Booknetic is a WordPress appointment booking plugin with SMS notifications driven by its Workflows module. You decide which event sends a text, who receives it and what it says, and Booknetic sends it through Twilio or Amazon SNS.
A confirmation when the booking is made, a reminder an hour before, a follow-up after the visit, a note to the staff member when a customer cancels: each one is a workflow you build once.
- Type
- Add-on: Twilio SMS, or Amazon SNS as an alternative gateway
- Included in
- Elite plan; sold separately on Basic, Standard and Premium
- Triggers
- Booked, rescheduled, status changed, appointment starts or ends, paid, new customer and more
- Recipients
- Customer, staff, admin or any number you type in
- Message text
- Free text with shortcodes such as {customer_name}, {appointment_date_time}, {service_name}
What SMS notifications you can send
- Booking confirmation. The customer receives the service, staff, date and time seconds after booking, and the staff member can get a copy.
- Reminders before the appointment. Pick the lead time, for example 24 hours and 1 hour, with a separate workflow for each.
- Reschedule and cancellation notices. When the time or the status changes, from the customer panel or the admin, the right people are told. Filters on the previous and the new status let you send a different text for a cancelled approved booking than for a pending one.
- Follow-ups after the appointment. A thank-you, a review request or a rebooking link N minutes after the appointment ends.
- Payment and account messages. Texts when an appointment is paid, when a new customer is created, or when a password is reset.
- Staff and admin alerts. Any workflow can go to the staff member, the admin, or a fixed list of numbers.
How it works
- Create a Twilio account, buy a sender number and copy the Account SID and Auth Token into Settings > Integrations > SMS Twilio. Amazon SNS works the same way with AWS credentials.
- Open Workflows, create a workflow and choose the trigger, for example "When an appointment is booked" or "When an appointment starts" with a lead time.
- Add the action Send SMS message via Twilio, pick the recipients from the phone shortcodes ({customer_phone}, {staff_phone}) or type numbers, and write the message with shortcodes.
- Click Save & Test to send a test text to your own phone before the workflow goes live.
Cron is required. Since Booknetic 5.9.0 all workflow actions, including instant ones, run through a server cron queue. Without a real server cron job running every minute, SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram and email workflows are not sent. The documentation has the cron setup for common hosts.
Every send is written to the workflow log with its status and, on failure, the gateway's error message, so a missing text is easy to trace. The SMS notifications documentation covers the Twilio screens.
Who uses it
- Clinics and dentists cutting no-shows with a reminder the day before and an hour before. See the health and medical page.
- Salons and barbers confirming walk-in-style bookings by text and freeing the slot fast when someone cancels. See hairdressers.
- Repair and service centres telling the customer when the job is done and the car or device is ready. See repair centres.
Related features
- WhatsApp notifications through the same workflows
- Email notifications for the messages that need more than 160 characters
- Telegram notifications for staff alerts
- SMS verification to confirm the customer's phone number with a one-time code at booking
Frequently asked questions
Which SMS gateways does Booknetic support?
Twilio and Amazon SNS. Twilio needs an Account SID, an Auth Token and a sender number; Amazon SNS needs AWS credentials. Both are add-ons that plug into the Workflows module.
Can I send an SMS reminder 24 hours and 1 hour before the appointment?
Yes. Create two workflows on the "appointment starts" trigger with different lead times, or one workflow with two actions. Each has its own message text.
Can the customer reply to the SMS?
Replies go to your Twilio number, not into Booknetic. Use the customer panel or a phone call for two-way conversations.
Does the SMS cost extra?
Twilio and Amazon charge per message and per number on their own accounts. Booknetic adds no per-message fee.
Why are my SMS messages not being sent?
In almost every case the server cron job is missing. Booknetic processes workflow actions through a cron queue, so a real server cron running every minute is required. The workflow log shows each attempt and the gateway error if there was one.
Which plans include SMS notifications?
The Twilio SMS add-on is included in the Elite plan and sold separately on Basic, Standard and Premium.
