Easy Appointment Booking can send text messages to customers at key moments — when they book, when their booking changes, before their appointment, and after it ends. SMS notifications work alongside email, so you can use both, either, or neither depending on what your customers prefer.
Before you start
SMS notifications require a phone number field on your booking form. If your service does not collect a phone number, the app has no number to send to. Add a phone number intake question to the service before enabling SMS — see your service's Intake Questions tab.
SMS credits are billed separately from your plan. You can add SMS credits from Easy Appointment Booking → Account.
Enabling SMS notifications
SMS message templates are managed globally in Settings → Email & SMS, not per-service. To start sending SMS:
- Go to Easy Appointment Booking → Settings.
- Click the Email & SMS tab.
- Scroll down to the SMS Notifications section.
- Add or edit the message text for each notification type you want to send.
- Click Save.
Then, for each service where you want SMS active:
- Go to Dashboard → Edit Service → Notifications.
- Enable the relevant notification types (Confirmation, Reminder, etc.).
The app will send SMS whenever a notification is triggered for that service and the customer's phone number was collected.
Which notification types can be sent via SMS
| Notification | When it sends |
|---|---|
| Booking confirmation | Immediately when a customer books |
| Booking rescheduled | When a booking time is changed |
| Reminder | Before the appointment (timing set per-service) |
| Follow-up | After the appointment ends |
All four are available for SMS. Each has its own message template.
Customizing your SMS message text
Each notification type has a separate Text Message field. Write your message directly in the field — there is no HTML, just plain text.
You can use the same template variables as email. The most commonly used ones for SMS are:
| Variable | What it inserts |
|---|---|
{{first_name}} | Customer's first name |
{{event_name}} | The name of the booked service |
{{start_date}} | Booking date |
{{start_time}} | Booking start time |
{{event_location}} | Location of the appointment |
{{reschedule_booking_link}} | A link for the customer to reschedule |
{{shop_name}} | Your store name |
Example confirmation message:
Hi {{first_name}}, your {{event_name}} is confirmed for {{start_date}} at {{start_time}}. See you then! – {{shop_name}}
Keep SMS messages under 160 characters where possible. Messages over 160 characters are split into multiple segments and each segment counts as a separate SMS credit.
Customer opt-in and opt-out
By collecting a phone number on your booking form, customers are providing consent to receive booking-related messages. You should make it clear in your booking form or terms that a phone number is used to send appointment notifications.
If a customer asks to stop receiving texts, you can:
- Remove or blank out their phone number on the booking record.
- Disable SMS for the specific service they booked under (Edit Service → Notifications).
There is no automatic opt-out keyword handling — if you are sending high volumes of SMS, consider integrating a dedicated SMS provider such as Klaviyo, which includes built-in opt-out management.
Phone number format
The app expects phone numbers with a country code. If a customer enters a number without one, the message may fail to deliver.
To avoid this, configure your phone number intake question with a country code prefix or include instructions on your booking form. For US numbers, the format is +1XXXXXXXXXX.
If SMS messages are not arriving, check the phone number format first. Numbers without a country code are the most common reason for delivery failure. See Notifications Not Sending for a full troubleshooting checklist.
Checking SMS delivery
Every SMS sent for a booking is recorded in the notification history:
- Go to Bookings.
- Find the booking.
- Scroll to the Notifications column to see a timeline of every message sent, including SMS status.
Next steps
- Email Notifications & Reminders — set up and schedule email notifications
- Customizing Booking Emails — brand your email templates with a logo and colors
- Notifications Not Sending — troubleshoot missing emails or undelivered SMS