Appointment Confirmations and Reminders - StratusTEXTING
Discover how you can create templates for appointment reminders and schedule them to be sent to your clients.
Table of Contents
Send Out Appointment Reminders
Sending confirmation and reminder texts is a great way to ensure your clients and customers stay informed and prepared. These texts can remind contacts about upcoming appointments, meetings, and more while including information about how your clientele can cancel and reschedule appointments ahead of time. Doing this can help reduce the number of no-shows your organization experiences.
With your StratusTEXTING services, you can schedule confirmation and reminder texts with ease. You have the ability to create selectable templates for these reminders that your users can edit to include important information, such as dates, times, the names of important people, and important addresses.
IMPORTANT: It is necessary to receive valid, written consent from your customers/clients for appointment reminder texts.
This can be done by having the individual give consent by filling out a paper or online form, texting a keyword to your number, etc. This form should note the exact types of texts the person is consenting to.
Step 1: Create Templates (OPTIONAL)
To make sending appointment confirmations and reminders quick and easy for your users, it is recommended to create templates. This can be done using the Template page of the Tools tab.
To create templates for confirmation and reminder texts…
- Navigate to the Tools tab.
- Select Templates.
- Click the CREATE TEMPLATE button.
- In the Create Template form, input the following:
- Title - Type an identifiable name that users can view while selecting a template to use.
-
Text - Type the message that should be sent to confirm or remind the contact of their upcoming appointment.
Quick Tip: You can use the token buttons to add one of the following tokens:
• [first name] - Automatically input the name of the contact that has been saved for the phone number you are texting.
• [company name] - Automatically input the contact's Company Name that is saved in the contact for this phone number being texted.
- If needed, add attachments, such as a media file, emojis, or gifs, to the template.
- Select whether this template will be saved as a Personal or Shared template.
Quick Tip: If you are saving this template as a Shared Template, you can select whether this template is selectable for all or specific SMS phone numbers.
- When you are ready to save, click the CREATE TEMPLATE button.
✔ You should see the new template listed alongside any other created templates.
- If needed, repeat steps 3-7 for additional reminder messages.
Quick Tip: Some companies prefer to create an appointment confirmation text that gets sent immediately when the contact schedules an appointment.
Step 2: Schedule an Appointment Reminder Text
To have a confirmation or reminder scheduled to be sent out at a specific date and time, you can use the Scheduler tool.
To schedule one of these special texts…
- Click the Scheduled Text
icon.
- Use the menu that appears to select the date and time that the message should be sent.
- Click Set
- In the text input box, do one of the following:
- Click the Templates
icon and select a template to be used.
-
Type the message to be sent on this date.
- Click the Templates
- Click the SCHEDULE button.
✔ You should see a confirmation message that the text has been scheduled for the date you selected.
Once that date and time arrives, the scheduled text will automatically be sent.
Reminder Template Examples
Use the module below to help brainstorm and format your new confirmation and reminder texts.
Scheduling Confirmation
Example 1:
Hi [firstname]. Thank you for scheduling an appointment with Dr. Example. Your appointment is scheduled for [ENTER DATE] at [ENTER TIME]. If you need to cancel or reschedule, please reply to this message or call us at 1 (555) 123-4567.
Example 2:
Example, Inc: This is confirmation that an appointment has been scheduled for [ENTER DATE] at [ENTER TIME]. Reply YES to confirm this appointment or NO to cancel.
Example 3:
Hi [firstname]. Thank you for scheduling a meeting with our team for [ENTER DATE] at [ENTER TIME]. As a reminder, this meeting will be taking place over Zoom ([ENTER MEETING ID]). If you would like to reschedule or cancel your meeting, please call our office at 1 (555)-123-4567 prior to the meeting time.
Appointment Reminder
Example 1:
Example, Inc: It's almost time for your meeting [ENTER DATE] at [ENTER TIME]! As a reminder, this meeting will be taking place over Zoom ([ENTER MEETING ID]). We can't wait to speak with you soon!
Example 2:
Hi [firstname], your appointment with Dr. Example is tomorrow, [ENTER DATE] at [ENTER TIME]. Please arrive 15 minutes early with your ID and insurance card. Thank you.
Example 3:
REMINDER from Example, Inc: Your maintenance appointment with our technician is scheduled for [ENTER DATE] at [ENTER TIME]. Please make sure that someone is on-site to meet with the technician. If you need to reschedule, please reply to this message or call us at 1 (555) 123-4567 at most a day before the meeting.