Configure Appointment Confirmation Notification

In this article, we'll go over how to set up automated notifications to remind your clients to confirm their appointments and ensure their presence.

Things to know: 

• The ability to configure appointment confirmation notification is governed by the "Accessing Automated Messages" access control setting.
• You can specify a fallback delivery method (email or SMS) when the primary method is unavailable.
• Use if available: This is the primary method that will be attempted first
• Use if other methods are not available: This method will be attempted if the primary option is unavailable (because contact information is not on file or the user opted out)
• Never Use: This method will not be used, even if none of the other options are available
• Delivery methods configured before February 3, 2025 (prior to the introduction of fallback delivery methods) will have the following default settings:
• Enabled delivery methods - ‘Use if available’ will be selected
• Disabled delivery methods - ‘Use if others are not available’ will be selected
• SMS Segment Calculation & Billing:

  • SMS costs are calculated per segment, not per message. Carriers treat each segment as a separate message for delivery and billing, so every segment is counted and charged individually. This billing method is determined by carriers and is not specific to MyTime.

  • Segments per message are based on length and encoding

  • Encoding Standards 

    • GSM Encoding:

      • GSM-encoded messages (standard letters, numbers, and symbols) allow up to 160 characters per segment. 

      • If the message is longer than 160 characters, it will be split into concatenated segments of 153 characters each.

    • UCS-2 Encoding:

      • UCS-2 messages (special characters, emojis, or non-Latin alphabets) allow up to 70 characters per segment. 

      • If the message is longer than 70 characters, it will be split into concatenated segments of 67 characters each.
        

      • Even a single emoji forces UCS-2 encoding, reducing per-segment capacity and potentially doubling the number of segments.

    • Note: Concatenation headers are hidden data that let the recipient’s phone reassemble multiple segments into a single message.

  • Each recipient receives their own copy, so the number of segments per message is multiplied by the number of recipients to calculate billing. Example: A 2-segment message sent to 50 recipients counts as 100 billable segments. If each segment costs $0.02, the total cost would be 100 × $0.02 = $2.00.

  • Learn more about SMS segments & billing here
    
• Appointment confirmations come with two pre-configured templates that you can customize or add your own. 
• The "Appointment Confirmations for Multiple Family Members or Pets" setting controls how Appointment Confirmation messages are sent when multiple appointments are booked on the same day for a client, their family members, or pets. Note: This setting only affects the Appointment Confirmation automated message. It does not apply to Booked by Business or Booked by Client templates. You can choose between two options:
• Send a single appointment confirmation message for all family members or pets in the appointment: A single confirmation message will be sent to the client, which will include all services booked for the client, their family members, or pets.
• Send a separate appointment confirmation message for each family member or pet in the appointment: Individual confirmation messages will be sent for each appointment. Each service booked for the client, their family members, or pets will receive its own separate confirmation message specific to that service.
  
• When multiple appointments are booked on the same day for a client, their family members, or pets, and the account is configured to send one confirmation notification to the client, clicking the "Confirm Appointment" button will mark all appointments for the client, family members, and pets on that day as confirmed.
• The “Color Code Appointments Automatically” setting controls how appointments appear on the schedule once confirmed.
  • When set to Appointment Status:
    • The appointment color changes from blue to green after confirmation
    • A green dot appears on the appointment tile to indicate it is confirmed
    • IIf the client confirms the appointment via email or SMS after receiving the First Appointment Confirmation or Follow-up Appointment Confirmation automated message, the Notes tab records the confirmation. It will display either “MyTime Reminder Confirmed via email” or “MyTime Reminder Confirmed via SMS”, depending on how the client completed the action.
      
  • When set to Staff Member or Service:
    • The appointment color does not change after confirmation
    • A green dot still appears on the appointment tile to indicate confirmation.
    • If the client confirms the appointment via email or SMS after receiving the First Appointment Confirmation or Follow-up Appointment Confirmation automated message, the Notes tab records the confirmation. It will display either “MyTime Reminder Confirmed via email” or “MyTime Reminder Confirmed via SMS”, depending on how the client completed the action.

Contents

• Configuring Appointment Confirmation Notification Frequency 
• Configuring Notification for Appointment Confirmation

Configuring Appointment Confirmation Notification Frequency 

1. Navigate to Business Setup > Settings 
2. Scroll down to the Marketing section and locate the "Appointment confirmations for multiple family members or pets " setting.
3. Determine whether the client should receive multiple confirmation notifications when multiple services are booked for the same day for themselves, their family members, or pets.
   • Send a single appointment confirmation message for all family members or pets in the appointment: A single confirmation message will be sent to the client, which will include all services booked for the client, their family members, or pets.
   • Send a separate appointment confirmation message for each family member or pet in the appointment: Individual confirmation messages will be sent for each appointment. Each service booked for the client, their family members, or pets will receive its own separate confirmation message specific to that service.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and save your changes

Configuring Notification for Appointment Confirmation

1. Navigate to Marketing > Automated Messages
2. Locate the Appointment Notification section
3. Hover over the status to see the options to 'View' or 'Activate' the template
4. Click 'View'
5. From here you can set your preferences:
   • Send X before the appointment. You can specify how far ahead of the appointment date the confirmation should be sent. This can range from hours to weeks.
   • Delivery by: You can specify a fallback delivery method (email, SMS, push notification) when the primary method is unavailable.
     • Use if available: This is the primary method that will be attempted first
     • Use if other methods not available: This method will be attempted if the primary option is unavailable (because contact information is not on file or the user opted out)
     • Never Use: This method will not be used, even if none of the other options are available
     • Email: The client must have an email address on file and be opted in to receive transactional emails
     • Text Message: The client must have a mobile number on file and be opted in to receive transactional SMS
   • Email Title: The subject line of the email that will appear in your client’s inbox. It should clearly convey the purpose of the email to encourage clients to open it.
   • Reply-to-Name: This is the name that appears when clients reply to an automated email. By default, it is pulled from the business name set on the Business Profile page.
   • Reply-to-Email: By default, this is set to the location's email address.
     • If no email is configured for the location, the system will use the location owner's email instead.
     • If the hidden setting "Use a specific reply-to email for outbound emails" is enabled, the system will use the email address entered in the "Reply-To Email for Outbound Emails" field.
   • Email Subject: The subject line of the email as it will appear in the client’s inbox.
   • Body of the template: This is the content of the email that will be sent to your clients. You can customize the message, include dynamic fields, and apply styling as needed.

     
     

6. Save 
7. From the Automated Messages Page, hover over the status > and click 'Activate'

Notification sent to your clients

After clicking "Confirm Appointment," the appointments will be confirmed and the client will be redirected to the booking confirmation page.

Confirmed Appointment on the Schedule

Audit Trail on the Notes Tab 

For more information, contact us at support@mytime.com.    

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