Appointment reminders help your team send confirmation and reminder texts (and optional emails) about upcoming visits. You can set messages to go out on a schedule, or send them yourself from Scheduler when you are ready.
This article covers setup first, then how to send reminders to clients day to day.
Package note: Automatic appointment text reminders are available on Plus and Premium. Core organizations can still configure reminder message wording and use the manual Send Reminders workflow. Extra client-facing languages beyond English and Spanish also require Plus or Premium. Check Settings → Plan & Billing for your package.
Complete these items so reminder texts can actually deliver:
On Settings → Inbox Settings → Numbers, the number you use for reminders has SMS routing / Use for Reminders turned on (status should say Enabled for reminders).
Clients who should receive texts must have a valid mobile number and are marked OK to text in CoolFocus (with your organization’s SMS consent requirements completed when applicable).
You have permission to open Scheduler and Scheduler Settings (ask a system administrator if you do not see these areas).
CoolFocus does not send appointment reminder texts to clients who have not agreed to receive texts. Missing permission means the text is skipped, not sent.
Administrators configure reminder wording and automatic rules here:
Open Settings (gear).
Open Scheduler Settings.
Under Schedule, choose Reminders.
You can also open Scheduler → Reminders → Rules for the same configuration while you are already in Scheduler.
At the top of Settings → Schedule → Reminders, use Client-facing languages.
Add or remove languages with the language chips. English stays required.
Select Save Languages.
This list is organization-wide (same list as Client Portal supported languages). Adding a language unlocks translation editors on each reminder tab. It does not auto-translate your wording—you still enter (or generate) each translation.
Package note: Core includes English and Spanish reminder templates. Turning on additional languages beyond English and Spanish requires Plus or Premium subscriptions. Full details: How to select the languages your organization supports.
Open the Automatic Reminders tab.
Turn Automatic reminders on when you want CoolFocus to queue timed messages for you.
Keep Use one automatic reminder policy — by default one policy applies across appointment types. Client replies still land in Inbox.
Add rules for when messages should send. Common timings include:
Right after a booking (or a separate immediate confirmation setting—see below)
A set number of days or hours before the appointment
Follow-up after a completed visit (when your workflow needs it)
For each rule, write the message text and any translations for your supported languages.
Set Applies to on each rule:
Online bookings only — client booked through the public booking widget
Staff-created only — staff booked the visit in Scheduler
Online and staff-created — both
Select Save Automatic Reminders.
Package note: The Automatic reminders feature (scheduled texts that fire without staff clicking Send) is a Plus and Premium capability. If automatic reminders are not available or not turned on for your organization, staff can still send one-time confirmations when booking and use manual Send Reminders (below).
On the same Automatic Reminders area, set Immediate booking confirmations:
Online bookings only (default)
Staff-created appointments only
Online and staff-created
This controls the confirmation email (and optional SMS) that can go out when the appointment is created. It is independent of whether full automatic reminder rules are on—you can send a one-time confirmation without enrolling the visit in every timed rule, or the reverse.
Open the Manual Send tab.
This template is what staff use when they send reminders from the calendar or the Send Reminders page. It is separate from automatic reminder rules.
Edit the SMS (text message) body (and translations for each supported language).
Select Save Manual Send Reminder.
Inbox message templates under Inbox Settings → Templates are not used for appointment reminders. Appointment reminder wording lives only under Schedule → Reminders.
Open the Confirmation Reply tab.
When a client replies to a reminder text in a way CoolFocus recognizes as a confirmation (for example YES), CoolFocus can send this reply message back.
Customize the confirmation reply SMS (and translations).
Select Save Confirmation Reply.
Package note (Premium only): If an individual appointment type needs different instructions, you can override this organization-wide reply with a more customized appointment type reminder instead. (You can set the specific appointment type reminder in Scheduler Settings > Appointment Type.) This appointment-type override is available on Premium only.
Unrecognized replies (such as Cancel or Reschedule) stay in the Inbox conversation for staff follow-up.
Open the Preview tab.
Pick a realistic appointment type, location, date/time, and language.
Confirm the local time zone looks correct for that location.
Review how automatic and manual wording will read to a client.
Then run a small real-world test (one staff-created appointment or a known online booking) and confirm the message appears on the appointment Messaging section and in Inbox.
