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Working with SMS notification variables for use with Twilio

Learn how to work with the available variables when setting up SMS notifications, including creating custom variables.

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

 

Which plans include this feature?

Legacy:  Soho, Pro, Plus, Enterprise, Flex
New:  Growth (Subscription), Growth (Online Booking Fee), Managed
→ Learn more about our new plans or how to change your plan.


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, new or both?

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

 

Working with SMS Variables

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Dynamic SMS variables can be included in SMS messages. When a notification is sent out, the variable you add to the message is replaced automatically by the relevant information from your system.

For example, you may begin with Hi {$CUSTOMER_NAME}. When the notification is delivered to the Customer, the variable is replaced with whatever they entered as their name during the booking process. The message, therefore, begins with Hi John Smith.

The following are the system variables you can use:

 

Variable Description

{$COMPANY_NAME}

Name of your company.

{$CHECKFRONT_URL}

URL of your Checkfront account, e.g. myaccount.checkfront.com.

{$ACCOUNT_ID}

ID of the staff account which was used to make the booking.

{$CREATED_BY}

Where did the booking come from, e.g. Staff or website

{$CUSTOMER_NAME}

Name of the Customer.

{$CUSTOMER_FIRST_NAME}

First name of the Customer.

{$CUSTOMER_LAST_NAME}

Last name of the Customer.

{$CUSTOMER_EMAIL}

Email address of the Customer.

{$BOOKING_ID}

Unique booking ID.

{$BOOKING_TOTAL}

Total amount for the booking. Includes currency formatting.

{$BOOKING_STATUS}

Current status of the booking, such as Deposit or Paid.

{$BOOKING_QTY}

Quantity booked on the invoice.

{$BOOKING_ITEMS}

Name of item(s) or product(s) being booked. Multiple items or products are comma-separated.

{$BOOKING_DATE}

Date of booking. May include a date range or time depending on the booking.

{$BOOKING_START_DATE}

Starting date of the booking.

{$BOOKING_END_DATE}(

Ending date of the booking.

{$BOOKING_TIME}

Time for which the booking has been made.

{$BOOKING_START_TIME}

Starting time of the booking.

{$BOOKING_END_TIME}

Ending time of the booking.

{$BOOKING_DETAILS}

Details of item(s)/product(s) being booked. This is from the details box provided in the item or product setup. Multiple items or products are separated by a new line and include the item or product name.

{$BOOKING_EXTRA_DETAILS}

Extra details added to your items/products.

{$BOOKING_ITEMS_URL}

URL to the individual items or products included in the booking.

{$BOOKING_RATES}

List of items or products booked with their respective rates.

{$BOOKING_DISCOUNT_CODES}

Name of any discount code(s) applied to the booking. Multiple codes are comma-separated.

{%BOOKING_ADMIN_URL}

Link to the booking in your Checkfront account backend.

{$BOOKING_PAYMENT_URL}

Link to the payment page for this booking. If no balance is due, this redirects to the receipt (BOOKING_URL) page.

{$BOOKING_PAY_FULL_URL}

Link to the payment page for this booking. This requests the full payment from the Customer even if a deposit is still owed. If no balance is due, this redirects to the receipt (BOOKING_URL) page.

{$BOOKING_CANCEL_URL}

Direct link for the Customer to cancel their booking.

{$BOOKING_PDF_URL}

Direct link to a PDF of the booking.

{$BOOKING_GUESTS_URL}

URL to the Guest Details page of the booking. Must have the Guest Forms feature enabled to use.

{$BOOKING_URL}

URL to the booking receipt, along with links to PDF and Payment pages.

{$BOOKING_URL}&view=documents

Link to the 'Required Waiver Documents' page.

{$BOOKING_LOCATION_LINKS}

Displays the name of each item or product in the booking with a hyperlinked address that shows the location on Google Maps.

{$SINGLE_ITEM_LOCATION_LINK}

Link to the item's or product's location in Google Maps. Displays the first item or product in the booking's location only.

{$SINGLE_ITEM_ADDRESS}

Hyperlinked address to the item's or product's location in Google Maps. Displays the first item or product in the booking's location only.

{$SINGLE_ITEM_LOCATION_URL}

Displays a clickable URL linking to the item's or product's location in Google Maps.

{%EMBED_INVOICE}

 This macro embeds a full invoice into the email. Differs depending on Text or HTML.
 

Creating custom variables

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In addition to the system variables outlined above, you can create your custom variables based on the custom fields added to your booking form.

 

Color ID

For example, if you create a custom field asking for the favorite color of the person booking, you can create a variable to record this in a notification.

All you need to do is add the field ID, in this example, color, to the variable template.

So, it would look something like this: {$COLOR}

 

Learn More

Learn more about creating custom booking form fields here:

 

The following article looks at sending SMS notifications to Staff and Customers.

 

 

< Creating SMS notifications in Checkfront     |     Sending SMS notifications to Staff and Customers with Twilio >

 

 

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