Creating SMS notifications in Checkfront for use with Twilio

Use Twilio SMS notifications in Checkfront to deliver important messages directly to customers’ phones, improving engagement and enabling real-time updates.

Learn how to create an SMS notification in your Checkfront account, including choosing a booking status, setting up a delivery schedule, choosing the recipient, applying to inventory, naming the notification, and adding a message.

New to Twilio? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Twilio SMS notification feature.

Accessing the features mentioned in this article

Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

• Manage > Integrations > Communication
   

What more do I need to use this feature?

• Admin permissions to manage Integrations.
• You must have a Twilio account before enabling this integration.
   

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic items, classic products, or both?

• This feature is available in both our classic items version (Inventory > Items) and our classic products version (Inventory > Products).  → Learn more about products

You can manage Notifications in the Notifications area (Manage > Notifications) in your Checkfront account.

To create a new Twilio notification, navigate to the SMS tab and click the + New Notification button in the left sidebar.

You now see the edit screen for your notification. This page is where you choose to define notification functions, schedule, and message. Read the following sections for detailed information on each setting.

Choosing a booking status

The system triggers notifications based on the booking status, for example, Paid or Cancelled.

You can use the Booking Status setting to specify the status that triggers the notification. 

You can create one or more notifications for a single status.

When Staff or the system changes an invoice's status, the appropriate notification is triggered.

What is a booking status? A booking status acts as a visual label and functional state for each booking in your system.

Learn more about statuses For a detailed look at booking statuses, check out the following article series: Introduction to booking statuses

By default, the system sends notifications when the status event is triggered.

If you'd like to schedule the notification for later, follow these instructions:

1. Select the Scheduled option from the Deliver setting.
2. Choose a timeframe of X number of days, weeks, or months.
3. Specify whether this notification is triggered before the booking start date or after the booking end date.

The above example configures the SMS to be sent 1 day after the booking ends.

The system delivers Scheduled SMS at the same hour as the booking was created. For instance, if the system creates the booking at 11 a.m. on Tuesday and the scheduled notification is two days before the booking, it is sent at 11 a.m. on the scheduled day. 

Delayed mail Occasionally, mail can be delayed due to volume (including unscheduled mail), but generally adheres to the above time frame.

With the Recepient setting, you can specify the recipient of email notifications.

• Select the Customer option to send the notification to the Customer.
• Select one of the listed accounts or All Staff to deliver the message to your Staff.  

The Apply to field allows you to set notifications for specific item(s)/product(s). This setting is convenient for businesses that need to send out different information depending on the item(s)/product(s) the Customer has booked.

Example use case For example, when a tour booking has been completed and updated to Paid status, you may wish to send a notification with details on the tour, its meeting location, etc. You may have a different SMS for a hotel room booking updated to Paid. You don't need any information about tour meeting places, etc., but rather directions to the hotel and information about the check-in process.

You can select an entire category or click the arrow to the right of each category to slide out a list of individual items or products, as shown above.

You can choose items/products individually, allowing you to create notifications on a per-item/per-product basis.

You can enter the Notification Name in the field provided. The Customer does not see this name; it is simply a way for you to identify your notification when making changes later.  

You need to enter the notification Message here. You can also include booking details using variables.

Next Steps

In the next article, we examine what notification variables you can use.

< Setting up Twilio to send notifications using Messenger Services     |     Working with SMS notification variables >