Appointment Reminders Tutorial (Website)

Control setting to require client contact reminders when scheduling appointments

Navigate to Company Account>Scheduling>Appointment Reminders

Open

Click Edit New Appointment Reminder

Turn the toggle on (right) or off (left) depending on if you want to require users to add client contact(s) reminders when scheduling billable appointments

Toggle on: User will be required to enter client contact(s) for billable appointments

Toggle off: Optional to add client contact(s) reminders on billable appointments

• Users will need permission to view and edit company account to access the appointment reminder settings

• By default the adding client contact reminders will be required

• When considering toggling on or off the requirement for client contact reminders, please note users are able to select “NONE” for client contact reminders on the appointment level, including when client contact reminders are set as a requirement for billable appointments

New Appointment Reminder settings

1. Select the checkbox next to “Client” to enable the client reminder feature

2. Select the checkboxes next to “Email” and “SMS” depending on the communication channel(s) you want client contacts to have the option to receive appointment reminders through

3. Select the amount of days or hours in advance you would like the client contact to receive notification before the appointment takes place

4. Edit templates to reflect what you want the New Appointment Reminder notifications to communicate

5. Repeat steps for Staff Members

6. Click Save

• By default the new appointment reminder setting will be disabled.

• New appointment reminders are sent based on settings chosen at the company account level and /or client/staff profile level

• The system does not send new appointment reminders right after appointments are created.

• If you do not want any client contacts or staff members to have the option to receive appointment reminders, deselect the checkboxes next to “Client” and “Staff”

• The selections in the Company Account are only for default reminders. Client Contacts and Staff Member settings may be updated to override the company account default settings (See Staff and Client Contact Reminders below)

  • Setting up Client Contact and Staff Reminders under the Company Account will not automatically enlist all client contacts and staff to receive appointment reminders. Staff with permission may control staff reminder settings within their profile

  • Staff with permissions and access to clients may manage the client contact reminder settings as needed (client contacts will not have a way to manage their own reminder settings at this time)

• Notifications will include client initials, not client’s full name

Cancelled/Deleted Appointment Reminder Settings

1. Click Edit Cancelled/Deleted Appointment Reminder

2. Edit templates to reflect what you want the notifications to say for reminders regarding modified appointments

3. Click Save

• The Cancelled/Deleted Appointment Reminder Settings do not have Days/Hours fields as notification will be sent after the action occurs.

• Reminders for cancelled/deleted appointments will be sent by default if you have opted in for new appointment reminders.

• To opt out of cancelled/deleted appointment reminders, you will need to opt out of new appointment reminders

Modified Appointment Reminder Settings

1. Click Edit Modified Appointment Reminder

2. Edit templates to reflect what you want the notifications to say for reminders regarding modified appointments

3. Click Save

• Modified appointment reminders will be sent if the following fields are edited: date, time, staff or client assignment.

• The Modified Appointment Reminder Settings do not have Days/Hours fields as notifications will be sent after the changes have been saved.

• Reminders for modified appointments will be sent by default if you have opted in for new appointment reminders.

• To opt out of modified appointment reminders, you will also have to opt out of new appointment reminders

Reminder Templates

Users may customize reminder templates for new appointments as well as cancelled/modified appointments when the client or staff reminder options are selected and Email or SMS are also selected

• Admin users can customize and add additional text if needed

Provide Permission to Staff View/Edit Reminder Settings

To give staff the ability to turn on and edit appointment reminders, navigate to Company Account>Roles>Edit Permissions>Under Staff Member Info, select “View/Edit Reminders”

• Only Staff Members with the Permission “View/Edit Reminders” has the ability to turn on and edit the reminders on their profile or other staff profiles that user has permission to access

• Users without this permission can still receive reminders and they will be able to opt out of receiving reminders at the appointment level.

Update Staff Member Reminder Settings

Staff with permission to Navigate to Staff Members>Click on the Staff Members Name>Scheduler Preferences>Reminders

1. Select the checkbox next to Email and/or SMS depending on the communication channel(s) that specific staff would like to receive appointment notifications through

2. Use the drop down menus to change the company’s default reminder settings for how many hours or days in advance the user would like to receive notification before appointment start time

3. Click Save

• Staff members will receive reminders for both non-billable and billable appointments

• By default if staff reminders are turned on at the company account level, staff reminders will be turned ON for all staff.

• Staff with permission to Edit reminders may choose to not receive appointment reminders by not selecting the checkboxes next to Email or SMS

• The Reminders tab will not appear in the staff profile scheduler preference unless reminders for staff are first enabled in the Company Account

• Staff with permission may override the default company account staff reminder settings.

For example: Company sets up reminders in the Company Account for staff to receive notification 1 hour before appointment start time. Staff can override that here to choose if they want to receive the reminder 2 hours before appointment start time or 1 day in advance

Manage Client Contact Appointment Reminder Settings

Navigate to Clients>Click on the Client’s Name>Contacts>Add New Contact or Click Edit on a Current Contact

1. Select the checkbox next to Email and/or SMS depending on the communication channel(s) that specific client contact would like to receive appointment notifications through

2. Use the drop down menus to change the company’s default reminder settings for how many hours or days in advance the client contact would like to receive notification before appointment start time

3. Click Save

• Eligible client contacts will only receive reminders for billable appointments.

• Client Contacts cannot currently control their appointment reminder settings. This is an admin level feature to manage client contact appointment reminder settings.

