How to use Twilio to send appointment notification and reminder SMS in Zoho Bookings

How to use Twilio to send appointment notification and reminder SMS in Zoho Bookings

Hit no-shows out of the ballpark by combining Zoho Bookings and SMS providers.

SMS notifications help you remind customers of their appointments and reduce no-shows by reaching out where they are.

In this guide, we'll configure an SMS provider called Twilio.

Prerequisites

  • A Twilio Subscription
    • You need at least one number to send messages from. It can be a short code, your personal number, a local number, or anything else. Twilio charges monthly for phone numbers. Check out Twilio's pricing page for more details.
    • Since Twilio uses a pay-as-you-go model, there are no monthly commitments (except the sender number). The minimum recharge value is $20, and you can use it until the credits expire - Learn more about Twilio's pricing model here.

Things to Know Before Using Twilio

  • You can share your Twilio subscription amongst multiple admins (if required).
  • Twilio is responsible for everything except configuring SMS text (You can configure this inside Zoho Bookings).
  • Both single and dual way communication is possible with Twilio
  • Using Twilio, you can send messages across borders.
    • Case 1: When you send messages from a US number to an Indian number, sender IDs might change. It ensures the deliverability of messages.
    • Case 2: SenderIDs don't change when the sender and the recipient numbers belong to the same country.
  • Twilio charges for text messages on a segment basis. (1 segment = 160 Characters). For instance, if you send an SMS with 200 characters, you'll be charged for two SMS credits - Learn more about it here.
  • To find the number of SMS you'll be able to send with your top-up, use this formula:
    • Number of SMS that can be sent = (Top Up Value - Phone Number Price)/ Message Per SMS
    • Let's assume you belong to the US and recharge for $20. You've also opted for a long code that costs $1.16 (with carrier fees), the equation would look like
    • Number of SMS that can be sent* = ($20 - $1.16)/ ($0.0079) = 2200.
    • You'll be able to send approximately 2200+ SMS with this. (If you don't buy additional phone numbers in the US)
    • Note - The calculation is only an approximate estimation of the number of messages that you can send. This is because factors like carrier fees, and per-message rate change often and vary widely across different service providers.
  • Twilio credits are one-off amounts that don't expire until you use them.
  • Your Twilio account will get suspended once your account balance reaches zero. To avoid this, Twilio sends a notification to your email requesting you to refill your funds when the balance hits $5.
  • Another way to prevent your account from hitting zero you can set up an auto-recharge trigger for a minimum of $10. When your balance hits $10, you can automatically set it up to top up your account. Check out this page for setting up automatic payment triggers.
     

A2P 10 DLC Registration (only if you wish to send messages to the US)

Note - This is only necessary if you send messages to the United States. (Regardless of where you send your messages from - inside or outside the US)
  • If you send messages to the US, you should register for A2P 10 DLC. (Application to Person 10 Digit Long Code messaging protocol)
  • A2P 10DLC is a secure way to communicate with businesses and ensures that the messages are relevant to the recipients. We highly advise you to register for A2P 10 DLC Protocol as numbers without it will incur higher fees and even service disruptions from June 1, 2023. This is to comply with US messaging regulations. You can learn more about it here.
  • A2P 10 DLC registration is only possible with a Twilio premium subscription and not for trial accounts.
  • To do this, navigate to Phone Numbers > Manage > Active Numbers > Click on a Number.

  • Under Messaging Configuration, click on 'Go to 10DLC registration.'



Note - You cannot integrate multiple SMS providers to Zoho Bookings simultaneously.



Configuring Twilio with Zoho Bookings

1. Sign in to your Twilio account. (Sign up here if you don't have one)



2. You'll be redirected to the following screen once you've signed up. Check your mail inbox.


3. Your email would look like this. Confirm your account.



4. Twilio asks you to secure your account with a phone number. Enter your number and click on Send verification code/Get code via phone call depending on your choice.



5. Once you've confirmed your phone number you can fill in the onboarding form and click on get started with Twilio.



6. You'll be redirected to the Twilio dashboard.


  • 'My first Twilio account' is the account name of your Twilio SMS account. If you have multiple Twilio SMS accounts you can navigate it from here
  • The Phone numbers tab helps you to
    • Manage all your Phone numbers
    • Buy new Numbers
    • Release a Phone number
  • When you sign up for a Twilio account, you'll get $15.50. You can get a trial number using this to test their configurations before opting for a premium plan.
7. Let's get a phone number from Twilio. Click on 'Get a Twilio Phone Number.'



