To set up templates before the visit, go to the “Settings” - “Message Templates” - “Altegio” - “Reminder before the visit” section.
By default, there are two templates: "2 hours before the appointment" and "24 hours before the appointment". The "24 hours before" template, by default, assumes that the client will respond to it with "1" to confirm and "3" to cancel the appointment.
To edit a template, click the pencil icon in the "Actions" column to the right of the desired template, which will take you to the template editing menu.
Let's first look at the configuration for a template that is not configured to confirm a record:
"Enter the name of the template" – this field is where you enter the template name. For convenience, we recommend entering a name that indicates how many hours before the appointment the template should be triggered.
“Canal” – in this field you select the channel on which the template will work. In the "Default" case, the template will work on a cascade of channels (more about the cascade of channels in this article).
"Select the recipient" – this field allows you to choose who the template will be sent to: the client or the master.
"Select an option to send a reminder" – This option allows you to choose how the reminder template will work:
- "X hours before the visit" – the template will be sent a specific time before the visit, which you set in the "How many hours in advance to send the reminder (in hours)" field.
- "Fixed Time" – the template will be sent 24 hours before the appointment, at a specific time, which you set in the "" field. For example, if you set "12," then for an appointment made on September 6, 2025, the template will be sent on September 5, 2025, at 12:00 PM. We do not recommend creating more than one template with a fixed time, as the specified fixed time will apply to all similar templates.
"Limit the number of messages per hour" – this setting reduces the number of messages received per hour for this template. For example, if a client is scheduled to receive 20 reminder messages one hour before their appointment, then with a value of 2 in this setting, the client will receive only two messages per hour for 10 hours.
"Do not send a reminder for entries made in less than 24 hours" – this option, as the name suggests, prevents reminders from being sent if an entry is made less than 24 hours before its start time. In this case, the message is simply not sent.
"The template does not require client confirmation" – when enabled, this feature disables the activation of appointment confirmation. This means that if the client sends any number associated with appointment confirmation (1 or 3 by default), the appointment will not be confirmed in Altegio. We'll discuss this option in more detail when we move on to appointment confirmation.
"For records with the status 'Customer confirmed'" – this field specifies how the template will respond to clients whose appointments have already been confirmed before it is sent.
"Activate the user menu for the channel" – This setting allows you to launch a template from the main menu. For example, if you select the main menu activation field (which activates with "#"), then when the client sends messages in response to the reminder template that activate main menu items, they will receive a corresponding message in response.
The template used to confirm a visit must contain the following parameters:
The "Activate the user menu for the channel" field must be EMPTY, otherwise the template will not work. Also, "The template does not require client confirmation" disables the confirmation/cancellation algorithm. This means that even if "1" and "3" are specified in the text, the corresponding actions will not occur when responding to the template.
The "The template does not require client confirmation" option itself works by disabling the #ORDER_NOTICE# template (which is what triggers the appointment confirmation) for a specific template. Therefore, if this option is enabled, #ORDER_NOTICE# will only trigger for the next template in line. For example, if you have templates for 72 hours, 48 hours, 24 hours, and 2 hours, the appointment confirmation will be activated first for the 72-hour template. However, if this option is enabled for that template, the appointment confirmation will be activated for the 48-hour template.
The answers to “1” and “3” themselves are configured in the main menu of the project.
You can find them under the names "Visit confirmation" and "Appointment cancellation"
If the client wants a certain action to be performed when a different number is sent, the “activation message” can be changed in these templates.
When making changes, you must remember to change these numbers in the template itself with a reminder about the entry.
- Go to "Settings" - "Message Templates" - "Main Menu (All Channels)". Select the main menu of the channel you want to use (the screenshot below only shows WhatsApp and the widget) and click "Create a template".
- In the menu that opens, in the "Activation Message" field, type or copy #ORDER_NOTICE#, then click "Save." You don't need to fill in the remaining fields.
The second situation is fixed as follows: - Go to "Settings" - "Channels" and click on the gear icon to the right of the channel where appointment confirmation failed.
- Make sure the "Automatic Bot Response" option is enabled. If it's not, turn it on and click "Save" in the upper right corner.
