Bookly

SMS appointment reminders

Fewer empty slots, at no cost per message

A reminder the day before is the cheapest way to reduce no-shows. Messages go out from your own phone, on your own SIM — so reminding a hundred customers a month costs the same as reminding none.

Setup

  1. 1. Install the SMSTunnel plugin and pair your Android phone
  2. 2. Install this add-on and activate it
  3. 3. Go to SMSTunnel → Bookly Reminders, set how many hours before, and enable

Message placeholders: {customer_name} {service} {date} {time} {staff} {price}

Why reminders only

The free version of Bookly does not fire any action hook when a booking is created, so there is no reliable way to react to that moment. Rather than pretend otherwise, this add-on does the part that can be done correctly.

That turns out to be the valuable part anyway: a reminder is inherently time-based, not event-based. A scheduled check of upcoming appointments is the right way to build it — and it's also the piece that actually reduces no-shows.

How it works

A background task runs every 15 minutes and looks for appointments starting within your configured lead time (1 to 168 hours). Each appointment is recorded once texted, so a repeated or overlapping run can never message the same customer twice.

Phone numbers from the booking form are validated first, and premium-rate numbers are rejected — a public booking form should never become a way for someone else to earn money at your expense.

This is a third-party integration built by SMSTunnel.io. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Bookly or its trademark owner.

Using Amelia instead?

That add-on also sends confirmations and cancellation notices.

See the Amelia integration