Booking side-effects, reminders and notifications

Overview

When a booking is confirmed (from the public page or created by an agent), the Conversa Labs Calendar can trigger a set of automatic actions — the booking side-effects. Each one is independent and can be turned on or off per account or per event type: open a conversation with the contact, create a task with a reminder, link or create a CRM deal, send a confirmation email with an .ics file, and send a native WhatsApp event.

On top of that, the Calendar sends reminders before the start time, can flag no-show automatically, and produces distinct notifications: the customer receives the confirmation with the .ics, and the agent receives an alert (email and in-app) for a new booking or a no-show, with a deep link to the deal or the contact.

Prerequisites

• The Calendar module enabled and a booking that reaches the confirmed state.
• For the confirmation email (.ics) and the agent notifications, SMTP configured on the account.
• For the conversation side-effect, at least one inbox (the Calendar uses the inbox assigned to the calendar, or the first available one).
• For the CRM deal side-effect, the CRM module active and a default pipeline/stage set when you want deals created automatically.
• For the WhatsApp event side-effect, the contact must have a WhatsApp Web conversation.
• For the Google Meet link in the invite, an active Google connection and the event type with Meet.

Step by step

1. Open the Calendar settings (module gear).
2. In the Booking side-effects section, turn each effect on or off: conversation, task, CRM deal, email with .ics, and WhatsApp event.
3. In the Reminders section, set the lead times (in minutes before the start) and the channels (email and in-app). Default: 60 and 1440 minutes (1 hour and 24 hours).
4. Still in Reminders, optionally set auto-no-show: minutes after the start to flag a no-show. It is off by default.
5. For per-service rules, repeat the configuration on the event type (scope) — it overrides the account default.
6. Create a test booking and confirm the expected effects and reminders happened.

Settings & options

Booking side-effects (each toggles on/off, independent):

Reminders:

• Lead times (lead_times): a list of minutes before the start — default 60 and 1440. You can define as many as you want.
• Channels: email and in-app (both by default).
• Idempotency: each reminder fires exactly once per booking — queue re-runs never re-send the same reminder.
• Scope: per account or per event type (the event type overrides the account default).

Auto-no-show:

• Minutes after the start to flag a no-show automatically, if the booking is still confirmed. Off by default (set a value to enable it).
• Flags the booking once and emits the no-show event (automations/webhooks + agent alert).

Notifications:

• Customer: a confirmation email with the .ics (method REQUEST on confirmation/reschedule, CANCEL on cancellation) and the Meet link.
• Agent: a new booking and a no-show alert via email and in-app, with a deep link to the CRM deal (when present), otherwise the contact, otherwise the Calendar.

Use cases

• Turn every confirmed booking into a conversation + task + deal with no manual work.
• Send the confirmation with the .ics so the appointment lands in the customer's calendar.
• Notify the customer on WhatsApp with a native event already carrying date, time and Meet link.
• Remind the customer 24 hours and 1 hour before to reduce no-shows.
• Flag no-show automatically and open a follow-up when nobody attends.

Tips, limits & best practices

• Effects run when the booking becomes confirmed — a draft or payment-pending booking does not fire the effects yet.
• Reminders and auto-no-show run on a periodic background sweep (near real time). Reminders are evaluated for events starting in the next ~48 hours; no-show, for events that started in the last ~24 hours.
• If you set a reminder whose time has already passed at booking, it is not re-sent — reminders only look forward.
• The CRM deal effect only creates a deal when "create if missing" is enabled and a default pipeline/stage exists; otherwise it only links an existing open deal.
• Keep SMTP configured: without it, the .ics email and the agent notifications are not sent.

Troubleshooting

• An effect did not fire: confirm it is enabled in the right scope (account or event type) and that the contact exists. The conversation needs an inbox; the WhatsApp event needs a WhatsApp Web conversation.
• The CRM deal was not created: it is only created with "create if missing" enabled and a default pipeline/stage set; otherwise only an existing open deal is linked.
• The task did not appear: check that the task effect is on and that the booking has a valid start time.
• Missing reminder: the booking must be confirmed and start within the sweep window; check SMTP and that the lead time had not already passed at booking.
• Duplicate reminder: it should not happen — each reminder is idempotent (once per lead time). If you see repetition, check you do not have two identical lead times configured.
• The agent did not get the notification: confirm SMTP and that the agent has a valid email; the link points to the deal, otherwise the contact, otherwise the Calendar.

See also

• Calendar and bookings overview
• Reschedule, cancel, Google Meet and the .ics file
• Public booking page
• Event types, availability and buffers
• Connect Google Calendar (OAuth) and sync