Tiers and the follow-up decide who Kautio notifies and when. Tiers notify your contacts one tier at a time, each after a grace window you didn't respond to. The follow-up is an optional second deadline, 24 or 48 hours after the activity start, that texts your contacts if you don't clear it. Kautio is not an emergency service. If your contacts are notified, it means a timer wasn't stopped, nothing more. Kautio contacts only the people you chose, and it can't promise any outcome.
How tiers work
Tiers in a Kautio check-in notify your contacts one tier at a time, in order.
Before each tier, Kautio opens a grace window for you (the check-in's Grace window length). If you don't respond, that tier is notified.
Tier 1 is notified first, after your first grace window.
The wait between tiers starts only after a tier has been notified.
After the last tier is notified, the check-in moves straight to Follow-up pending or Complete. There is no further wait, and Dismiss is no longer offered.
For a worked example with times, see When a check-in comes due › Timeline from Scheduled to Complete.
What happens to contacts I removed or who blocked me after scheduling?
Contacts you removed from your Kautio contact list after scheduling a check-in, and contacts who blocked you, are skipped when their tier is reached. They don't get the follow-up text either. The check-in itself isn't changed: the rest of the tier is notified as planned.
When a tier has no one left to notify
A tier in a Kautio check-in can end up with no one to notify, for example when every contact in it was removed or blocked you after you scheduled. When that tier is reached, its grace window still opens. If you don't respond, nobody is notified at that tier, and the schedule moves on.
You can't schedule a check-in with an empty tier. A tier can only become empty after scheduling.
When a tier's alerts can't be delivered
If no contact in a Kautio tier can be reached, by text or by app notification, you get the Alerts not delivered notification: "Alerts for "[title]" could not be delivered to any contact. Check your contacts' phone numbers in Kautio." The schedule continues to the next tier. See Troubleshooting › My contact didn't get a text.
How follow-up works
The follow-up on a Kautio check-in is a second deadline: the activity start plus 24 or 48 hours, as you chose when scheduling.
Snoozes don't move the deadline. Changing the activity start does (see Changing or cancelling a check-in › Editing a check-in).
If the follow-up isn't cleared by the deadline, every contact in every tier gets this text: "Kautio: [name] didn't send their follow-up for "[title]". Please reach out to them." It skips contacts you removed and anyone who blocked you.
The follow-up goes to every tier, including tiers the check-in never reached. This is by design: the follow-up is the last backstop, so it reaches everyone you listed, not only the contacts who were already notified.
The follow-up is a text message only.
The follow-up still runs after any dismiss. It stops only when you tap Clear follow-up, or when the check-in is cancelled before its start: with Cancel check-in, or by pausing or ending its repeating series.
The follow-up is sent at its deadline even if tiers are still being notified, for example when the waits between tiers are long.
Editing the tiers before the start updates who gets the follow-up.
The reminder an hour before a follow-up
An hour before a Kautio follow-up deadline, Kautio sends you a "Heads up" notification: "Follow-up sends to your contacts in about 1 hour unless you clear it." Tapping it opens the follow-up screen (Follow-up due), where you can tap Clear follow-up. The reminder isn't sent if the follow-up was already cleared or stopped.
How a follow-up affects the check-in's state
A Kautio check-in with an open follow-up shows Follow-up pending once every tier has been notified, until the follow-up is cleared or sent. Then it shows Complete.
If you dismissed the check-in, it shows Cancelled or Dismissed instead, and the banner reads "Check-in cancelled. Your follow-up is still scheduled." or "Check-in dismissed. Your follow-up is still scheduled." until the follow-up is cleared or sent.
Clearing a follow-up
Clearing a Kautio follow-up stops its text from being sent.
Open the check-in.
Tap the Follow-up card. The follow-up screen (Follow-up due) opens.
Tap Clear follow-up.
You can also tick Also cancel the scheduled follow-up message on the Let your contacts know sheet after a dismiss (see When a check-in comes due › Sending "all good" to your contacts).
You can clear a follow-up any time before its deadline, in any state, including after a dismiss. The only exception is a check-in cancelled with Cancel check-in, whose follow-up is already stopped.
Clearing tells no one.
The Follow-up card shows the time left, Cleared, or Contacts notified once the follow-up text was sent.