One iMessage Group per Job: Homeowner, Project Manager and Crew

Why run one iMessage group per job?

A job group puts the homeowner, the person running the job and the person on site in one thread, so nobody relays messages and every decision is written down once. Without it, the homeowner texts the estimator, who texts the project manager, who calls the crew lead, and details drop at each hop: the hallway was supposed to be the lighter white.

• The homeowner sees progress without asking. A photo and three lines each afternoon head off the “how's it going?” calls.
• Decisions are in writing. A color or an added closet approved in the thread is easier to point to at the walkthrough than a driveway conversation.
• The thread belongs to the company. When the group is started from your business number on ZeroSettle, every message in it is stored on your account. If a crew lead leaves, the history of the job doesn't leave with their phone.

It fits any job that runs more than a day: painting, remodeling, roofing, flooring, decks. One-visit service calls are better served by 1:1 on-the-way texts.

Who should be in the job group?

Keep the group to the people who make or carry out decisions on this job: the homeowner(s), the project manager, the crew lead and your business number. Every extra person adds noise.

An iMessage group holds up to 31 people, but a job group rarely needs more than five or six.

Two caveats. Members of an iMessage group see each other's phone numbers or email addresses, so the homeowner will see your crew lead's number. And each member new to your number must be on iMessage: if one isn't, the group isn't started (422 not_on_imessage) and nothing is sent, so keep a homeowner on Android on calls and email.

How do you start and name the group?

Start the group from your business number at the kickoff, once the homeowner has agreed to a job group, and name it by client, address and scope. A name such as “Hale | 14 Birch Ln | Interior” tells a crew lead with three active jobs exactly where they are posting. Names can be up to 60 characters.

There are three ways to start it:

1. Ask your AI assistant: with ZeroSettle's MCP connector in Claude, it uses the create_group_chat tool.
2. Have the project manager start it on their iPhone and add the business number. Groups your number is added to work the same way as ones it starts, but your account only has the messages from after the number joined, so add it before the first update.
3. Start it from your own software when a job is scheduled:

curl -s -X POST https://portal.zerosettle.io/api/imessage/groups \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": ["+15035550142", "+15035550178", "+15035550123", "+15035550191"],
       "name": "Hale | 14 Birch Ln | Interior",
       "text": "Hi Dana and Chris, this is Brightline Painting. This group is for your interior job at 14 Birch Ln, with Priya (project manager) and Marco (crew lead). You will get a photo update here each afternoon, and any color or scope change gets confirmed here in writing."}'

The response carries the group's chat_id; store it on the job, because it never changes even when the group is renamed or members change. Rarely the answer is "status": "group_unconfirmed" with "chat": null: the message went out, so don't send it again, or you'll start a second group. The group chats docs cover the full request and response.

New contacts. Each member your number has never exchanged a message with counts as one new contact for the day when the group starts. A homeowner who texted you for the estimate is already known. Your project manager and crew lead count once, the first time, and are known on every later job. Pro allows 5 new contacts a day per number, so a typical new job group uses zero to two; a company kicking off many jobs a day with new subs belongs on Growth (50 a day per number). Growth also caps new contacts at 3 per 15 minutes, so start a group with no more than three people new to the number at once. If the members don't all fit, the request is refused with 429 new_contact_limit and nothing is sent.

Consent. Everyone in the group must have agreed to hear from you about this job. Ask the homeowner at kickoff (“OK if we set up a group text with Priya and Marco?”), and never use a job group for promotions. See our consent guide (not legal advice).

What goes in the group from kickoff to payment?

Post the things the homeowner needs to see or approve, in a predictable rhythm: the plan, a daily update with photos, color and scope confirmations, schedule changes, the punch list and the payment link.

• Kickoff: who handles what, start date, crew hours, what to do before day one (clear the rooms, take down art).
• Daily update (crew lead): done, next, tomorrow's arrival time, anything the homeowner must do. Two or three photos, not twenty.
• Color confirmations (project manager): room, surface, color name and code, sheen. “Hallway walls: Alabaster SW 7008, eggshell. Reply Approved.” Choosing between two whites? A poll works in a group, and every member can vote (voting needs iOS 26 or later).
• Schedule changes (project manager, as soon as known): rain, a late material order. Give the new date, not just the delay.
• Change orders (project manager only): what is added, the price, the effect on the finish date, and “Reply Approved to add it.” Homeowners can long-press the message and reply inline, which threads their approval under the exact change order. If your contract requires a signed change order form, send that too; the group message is the record that it was agreed, not a replacement for your paperwork.
• Final walkthrough: the punch list as one numbered message, a photo of each fix, then “All 6 items done. Anything else?”
• Payment: the final total and the payment link, from the business number, once the homeowner confirms the walkthrough.

Here is what the middle of a job looks like:

In a full painting workflow on iMessage, the estimate is 1:1, the job runs in the group, and the review request goes back to 1:1.

