Schedulista sends confirmation emails, as well as reminder emails and optional text (SMS) reminders (if available where you are located), when clients book online or when you set an appointment for a client directly on your calendar.
If you reschedule an appointment, or update the provider or service on an appointment, a reschedule/update notification can be sent by email.
Benefits of client appointment notifications
Confirmation emails present a record to the client that their appointment has been booked
Email and text (SMS) reminders provide multiple opportunities to remind clients of appointments to help reduce no-shows
Emails and text reminders offer the clients the chance to cancel or reschedule their appointment, if needed
Optional email notifications can be sent when you reschedule an appointment or update the provider or service on an appointment to let clients know of the change(s)
Notifications are also sent to clients when they cancel online; if you cancel an appointment for a client, you can choose to send a cancellation notification email (with a personal custom message, if you'd like) or not
Contents:
What clients are sent for each appointment
Clients who book online through Schedulista are required to enter their email address and phone number.
For appointments you set for clients directly on your calendar, make sure you get the relevant contact information from the client for the kinds of notifications they'd like to receive.
Confirmation email:
Always sent within minutes to clients who book online.
Sent to any client for which you set an appointment directly on your calendar, if you have their email address on file. You can also opt not to send the confirmation email for an appointment you set for a client.
Reminder email:
Sent to clients who book online, depending on how far in advance the appointment is booked.
Sent to clients for appointments you set for them directly on your calendar, if you have their email address on file, depending on how far in advance the appointment is set.
Text (SMS) reminders:
If the SMS service is available in your country, clients can opt to receive text reminders while booking
With their permission, you can opt for clients to receive the text (SMS) reminders for the appointments you set for them.
Up to two (2) reminders are sent, depending on your settings and how far in advance the appointment is booked online or set by you on your calendar.
Confirmation & reminder emails
The confirmation & reminder emails offer the basic information for a client's appointment, including the service, the provider (if selected), and the date & time of their appointment.
You can add a custom message to the emails to include additional information about the service or your business. The custom message will also appear on an online summary page for their appointment.
If you are using the Zoom integration, the join meeting link (and a password, if necessary) for the Zoom meeting is automatically included in the confirmation & reminder emails.
Appointment confirmation
A client will be sent an appointment confirmation for their records by email within minutes of booking online or when you set an appointment for them directly on your calendar. You can also opt not to send a confirmation email when setting the appointment. Clients will always be sent the confirmation email when booking online.
Appointment reminder
To keep the client aware of their upcoming appointment, a handy reminder email is sent 24 hours before the cancellation policy deadline you set on your account.
e.g., If your online cancellation policy is 24 hours, clients will be sent the reminder 48 hours before their appointment; If the cancellation policy is 5 days before the appointment, clients will be sent the reminder 6 days before the appointment; and so on.
If your cancellation policy is set for less than 24 hours (e.g., 1 hour, 8 hours, 12 hours, etc.), we will send the reminder email 24 hours before their appointment.
You can adjust when this email is sent independent of the cancellation policy in the Appointment Reminders section on your Confirmations, Reminders, Notifications settings page.
Note: If an appointment is booked in advance in less time than the reminder threshold, the reminder email will not be sent. For example, if reminder emails are set to be sent 48 hours before an appointment, and an appointment is booked less than 48 hours in advance, the reminder email will not be sent.
Text (SMS) reminders
The text (SMS) reminders offer a quick, simple notification for clients on the go. The text includes your business name, the date & time of the appointment, and a link to full appointment details on an online summary page.
Note: The text reminders cannot be customized, but any custom message set for the confirmation & reminder emails will appear on the online appointment summary page clients can access through the included Details link.
Note: The text/SMS service is not available in every country. You can check here to see if the service is available where you are.
Appointment text reminder #1
This first text (SMS) reminder is sent at the same time as the reminder email. This can also be adjusted independent of the cancellation policy in the Appointment Reminders section on your Confirmations, Reminders, Notifications settings page.
Note: If an appointment is booked in advance in less time than the reminder threshold, the first text (SMS) reminder will not be sent. For example, if reminder emails/text remindes are set to be sent 48 hours before an appointment, and an appointment is booked less than 48 hours in advance, the first text (SMS) reminder will not be sent.
Appointment text reminder #2
This second text (SMS) reminder -- the "last minute" reminder -- is sent the same day of the appointment. When they book, clients can select to receive this reminder 1, 2, or 3 hours prior to their appointment. You will also have these options if you set a client record to receive SMS for the appointments you set for them on your calendar.
Links in emails and texts
The confirmation & reminder emails include two important links: an appointment details link and a cancel appointment link. The text reminders also include a details link.
The View appointment details link takes the client to the online summary page for their appointment. In addition to the same information as in the emails, the summary page also includes:
an Add to calendar link that allows clients to add the appointment to a personal online calendar. Options include Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook calendar, and Yahoo calendar. When a client adds the appointment to their personal calendar, a link to the online summary page is included in the appointment description.
A list of the client's other upcoming appointments associated with their email address, if they have any others booked. Each appointment in the list is a link to its own online summary page. For a repeating series of appointments, the list will only display the next 10 upcoming appointments in the series (if there are more than 10). As an appointment passes, another appointment in the series will be added to the list.
A Directions link near the business address and map, if included, that will open up the address on Google Maps on the web or whichever calendar app the client's phone has set as its default.
The Details link in the text reminders also gets clients to the online summary page.
The Cancel this appointment link allows clients to cancel or reschedule their appointment online. When they cancel, a comment field allows the client to include a reason for their cancellation in the provider notification you are sent. When cancelling to reschedule, a Schedule Another Appointment button will appear to allow the client to book their new date and/or time.
If using the Zoom integration, the emails and summary page will also automatically include the Zoom join meeting link and any password, if necessary. Make sure that Location feature of the service(s) you want to offer Zoom on is set to Online meeting via Zoom.
Related articles:
keywords: client notifications; client communications; notification, confirmations, confirmation, confirmation email, reminders, reminder email, text reminder, SMS reminder, appointment, appointment details, client, clients