, language barriers and misunderstandings could get in the way, potentially leading to errors or delays. You will work with key players that are located in hundreds of locations across multiple countries worldwide. And many drivers or shippers are most comfortable only speaking their local language.

How can you then make sure that communications continue to flow seamlessly? Localization and real-time translation support can make all the difference to allow all parties involved in a shipment to communicate effortlessly across regions.

TalkJS supports real-time translation of message contents. With real-time translation, a supplier in Shanghai, a distributor in Dubai, and a warehouse operator in Rotterdam can effortlessly collaborate. Real-time translation lets you bridge the language gap, by taking away any communication worries or costly outsourced translation.

Three TalkJS message interfaces, each with a message inquiring about shipment charges and the interface in a different language. The left shows the message and interface in English, the center one in Chinese (Simplified), and the right one in Arabic. — Localization of the TalkJS chat interface in English, Chinese (Simplified), and Arabic

In addition to real-time translation, TalkJS supports message center interface localization into different languages. This way, based on a shipper, partner, or customer’s locale, all system interface elements will be displayed in their own regional language. You can even set a chosen default language for the message center interface, if the majority of the people involved in the shipping process speaks one language.

Secure, controlled messaging

When you’re handling business-sensitive information, messaging and data security is a top priority. Even more so when you’re often communicating about international cargo that may cross multiple borders. For one, you want to make sure that any personal data is handled securely, for example by ensuring that data is encrypted at-rest and in-transit, and is covered by a reliable privacy policy.

When you’re handling business-sensitive information, messaging and data security are a top priority

You can take further control over any conversations that people have on your platform. For example, TalkJS allows you to protect data by verifying the identity of people on your platform, to confirm that someone who uses your messaging center is who they say they are.

In addition, you can take various steps to prevent certain information from being shared in conversations on your platform. For example, you can use a blocklist to block certain terms from being used in messages, as a form of automated moderation. Further, you can suppress the sharing of contact information such as phone numbers or email addresses, to prevent business from being taken outside of your platform.

Automation

The transportation and warehousing industry is estimated to have the third-highest automation potential of any sector. Such automation potential includes your communications. By using intelligent automation in your messaging and notification center, you can take the human effort out of routine updates and responses, so that you can focus on more challenging cases to deliver results.

With TalkJS, you can programmatically send messages to a channel or conversation. For example whenever the status of a shipment changes, when you get a new freight quote, when a new booking comes in, or to keep stakeholders informed of any delays.

Further, to take work out of your customers’ hands, you can provide them with quick reply buttons or use interactive HTML panels. Such shortcut responses allow people, for example, to quickly and easily transmit standardized order information, book a load, schedule an appointment, or confirm an order.

A TalkJS conversation with an AI chatbot. The chatbot asks what they can help with, the customer says they want to track a shipment and provides their tracking number. The chatbot confirms the date and time at which the shipment has been delivered. — A customer self-services shipment tracking with an AI chatbot.

For even more tailored automated responses, you can build an AI chatbot into your messaging center, to directly interact with your customers and provide answers tailored to the context of your business. An AI chatbot can help give customers and partners visibility and transparency at every stage of the delivery journey.

Finally, using a range of third party integrations you can automate your processes even further, for example by integrating OCR scanning and data extraction of any invoice files sent to a conversation, or to support payments processing.

A real-time messaging center allows you to optimize your logistics operations with streamlined communication, to improve efficiency, and increase customer satisfaction—so that you can focus on getting shipments delivered on-time.

Are you ready to get started? With TalkJS, you can build a complete messaging and notification center into your platform with just a few lines of code. Try it for free or talk to an expert.