How can my clinic send SMS appointment reminders to patients?

The problem

• A patient who doesn't come leaves an empty slot that someone else could have used.
• Reception spends the morning phoning patients to confirm, and many don't answer.
• Patients reply to a number they know, so confirmations and cancellations come in early.

How it works with DroidSender

1. Put your customers in Excel or CSV: name, phone number, and the day and time of the appointment, one row each.
2. Upload the file as a campaign and write the message once. Type @ to add the name, day and time from your file.
3. Schedule it, for example the evening before, and choose the sending hours and days, so texts never go out at night.
4. Replies arrive in one inbox on your computer, from your own number. Confirm, move or cancel the appointment there.
5. If someone replies STOP, they are left out of every future campaign automatically.

Several people can answer the replies at the same time, each from their own computer, signed in to the same account. Answering as a team? See how it compares with the other options

DroidSender does not connect to your calendar or booking software, and it does not send a reminder by itself for each new booking. You upload the list, for example each evening for the next day. If your booking software can call an API, a developer can send each reminder through the DroidSender REST API.

Texts go out from your own SIM at a pace your carrier accepts. Carrier limits

Three messages you can send

• Hi Sarah, a reminder of your appointment at Riverside Clinic on Thursday 14 Nov at 10:30. Reply YES to confirm or NO to cancel.

• Hi Sarah, it's time to book your next visit at Riverside Clinic. Reply with a day that suits you and we'll book it.

• Hi Sarah, Dr Lee is running about 20 minutes late this morning. Sorry for the wait. Riverside Clinic

Each example is under 160 characters with a typical name and time. In English that is 1 SMS; in languages with letters like ã or ç, use the Remove accents button to keep it to 1 SMS. How SMS length works

Keep reminders general: don't include the type of appointment or the reason for the visit in the SMS, because a text can be read by anyone who sees the phone.

Which plan fits

A clinic with 30 appointments a day and one reminder each sends about 660 SMS a month: Starter covers 2,000 SMS a month for $7.99 a month billed yearly ($11.99 monthly). A larger clinic with 100 a day sends about 2,200 and fits Pro: 10,000 SMS a month and up to 3 phones for $24 a month billed yearly. Try it free: 1,000 SMS in your first 30 days, then 100 a month. No card needed. See all plans

The rules in your country

A reminder of an appointment the customer booked is a service message, with lighter rules than marketing, while offers and "time to book again" texts are marketing and need the person's consent and an easy way to say no, like replying STOP (PECR in the UK, the TCPA in the US, the GDPR and ePrivacy rules in the EU). Is it legal to send bulk SMS from my own number?