8. Twilio will assign you a phone number. Now let's configure Twilio with Zoho Bookings.



Note - To get a premium number, navigate to Phone numbers > Manage > Buy a Number
 
Choose which country's number you wish to get, SMS (as capability), and click search. You can click on buy to obtain the number.



9. Scroll to the bottom of Twilio's main dashboard. You'll find three fields here, Auth Token, Account SID, and your Phone number. We'll paste all this data to integrate Zoho Bookings and Twilio.'



10. Now log in to your Zoho Bookings Dashboard. Navigate to Integrations > Others > Twilio. Hover over Twilio and click on Configure.



11. Copy and paste the details from Twilio to the corresponding fields in Zoho Bookings. Once you have pasted the details, click 'Configure.'
 
Note: While pasting the phone number, remove the country calling code. In this case, my phone number was +13203628918. '+1' is the country calling code. Remove it and paste the rest (i.e., 3203628918 without any spaces/symbols in between)



12. Hover over the created Twilio connection and click enable. Reload the page if the connection is still not active. You've successfully integrated Twilio with Zoho Bookings.


Editing Your Twilio Connection

To edit your Twilio connection, hover over the Twilio integration and click on edit. Once you've made the changes, click Configure.



If you wish to remove your Twilio connection, hover over the Twilio integration and click remove.



A pop-up appears asking you to confirm. Click 'Proceed' to delete your Twilio connection.



Note - While Editing or Removing your Twilio connections, if the changes don't reflect immediately, reload the page for the changes to reflect.

Configuring SMS Notifications

To configure SMS notifications for one on one bookings, navigate to services > service notification.



To configure SMS notifications for group/ resource bookings, navigate to settings > workspaces > notifications.


You'll see two tabs here. 'For Staff' and 'For Customers.' Zoho Bookings allows you to send eight different types of SMS under each tab.



You can configure Zoho Bookings to send SMS using Twilio when you change the appointment status to
  • Booked
  • Rescheduled
  • Canceled
  • Marked As Completed
  • Marked As No Show
Alternatively, you can set up to three reminders before your appointment time.



Illustration: Let's send SMS notifications to a customer when an appointment(one-on-one) is booked.

  1. Make sure that the checkbox is enabled corresponding to the booked notification in the customer tab. It ensures that the customer receives an SMS notification when an appointment is booked.


 2. To customize the messages that will be sent, click on customize. You can change the message and insert dynamic variables like meeting info, customer name, meeting date, and more into your outgoing messages. Click 'Save' once you are done with the changes.



The customer receives the following message when an appointment is made.


Note that the message is from the number '59039000' and not my original phone number. This is because the message is sent from a US number to an Indian Number. So the original long code is replaced with this number to ensure seamless deliverability.
 
If the sender and recipient belong to the same country, then the SenderID (i.e., your phone number) doesn't change.
 
There are cases where you might want to block incoming messages. For example, customers might reply to your SMS notifications requesting a reschedule or cancellation. This breaks the flow of Zoho Bookings and introduces unnecessary manual work. If that's the case, check out this document to block all incoming messaging.

SMS Customization Recommendations

  • Since each message can accommodate only 160 characters, we recommend keeping your message crisp. Include vital info like appointment date, time, and business name.
  • Avoid using emojis in your sms. As a single emoji consumes a lot of characters.
  • We recommend you have your entire message length from 160 to 320 characters (i.e., 1 to 2 messages per message) to avoid consuming too many message credits for a single SMS.

Zoho Bookings Plans supporting this feature

Applicable in
Premium

If you want to start a trial of the Zoho Bookings Premium plan, please send an email to support@zohobookings.com including the word 'Twilio' in the subject line.

I want to try this!

    • Recent Topics

    • External File Share - Allow delete

      Hi Team, when I share an external link and give it edit rights the external user can add but not delete files and folders. what am i doing wrong?

    • Where is the Global Search field?

      I am looking for an alternative to SF.com. Zoho CRM seems to be work fine, and be customizable in terms of the fields and reports. But there's one big thing missing and it's going to prevent us from using it: there's no global search box at the top of

    • How to notify all members on any updates to zoho crm?

      Hi, I am using the free version of zoho CRM and currently seeing this will work for our company. We are a small company and wanted to be more informed about all the changes in zoho. 1. How do I s et notifications that go to the team for any and all changes

    • How to change the format for phone numbers?

      Mobile phone numbers are currently formatted (###) ###-####.  How can I change this to a more appropriate forms for Australia being either #### ### ### or (#)### ### ###?

