Reminder timing and editing message templates

Sidebar: Business Settings, then Customer Notifications. Owners and managers can open it.

The page has three tabs: Email, Text Messages and Delivery Log.

For a plain list of every automatic message and when it goes, see What messages clients get automatically.

New accounts start with client messages off

A new business sends no confirmations, reminders or follow-ups to clients until you switch them on. This stops an import from emailing years of old clients on day one. Switch them on once your client list looks right.

Step 1: Switch on what you want

On the Email tab, the Client Email Notifications card has three switches:

• Booking confirmations — confirmation, cancellation, check-in and check-out emails when an appointment or stay changes.
• Appointment reminders — sent 24 hours and 2 hours before the visit.
• Follow-up emails — the "we missed you" email after a no-show.

Turning one off stops it for every client. Leaving it on means each client's own notification preferences decide. Invoices, payment receipts, vaccination alerts and account emails always send.

Texts are switched on separately, on the Text Messages tab. See Text messages: consent, compliance and what gets sent.

Reminder timing is fixed

Appointment reminders go out about 24 hours and about 2 hours before the appointment. You cannot change these times. There is no 48-hour or 3-day reminder.

Good to know:

• An appointment booked less than 24 hours ahead never gets the 24-hour reminder. Same-day bookings get the 2-hour one only.
• Reminders are sent once an hour, so the exact minute varies. A 9:00 am appointment's 24-hour reminder goes out some time between 9:00 and 10:00 the morning before.
• No reminder is sent when the pet is already with you for a boarding stay at that time.
• Times inside messages use your business time zone, set in Business Profile.

Balance reminders for boarding

The Balance Reminder Settings card emails clients who owe money before their check-in date.

1. Switch on Enable Reminders.
2. Add the days before check-in to send, for example 7 and 1. Type a number and press Add.
3. Press Save Reminder Settings.

Step 2: Edit the wording

Under Transactional Emails, every automatic email is listed with its own switch. Turning a switch off stops that email no matter what else is on. This is a common cause of "reminders stopped working".

To change the wording:

1. Press the pencil icon next to the email.
2. Change the Subject Line, Email Heading, Body Content and Button Text. Click a merge tag to insert it, such as the client's or pet's name.
3. Press Show Preview to check it, and Send Test to email yourself a copy.
4. Press Save Changes.

An edited email shows Customized. Press Reset to go back to the original wording at any time.

Worth adding: where to park, which door to use, what to bring, and your cancellation policy.

Emails under Not yet active are not sent automatically yet. You can edit them now.

Text message wording cannot be edited.

Who the email comes from

The Sending Identity card shows what clients see:

• From name — your business name, from Business Profile
• From address — noreply@notifications.alaga.io
• Reply-to — your business email. Client replies go there. If it says "Not set", add a business email in Business Profile.

Automatic emails always come from Alaga's address. A Custom Sending Domain (Premium plan) is only for marketing campaigns. See Sending an email campaign.

The Branding Preview shows your logo and colours. Change them in Business Profile.

Checking what went out

The Delivery Log tab lists every email and text, with its status. Failed texts show the reason, such as "Client replied STOP" or "Not a mobile number".

If emails are failing, a red banner at the top of the page says how many failed in the last 30 days and why.

See Why didn't my reminder send? to work through a missing reminder.