# Automatic confirmations and reminders: being commissioned

> Confirmations and reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before each appointment: the code is ready in Pilotiko, but real sending still awaits its provider. Here is why.

Updated on October 15, 2026 · https://app.pilotiko.com/en/product/confirmations-and-reminders

Pilotiko's confirmations and reminders are being commissioned: nothing is sent yet. The code prepares a confirmation, a 24-hour reminder and a 1-hour reminder for every online booking, with a calendar file attached. With no sending provider connected, each message is recorded as simulated and reaches nobody.

## In short
- Status: being commissioned. No appointment email or text reaches your customers yet.
- Ready: booking, cancellation, rescheduling, 24-hour and 1-hour reminders, each sent only once.
- Every message sits in a queue with its status: pending, simulated, sent or failed.
- Not there yet: STOP opt-out for texts and quiet hours.

## Why send a reminder before an appointment?

Because reminders cut forgotten appointments. A Cochrane review found that text-message reminders increase attendance at healthcare appointments, based on 8 trials and 6,615 participants, with low-to-moderate quality evidence [1].

The finding comes from healthcare, but the mechanism is the same for a quote visit or a heat-pump service call: people booked days ago and their week filled up. A short message at the right moment, with an easy way to reschedule, saves a wasted trip.

A good reminder states the time in the person's own time zone, the address or meeting method, and a link to cancel or reschedule. Attaching an iCalendar file lets people add it to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook; it is an IETF standard format for exchanging events and alarms [2].

## What is ready in Pilotiko?

For each online booking, Pilotiko prepares six kinds of email: booked, cancelled, rescheduled, 24-hour reminder, 1-hour reminder, and an acknowledgement when no slot suited the visitor and they sent a request instead. Visitors get theirs in French or English, and the two team members taking part are notified too. Emails to invitees carry an .ics file: an invitation for a booking, a cancellation otherwise.

A background job runs every 5 minutes. It sends the 24-hour reminder, then the 1-hour reminder, each exactly once. If the booking was made after a reminder's due time, that reminder is skipped because the confirmation just went out. Rescheduling resets both reminders, and every reminder carries a fresh management link that replaces the old one.

| Message | Recipients | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Booking confirmation with .ics | Visitor and team | Being commissioned |
| Cancellation and rescheduling | Visitor and team | Being commissioned |
| Reminder 24 hours before | Visitor and team | Being commissioned |
| Reminder 1 hour before | Visitor and team | Being commissioned |
| Text reminder for a meeting (24 hours before) | Participants, if a text provider is connected | Being commissioned |
| STOP opt-out for texts | Customers | Missing |
| Quiet hours | Customers | Missing |

## What happens today when a customer books?

The email provider hook is wired into the code and switches on once its credentials are configured, but it has never been exercised with real credentials. Text messages go through a separate queue built for Twilio, which only marks a text delivered when Twilio reports delivered; undelivered means a receipt reported failure [3].

1. **The appointment is saved** — The slot is blocked and a preparation task is created for the team.
2. **Emails are queued** — Each one gets a unique key, so the same message can never be created twice.
3. **The queue is processed at once** — With no sending provider connected, each message is set to simulated: it is logged with the recipient masked, and it does not go out.
4. **You see the real status** — The appointments page shows managers the last 8 emails and their status. A simulated message is never shown as sent.

## How many messages does a month of bookings create?

**Example: a Winnipeg accounting firm with 25 online bookings a month**

- Appointments booked : 25
- Visitor emails per appointment (confirmation, 24-hour, 1-hour) : 3
- Visitor emails (25 × 3) : 75
- Reschedules in the month (assumption) : 4
- Reschedule emails with reminders reset (4 × 3) : 12
- **= 87 visitor emails prepared in the month; today all 87 would be marked simulated and none would go out.**

## What are the current limits?

A phone number or email address is personal information: Quebec law limits access within the business to people who need it for their duties (s. 20) [4]. Pilotiko masks the recipient in the log of simulated messages.

- **Nothing goes out** until the sending provider is connected and verified. That is exactly what being commissioned means.
- **No texts for online bookings**: the visitor's number is stored and shown to the team, but this module has no text reminder.
- **No automatic retry** for a failed appointment email: it stays failed and visible.
- **No STOP handling** or quiet hours for texts yet; both must exist before any real sending.
- **Manually entered services** (customer, service, staff member) trigger no confirmation to the customer.

## How can you use it in the meantime?

[Online booking](https://app.pilotiko.com/en/product/booking-and-scheduling) is available: customers get an on-screen confirmation and an .ics file to download. For texts, see the [Twilio](https://app.pilotiko.com/en/integrations/twilio) page. The [AI receptionist](https://app.pilotiko.com/en/product/ai-receptionist) and [email marketing](https://app.pilotiko.com/en/product/email-marketing) are coming soon and are not part of this commissioning.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Pilotiko already send reminders to my customers?

No. The 24-hour and 1-hour reminders are scheduled and tested, but with no sending provider connected, each message is marked simulated and reaches nobody.

### Does my customer still get a confirmation?

They see an on-screen confirmation with an .ics file for their calendar and a link to reschedule or cancel. The confirmation email itself does not go out yet.

### Can a customer get the same reminder twice?

No. Each message has a unique key and each reminder is sent once. Rescheduling resets the reminders for the new time.

### Will reminders go out by text?

For online bookings, the module plans emails only. Meetings can get a text reminder 24 hours before, if a text provider is connected and verified.

### What does being commissioned mean?

The code is written and tested, but the real provider is not connected yet. Nothing is sent until that is done and verified.

### Can I see what would have been sent?

Yes. Managers see the last 8 appointment emails and their status. The subject, body and .ics file are kept in the queue.

## Sources

1. Cochrane, « Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments », https://www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD007458_mobile-phone-messaging-reminders-attendance-healthcare-appointments (accessed on 2026-10-15)
2. IETF / RFC Editor, « RFC 5545 : Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) », https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5545 (accessed on 2026-10-15)
3. Twilio Docs, « Message resource (statuts d'un message) », https://www.twilio.com/docs/messaging/api/message-resource (accessed on 2026-10-15)
4. LégisQuébec, « Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (CQLR, c. P-39.1) », https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/P-39.1 (accessed on 2026-10-15)