Reminder timing and editing message templates
Updated
On this page
Sidebar: Business Settings → Notifications.
Reminder timing is fixed
Appointment reminders go out at about 24 hours and about 2 hours before the appointment. You cannot change these to other intervals. There is no setting for a 48-hour reminder or a three-day reminder, and looking for one is a waste of an afternoon.
What you can do is switch each one on or off, per channel. If 2-hour reminders do not suit how you work, turn them off; you cannot move them to 4 hours.
A consequence worth planning around: an appointment booked less than 24 hours ahead never gets the 24-hour reminder, because the window has already passed. Same-day bookings get the 2-hour one only.
What you can turn on and off
Under Notifications:
- The Email tab controls the emails Alaga sends your clients, individually.
- The Text Messages tab controls texts, separately. These are off by default.
- The Delivery Log shows what actually went out.
Email and text are independent for the same event. Reminder emails can be on while reminder texts are off.
New accounts start with client messaging switched off. This is deliberate — importing three years of history should not mail everyone on day one. Turn things on once your data looks right.
Balance reminders
Unlike appointment reminders, balance reminders — chasing an unpaid balance — do have a configurable interval. Set how many days after the balance is due the reminder goes, and whether it runs at all.
Editing the wording
Each email template can be edited: its subject and its body, built from content blocks.
Anything you do not change keeps the default, and you can reset back to the default at any time. So it is safe to experiment — you cannot permanently lose the original wording.
Worth editing:
- Your tone. The defaults are neutral. If your business is warmer than that, say so.
- Practical details. Where to park, which door, what to bring, how early to arrive. This is the highest-value edit and the one most businesses skip.
- What happens if they need to cancel, with your policy stated plainly.
Templates can also be switched off entirely, which stops that email regardless of other settings — a common cause of "reminders stopped working" after somebody tidied up the template list.
Checking your changes
Send yourself a test rather than waiting for a real client. Then look at the Delivery Log to confirm it went, and read it on a phone — most clients will.
What is not customisable
- Appointment reminder intervals, as above.
- The precise minute a reminder is sent. Reminders are processed hourly, so a 9:00 am appointment's 24-hour reminder goes out at some point the previous morning, not at exactly 9:00 am.
- Times shown inside messages always use your business timezone, set under Business Profile.