    • Unattended Access on Android without Play Store

      I'm testing Zoho Assist for remote config and maintenance of our IoT devices. The devices are running Android 8.1 and do NOT have Google Play Store installed, nor can it be installed. I've been able to install Zoho Assist on the devices and load the enrollment

    • Open Sans Font in Zoho Books is not Open Sans.

      Font choice in customising PDF Templates is very limited, we cannot upload custom fonts, and to make things worse, the font names are not accurate. I selected Open Sans, and thought the system was bugging, but no, Open Sans is not Open Sans. The real

    • Is it possible to embed Zoho Bookmarks in the Cliq sidebar?

      Is there any way that each Zoho user can access their bookmarks (that live in https://bookmarks.zoho.eu/ which is technically a part of Zoho Mail) directly within Cliq? As a widget, or an item in the sidebar? My team does not use Mail, it uses Cliq all

    • Show Attachments in the customer portal

      Hi, is it possible to show the Attachments list in the portal for the particular module? Bests.

    • Kaizen #142: How to Navigate to Another Page in Zoho CRM using Client Script

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post. In this post, let us see how you can you navigate to different Pages using Client Script. In this Kaizen post, Need to Navigate to different Pages Client Script ZDKs related to navigation A.

    • Navigate with Ease: Announcing Improvements to Your Zoho CRM for Everyone's Setup Experience

      Hello Everyone, We’re thrilled to announce new enhancements to the Setup Menu in our Zoho CRM for Everyone system, designed to simplify your workday and streamline your overall experience. What's New? Addition of a Setup Homepage Faster Search in Setup

    • Zoho Projects Webhook fails with HTTP Error 0

      Hello Zoho Community, I am pulling my hair out over this one. I have setup a very basic http(s) server that always responds "ok" and code 200 to incoming GET requests. It will accept any parameters, and any path. Really, all it does is say "ok," and log

    • API 500 Error

      Hello amazing ZOHO Projects Community, I get this message. How can we solve this? { "error": { "status_code": "500", "method": "GET", "instance": "/api/v3/portal/2010147XXXX/projects/2679160000003XXXX/timesheet", "title": "INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR", "error_type":

    • ZOHO Campaignで表のカラムの幅を調整したい。

      表を作成した際、個々のカラムの幅を調整したいのですが、方法が分かりません。 どなたかご存じの方ご教示ください。

    • Auto-upload Creator Files to WorkDrive

      Hi everyone, I’m working on a workflow that uploads files from Zoho Creator to specific subfolders in Zoho WorkDrive, as illustrated in the attached diagram. My Creator application form has two multi-file upload fields, and I want—on successful form submission—to

    • Exciting Updates to the Kiosk Studio Feature in Zoho CRM!

      Hello Everyone, We are here again with a series of new enhancements to Kiosk Studio, designed to elevate your experience and bring even greater efficiency to your business processes. These updates build upon our ongoing commitment to making Kiosk a powerful

    • Kaizen #129 : Client Script Support for Blueprints

      Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. Today, let us discuss about how you can use Client Script during a Blueprint transtion to meet your requirements. This Kaizen post will provide solution for the post - Need non-mandatory fields in blueprint

    • Search Bar Improvement for Zoho Commerce

      Hey everyone, I've been using Zoho Commerce for a bit now, and I think the search bar could really use an upgrade. Right now, it doesn't show products in a dropdown as you type, which would make finding items a lot faster. On Shopify, for example, you

    • Making digital signatures accessible to all: Introducing accessibility controls in Zoho Sign

      Hi there! At Zoho Sign, we are committed to building an inclusive digital experience for all our users. As part of our ongoing efforts to align with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), we’re updating the application with support that will go

    • Account Owner Field From Accounts Module to be Displayed in Contacts module

      I have a field in the Accounts Module in the CRM called "Account Owner" i want that field to be also mapped into the Contacts Module custom single line field called "Account Manager".

