What are customisable calendar notifications?
Customisable calendar notifications let you send in-app notifications and tailored emails, SMS and WhatsApp messages when appointments are booked, cancelled or rescheduled, or when they need reminders or follow-ups.
You can set up notifications for Contacts, Guests, Users, and any extra email addresses or phone numbers you add. This lets you shape your notifications around your business, so you keep in touch with your customers.
Available notification options
You can set up six types of appointment notifications. Each can be an email notification, an in-app notification, or both.
Appointment Booked (Unconfirmed Status): Sent straight away when an appointment is booked with the unconfirmed status.
Appointment Booked (Confirmed Status): Sent straight away when an appointment is booked with the confirmed status, or when an appointment's status changes to confirmed.
Cancellation Email: Sent when an appointment is cancelled, marked as a no-show, or marked invalid.
Reschedule Email: Sent when the appointment date or time changes.
Reminder Email: Sent before the appointment, based on the timing you set.
Follow-Up Email: Sent after the appointment, based on the timing you set.
Note: To avoid missed meetings, staff can turn on internal alerts for appointments booked without a meeting link or location. Set this up in Settings → My Staff → [Staff] → Notification Settings → Calendar Notifications → Notify when meeting link/location is missing.
How to set up appointment notifications
You manage notifications for each calendar separately. Follow these steps to set them up.
Step 1: Go to the Notifications tab
Go to Calendar > Calendar Settings.
Select the calendar you want to set up.
Click the Notifications tab.
Step 2: Customise your notifications
You have several ways to customise each notification type, so you, your team and your customers get the best experience.
Customise the content for each receiver type: Contact, Guest, User, or Additional Emails/Phone Numbers.
Turn off notifications for any receiver type you don't want to receive a particular notification.
Localised default notification templates
The default email, SMS and WhatsApp notification templates use your Business Profile Platform Language, wherever it's supported.
New calendars: Nothing to do. Default templates are localised automatically.
Existing calendars: Go to Calendar Settings → Notifications for the calendar and select Reset to default on the template to load the localised version.
Templates you've customised stay as they are unless you reset them yourself.
Email appointment notifications
You'll see a list of all notification types. Click the one you want to set up, then go to the Email tab. Make sure the toggle is turned on.
Choose an existing email template, or customise the subject line and email body directly. To remove the selected template, click the first option (None) in the email dropdown list.
If you like, send a test email to see how the notification looks.
For Reminders and Follow-Up Emails, set when the email should be sent:
For Reminders, set how far before the appointment the email is sent.
For Follow-Up Emails, set how long after the appointment the email is sent. You can add more than one timing if you need to.
Save your settings once you've set up the email notifications for each type and receiver.
Note: Relevant calendar notification emails can bypass Email DND, so important appointment details still reach the recipient. Marketing and promotional emails still respect DND preferences.
Using Custom Values in notifications
You can use Custom Values to personalise your email, SMS and WhatsApp notifications.
When editing a message, click the { } merge field icon and select from the Custom Values section in the dropdown.
This lets you add your own details to notifications, such as custom links, internal notes or personalised information, without editing each message by hand.
In-app appointment notifications
From the list of notification types, go to the In-App tab.
Choose the users to notify
Make sure the toggle is turned on.
Choose which users should receive the notification.
Set timings for reminder and follow-up notifications
For Reminders and Follow-Up notifications, you can set when the notification is sent.
Reminders: Set how far before the appointment the notification is sent.
Follow-Up: Set how long after the appointment the notification is sent.
SMS appointment notifications
From the list of notification types, go to the SMS tab.
Choose recipients: Contact, Assigned User or Additional Phone Numbers.
Choose an existing SMS template, edit it if needed, or create a new one.
If you like, send a test SMS to see how the notification looks.
For Reminders and Follow-Up SMS, set when the SMS should be sent:
For Reminders, set how far before the appointment the SMS is sent.
For Follow-Up SMS, set how long after the appointment the SMS is sent. You can add more than one timing if you need to.
Save your settings once you've set up the SMS notifications for each type and receiver.
WhatsApp appointment notifications
Select a notification type and go to the WhatsApp tab. Turn the toggle on to enable it.
Choose recipients: Contact, Assigned User or Additional Numbers.
Choose or create an approved template for the notification type.
Use Send Test WhatsApp Notification to preview how the message will look.
Click Save to turn on WhatsApp notifications.
Troubleshooting blank reschedule or cancellation links
If {{appointment.reschedule_link}} or {{appointment.cancellation_link}} is blank, check the following:
Make sure the message is connected to an appointment. Appointment merge fields need appointment details to fill in.
Check the workflow trigger. If the message is sent from a workflow, use an appointment-based trigger.
Use appointment triggers when needed. Examples include Appointment Status and Customer Booked Appointment.
Test with a real appointment. Book a test appointment before checking whether appointment merge fields are working.
Important notes
In-app notifications
In-app notifications are fully customisable. For example, you can turn on the confirmation notification for a calendar and leave all the other types turned off.
For Event Calendars, account admins receive the notifications by default.
For other calendar types, the assigned user is selected by default to receive notifications.
Email notifications
Additional Emails are any extra people you want to notify. Just add their email addresses and they'll receive the notifications too.
You can create email templates in the Email Builder under Marketing module > Emails > Templates.
Make sure your email template has a subject line so it can be delivered.
If you've turned on the Add Guest option and included a custom form, you can send that form to guests too. This sends guests a system-generated email with a link to the custom form once their appointment is confirmed. To avoid duplicate emails, make sure a separate confirmation email isn't already set up for guests (check this in the Notifications tab under Confirmation Notification).
SMS notifications
Additional Phone Numbers are any extra people you want to notify. Just add their phone numbers and they'll receive the notifications too.
Phone numbers must include country codes so messages can be delivered.
SMS messages are charged per segment. Keep them short to manage costs.
WhatsApp notifications
Make sure your WhatsApp Business Account is connected and verified.
Only approved WhatsApp templates can be used.
Use Fetch New Templates to refresh the list of available templates.
Always test templates for formatting and content before turning them on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is my reschedule link blank?
The reschedule link needs appointment details. If the message or workflow can't access an appointment record, the link may be blank.
Q: Why is my cancellation link blank?
The cancellation link also needs appointment details. Check that the message is linked to an appointment and that any workflow sending it uses an appointment-based trigger.
Q: Which workflow triggers provide appointment details?
Common appointment-based triggers include Appointment Status and Customer Booked Appointment.
Q: Why does an appointment merge field work after a real booking but not during a test?
Some tests don't include appointment information. Booking a real test appointment gives ZipLeads the appointment details it needs to fill in appointment merge fields.
Q: Can I use appointment details in SMS and email notifications?
Yes. You can add supported Custom Values and merge fields to appointment notifications.