Reminders for customers and alerts for you
What the customer receives and when, what you receive, and every switch that controls it.
What customers receive
| Moment | Message | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Booking confirmed | Confirmation with details and QR code | Email, plus WhatsApp/SMS if a phone number was given |
| The evening before, from 18:00 in your timezone | Reminder with a reschedule link | Email, plus WhatsApp/SMS |
| About an hour before | A short "starting soon" reminder with a link to manage the booking | WhatsApp only (see below) |
| Payment | Receipt | |
| Appointment marked complete | Thank-you with review link | |
| Order placed / fulfilled | Order confirmation, digital delivery |
The evening reminder goes once, between 18:00 and midnight the day before, in your business's timezone (see Set your availability). A booking made after 18:00 the day before, or on the day itself, does not get it: the confirmation has only just gone.
The reminder about an hour before is WhatsApp only and depends on WhatsApp message templates. It goes from your own WhatsApp number once you connect one and Meta approves its message templates, and from Ordina's WhatsApp number only once that message is approved there, so it may not be on for you yet. It is skipped for a booking made less than two hours before it starts.
WhatsApp and SMS delivery is on Pro and Business. It depends on the Secretary having a phone number, so keep Ask for phone number on under Secretary → Settings. Customers can reply STOP to opt out of WhatsApp/SMS at any time; email still goes.
What you receive
Under Profile → Notifications:
- Email notifications: new bookings, cancellations and reminders of what is coming up.
- WhatsApp & SMS notifications: the same alerts on your phone.
- Push notifications: in-app alerts and badges. On a phone, install Ordina as an app and allow notifications when asked.
- Sound alerts: a chime in the dashboard when a new message arrives.
Leads (people who left details without booking) also notify you, and fall back to email if no device picked the notification up.
Reducing no-shows
Reminders are the single biggest lever. Combined with prepayment (Pay online) and a clear cancellation policy in your knowledge base, most businesses see no-shows drop within the first month. See the playbook Cut no-shows.