SMS Reminders & Other Automated SMS Setup
Use automated SMS notifications: If you're interested in using some automated text message, check this option and be sure to read the warning thoroughly. Choose Dismiss to cancel or agree to opt in.
Scroll down to find reminder settings.
Once you opt in, the automated options will be displayed. (Note that options are still being added so you may see more options available.)
Each module has these options.
Confirmation SMS: These are sent as soon as you add the appointment.
Thank you SMS: These are sent as soon as the pet is checked out.
Appointment Reminders: These are sent based on your settings, X number of days before their checkin date.
Grooming has additional option for Completed SMS. These are sent as soon as you mark the groom complete on the schedule.
Desktop users:
IMPORTANT: In order for SMS confirmation texts to go, you must enable confirmation emails. This is on in File, Business Info, Email tab, module tab.
Check the ones you would like to enable. Once selected, you will be able to enter custom text for each item.
Information in brackets will automatically load that info, such as module, pet name, dates.
You can edit these messages as needed.
Appointment reminders are now available! As mentioned above in this section, after you enable and agree to the automated SMS terms, you'll have the above options along with appointment reminders shown here:
Simply enable the reminders, choose how many days in advance and at what time you want the reminders to go out. You may also request a reply YES or NO on the reminders with the options to:
On NO reply, cancel appointment and send email confirming their NO response. Here's what this means:
If you enable the "Cancel appointment on No Reply" setting, this will automatically update your database and mark the appointment as cancelled when the customer replies "no" to the SMS message. You MUST have "track cancelled reservations" enabled. Please see here if you don't: https://help.kennelconnection.com/portal/en/kb/articles/cancellation-emails. Without this option enabled, the appointment will NOT be cancelled in your system!
If you enable the "send email confirming their no response", this will do two things. It will send them an immediate SMS reply stating their appointment has been cancelled AND it will also send them an email message (if you have their email address on their client card) stating their appointment has been cancelled.
Please note: You can enable YES/NO on confirmation and automatic reminder texts. The system will not cancel an already confirmed appointment. So if your client replies YES to the confirmation text and then replies NO to the automatic reminder text, KC will not cancel the appointment because it has already been confirmed.
To avoid this issue, you will want to turn off the YES/NO feature on confirmation texts and only leave them enabled for automatic reminders.
Click on Messaging, SMS Settings. Under each module for the confirmation text, uncheck the options for the YES/No feature.
You can enable this feature under the Automatic reminder section.
**Please note that mass SMS messaging/texting is not allowed so to deliver groups of auto-reminders the system uses an outbox system. Your reminders will NOT be instant. All the appointments matching the criteria to receive a reminder, (at the time you set your reminders to send), will be generated and added to an outbox that you cannot see. These will send one at a time until all are delivered. It may take a minute or two for the first one to be received and the rest will send until none are left. Depending on how many you have, it may take a little time to send all messages.
BE SURE TO CLICK SAVE in the upper right when done.
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