SMS Messaging

Setting up SMS in Admin

The following section will go over the setup procedures involved in creating a new SMS account, and will also describe the process of manipulating the messaging quota for individual locations. All steps described here assume the account has already been established and paid for via Sales and Accounting.

Step 1: Log on to the SS Administration site, and click on the “SMS” link in the upper array.

Step 2: Click on the “Add Group” link on the right, as shown in the example below.

Step 3: In the SMS Group Information interface, type in the group name in the upper text field. Leave the “Allow Negative SMS” drop-down set to “No”, and then click on the “Save Group” button on the bottom.

Step 4: The new SMS Group will then appear on the list, as shown in the illustrated example.

Adding Locations to a Group

Adding Stores

With the Group established in Admin, adding the individual locations to it is accomplished by the following steps.

Step 1: Click on the Group entry in the roster, as shown below.

Step 2: Using the drop-down menus in the “Add Location to Group” interface, narrow the search down by Account, State, or City.

Step 3: With the desired locations selected with checkboxes next to their entries, as shown below, click on the “Add Locations” button to complete the task.

Step 4: Clicking on the Group, we can see the location along with the database name and API key associated with it.

SMS Transaction Status Descriptions

For troubleshooting purposes, it is sometimes necessary to run the “Export SMS Transactions” report located in the Customers submenu of the greater Manager menu. With it, users are able to see the status of every text message that has been issued from SuperSalon.

The report will be presented as a very spartan CSV file that shows the status of each message. The main status will be presented in all capital letters as shown in the illustrated example below. Additionally, the time stamp for each message as well the name of it’s intended recipient is shown also.

The descriptions for each of the three possible statuses, shown in, is as follows:

• SENT: The SMS message was successfully sent to the intended recipient.

• PENDING: The system is waiting on a response from the customer to respond.

• FORBIDDEN: This is generally an access error, however it will also display if the client is over their SMS quota, or the “Allow SMS” setting is set to either false or disabled.

Adding Messaging Quotas

Message quotas represent the the amount of messages that can be utilized by a location, and this amount must be purchased from the Sales department. Quotas can be added to locations utilizing the following steps.

Step 1: From the SMS page in Admin, click on the “Add SMS Quota” link in the upper right.

Step 2: Next, select the Group from the drop-down menu.

Step 3: The SMS Details interface will then populate, and will show each location’s current SMS balance. To add to the quota, enter the numeric amount into the “Add Count” text field.

Step 4: With the correct amount added into the text field, click on the “Add” button, as shown below.

Step 5: The “Current Balance” text field should now display the message quota.

Updating Existing SMS Clients to 5.9.7

Clients who would like to take advantage of the new 2 Way functionality of the SMS feature will need to update their systems accordingly by following these steps:

1. Update to SuperSalon 5.9.7+ from their current version.

2. Then update the smssync scripts to the 5.9, or most current version.

3. Go into Admin, and remove the location from any SMS group it currently belongs to.

4. Add the location to the new SMS group, and currently “_597” is the group set up for this.

5. Perform an upload from the POS, and confirm that the SMS service is running.

NOTE: Also make sure that the sms_server field is populated with the “https://sms.supersalon.com” designation.

Enabling SMS for Customers

There are two ways to enable the SMS feature for individual salon customers. The first is shown in the example below, where it is enabled in the Customer Profile, under Customer Preferences. This section also gives the option to opt in or out to visit reminders and appointment confirmations via SMS as well.

The second method to enable SMS for salon clients is to do so via the Software Settings, under Marketing and SMS Text Messages. The setting, shown highlighted below, is labeled “Automatically turn on text messaging options for new customers”. When set to the affirmative with a green checkmark, all new clients entered into the system will have SMS enabled.

A text message will immediately be sent to the new customer, giving them the option to opt in or out to future texts.

CAUTION: Note that this setting does not work retroactively, and clients entered into the system prior to SMS configuration will need to have this feature enabled via the first method listed above. There are currently no plans for an option to blanket enable an entire customer database.

SMS Software Settings

The options to configure the SuperSalon SMS feature in the Software Settings are located under the “Marketing” menu. This section will give a general overview of each setting and their functions. As 5.9.7 brings such a comprehensive update to this features capabilities, the settings therein for that version will be listed first, followed by pre-5.9.7 Legacy settings for reference purposes.

5.9.7 and Newer SMS Settings

The images below reflect the newest array of settings available for this feature. With the new two-way capabilities, this version of SuperSalon is recommended for clients who would like to truly take advantage of the full range of the SMS feature.

• Appointment Booking Notice Times: Appointments booked within the timeframe selected with this button will not send a text message for a reminder. For example: if set to 2 Hours, and appointment cannot be booked within two hours if the user wants a text message sent.

• Enable outgoing SMS Messaging: When set to the affirmative with a green check, this enables SuperSalon to automatically send SMS messages, based on the set criteria.

• Enable incoming SMS Messaging: Setting this to disabled with a red X will disable the 2 way functionality of the SMS feature.

