Guide to calendar reminders

If you have set up reminders to be send to patients via SMS or email, you can view reminder activity for any appointment by clicking the appointment in the calendar, then clicking the bell icon.

You can also view responses to your reminders at a glance by looking at the Appointment Status, shown by the coloured time label on the appointment.

Two-way reminders and appointment statuses

Appointments with two-way SMS reminders will have their appointment status automatically updated depending on the patient's response to the reminder.

Appointments with two-way reminders will have the time label coloured (regardless of your calendar preferences) according to the following table:

Colour

Appointment Status

AppointmentStatus_Red.png

Red

Rejected

The patient sent a negative response, such as N or NO.

AppointmentStatus_Amber.png

Amber

Check Response or Pending

The patient sent an ambiguous response.

Check the reminder by clicking the appointment in the calendar, then clicking the Icon-Bell.svg bell icon and hovering over the magnifying glass.

AppointmentStatus_Yellow.png

Yellow

Booked

An SMS reminder has been sent, but no reply has been received yet

AppointmentStatus_Green.png

Green

Confirmed or Attended

The patient sent a positive response, such as Y or YES.

Confirm status for reminders or notifications

You can check that a particular reminder or notification has been sent or has been scheduled by clicking the appointment on the calendar, then clicking the Icon-Bell.svg bell icon.

Calendar-Reminders-01.png

From the Reminder pop-up, you can:

  • View when each reminder was sent or is scheduled to be sent

  • View the status of each reminder and whether it sent successfully, or see the reason why the reminder failed to send

  • View the content of a reminder by hovering over the magnifying glass

  • Edit reminder copy and schedule it to be sent later

  • Purchase credits for SMS reminders

Reasons for reminder and notification failure

If an attempt to send an SMS or email reminder fails, click the exclamation mark next to the Failed status to see the reason why it failed, which are detailed below.

Reason

Description and Action

No email address listed

Obtain the email address from the patient and add it on the Appointment Reminder details form, then re-send the reminder. Alternatively you can send it via SMS by clicking the Add Reminder button.

No phone number listed

Obtain the mobile phone number from the patient and add it on the Appointment Reminder details form, then re-send the reminder. Alternatively you can send it via email by clicking the Add Reminder button.

Invalid phone number listed - [the number]

Check the mobile phone number with the patient and add it on the Appointment Reminder details form, and re-send it. Alternatively you can send it via email by clicking the Add Reminder button.

Appointment cancelled

The reminder/notification was not sent because the appointment was cancelled.

Insufficient SMS/Text credit balance

Click the Buy Credits button on this form or on your Reminders page.

Manage individual reminders

When you click on the Icon-Bell.svg bell icon on a calendar appointment, you can:

  • View the reminder/notification: including the full wording with dynamic terms converted to actual words (e.g. [Patient Full Name] becomes John Smith), the actual character count (compared to the estimate seen on the Reminders page) and the number of credit/s used;

  • Edit the reminder/notification: including the ability to edit the date and time that the reminder is sent, as well as the wording of the reminder and the mobile phone number to which the reminder is sent (if the reminder is an SMS reminder);

  • Re-send the reminder/notification: re-send the same reminder to the same number/email address, which is done immediately when you click the re-send icon - very helpful if the previous attempt failed and you have rectified the issue, or if you have cancelled the reminder previously and now want to send it; and

  • Cancel the reminder/notification: cancel a previously scheduled reminder or notification, which is done immediately when you click the cancel icon.

You can also send an individual reminder that has not been previously scheduled for this appointment by clicking the Add Reminder button.

Send a reminder now

Even when a reminder has been scheduled for sometime in the future, you can send it now by clicking the Icon-Bell.svg bell icon and then clicking the Icon-Send.svg paper plane icon. The reminder is sent immediately.

Updated

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