Reminding families by SMS the day before

Many families in Elmsbrück read their emails late. They are therefore to receive an SMS as well on the day before an offer. You add an SMS text to the notification Reminder before the event and have fepli remind them 24 hours before the start. Setting up takes about 20 minutes; whether everything works, you see on the day before the canoe trip.

What you need

A super admin account. Settings and Outbox are visible only to super admins.
An API key from the Brevo account of the municipality. The account must be able to send SMS.
The published canoe trip with confirmed registrations. Its first date is a few days in the future.

Step 1 – See whom an SMS reaches

fepli sends the SMS to the participant's mobile number. If they have none of their own, fepli uses the mobile number of their participant account. At registration, the website asks for a mobile or a landline number, so some families have no mobile number.

Select Offers.
Open the offer Canoe trip.
Switch to the tab Participant list.
Select Participant list and in the menu the entry Attendance list.
Open the downloaded PDF file.

For each participant, the attendance list shows, behind “M:”, the mobile number to which fepli sends the SMS; where it is missing, the family receives only the email.

Step 2 – Connect Brevo

Every SMS costs money, and Brevo bills it to the account the API key comes from. With the key from the Brevo account of the municipality, Elmsbrück bears these costs, and the sender Elmsbrück shows families who is writing. If the app shows “Set by the installation.”, the key of the installation applies: you then enter only the sender and select Save.

Select Settings > App-Store.
Under SMS, select the card SMS notifications with the provider Brevo.
Under API key, enter the key from the Brevo account.
Under Sender, enter Elmsbrück.
Select Connect.

The card now shows Connected, and from now on the SMS of Elmsbrück go through the Brevo account of the municipality.

Step 3 – Write the SMS text

An SMS holds 160 characters, so the text refers to the reminder email, which names start and meeting point of each offer. If two registrations of one family fall due at the same time, it receives one joint reminder. A placeholder like {{ offer.name }} names only the first offer in it, so the text names none.

Select Communication > Notifications.
On the left, in the group Participation, select Reminder before the event.
Under Text message, enter: Ferienpass Elmsbrück: reminder of your registration for tomorrow. Everything else is in our email. If you cannot attend, please withdraw.
Select Save.

A green dot now stands beside Reminder before the event, because the default version with email text and SMS text is saved.

Step 4 – Turn on the reminder

If no lead time is entered, fepli reminds 36 hours before the start, so for an offer starting at 10:00, on the evening two days before. A lead time of 24 hours fits the word “tomorrow” in the SMS text. fepli reminds about each registration only once, so you turn on the reminder only after the SMS text.

Note

The setting applies immediately. At the next hourly run, fepli sends reminders for all registrations with takes part whose offer starts within the next 24 hours.

Select Settings > Registration > Participants.
In the section Reminders, turn on Send reminders.
Under Lead time, enter 24 and select hours.
Select Save.

In the section Reminders, Send reminders is now turned on, with a Lead time of 24 hours.

Step 5 – Verify the sending on the day before

Once an hour, fepli checks which published offers start within the lead time and sends reminders for their registrations with takes part. If the canoe trip starts on Saturday at 10:00, the reminders are sent on Friday from 10:00. The outbox shows the emails; fepli lists SMS nowhere, and you see their delivery only at the SMS provider.

On Friday from 11:00, select Communication > Outbox.
Select Single mails and then Reminder.
Enter the name of a contact person from the attendance list in the search.
Select the reminder to this person.

The reminder shows the email text and below it the canoe trip with start and meeting point.

What you have achieved

Elmsbrück now reminds families 24 hours before an offer starts by email and, where a mobile number is stored, additionally by SMS. The SMS is short and refers to the email with all details.

If your case is different

If families are also to learn by SMS that a participant has moved up from the waiting list at short notice, also enter a Text message at Move-up confirmed. fepli sends this SMS only if the offer starts within the next 30 hours. The steps are shown in Change the text of a notification.
If a season has a version of its own of the reminder, its text applies, and you enter the Text message there: Adapt a notification for a season.
If a participant has no email address, neither of their own nor through a participant account, their family receives no reminder, not even an SMS: Registering a family without internet access.