• EX: A company sets up reminders for a client contact to receive notification 1 hour before appointment start time. This can be overridden here if the client contact would like to receive notification 1 day in advance or 2 hours in advance instead

• Email checkbox will be enabled only if the contact has an email addresses listed in their contact page

• If SMS is selected, a phone number is required to enter before clicking save

• The Reminders field will not appear in the client contact page if not first enabled under the Company Account

Selecting Client Contact Reminders-Single occurrence appointments

For billable appointments only

To add a client contact, create a billable type appointment>enter all appt details

THEN

Click in the client contact reminder field.

Choose from the following options:

Select “None” to not send any client contact reminders for the appointment

Select one Client Contact from the drop down menu

Add Multiple contacts (if available)

If there are no client contact(s) with the reminder settings enabled

Then the following text will display in the client contact reminder field:

“There are no contacts to select”

• When creating a billable appointment on the Scheduler, if there is an asterisk* next to the Client Contact Reminders field, it is required to select a Client Contact before saving the appointment. If there is no asterisk next to the Client Contact Reminders field, it is optional to add

• Users will not be able to select a client contact at the appointment level if the contact does not have appointment reminders enabled.

  • If there are no client contacts to select and the field is required, the user will still be allowed to save the appointment.

• If a client contact is removed (deleted) from the client profile, that contact will also be removed from any existing appointments. (it is not recommended to remove client contacts if they are connected to existing appointments)

• Client contacts may always be added after saving an appointment for appointments dated in the future

• When removing a client contact from an existing appointment, the client contact will not receive a notification that they have been removed from the appointment and they will also not receive any reminders from that point forward regarding that appointment

• If the client contact reminders are not enabled under the Company Account, user will see the following message on the appointment level, “There are no contacts to select”

Client Contact Reminders- Appointment Series

Simlar to single occurrence appointments users may select none, 1 or multiple contacts when creating series appointments.

• If there are appointments that are dated before “today’s date/time” users users will not be able to update the client contact reminders when opening the “series”. Any updates must be made to the single occurrence appointments within the series.

Appointment Staff Reminder Option

For billable or non billable appointments

Select or Deselect the checkbox next to “Send Reminder to [STAFF NAME]” depending on if that staff member would like to receive a reminder for that appointment

Select the checkbox to send staff an appointment reminder

Deselect the checkbox to not send the staff member an appointment reminder:

• Users will not be able to select the staff checkbox to receive an appointment reminder if reminders have not been set up under that staff’s profile

• The staff checkbox will not appear on the appointment level if staff reminders are not first enabled under the company account

• the option will not be available for past appointments

Changing Date/Time on an Appointment

• Changes to the date/time will result in a modification reminder being sent to the staff and or client contact(s) added on the appointment level

• The notification will be sent after the modifications are saved

• Modification template will be used for date and/or time changes

• Staff and Client Contact(s) will receive modification courtesy reminders prior to the new (upcoming) appointment reminder notification if a modification was made prior to the new reminder being sent.

• If the original appointment reminder was first received, then the appointment was modified, the staff and client contact(s) will receive the modification notification. They will also receive a new appointment reminder for the new date/time.

Changing Client Assignment

• If the client assigned to an appointment is changed after the new appointment reminder was sent to the client contact(s) of the original client assigned, the same client contacts who received the previous reminder will receive a cancellation notification

• If the client assigned to an appointment is changed after the reminder was sent to the staff member, the staff member will receive a cancellation notification regarding the appointment with the previous client and then they will receive a new appointment reminder for the appointment with the updated client

• The new client contact added to the appointment will receive the new (upcoming) appointment reminder

• If the client assignment is changed before the appointment reminder went out to the original client contacts and staff member, then no notification will be sent to the original client contact nor staff about the change.

• The client contact and staff will receive the new (upcoming) appointment reminder based on their appointment reminder settings.

Changing Staff Assignment

• If the staff assigned to an appointment is changed after the original staff member received a reminder about this appointment, the original staff member will receive a cancellation notification.

• If the staff assigned to an appointment is changed after client contact(s) received an appointment reminder, the client contact(s) will receive a cancellation notification for the appointment with the original staff member and then they will receive a new appointment reminder with the new staff member

• The new staff assigned to an appointment will receive the new appointment reminder

• If the staff assigned to an appointment is changed before the staff and client contact(s) have received an appointment reminder, no one will be notified of this change. The new staff member and client contact(s) will both receive a new appointment reminder notification dependent on their reminder settings

Cancelled Appointment

• Cancellation reminders are sent after the cancellation is saved

• Cancellation Template will be used for cancelled appointments

• Staff and Client Contact(s) will receive a cancellation notification prior to the appointment reminder notification if a cancellation was made before their new appointment reminder is set to alert them

• Once an appointment is cancelled, any action taken on the cancelled appointment (such as changing the dates, times, or deleting the cancelled appointment) will not trigger a notification for staff or clients

Deleted Appointment

• Cancellation reminders are sent for deleted appointments after the deletion is saved

• Cancellation Template will be used for deleted appointments

• Staff and Client Contact(s) will receive a cancellation notification prior to the appointment reminder notification if a deletion was made well in advance before their new appointment reminder is set to alert them

• If the appointment was deleted after the appointment was cancelled, the staff and client contact(s) will receive two cancellation notifications, one when the appointment was cancelled and one when the appointment was deleted

  • Will be improving this in future releases

Appointment Series- Reminder Rules

• Modifying and deleting whole appointment series does not trigger appointment reminders to staff or client contact(s)

• Including occurrences that you already received a reminder for

• For series appointments, if a user makes a change to a whole series such as changes the recurrence, days of the week, removes a day or adds a day, changes date range, changes the # of occurrences, etc. the system does not send any reminders

• Reminders are only sent if user cancels, deletes, or modifies a single occurrence appointment