ApproveThis manages your Placetel Integration approvals.

When Phone Systems Meet Approval Workflows

Let’s be real – most companies still handle approvals like it’s 1999. Someone sends an email, CCs three managers, then chases everyone down when the client needs an answer yesterday. Meanwhile, your cloud phone system sits there handling calls like a champ while your approval processes limp along on life support.

That’s where connecting Placetel with ApproveThis through Zapier changes the game. We’re talking about turning phone calls, faxes, and SMS into triggers for automated approval workflows that actually keep up with how fast your business moves.

Why This Combo Works

Placetel handles the communication layer – calls, faxes, SMS. ApproveThis handles the decision-making layer – who needs to approve what, when, and under what conditions. Zapier’s just the messenger that lets them talk without requiring your IT team to get involved.

Here’s the kicker: ApproveThis approvers don’t need Placetel licenses. That means you can loop in external partners or execs without buying extra phone system seats. Try that with your current setup.

Real-World Uses That Don’t Suck

1. Call Handling That Doesn’t Drop the Ball

Picture this: Your sales team gets an inbound call from a whale client. They negotiate a deal that needs VP sign-off. Instead of scrambling to schedule a meeting, Placetel triggers an ApproveThis workflow the second the call ends.

How it works:

• Zapier detects accepted calls in Placetel
• Auto-creates an approval request with call details
• VP approves/rejects via email in two clicks

Customer support teams use this same flow to escalate urgent issues without leaving their phone interface. No more sticky notes on managers’ keyboards.

2. Faxes That Don’t End Up in the Void

Yes, faxes still exist. Especially in healthcare, logistics, and legal. When Placetel receives a fax, ApproveThis can:

• Route contract PDFs to legal
• Send purchase orders to procurement
• Escalate time-sensitive docs based on content

We worked with a medical supplier who cut approval time for shipment releases from 6 hours to 22 minutes using this exact setup. The secret sauce? ApproveThis’ calculated fields that auto-flag priority requests based on order size.

3. SMS Alerts That Don’t Annoy People

When an approval gets the green light in ApproveThis, Zapier triggers Placetel to send SMS updates. Think:

- Warehouse teams getting mobile alerts when purchase orders clear
- Field technicians notified to proceed while they’re on site
- Clients automatically SMS’d when contracts finalize

No more “Did you get my email?” follow-ups. The message hits their phone when the decision happens.

Setup That Won’t Make You Hate Technology

If you can set up a Slack channel, you can do this:

1. Connect Placetel + ApproveThis in Zapier (takes 3 minutes)
2. Choose your trigger (call accepted, new fax, etc.)
3. Map the data to ApproveThis fields
4. Test with a real-world scenario

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ approval thresholds to auto-approve small ticket items. Your team will thank you when they’re not bugging managers about $50 office supply orders.

Department-Specific Wins

Sales Teams

Close deals faster by attaching call recordings to approval requests. Managers hear the client’s exact requirements before signing off on discounts or custom terms.

Customer Support

Auto-escalate VIP calls using Placetel’s caller ID. ApproveThis routes these to senior staff with SLA timers – miss the window and it bumps to department head.

Procurement

Fax comes in from supplier? Approval workflow starts before your team even opens the PDF. Built-in calculated fields check against budget thresholds automatically.

Operations

Maintenance requests from field calls get approved based on severity. Critical issues auto-assign to on-call managers via ApproveThis’ vacation routing rules.

Features You’ll Actually Use

Beyond basic approvals, this integration shines with:

Approval Thresholds: Auto-approve orders under $1K, escalate anything over $10K to CFO
Vacation Routing: No more “Out of Office” hell – delegates get auto-assigned
Dynamic Fields: Attach call duration, caller location, fax page count to requests
Consensus Rules: Require 3/5 managers to approve high-risk contracts

When Not to Use This

This isn’t magic fairy dust. If your approval process is broken because of office politics or unclear ownership, fix that first. But if you just need to remove friction from existing workflows, this combo’s your ticket.

Bottom Line

Linking Placetel and ApproveThis turns communication events into structured workflows. It’s for teams tired of chasing down approvals across six different apps. The kind of people who want to approve a contract from their phone while waiting for coffee without needing a PhD in software engineering.

Ready to stop playing approval phone tag? Get started with ApproveThis or book a 15-minute demo where we’ll show you how to set up your first Placetel integration.