Reminders for bookings
Schedule booking reminders: a fixed time before the visit, at a fixed time of day, or after the visit. Schedule types, options and rule examples.
Reminder or notification
Booking reminders are messages sent on a schedule tied to the time of the visit: before it starts, at a particular time of day, or after it is over. Unlike notifications, reminders react not to an event but to the calendar - they fire at the right moment even if nothing about the booking has changed.
If you need to react to an event instead (a booking being created, rescheduled or cancelled), use notifications.
Before you start
The section sits in the side menu under Mailings and is called "Reminders: Appointments". Like notifications, reminders are configured for the current branch.
Reminder types
The type defines what the sending time is measured against. Choose it in the Reminder type field.
| Type | When it is sent | Timing settings |
|---|---|---|
| Remind before | A set time before the booking starts | Value + unit (minutes, hours, days) |
| Remind at a fixed time | At a chosen hour of the day, offset from the day of the visit | Remind at HH:MM + offset |
| Remind after | A set time after the booking | Value + unit (minutes, hours, days) |
Remind before
The most common option. You set an offset - a number and a unit - and the system sends the message that far ahead of the visit. For example, "2 Hours" sends the reminder two hours before the booking.
Remind at a fixed time
This mode is useful when the message should arrive not "N hours ahead" but at an hour that suits the client. You set the time of day in the Remind at HH:MM field, and the Shift time field defines how many days earlier than the visit to send it.
The classic example: remind at 18:00 the day before the visit - a fixed time of 18:00 with a one day offset.
Remind after
The mirror image: the message goes out after the visit. This is a convenient way to thank a client or invite them to book again.
Reminders are not the tool for collecting reviews - Wlaunch has a separate surveys module for that, with its own forms, ratings and statistics.
Reminder options
The Advanced settings block holds two toggles, and each one is available only for its own reminder type.
- Send if the reminder time has already passed, but the record has not yet - available for Remind before. It decides what happens when a booking is created or moved after the moment the reminder should have gone out, while the visit itself is still ahead. On - the client gets a late message; off - they get nothing.
- Do not send if the client has already booked another appointment matching this reminder's filters - available for Remind after. It saves you from sending pointless "come back" invitations to people who have already booked again.
The Number of notifications setting lives here too. Note that reminders default to For each change with Start Time as the tracked field, so a rescheduled booking gets its reminder recalculated for the new time. If you want exactly one message per booking, switch it to Once.
Shared settings
The rest of the settings work exactly as they do for notifications:
- Channels (at least one) - Telegram, Email, SMS; the order sets the sequence they are checked in (we recommend Telegram -> Email -> SMS).
- Recipients - client, branch or resource.
- Filters - "include only" and "exclude" for sources, resources, services, statuses and client categories.
- Reminder (the message text) and Subject, which appears only when Email is one of the channels, with the character and SMS counters.
- Add Short code - placeholders for the record, service, resource, client, time, branch and company.
- Number of notifications - once, or on every change to the tracked fields.
A detailed description of these mechanisms is collected in the notifications article:
Preview and save
Before saving, click Preview to see the final text with placeholder values filled in. If everything is correct, save the rule and reminders will go out on schedule automatically.
Example: a reminder two hours before the visit
- Reminder type - Remind before.
- Offset - 2 Hours.
- Channels - Telegram -> Email -> SMS.
- Recipients - Client.
- Message - text with the start time code and the company name.
Example: a thank-you and an invitation to come back
- Reminder type - Remind after.
- Offset - 1 Days.
- Include only statuses - the completed-visit status, so you do not write to no-shows.
- In Advanced settings turn on Do not send if the client has already booked another appointment.
- Message - a thank-you for the visit and an invitation to book again.