What rules should the crew follow?

The crew lead posts one clear update a day, answers on-site questions, and sends anything about money, scope or dates to the project manager. Put the rules in writing at onboarding; the homeowner reads every message.

Why the “Stop” rule. ZeroSettle enforces STOP on every number of your account. A message whose whole text, or first sentence, is “stop” or a phrase like “don't text me” is treated as an opt-out, and the business number then can't send into any group that member is in (403 recipient_opted_out) until they are removed (POST /api/imessage/groups/update with remove) or text START. A crew lead who sent it by mistake can text START to the number. If a homeowner means it, remove them from the group and call or email to ask how they'd like updates instead. More in how STOP works.

When should a topic move to a 1:1 text?

Move a topic out of the group when it involves money in dispute, a complaint, private information, or only two people. The group is for things everyone on the job should see.

Your number can text any member 1:1. Members of a group your number started, or added them to, are known contacts, so a 1:1 text to them doesn't count as a new one. After payment, the 1:1 thread is also where review requests and referral asks belong, never the job group.

Can an AI assistant answer the group's logistics questions?

Yes. If your number is Managed by AI Agent, ZeroSettle's hosted agent answers inside the group, from the group's recent messages (labeled by sender) and the details you give it. Per the AI agent docs, it answers only when a message is meant for it or asks something it can help with, keeps it short, and stays silent when people are talking to each other.

Its business context covers every conversation on the number, so add a section for job groups:

JOB GROUPS
Groups named "Client | Address | Scope" are active jobs. In them you are
Brightline's assistant. Answer logistics only, from the group's messages
and the details below:
- Crews arrive between 7:45 and 8:15 AM, Monday to Friday, unless the
  project manager posted a different time in the group.
- Homeowners keep pets out of the rooms being painted, and clear a parking
  spot in the driveway for the van.
- The crew needs a utility sink or outdoor spigot for cleanup.
- Anyone with a health or safety question: the project manager answers.
Never quote prices, approve or discuss change orders, promise finish dates,
or answer complaints. For those say "Priya will answer that here" (use the
project manager's name from the group). If the project manager hasn't
posted tomorrow's plan, say so and that they will confirm.

What to know before turning it on:

• It is either-or per number. With the agent on, the console's composer is off and Close or HubSpot sends are refused (403 managed_by_zerosettle). Your people still post from their own iPhones, and the office can post as the business number through the API or MCP. If your office types into job groups from the console, keep the number Managed by API.
• It doesn't start anything in a group. Its triggers (follow-ups, daily texts) never fire into a group, so the daily update stays the crew lead's job, or your own code's (POST /api/imessage/send with the group's chat_id).
• Live data needs a connector. To answer from your real schedule, connect a read-only MCP server for your scheduling tool (Messaging → Connectors).
• It costs a credit per text it sends. Texts and photos members send from their own phones use no credits. Videos do, whoever manages the number: 1 credit per 3 MB of each video the number sends or (on accounts with videos enabled) receives, which is one more reason crew leads should post photos rather than video walk-throughs.

For the design side of an assistant that shares a thread with people, see when an AI should speak in a group chat; to build your own with your own model, see how to build an AI assistant for iMessage group chats.

Where does the job record live?

The job record lives on your ZeroSettle account: every message the number receives or sends in the group is stored, readable in the console or with the API, and stays readable after your number leaves the group. It doesn't reach your CRM on its own.

• Close and HubSpot: group messages are not logged in either; 1:1 conversations still are. Note approved change orders and the walkthrough sign-off on the deal yourself.
• Reading the thread: GET /api/imessage/messages?chat_id=… returns one group's messages, each inbound one with the member who sent it, ready to export to the job file (see the group chat API guide).
• Webhooks: on a number Managed by API, group messages arrive at your webhook as message.received with a chat_id (renames and members joining or leaving arrive as group.event), so your own code can log them anywhere. On a number Managed by AI Agent, the webhook isn't called.

Closing the job. Once the job is paid and your warranty touch-up window has passed, have the business number leave the group (POST /api/imessage/groups/leave, or update_group_chat with leave: true over MCP). The stored messages stay readable, and the homeowner can still text your number 1:1. If you reach past customers later, do it 1:1 and only with people who agreed.

What does it cost?

Group chats are on for every ZeroSettle number at no extra charge; you pay for the number, and credits pay only for the hosted AI assistant's texts and for videos.

Each number allows 10,000 messages a day, sent and received, with known contacts. People who text you first never count as new contacts. Free credits never refill; packs are 1,000 for $50 or 5,000 for $200 and never expire. The subscription has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

An owner-operator fits Pro; several crews with office staff in the console fit Growth. For the bigger picture, read how to grow a home service business with iMessage, or book a demo to talk about Enterprise.