Auto Replies & Actions

You can set up Apptoto to automatically reply (or take other actions) when a client replies to one of your auto-messages. You can set up Auto Replies for specific messages in a messaging sequence or for all messages.

Creating Auto-Replies for Individual Messages

To add and edit Auto Replies, click the message you want to add your auto-reply to, click the “edit” button, and then the “Add auto-reply.”

Each “Auto Message” has its own set of triggers and actions. An “Auto Message” can have multiple triggers.

Each trigger can also have multiple actions.

Creating Default Auto Replies for All Messages

Instead of creating Auto Replies for individual messages, you may want to set up default Auto Replies for all messages instead. That’s possible with Apptoto! To do so:

1. First, navigate to the “Messaging” > “Appointment Auto Messages” tab.
2. Click the “Advanced” tab and scroll to the bottom.
3. In the “Default Appointment Auto Replies” section, you can add as many default auto replies as you want. These are specific to each type of message (voice call, text, and email), as each message type will have different triggers and/or actions that can then be taken.
4. Clicking “+Add Auto Reply” will automatically generate a new reply, but you will need to edit it in order for it to work.
5. Set a trigger and then the action you wish to take place, along with the text you wish to accompany the action if needed. All available triggers and actions are listed in the tables below.
   • For example, If “client confirms,” then “say” {text message response}. Clicking the blue text message link next to the action will enable you to edit the text of the message as needed.
6. Click + to add another Auto Reply, the pencil/paper icon to edit an existing message, or the trash can icon to delete an Auto Reply.
7. Be sure to click “Save” to ensure your Auto Replies are enabled.

If you want to set up default messages to be sent to anyone who sends you a text, not just clients responding to existing Appointment Booking Confirmations, Reminders, or Follow-Ups, you can find more information in our article about Incoming Message Handling.

Triggers

Apptoto supports the following triggers:

Trigger	Message Types	Description
client dials	Calls only	Fires if the client dials the specific digit provided.
digit is not recognized	Calls only	Fires if the client dials a digit that doesn’t match any of the triggers or auto triggers
no response	Calls only	Client hangs up without dialing anything since the last prompt, client doesn’t answer, or busy signal
call fails	Calls only	Call does not go through (most likely because number is incorrect)
message fails	SMS and Email only	Message does not go through (most likely because number is incorrect)
reply is	SMS and Email only	Fires if the client replies with a specific reply (not case sensitive)
reply includes	SMS and Email only	Fires if the client replies and the reply includes the specified word or phrase. (not case sensitive)
no response after X minutes	SMS and Email Only	No response is received back from client after X minutes. PLEASE NOTE: Sending any manual messages to the same client will negate this trigger.
client confirms	Reminders	Fires if the client confirms the appointment via the default trigger (e.g. 1) or if a different trigger results in the appointment being confirmed. Also fires if the client confirms through the “Appointment Page” included in the SMS or Email sent.
client cancels	Reminders	Same as above but for cancellations
client requests reschedule	Reminders	Same as above but for reschedule requests
client accepts	Booking	Same as above but when the client accepts a booking message (i.e. invite)
client declines	Booking	Same as above but when the client declines a booking message (i.e. invite)

Actions

Apptoto supports the following actions:

Action	Message Types	Description
prompt	Calls	Respond to the client (during the same call) and then wait for the client to dial another digit. The same triggers will be re-used. To use a different set of triggers for the new prompt, consider using “transition to” instead.
say	Calls	Respond to the client (during the same call) and then hang up
repeat	Calls	Repeat the original message
forward	Calls	Forwards the call to the calendar owner or a different number. This feature is not available to all accounts, please contact support@apptoto.com if you want to use this action.
reply	SMS and Email	Reply with a SMS or Email message back to the client
do nothing		Do nothing. Used to override the default behavior if desired.
transition to		Transition to a different Auto Message by saying or sending it’s message, and using it’s triggers if the client replies again. Please note that the conditions of the other message will not be take into account (i.e. the transition will occur regardless of if the target message is still valid for the appointment).
enable message		Enable another message for the participant of the appointment. Use this instead of “transition to” if you want the timing options of the message to still be applied, or if you want the conditions to be considered.
disable message		Disable another message for the participant of the appointment.
send email notification		Send an email notification to the user or calendar owner (destination will be determined by the settings on the “Settings” > “Notifications” tab unless you override it with a custom “to” email address).
mark as confirmed	Reminders	Records the client as having confirmed the appointment, and adds [CONFIRMED] to the title of the appointment
mark as cancelled	Reminders	Records the client as having cancelled the appointment, and adds [NOT COMING] to the title of the appointment
mark as reschedule requested	Reminders	Records the client as having cancelled the appointment, and adds [RESCHEDULE] to the title of the appointment
mark as accepted	Booking	Records the client as having accepted the appointment, and adds [ACCEPTED] to the title of the appointment
mark as declined	Booking	Records the client as having declined the appointment, and adds [DECLINED] to the title of the appointment
disable default auto replies		Prevents any auto replies and actions specified in the “Default Auto Replies” section of the schedule from executing. Useful if you want most of the messages to behave in a certain way but only one or a few to not. You can set up the defaults for the majority of the messages, and then override them in the other messages.

Default Triggers and Actions

Depending on the purpose of the original message, Apptoto will handle replies automatically for some responses.

Default triggers and actions are not performed if an auto-reply trigger matches the reply. E.g. if you set up an auto reply that says “if reply includes ‘1’” then the default actions described in this section for “1” will not be performed. This can be useful if you want to override the default behavior. If you don’t want to override the default behavior, and simply want to add an action, then consider using one of the ‘client confirms’, ‘client cancels’, etc. triggers listed above.

Triggers and Actions For Reminders:

Trigger	Call Type	Actions
replies “1”	SMS Reminders	Marks the appointment as confirmed and sends an email notification (if configured on Settings > Notifications tab)
dials “1”	Call Reminders	Same
replies “confirm”	Email Reminders	Same
replies “2”	SMS Reminders	Marks the appointment as cancelled and sends an email notification (if configured on Settings > Notifications tab)
dials “2” and then “2”	Call Reminders	Same
replies “cancel”	Email Reminders	Same
replies “3”	SMS Reminders	Marks the appointment as reschedule requested and sends an email notification (if configured on Settings > Notifications tab)
dials “2” and then “1”	Call Reminders	Same
replies “reschedule”	Email Reminders	Same

Triggers and Actions For Booking Messages:

Trigger	Call Type	Actions
replies “1”	SMS Booking	Marks the appointment as accepted and sends an email notification (if configured on Settings > Notifications tab)
dials “1”	Call Booking	Same
replies “accept”	Email Booking	Same
replies “2”	SMS Booking	Marks the appointment as declined and sends an email notification (if configured on Settings > Notifications tab)
dials “2”	Call Booking	Same
replies “declined”	Email Reminders	Same

Triggers and Actions For All Messages:

Trigger	Call Type	Actions
replies “STOP”, “END”, “QUIT”, or “UNSUBSCRIBE”	SMS messages	Phone number is added to stop list
replies “STOP”, or “UNSUBSCRIBE”	Email messages	Email address is added to stop list
dialing 9	Calls	Phone number is added to stop list