• Automatically turn on text messaging options for new customers: As mentioned in the previous section, setting this to the affirmative with a green checkmark will configure SuperSalon to automatically issue a text message whenever a new client is entered into the system, based on their given phone number.

• SMS Account Balance: This section of the settings shows the current balance on the locations messaging quota.

• Messaging Modules: These are the text fields where users configure the individual messages, based on the given variables shown beneath them. There are also toggles for each one to enable users to set a timeframe for the message to be issued. The current messaging modules as of SuperSalon 5.9.7 are as follows:

  • • Appointment Booking Messages: When an appointment is booked for an SMS enabled salon customer, a message will be sent to their mobile device. The module can be enabled or disabled with the green checkmark beneath the text field and variables list.

    • Appointment Confirmation Message: This will issue a text message to confirm the appointment of an SMS enabled salon customer. The two way functionality allows the customer to then send back a confirmation.

    • Appointment Reminder Message: Salon customers who are enabled and SMS will receive reminders for their upcoming appointment, based on the preconfigured time frame.

    • Checkout Alert Message: When a salon customer settles their bill with the location, a text message will be sent to their mobile device with an outline of their purchase.

    • Return Visit Reminder Message: This text message is sent to salon clients who have enabled SMS in their Customer Profiles, and who have not revisited the location during a preset determine amount of time.

    • Waiting List Message: These text messages are sent to SMS enabled clients who are currently at the location, and are waiting to be served. The two-way messaging capability of SMS allows them to respond with the following variables:

      • • HERE: This allows them to keep their place in line.

        • LATE: Customers who respond with this message will notify the location they are running behind.

        • VOID: Sending this response will have their ticket removed from the Sales screen of SuperSalon.

    • Birthday Alert Message: This message can be configured to be sent out at a predetermined time prior to a salon client’s birthday, and can also be set up for a specific send time during the day.

• NOTE: Messages can only be sent from a location during their business hours.

• Send Test SMS: This section of the settings allows users to send a test message containing the content of any of the aforementioned modules to a single mobile number. The number is added into the text field, the module is selected with the “Type of message” button, and the final sending is accomplished by clicking on the “Send SMS” button.

Pre-5.9.7 SMS Legacy Settings

• Allow SMS Feedback System: This setting governs the activation of the SMS feedback system, with the green check mark indicating it is active, and the red “X” to indicate when not active.

• Appointment Booking Notice Time: This setting will determine the time frame in which an SMS will be sent to the customer prior to a set appointment. The choices of window time are 2, 6, 12, and 24 hours notification.

• Enable SMS Messaging: This is another setting that is activated and deactivated via green check mark, or red “X”, respectively. This setting needs to be set as “active” in order for the SMS feature to work.

• Salon Mobile Number: This is the phone number that will appear on the SMS recipient’s phone as the sender of the message.

• SMS Account Balance: This will display the amount of SMS messages remaining in the location’s account.

• Appointment Alert Messages: This is where the content for the notification SMS text is configured for upcoming appointments. The character limit for this and all SMS messages is 140 characters.

• Send this message after appointment booking: This is the setting that determines whether the Appointment Alert message is sent to the clients, with the green check mark signifying active status.

• Appointment Confirmation Message: This 140 character limited text field is where the content for the SMS confirming customer appointments is configured.

• Send this message on appointment confirmation: This is where it is determined whether the Appointment Confirmation message is sent to the clients, with the green check mark signifying active status.

• Appointment Reminder Message: This text field is where the content for the reminder message is configured and input, and like previous fields, is limited to 140 characters.

• Send reminder (BLANK) hours before appointment time: This setting determines how many hours prior to the set appointment a client is sent their reminder message. The blank field determines the amount of hours, and the feature is determined to be active or inactive via the green check mark, or red “x”, respectively.

• Checkout Alert Message: A great loss prevention measure, this text field will contain the outline of the post checkout SMS sent to the clients.

• Send message (BLANK) minutes after checkout: The blank field determines the amount of time after checkout, in minutes, the SMS message will be sent to the clients. The green check mark, or the red “x”, will determine whether this is active.

• Return Visit Reminder Message: The SMS message reminding clients that they have not visited in a predetermined amount of time is configured here.

• Send message (BLANK) days after checkout: The blank field determines the amount of time after checkout, in days, the SMS message will be sent to the clients. The green check mark, or the red “x”, will determine whether this is active.

• Birthday Alert Message: This text field is where the SMS for clients’ birthdays is written and saved, and will contain the customers’ names when sent.

• Send message (BLANK) days before customer’s birthday: The blank field determines the amount of time prior to the clients’ birthdays, in days, the SMS message will be sent. The green check mark, or the red “x”, will determine whether this is active.

• SMS Send Time: This blank text field is where the time of day the SMS birthday greeting is sent, and as shown, the written format should be (HH:MM am) or (HH:MM pm). An example, 8:00 AM would read as “08:00 am” (without the quotes).