With the release of Front Desk v20.0.0 we now have functionality to automatically send SMS appointment reminders. With this feature there is no need to manually send your SMS reminders each day.
The complete documentation for this functionality can be found below:
Front Desk - Auto SMS Guide
Here is the critical information you need to know:
The Auto SMS feature can be enabled from the SMS tab of System Information by clicking Auto SMS and enabling the option to 'Automatically send SMS appointment reminders'.
By default the SMS reminders will be sent at a pre-defined time on the day before the appointment, using the selected template. Please see the documentation for more advanced options.
Please ensure an appropriate Default Reminder Template has been set under SMS Templates, before clicking OK.
This is the template that will be used to send your automated SMS.
You may notice your SMS balance suddenly decrease when activating this functionality. This is because your Front Desk system is uploading the next two weeks of appointment reminders to the SMS gateway, ready for delivery at the appropriate time (based on your settings). This means your business can be closed for extended periods (such as the Christmas and New Year holidays) and your SMS will still be sent at the correct time.
If you delete or change an appointment, the associated SMS that is Queued for Sending will also be deleted or changed appropriately.
As the SMS reminder process is now automated, it is important that you set an appropriate SMS balance notification level.
If this level is reached a message will appear on the Messages tab of the Appointment Book.
At this stage, it is still necessary for you to purchase SMS through the Smartsoft website when needed.
To minimise the resources used by this feature, SMS are sent to our gateway as part of a background process. This process can take up to 15 minutes, so please do not be concerned if you do not see your appointment as 'Queued for Delivery' immediately.