When staff book from Scheduler (quick create, full booking panel, or staff booking mode), a Client notifications section appears:
Send confirmation email
Send confirmation text
Both default as unchecked. Nothing is sent, and the appointment is not enrolled in scheduled reminders, unless staff check one or both boxes for that visit.
A checkbox may be disabled when it cannot be used yet:
Email — client has no valid email on file
Text — no valid mobile number, client is not OK to text, or your organization has no texting number ready
If automatic reminders are not enabled for the organization, staff still see that scheduled reminders will not run—but the immediate confirmation checkboxes can still send right away when eligibility is met.
Use this option when you want to text a list of upcoming appointment reminders yourself (common for front desk activity each morning or week).
Open Scheduler from the main navigation.
Open the Reminders tab.
Stay on Send (other tabs are Rules for setup and History for past sends).
Use the filter bar:
Date — Selected Day, Today, Tomorrow, This Week, Next Week, or Custom
Status categories such as:
All — upcoming appointments in the date range
To Send — have not received a reminder yet
Pending — reminder sent; still waiting on a reply
Confirmed / Rescheduled / Canceled — as labeled
History — past appointments
Has phone — only rows with a phone number
Ok to text — only clients marked OK to receive texts
Location, resource, and appointment-type filters from Scheduler also narrow the list when you have them set.
Review the grid (who is on the list, phone, OK-to-text indicators).
Check individual appointments, or select all currently listed.
Select Send Reminders (shows the selected count).
In Confirm Send Reminders, review the preview:
One appointment — edit that exact message if needed
Several appointments — review the template (or per-recipient previewed text)
Confirm Send Reminders.
Read the result summary (queued, skipped, failed). Open any failed or skipped row on the appointment Messaging section if you need the reason.
Before an SMS reminder goes out, the client generally needs:
A valid mobile number on the appointment or linked client
Permission to text (OK to text / SMS consent as your organization requires)
For automatic/scheduled enrollment, SMS reminders enabled on that appointment when your rules and booking choices require it
If permission or contact info is missing, CoolFocus skips the text instead of sending it. Manual sends that use Ok to text filtering keep non-consented clients off the list.
For delivery warnings after a send attempt, see Understanding Text Message Delivery Warnings.
Open any appointment’s detail panel and find Messaging.
You will see:
Whether email and SMS (text) are enabled for that visit
A history of confirmation and reminder messages (automatic or manual)
Channel (SMS or email)
Status: Scheduled, Sending, Sent, Skipped, Cancelled, or Failed
Scheduled or actual send time
Failure or skip reason (for example not OK to text, no phone number, or SMS reminders disabled)
When CoolFocus sends an appointment reminder text (automatic rules or manual Send Reminders), the outbound message is also recorded in Inbox so staff can see it went out and handle replies in one place.
CoolFocus does not auto-assign a reminder conversation to whoever pressed Send.
Batch and scheduled reminders are often sent by a receptionist, volunteer, or coordinator who should not own every reply
The sender may not have Inbox access
Assigned to should mean who owns the next reply, not who bulk-sent reminders
You can still open the conversation and assign it (for example to the client’s advocate) when someone should own follow-up. Leave it Unassigned when any available staff member can pick it up.
Day-to-day Inbox habits: Getting Started in the Inbox and Managing Conversations & Sending Messages in Inbox.
No reminder texts go out at all — Confirm texting number is purchased, compliance is complete, and Use for Reminders is on. See Purchasing Your Text Number.
Automatic rules never fire — Confirm your package includes automatic reminders (Plus / Premium), Automatic reminders is on, at least one active rule exists, and Applies to matches how the appointment was booked (online vs staff).
Staff checked Send confirmation text but nothing sent — Client needs mobile + OK to text, and your org needs a ready texting number.
Row shows Skipped — Open appointment Messaging for the reason; fix consent or phone, then resend manually if appropriate.
Wrong language — Confirm the language is on Client-facing languages, saved, and the rule/manual template has a translation for that language. Extra languages need Plus / Premium.
Client replied CANCEL and stopped texts — STOP is the standard opt-out keyword; clients who reply cancel-style words on reminders can affect texting. See Texting Compliance Requirements and delivery warnings guidance.
