SMS reminders: how they work and how to switch on

What SMS reminders are

Text reminders land on your client's phone before their appointment — open rates are near 100%, so they're the single most effective way to cut no-shows. Email reminders are included and unlimited; SMS is an optional paid extra because every text has a real network cost.

How the pricing works

The Slotora app stays completely free. Texts are paid for in credits, out of the same balance as your AI pictures — see 'Credits: one balance for your texts and pictures'. There's no subscription and no monthly fee: you buy credits when you want them, only the texts that actually go out spend any, and credits never expire. One text is not one credit — it is 4 credits in Britain, Ireland, Hungary and Romania and 2 in Poland, because Poland costs us about half what the others do — and a long text, or one with accented characters, is sent as more than one message. Your SMS page logs every message with exactly what it cost.

1. Put credits on your balance

Open Credits in your admin menu and pick a pack: 100, 200, 500 or 1000 credits. The bigger the pack, the cheaper the credit. Payment is a one-off card charge via Stripe in your own currency; your new balance appears straight away. The same credits pay for the AI pictures, so there is only one balance to watch.

2. Turn on SMS reminders

In Settings → Messages to guests → Appointment reminders, tick SMS under How to send and choose when to remind — any of 72, 48, 24, 12, 6, 3, 2 or 1 hours before. You can also set a friendly sender name so the text shows your business name. Save, and that's it.

3. We handle the rest

Before each appointment we text your client automatically and take that message's credits from your balance. When there is about 10 texts' worth of credit left we email you to top up, and your dashboard says so earlier than that. If you ever run out, SMS pauses until you top up — email reminders keep going as long as Email is ticked too.

Good to know