Appointment reminder SMS: when to send it, what it must say and how to schedule it

The short answer: send the reminder the day before, or a few hours before if the appointment is early in the morning or easy to forget. Say who it is from, what it is, when, where and how to rebook. Schedule it on the SMS page in My MozOut or, if your bookings live in a system, through the API at the moment the booking is made.

What the reminder must say

1	Who: the name of the clinic, salon or school, even if you use a Sender ID.

2	What: consultation, test, class, technician visit, delivery.

3	When: the day and time, written so nobody can misread it ("tomorrow at 10:00", "Friday 15/11 at 9:30").

4	Where: the address or the room, if it is not obvious.

5	How to rebook: a phone number or your website, because the SMS cannot receive replies.

Examples to adapt

Use	The SMS
Clinic	Reminder: your appointment is on [DATE] at [TIME]. To rebook, call [PHONE].
Salon	Hi Joana, your booking is tomorrow at 3pm. If you cannot make it, call [PHONE].
School	Dear parent, the parents' meeting is on Friday at 5pm, in room 3.
Technician visit	Our technician arrives tomorrow between 9 and 11am. To change the time, call [PHONE].

Templates on the SMS page have parts in square brackets such as [DATE]: leave one unfilled and the send is blocked. More templates in SMS templates and AI.

How to schedule it

Route	How it works
SMS page in My MozOut	Write the text, pick the contact or group, set the day and time. Each contact's name goes in with {$contact_first_name}.
API	When the booking is created in your system, send the SMS with send_at set to the day before. Keep the id you get back: if the booking moves, cancel that notice and schedule a new one.

Scheduling through the API is covered in scheduling notices through the API, and cancelling in cancelling a scheduled SMS.

Do not ask people to "reply YES to confirm". The sender cannot receive replies, and the customer believes they confirmed. If you need a confirmation, ask for a call or a visit to your website.

Watch out for accented names. Names such as "João" or "Conceição" contain letters that switch the whole message to Unicode, where each part holds fewer characters. Check the cost before you schedule: how many credits an SMS uses.

Want fewer missed appointments? See the SMS prices and schedule your first reminders in My MozOut.

See SMS prices

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