BrightSide Software logo

BrightSide Short Term Rental Software
Do more. Work less.™

Our cloud-based hospitality software is both powerful and easy to use. But more importantly, our support team is here for you, ready to help make your user experience the best it can possibly be.

  1. BrightSide is powerful and easy to use from anywhere you have Internet access.
  2. BrightSide’s API integrates directly with Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Google Vacation Rentals and others.
  3. BrightSide support responds to email requests in minutes or hours, not days or weeks. No AI, real people.
  4. BrightSide support answers the phone. If we can’t answer, leave a message and we will call you back. Really.
  5. BrightSide is affordable. We do not add charges for features; it’s all included in the subscription.
BrightSide Software logo

BrightSide Short Term Rental Software
Do more. Work less.™

Our cloud-based hospitality software is both powerful and easy to use. But more importantly, our support team is here for you, ready to help make your user experience the best it can possibly be.

  1. BrightSide is powerful and easy to use from anywhere you have Internet access.
  2. BrightSide’s API integrates directly with Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, Google Vacation Rentals and others.
  3. BrightSide support responds to email requests in minutes or hours, not days or weeks. No AI, real people.
  4. BrightSide support answers the phone. If we can’t answer, leave a message and we will call you back. Really.
  5. BrightSide is affordable. We do not add charges for features; it’s all included in the subscription.

Creating an Email Message Template

2024-05-29T10:18:37-04:00

Summary

The email feature in BrightSide uses predefined templates to communicate with guests, owners, housekeeping, and maintenance. In this article, we will show you how to set up an email message template to go out automatically at predetermined times. You may also manually send an email message from one of these templates. Keep in mind, BrightSide sends messages out, but any incoming email will be routed to a separate email account outside of BrightSide.

NOTE: The email message templates in BrightSide are ALL connected to reservations. In other words, you cannot send an email to someone who does not have a reservation or is not associated with a reservation, like the owner or cleaner. These templates can be set up to go out automatically, or manually if you prefer.

Navigate to:  Setup > Edit Guest Letters > +Add Template (blue button)

Adding a Template

Select Template Type

The “Guest Letter Template” is used to create templates for three different types of communications: emails, texts, and OTA channel integrated messaging. In this example, we are using the “Email” option.

In this first step, select “Email” as the type of template you are creating. Most of the features work the same for email and texting. However, the “Channel” options work a little bit differently, which are explained in the Knowledge Base article, Creating a Channel Messaging Template.

In the “Letter Name” field, give this template a name that is easily recognizable, and distinguishable, from other texts and emails. You may also enter a subject in the Subject field.

NOTE: The “dynamic text short codes” may be copied and pasted into the subject field if you want to use them there.

Creating an Email Template | Type & Name
Creating an Email Template | Type & Name

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Content

The content for an email message can be as short or long as you need it to be. As a general rule, people don’t read lengthy emails. Enter just what is necessary and nothing more. BrightSide recommends keeping it short, and using dynamic text to make your emails personal.

  • Dynamic Text: you can create a generic template that is easily personalized by inserting dynamic text into the body of the email. Place your cursor in the email where you want to insert the information, then click on the “Insert dynamic text” dropdown. You can choose from nearly 50 options, like guest name, unit name, check-in date, check-out date, and others.
Creating an Email Template | Dynamic Text
Creating an Email Template | Dynamic Text

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Automatically Send

Now that you have content, you need to set the parameters for sending the email. There are two types of triggers that automatically send an email:

  • When something happens.
    • Select from the following triggers: Reservation Taken, Deposit Confirmed, Checkin, Checkout, Reservation Cancelled, Reactivated, Balance Due, Balance Paid, or Documents Signed.

OR

  • On a schedule.
    • Select from the following triggers: On/Before/After: Booking Date, Arrival Date, Departure Date, Cancellation Date, Balance Due Date, or Rebooking Date. Select a time of day also.

HINT: Create unique email templates for each occasion that you want to send an email. For example, if you want to send an email when the reservation is taken, create a template for it. If you need to send another email after “Checkin” containing the entry codes, create another one. Remember, if you select both types of triggers, they will both send.

Creating a Texting Template | Automatically Send When Something Happens
Creating a Texting Template | Automatically Send When Something Happens

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Creating a Texting Template | Automatically Send on a Schedule
Creating a Texting Template | Automatically Send on a Schedule

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Add Conditions

BrightSide allows you to set conditions determining who receives a particular email. You may include guests in specific units or exclude guests in specific units. You can set up an email to only go out only to specific reservation sources, like Airbnb, or Vrbo. There are a number of conditions from which you may select.

