Appointment Updates
Appointment Updates runs when an appointment is created, changes status or is rescheduled, for example when it is booked, cancelled, marked visited or marked no-show. Use it for confirmations, reminders before the appointment, follow-ups after it and alerts to the team member.
Many businesses use the built-in appointment notifications for standard confirmations and reminders, and automation rules for anything extra.
Conditions
Conditions are optional. Click Add Condition, then pick a Field, an Operator and a value. Choose All (AND) or Any (OR) under Condition Type to decide whether every condition or just one must match.
| Condition | Operators | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Contact Group | is part of all, is part of any, is not part of all | Your contact groups |
| Appointment Status | equals, not equals | Pending, Waitlisted, Booked, Visited, Rescheduled, No-Show, Cancelled |
| Appointment Type | equals, not equals | Location Visit, Home Visit, Virtual/Online Session |
| Appointment Frequency | equals, not equals | Bulk/Repeat, Individual |
| Appointment Service | equals, not equals, includes any, does not include all | Your services |
| Appointment Reschedule Type | equals, not equals | Date & Time Changed, Staff Changed, Service Changed |
| Appointment Booked From | equals, not equals | Admin Portal, Online Portal, WhatsApp, API, Bulk Import, Telegram |
| Client Tags | includes any, does not include all, is part of all, is part of any, is not part of all | Your client tags |
| Contact Tags | includes any, does not include all, is part of all, is part of any, is not part of all | Your contact tags |
| Contact Stage | equals, not equals | Subscriber, Lead, Engaged, Marketing qualified lead (MQL), Sales qualified lead (SQL), Opportunity, Follow-up Required, Customer, Evangelist, Other, Lost, Inactive |
| Client Receives Updates On | is part of all, is part of any, is not part of all | WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, Email, Not set |
Use Appointment Status to pick the moment (for example Booked or Visited), Appointment Reschedule Type to tell a time change from a team member or service change, and Appointment Booked From to treat bookings made in the online portal, on WhatsApp or in the Telegram mini app (Telegram) differently, for example to confirm Telegram bookings in the Telegram chat.
Actions
Click Add Action and choose from Select Action. Actions run in order; use the arrows to reorder them. To delay an action, click Add wait time (or Add wait & Schedule time on template and email actions). Wait times count from the trigger event, not from the previous action.
| Action | What it does | Wait time |
|---|---|---|
| Send a WhatsApp Template Message | Sends an approved WhatsApp template. Works outside the 24-hour session, so use it for reminders, follow-ups and anything sent later. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Send Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSAT) | Sends a customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Add the Contact to Group | Adds the contact to a contact group, which you can check in later conditions. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Remove the Contact from Group | Removes the contact from a contact group, for example so a rule does not run twice. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Add Client Tags | Adds tags to the client record. Needs CRM Suite. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Remove Client Tags | Removes tags from the client record. Needs CRM Suite. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Add Contact Tags | Adds tags to the contact. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Remove Contact Tags | Removes tags from the contact. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Update Contact Stage | Moves the contact to a stage, such as Lead or Customer. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Assign a Form and Request Form to Be Filled | Assigns a form to the client and sends a WhatsApp message asking them to fill it in. Needs CRM Suite. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Notify Staff via WhatsApp | Sends a WhatsApp template message to the team members you choose. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Notify Associated Staff via WhatsApp | Sends a WhatsApp template message to the team member the booking is with. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Notify Client's Primary Staff via WhatsApp | Sends a WhatsApp template message to the client's primary team member. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Send Email | Sends an email to the client, team members or a custom list. Marketing emails need CRM Suite; Transactional emails do not. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Webhooks by Whautomate | Sends the event data to your own URL (webhook). | Minutes to months |
| Add Text Client Notes | Adds a text note to the client record. Needs CRM Suite. | Minutes to months |
| Add Document Client Notes | Attaches a document to the client record as a note. Needs CRM Suite. | Minutes to months |
| Add or Update Client Custom Attributes | Adds or updates custom fields on the client record. Needs CRM Suite. | Minutes to months |
| Send Telegram Text Message | Sends a Telegram text reply. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Send Telegram Template Message | Sends a Telegram message with buttons. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Send Telegram Media | Sends an image, video or file on Telegram. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Send Telegram Audio | Sends an audio message on Telegram. | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
| Send SMS | Sends an SMS through your SMS provider (Integrations > SMS). In an SMS conversation it goes to that contact, otherwise to the client's phone number. Skipped when no provider is connected, the client has no phone number or the number opted out (STOP). | Minutes to months, or before or after the appointment |
Example
Remind clients the day before
- Create a rule with the Appointment Updates trigger.
- Add the condition Appointment Status equals Booked.
- Add the action Send a WhatsApp Template Message with your reminder template.
- Click Add wait & Schedule time and choose 1 day(s) before appointment.
Good to know
- Appointments with Turn Off Notifications & Automations for this Appointment ticked do not run any rules.
- When an appointment is cancelled or rescheduled, its pending scheduled actions (such as reminders) are cancelled, so clients do not get reminders for the old time.
- A "before appointment" wait that is already in the past when the rule runs is skipped. For example, a 1 day reminder is not sent for an appointment booked 3 hours ahead.
- Repeat bookings made in one go can use Bulk Appointments Scheduled to send one summary instead of many messages.
- Besides WhatsApp templates and email, client rules can reach the client on Telegram (Send Telegram Text Message, Send Telegram Template Message, Send Telegram Media, Send Telegram Audio) and by SMS (Send SMS). Telegram goes to the chat linked to the client, or the chat whose shared phone number is the client's; SMS goes through your own SMS provider to the client's phone number. When there is no chat, no provider, no phone number or the number replied STOP, the action is skipped and the log says "Skipped:". Use Client Receives Updates On to send each client the update on the channel they chose: one rule per channel, each with its own condition (Not set matches clients who made no choice).