Schedule from the conversation and notify the contact

Overview

The Calendar panel in a conversation's sidebar has two different actions, and each one has its own consequence for the contact:

• Send booking link: the contact receives the link to the public page and picks the time. When they finish booking, ConversaLabs sends the confirmation automatically.
• Schedule: you set the date and time for the contact. In this case the confirmation is only sent when Send the confirmation to the contact in the conversation is ticked in the form.

ConversaLabs always says on screen whether the contact will be told. You decide when creating, when changing the time and when cancelling, and you can send the details of an existing appointment at any moment with Send in conversation.

Prerequisites

• Calendar module enabled on the account.
• Agent or administrator role (whoever can already create and edit appointments).
• For the booking link, at least one public event type.
• For WhatsApp notices outside the official API's 24-hour window, an approved template set in Calendar › Settings.

Step by step

Schedule for the contact and send the confirmation:

1. Open the conversation and, in the sidebar, the Calendar panel.
2. Click Schedule and fill in the title, start and end.
3. Check the Send the confirmation to the contact in the conversation option. It comes ticked when the form is opened from inside a conversation, and the helper line says which conversation and channel the message will be delivered through.
4. Click Create event. The platform reports the result:
   • Appointment scheduled and confirmation sent to the contact, or
   • Appointment scheduled, but the confirmation could not be sent, with the reason. The appointment stays created; the message can be sent later.

Send an appointment that already exists:

1. In the conversation's Calendar panel, find the appointment under Upcoming.
2. Click Send in conversation. The same button is in the Notify the contact section of the event details.
3. If the confirmation was already sent before, the platform shows the date of the last send and asks you to confirm the resend.

Change the time or cancel:

1. When editing, keep or untick Notify the contact if the date or time changes.
2. When cancelling, keep or untick Notify the contact about the cancellation.

Settings & options

• The confirmation uses the same text and the same buttons as bookings made through the link, defined in Calendar › Settings.
• With no open conversation (for example, creating from the Calendar page), the option is available when a contact is linked, and the message follows the channel configured in the Calendar. With no contact and no conversation, the option is disabled and the screen explains why.
• The reminder is independent of the confirmation: it is sent even when the confirmation was not.

Use cases

• Agree on a time by message and record the appointment with the confirmation already sent.
• Hold an internal slot for the contact without telling them, and send the details later.
• Resend the details to a contact who lost the original message.
• Fix a mistyped time without generating a reschedule notice.

Tips, limits & best practices

• If the contact did not receive the confirmation, the reminder will come as a surprise. Prefer to keep the confirmation ticked when scheduling from inside the conversation.
• Send in conversation is not available for appointments that are cancelled or already over.
• The message can only be sent in the conversation of the contact linked to the appointment.
• On the official WhatsApp API, outside the 24-hour window, sending depends on an approved template.
• Deleting an appointment does not notify the contact. To notify them, use Cancel appointment.
• The automatic reminder requires a linked contact on the appointment. A reminder whose send time had already passed when the appointment was created is not sent.

Troubleshooting

• The contact received only the reminder: the appointment was created with the confirmation option unticked, or by an integration that did not ask for it. Use Send in conversation.
• "The confirmation could not be sent": read the reason shown. The most common are a closed WhatsApp 24-hour window with no approved template, and no linked conversation.
• The Send in conversation button is disabled: the text below the button gives the reason (no linked conversation, appointment cancelled or already over).
• The platform asks you to confirm the resend: a confirmation was already sent for this appointment. Confirm only if you want a second message.

See also

• Booking side-effects, reminders and notifications
• Reminder and confirmation delivery over WhatsApp and email
• Delete or cancel an event: which to use
• Public booking page