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Follow up on the latest improvements and updates.

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You value the ability to send appointment reminders through text, email, and voice calls— that’s why Apptoto is your go-to solution for communicating with clients about their appointments.
We’re excited to announce a significant enhancement to our voice call reminders: Advanced Voicemail Detection. This new feature is now available to all Apptoto customers and trial users.
Before this update, Apptoto would wait to detect whether a person or voicemail answered before delivering a call reminder.
Now, Apptoto starts the reminder message while simultaneously identifying if the call reaches voicemail. If a voicemail greeting is detected, the system will restart the message. Additionally, if the call goes to voicemail, the system will leave the reminder without offering options like pressing "1" to confirm or "2" to cancel, optimizing the experience for recipients.
The best part? You don’t need to take any action—advanced voicemail detection is already enabled.
We’re thrilled to announce the addition of the
Contact Groups
feature in Apptoto. This new tool is designed to simplify your appointment management by allowing you to organize and manage multiple contacts efficiently.
With Contact Groups, you can create groups of up to 50 contacts and easily add them to appointments. Whether you need to schedule a meeting with a team, family, or any other group, this feature will save you time and enhance productivity.
Key Benefits of Contact Groups
Efficient Contact Management:
Organize your contacts into groups, making it easy to manage and schedule appointments with multiple people simultaneously. Segment your address books into smaller, more targeted groups.
For example, create a "Team Meeting" group that includes all your team members or a "Seminar Invitees—Month Year" group to help you organize and remind multiple clients about an upcoming event.
Quick Appointment Setup:
Add entire groups to appointments with a few clicks. This means no more manually entering each contact for recurring group meetings or events.
Improved Communication:
Ensure all group members receive the same appointment reminders and updates, reducing the chances of missed appointments or miscommunication.
Repeating Appointments:
Add Contact Groups to repeating/recurring appointments. Apptoto will add the appropriate contacts to all recurring meetings. If you update the members in the Contact Group, Apptoto will update the participants accordingly.
Creating and Using Contact Groups
Setting up and using Contact Groups is simple and quick. Follow the steps below to get started:
  1. Open Apptoto and click the “Contacts” tab.
  2. Click the “+ Add Group” tab to create a new group.
Add Group 1
  1. Name your group and select the address book from which you want to add contacts.
  2. Use the “Members” field to add up to 50 existing contacts to the group.
  3. Optional:
    Implement Auto Match. If you utilize auto-match, you can include the group name in the appointment title or body, and Apptoto will automatically add group members as participants.
Add Group 3
  1. Click the “Save” button.
Adding a Contact Group to an Appointment
Adding a Contact Group can be done in the Apptoto platform or in your calendaring solution (i.e., Google Calendar, Outlook, Salesforce, etc.) as long as you have automatic matching implemented. To do so, please follow the appropriate directions below:
Add a Contact Group to an Event in Apptoto
  1. Select the “Appointments” tab.
  2. Create a new appointment (using “+ Add Event”) or click to edit an existing appointment.
  3. Add the group to the event:
  • Option 1: In the Participants field, type the name of your group. Click the group name to add all group members to the event.
  • Option 2: If you enabled Auto Match on the group, simply type the group's name in the appointment title or body. Apptoto will add group participants to the event automatically.
  1. Fill in the remaining details of your appointment event and click “Save.”
Add a Contact Group to an Event in Your Calendar Platform
  1. Create your appointment and fill out relevant details as desired.
  2. Based on your Auto Participants settings in Apptoto (Tools > Auto Participants), enter the group name in the event's title, location, or body. Screenshot 2024-07-16 at 3
  3. The event will appear in Apptoto, and all the contacts from the group will be added.
  • NOTE: The contacts will not sync back to your calendaring platform (for example, if you use Google Calendar), the guest list will appear empty even though it is not. You can refer to the event in Apptoto to ensure the appropriate contacts have been added.
Screenshot 2024-07-16 at 3
Auto Participant Caveats
  • Group names must be two or more words to utilize auto-matching
Contact Groups are a powerful addition to your appointment management toolkit, enabling you to streamline communication and scheduling for multiple contacts effortlessly. We can’t wait to see how you utilize this new tool to improve your workflows.
Need More Help?
For more information on creating and managing Contact Groups, please check our “Contact Groups” knowledge base article or contact our expert Customer Support team.
The next time you sign up for an Apptoto account (or add someone to an existing account) using the “Sign Up With Google” flow, you may notice some changes.
What's Changed?
Google recently upgraded its permissions/consent collection process to require explicit consent from users regarding what data they will grant access to a third-party provider. These settings are known as “Granular Permissions” and give consumers more control over what they want to share with apps like Apptoto.
When you use your Google account to sign up for a new tool, you enter your credentials and grant the platform permission to access specific data.
Before “Granular Permissions” were implemented, when someone signed up for Apptoto, Google would inform the person that they would be granting access to Google Contacts and Google Calendar. The person could allow or deny access to both at the same time. However, granting access to one app while rejecting the other was not possible.
As part of the Granular Permissions update, you can now grant access to exactly which Google apps you want while rejecting others.
Granular Consent 4
How do Permissions Impact How Apptoto Works?
If you do not grant access to both Google Calendar and Contacts, Apptoto will not work as expected.
Apptoto will still generate a new account for you even if you do not grant access to Google Calendar and Contacts. However, when you try to add your first Calendar (along with it’s appointments), you will receive this error:
Google Consent Error
The same will occur when you try to sync a new Google Address book.
