Message Timing Options
The When section of the Message Editor determines when each message is sent. Timing options differ depending on the message purpose (Reminder, Booking, or Follow-up). All messages also respect a delivery schedule that you define at the account level or per-message.
Each “Purpose” (Reminder, Followup, Booking) has different timing options.
Default Schedule
Section titled “Default Schedule”By default, all messages use the Default Schedule, which you configure under Settings > Contact Info. This schedule defines the days and hours during which Apptoto is permitted to send messages.
The built-in default is every day from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm. You can change the days, start time, and end time to match your business hours.
Reasons to restrict your schedule:
Section titled “Reasons to restrict your schedule:”- Prevent messages from going out on weekends when your business is closed
- Ensure appointment messages are received only during business hours
- Avoid regulatory fines and punishments by delivering messages during approved sending windows
Enabled Days & messaging timing
Section titled “Enabled Days & messaging timing”If you adjust your Message Schedule to prevent messages from being sent on certain days, a setting will appear to count only enabled days for message timing.
By default, when auto messages are sent X days before an appointment, Apptoto will check if the Xth day before the appointment is enabled on your Messaging Schedule. If that day isn’t enabled, Apptoto will roll back to the nearest enabled day and send the message.
EXAMPLE: Let’s say your business is open Monday through Friday and your Message Schedule is set to send client messages on the same days. Apptoto sends reminders two days before a client’s appointment with you next Tuesday. Apptoto sees that Monday is enabled on your message schedule, but Saturday and Sunday are not, so it sends the reminder on Friday (4 full days before the appointment).
This is what your Message Schedule would look like in that case:
If you want Apptoto only to count back enabled messaging days, enable count only enabled days for message timing (business days).
EXAMPLE: Let’s say instead that your business is open Monday through Friday, but your message schedule is set to send Sunday through Thursday. These are the “enabled” messaging days on your Message Schedule. Apptoto sends a client a reminder two days before your client’s upcoming appointment with you on Tuesday. Apptoto sees that Sunday and Monday are enabled on your message schedule, so it sends the message on Sunday (two days before).
This is what your Message Schedule would look like instead:
Custom Messaging Schedule
Section titled “Custom Messaging Schedule”If you don’t want to use a default Message Schedule for all your messages, you can create Custom Message Schedules on a message-by-message basis.
Within the Message Editor, you can select Custom Schedule to specify a different window of time for that specific message to be sent. To access the Message Editor for a specific Reminder, Follow-Up, or Booking Confirmation:
- Navigate to Messaging > Appointment Auto Messages
- Select a message to edit it, or click +Add Message
- Find the When setting and change the Time of Day from Default Schedule to Custom Schedule as shown in the image below.
IMPORTANT: When you switch to Custom Schedule, you’ll also have the option to enable “Count only Enabled days for message timing (business days) on the Message Editor screen.
