Configure Post-Appointment Notifications

Modified on Thu, 11 Sep at 9:36 AM

Post-Appointment Messages are automated notifications sent to clients once their appointment is marked as completed. The messages confirm the completion of the visit and provide the following:

A link to easily rebook their next appointment
A link to their invoice, allowing them to view details or take any necessary action

This article will guide you through customizing post-appointment message templates.

Things to know

The ability to view and customize post-appointment messages is controlled by the "Accessing Automated Messages" access control setting.
Messages are sent only when:
The appointment is manually marked as completed in the appointment modal
The account is set to auto-complete appointments when their ticket is closed.
Notification Requirements
- SMS Notifications: Clients must have a valid phone number on file and be single-opted in to receive transactional SMS.
- Email Notifications: Clients must have a valid email address on file and be opted in to receive transactional emails.
- Push Notifications: Can only be delivered to clients who have the custom MyTime Guest App installed on their mobile device.
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
You can create multiple templates targeting specific services.
Messages can be sent immediately or after a set number of hours/days/weeks/months (up to 99).
By default, all services are included, but you can limit messages to certain services.
If a service is not selected in any template, no post-appointment message will be sent for it.
When customizing post-appointment messages, you cannot edit the name of the template.
A default post-appointment message template always exists to ensure clients receive some communication if all custom messages are deleted.
Franchise accounts with global marketing enabled:
If the hidden setting Allow Child Accounts to Edit Global Automated Marketing Templates is enabled, edits at the child account only apply to that child.
Child-level notifications will respect service selections at that level.
These notifications will include a link to an invoice only if the appointment is linked to an open or closed ticket.
Post-appointment messages are displayed in chronological order based on their scheduled timing.

To customize post-appointment message templates, simply:

Navigate to Marketing > Automated Messages
Scroll to the Post-Appointment Message template
Hover over the template and select View
From here you can edit the following (if your subscription allows)
- Send X After the Appointment: You can specify when the notification should be sent to the client — either immediately after the appointment is marked as completed, or after a set number of hours (up to 99), days (up to 99), weeks (up to 99), or months (up to 99).
- Services: This drop-down menu lets you select the service(s) that will trigger the post-appointment message notification when the appointment is marked as completed.
- Delivery By: You can specify a fallback delivery method (email, SMS, push notification) when the primary method is unavailable. Learn more here
  - 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
- 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.
- Subject: The subject line of the email as it will appear in the client’s inbox.
- Add Directions: You can add directions for each of your locations. They will be featured in clients’ appointment-related emails.
- Service-specific Instructions: You can add instructions for each of your services. They will be featured in clients’ appointment-related emails and SMS. Learn more here
- Body: Customize the message content
Save

To customize an additional post-appointment message, click on the + Add Another Message hyperlink. You can then set up the template by referring to the information provided above.

For more information, contact us at support@mytime.com or (385) 233-6964.

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