Auto Replies & Actions

Set up auto-replies in Apptoto to respond to clients or patients automatically when they reply to appointment confirmations, reminders, and more.

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

Setting up Auto Replies for a specific message

1. Open the Message Editor: Go to Messaging > Appointment Auto Messages and click the message you want to edit.
2. Add an auto reply: Near the bottom of the Message Editor, click + Add Auto-Reply.
3. Set a trigger: Choose from the available triggers (see table below)
4. Set an action: Choose what Apptoto should do when the trigger fires (see table below).
5. Save: Click Save to apply changes.

Each message can have multiple triggers, and each trigger can have multiple actions.

Setting up default Auto Replies for all messages

Default auto-replies apply to every message in your schedule, not just a specific one.

1. Open Advanced Settings: Go to Messaging > Appointment Auto Messages > Advanced.
2. Scroll to Default Appointment Auto Replies: Find the section at the bottom of the Advanced tab.
3. Click + Add Auto Reply: A new reply is created. Click the edit icon to configure its trigger and action.
4. Configure and save: Set the trigger and action for each default reply, then click Save.

Note

Default auto replies are type-specific. A default reply for SMS will not apply to voice calls or email.

Triggers

SMS and Email

Trigger	Description
reply is	Fires when the client replies with exactly the specified text (not case-sensitive)
reply includes	Fires when the reply contains a word or phrase
no response after X minutes	Fires if no reply is received within the specified time
message fails	Fires if the message cannot be delivered
client confirms	Fires when a client confirms via any method (default digit, appointment page, etc.)
client cancels	Fires when a client cancels via any method
client requests reschedule	Fires when a client requests a reschedule via any method
client accepts	Fires when a client accepts a booking message
client declines	Fires when a client declines a booking message

Voice calls

Trigger	Description
client dials	Fires when the client presses a specific digit
digit is not recognized	Fires when the client dials a digit that doesn’t match any trigger
no response	Fires if the client hangs up without dialing, doesn’t answer, or line is busy
call fails	Fires if the call cannot connect

Actions

Action	Available For	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	All	Do nothing. Used to override the default behavior if desired.
transition to	All	Transition to a different Auto Message by saying or sending its message, and using its 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	All	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	All	Disable another message for the participant of the appointment.
send email notification	All	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 is 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

Incoming Text Message Handling