Creating an Email Template | Adding Conditions
Creating an Email Template | Adding Conditions

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Creating an Email Template | Adding Conditions
Creating an Email Template | Adding Conditions

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Recipient & Attachments

Choose who is going to receive this email. Is it the guest, owner, cleaner, or someone else? If this is an email, you may also choose to include an attachment. Be careful not to choose more than one or two attachments, filters could designate it as SPAM and fail to deliver it.

Creating an Email Template | Choosing a Recipient
Creating an Email Template | Choosing a Recipient

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Creating an Email Message Template2024-05-29T10:18:37-04:00

Set Up Outgoing Email Account

2024-04-10T16:08:01-04:00

Summary

BrightSide is capable of sending emails to your guests, owners, employees, or someone else. Beginning January 2024, BrightSide uses MailGun to send emails for all of our new clients. The setup is completed by the onboarding staff, so you do not need to change any of the SMTP settings.

BrightSide is not a full-fledged email client like Outlook or Gmail. Our email feature is limited to automatically sending predefined emails at predetermined times or events. There are occasions when you may need to send one manually, and it is possible.

BrightSide does not receive emails, it only sends them. If a recipient replies to your email, the response email will be routed to the email address you included in your company setup. So be sure to include a monitored email address there. If necessary, we can add an alternate “reply to” email address in the system for you.

Since all emails originating from BrightSide are from predefined templates, copies are not kept on our server. However, a record of it being sent is part of the reservation notes. MailGun has a very good reporting system, and if we need to research what happened to an email, we can access it there. If you want to receive a copy of the email, you may provide an email address in these settings and BrightSide will send you a copy.

HINT: If you deal with a lot of reservations daily, it may be a good idea to skip receiving copies of all outgoing email. Potentially you could receive hundreds of emails a day, or more.

Navigate to Setup > Settings > Email

HINT: All outgoing email templates are setup in Guest Letter Templates, even emails intended for owners, managers, housekeepers, etc.

SMTP Settings Tab

Beginning January 2024, BrightSide began using MailGun exclusively for all of its new accounts. The benefits of using this service far outweigh any perceived advantage of integrating with Gmail or a private server. BrightSide can log into MailGun and see a record of every email sent, a delivery report, and get a lot of data not available elsewhere. The cost of using MailGun is included in the monthly BrightSide subscription fee. PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THESE SETTINGS!

Set Up Email Servers in BrightSide

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Email Copies Tab

Currently, BrightSide is capable of sending copies of two different types of emails: guest emails and work order emails. Guest emails include any predefined templates you create in BrightSide. Work order emails are similar, but go out to the people working on the properties you manage. If you want to receive a copy of every guest email and every work order email, tell us where to send them here.

Set Up Email Copy Destination in BrightSide

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Set Up Outgoing Email Account2024-04-10T16:08:01-04:00

Add Unit Directions

2024-09-19T16:25:50-04:00

Summary

Uploading the “Unit Directions” allows you to set up directions to each of your properties and send, or print these out, along with other documents through our guest letters system. Since you will use a PDF file, you can include text, images, drawings, and just about anything else you can include in a PDF file.

Navigate to: Properties > Units

Unit Directions

File Format

Unit directions must be added to each unit as a file. While many file formats are supported, we highly recommend converting your “directions” file to the PDF format. This ensures your guests are able to view them easily and enables BrightSide to print them out directly from the browser.

Upload Directions File to Unit

From the Unit tab, find and click on the “Upload Directions” button. Locate your directions file on your computer and select it. BrightSide automatically uploads it. Remember to click Save or you will lose this update.

Upload Directions to Unit
Upload Directions to Unit

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Change Directions File

On occasion, you may want to update the file used for directions. Click the “Change File” button, select the new file, and BrightSide automatically uploads it. Remember to click Save or you will lose this update.

Change Unit Directions File
Change Unit Directions File

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Attach Directions to a Guest Letter

Navigate to: Setup > Edit Guest Letters

  1. Select and open the guest letter template to which you want to attach unit directions. If needed, create a new email template.
  2. Scroll to the attachments section of the guest letter template, near the bottom.
  3. Tick the box next to “Unit Directions.” This will include the unit directions when you print or email this guest letter.
  4. Save

When this guest letter is sent via email, the unit directions PDF will be attached.

NOTE: You cannot attach a document to a “text” template type. You may only attach it to an “email” template type.

Attach Directions to a Guest Letter
Attach Directions to a Guest Letter

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Add Unit Directions2024-09-19T16:25:50-04:00
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