    • Update a field in the ZOHO Form, basis numeric value in another field in the same form

      I am trying to create a questionnaire in ZOHO, where clients need to answer 10 questions, and basis response, values are assigned. I have created a total score field where the sum of the values is stored. But i am unable to create a rule whereby another

    • How to update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records

      Hello Zoho CRM, How do I update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records at once? To give you a background, these leads were uploaded or Imported at once but the lead status record was incorrectly chosen. So since there was a way to quickly add records in the system no matter how many they are, we are also wondering if there is a quicker way to update these records to the correct "Lead Status". I hope our concern makes sense and that there will be a fix for it. All the best, Jonathan

    • Meet up de Zoho en Bilbao

      Buenos días comunidad! Estamos estudiando hacer un Meet up en Bilbao desde zoho y varios Partners. Para que la experiencia sea excelente, queremos saber cuantas pesonas se vendrían a Bilbao al evento. Y para que sea lo mas útil posible, que temas dentro

    • Picklist reference value in REST

      picklist options can be configured to have a different reference value than the displayed one, should be helpful in things like multilanguage: https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/translations/articles/translations is there a way

    • In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."}

      In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."} this is button Function used in the Creator map Inventory.Create_Credit_note(int CRE_ID) { return_value

    • How to create a Zoho Mail extension similar to Outlook's OnSend add-in?

      Hi, I want to create a Zoho Mail extension similar to Outlook’s OnSend add-in. The extension should: Let the user select headers and footers from a taskpane while composing an email. When the user clicks Send, the extension should: Automatically insert

    • Marketing Tip #2: Recover lost sales with abandoned cart emails

      Did you know most online shoppers don’t complete checkout? Automated cart recovery emails are an easy way to bring them back. A simple reminder can recover sales you’d otherwise lose. Try this today: Enable abandoned cart emails in Zoho Commerce and set

    • Billing Management: #9 Usage Billing in IoTs

      We live in a world where connectivity has become a lifestyle rather than a luxury. From smart thermostats that adjust your home's temperature to GPS trackers monitoring end-to-end fleets and sensors that optimize energy grids, the Internet of Things has

    • {"code":1038,"message":"JSON is not well formed"}

      Today this began failing: sales_order_data = zoho.books.createRecord("salesorders",books_organization_ID,order_data); with this error message. {"code":1038,"message":"JSON is not well formed"} This code has been running for two years. Here is the input

    • How can I migrate Shared Mailbox from Zoho Mail to Team Inbox?

      I am unable to migrate mails from my shared mailbox in Zoho Mail to Team Inbox. I am the super admin of my Zoho One plan and yet I am getting an error saying only admins can do this? I don't understand the issue.

    • Remember all the ways we've posted?

      The world celebrates World Postal Day in 2025 with the theme “#PostForPeople: Local Service. Global Reach". The story of the “post” is a story of human connection itself, evolving from simple handwritten notes carried over long distances to instant digital

    • Add Support for Authenticator App MFA in Zoho Desk Help Center

      Hello Zoho Desk Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related to security for the Zoho Desk Help Center (customer portal). Currently, the Help Center supports MFA for portal users via SAML, JWT, SMS authentication,

    • Can no longer upload my own Notebook cover

      I've had Notebook for over a year and have been able to create my own notebook covers, but when I tried to upload my own cover for a new notebook today, the upload feature has suddenly been starred, requiring me to upgrade my account. When did this

    • Zoho Desk - Cannot Invite or Register New User

      Hi who may concern, we encountered a problem that we cannot invite user or the visitor cannot register for a user at all through our help center portal, with the snapshot shown as below and the attachement. It always pops up that "Sorry, Unable to process

    • Custom domain issue

      I recently changed records for my support area custom domain for a few months, I then wanted to come back to Zoho, but now I can't connect it and I can't login as it's having an SSL issue. I cannot get a good response from support, as I've been notified

    • How do you generate personalized certificates and save them in dynamic folders using Writer's mail merge?

      Zoho Writer's mail merge feature can help you enhance the certificate management process. It's a great way to save time and effort! Merge certificates and maintain a well-organised repository with personalised certificates stored in separate folders for

    • Zoho Editor

      Zoho PDf Editor is not working I am clicking on EDIT PDf then it again bringing me back to the same page. again and again.

    • The present is a "present"

      The conversation around mental health has been gaining attention in recent years. Even with this awareness, we often feel stuck; the relentless pace of modern life makes us too busy to pause, reflect, and recharge. In the world of customer support, this

    • KPI Widget dashboard select periods

      I have a problem with selecting periods as a user filter. In the beste scenario I would like to have to have a period filter like Google Analytics has of Datastudio (see attachment). In the KPI widget I "Group by "inquiry_date" on week&Year". It selects

    • Market cap

      Market cap formula?? Kaise nikale

    • Need Help to setup plugs along with codeless bot buidler. To send sms OTPs to users via Zoho Voice and to verify it

      Need Help to setup plugs along with codeless bot buidler. To send sms OTPs to users via Zoho Voice and to verify it. I get leads from our website and we need to make sure those are not junk. So we are using proactive chat bot and we need mobile OTPs to

    • Next Page