This tutorial is part of our "Sending Reminders Through Google Calendar" tutorial series. #
Previous Tutorial Required #
This tutorial relies on what we set up in the Google Calendar : First Steps to Integrate Google Calendar Tutorial.
Where we covered:
Linking a Google Calendar
Setting up a Reminder Type
In this tutorial I will walk you through sending a Google Calendar Text Message Reminder 2 days prior to the appointment date.
We will cover:
- Sending a Google Calendar SMS Reminder for an existing customer/patient.
- Sending a Google Calendar SMS Reminder for a new customer/patient.
Technique 1 : Sending a Google Calendar SMS Reminder for an existing customer/patient. #
The first step is to open up 2 browser tabs. One with your appointmentreminders.com account and the other with your Google Calendar.
Check or Add a Reminder Type #
Then I am going to check that I have a text message reminder set up and that it is my default.
I am also going to click on settings and make sure this reminder type is set up to go out 2 days prior to the appointment date.
Check Your Google Calendar Settings #
I am going to go to the Google Calendars page and click “Edit” for the calendar I want to use.
I am just verifying that “Read Tags” and “Match Name” are both selected. Also I want to “User Company Default” as my Default Reminder Type.
Check or Add a Customer/Patient #
I am going to add a new customer/patient by going to the Customers page and then clicking on “Add New Customer/Patient”.
I’ll just enter Bob Tester and enter my phone number and email address.
Now that the customer exists I’ll open up the Google Calendar tab and schedule an appointment.
Schedule a Google Calendar Appointment That Sends the Text Reminder #
Then I’ll schedule an appointment in Google Calendar. I will go ahead and schedule it a week out which will be next Friday. The Google SMS Reminder should go out next Wednesday.
I will make sure to put the customer First and Last Name in the appointment title.
A couple of notes… I could have also put the first and last name into the appointment description. Also, keep in mind this technique only works if all of your customers/patients have unique first and last names. In other words, if you have more than on patient named Bob Tester, then you should use the 2nd technique that we will talk about.
Viewing the Reminder in Our System #
I’m going to check to make sure that the reminder was added.
To do this I’ll go to the Google Calendars page and then View the Calendar.
Events are pulled every hour so to pull this event immediately, I’ll click on “Refresh Calendar Events”.
If I hover over the event I can see the details about it.
I can also go to the “Reminders Page” and see the reminder sitting in Queue.
Technique 2 : Sending a Google Calendar SMS Reminder for a new customer/patient. #
If I want to schedule a reminder for a new patient, I’ll need to use a calendar TAG. I calendar TAG is simply some information that resides between 2 angle brackets.
I’ll go ahead and schedule an appointment for next Thursday. In the appointment title I’ll enter <Sally Tester 3039495948>. Note – I could have also put this TAG into the appointment description.
Now I can check that the reminder was added successfully by looking again at the Calendars Page and the Reminders Page.
Also, this customer was added to our account so next time we can use the name matching if we want to. I can verify this in the “Customers Page”.