IMPORTANT: Apptoto can only sync your appointments and automatically send appointment messages to your contacts once you grant Apptoto permission to access your Calendar and Contacts.
You can also view what permissions each synced Google email has in your account. To do so, navigate to Settings > Integrations > “Google” tab. As you can see from the screenshot below, the first email has no access and will not sync correctly. The second email is active and has the appropriate permissions granted, meaning appointment events and contacts will sync as expected.
Annotation 2024-06-17 at 10
How do I Grant Apptoto Permissions if I Didn’t Do So Originally?
To grant Apptoto permission to access your Calendar and Contacts, navigate to Settings > Integrations > Google (as shown in the screenshot above).
Click either “Renew” or “Invite to Reconnect” (if inviting someone else), which will prompt the user to enter their credentials and select permissions again.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to grant Apptoto access to both apps, Google Calendar and Google Contacts, before clicking “Allow.”
Need more help?
For more information or assistance, don’t hesitate to contact our expert Customer Support team.
We’re excited to announce the addition of
Email Open Tracking
in Apptoto. This new tool is designed to give you more insights into how your prospective and current customers are engaging with your emails.
With Email Open Tracking, you’ll be able to understand which emails are being opened, which are being ignored, and who is most likely to engage with them.
Key Benefits of Email Open Tracking
Enhanced Engagement Insights:
Discover which emails your audience opens and engages with most often so you can tailor your appointment reminder sequences appropriately. For example, clients might open a booking confirmation email and the first appointment reminder email but ignore the second and third reminder emails.
Improved Deliverability:
Identify and remove unengaged contacts to maintain a healthy email list (especially important for Campaigns). Likewise, if you find a client regularly ignores all emails but engages with texts or voice calls, you can set their contact preferences accordingly.
Email Troubleshooting:
If a client reports not receiving an appointment-related email, you’ll be able to access reporting showing if they opened the email or not.
Enabling Email Open Tracking
Implementing email open tracking is simple and quick. This feature is
not enabled by default, so if you want to use it, please follow the directions below.
  1. Open Apptoto and click the “Settings” tab.
  2. Click the “Email” tab and scroll down to the “Open Tracking” section.
  3. Click the checkbox next to “Enable Open Tracking.”
  4. Click the “Save” button.
Enable Email Tracking
Viewing Email Open Statistics
Once you’ve enabled Open Tracking, Apptoto will begin recording data for every email you send. That reporting can be found under the “Tools” section > “Log” tab. The log will show the following email tracking data:
  • What time the email was sent
  • What calendar the email was linked to
  • Who the email was sent to and who the email was sent from
  • How many times it was opened
  • Content of the email
Open Tracking Reporting
Email open data is powerful information to have to optimize your appointment reminders and Campaigns, and we are excited about the insights this tool unlocks. However, it is important to note that some email solutions/apps (aka email clients) may prevent email tracking, slightly affecting Apptoto’s data precision. Nevertheless, we believe these insights are a powerful tool in your email strategy!
Need more help?
For more information, including details on email open rates, please check our “Tracking Email Opens” knowledge base article or contact our expert Customer Support team.
Ever been annoyed by an unexpected text message (or five) during the busiest part of your workday? We get it, and so do your clients. That’s why laws like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) require businesses to obtain consent to send marketing text messages to current and prospective customers or risk costly fines.
Apptoto has introduced a simple solution to help your business collect consent from clients to text them appointment reminders and other messages. This update allows your company to comply with the latest regulations, builds trust and transparency with clients, and helps improve customer engagement.
What's New?
Initial Consent Messaging:
Apptoto makes it simple to send initial consent messages to your clients before you text them their first appointment booking confirmation or reminder. The message informs your clients that your business uses Apptoto to send appointment reminders and allows them to opt out by replying STOP. If clients do not respond, they’ll receive texts. If clients reply STOP, they’ll be placed on your Text Opt-Out List and receive voice or email reminder messages instead.
Text Message Consent
Double Opt-In Messaging:
Taking client consent a step further, Apptoto also allows you to require double opt-in. Clients must reply “YES” to opt into receiving texts from your business, ensuring that only those who are genuinely interested and engaged receive your messages.
How to Implement?
Initial Consent Setup:
Navigate to your
Messaging
tab and
Consent
settings in Apptoto. Find the “Initial Consent Message” section and click the checkbox to automatically send a consent message to new contacts before they receive their first reminder. Update the consent message and preview it before saving your changes.
Initial Consent copy
Double Opt-In Configuration:
In the same “Initial Consent Message” section, you can activate the double opt-in feature by checking “Require Double Opt-in before sending actual messages.” The Double Opt-In message requires the recipient to respond “YES” if they want to receive your text messages. If they answer no or do not respond, they will not receive any text messages from your business (appointment reminder or otherwise).
Double Opt-In Consent
IMPORTANT: You may update the initial consent/double-opt-in messages to reflect your brand voice. However, doing so could result in carrier violations and your messages being filtered/not received.
For more information, please check out our latest blog on text messaging consent or visit our step-by-step walkthrough on implementing initial consent and double-opt-in in our Knowledge Base. Please contact our support team or visit our Help Center for further assistance.
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THIS INFORMATION IS NOT TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL COUNSEL. You are responsible for abiding by federal and state laws applicable to your use of Apptoto (Go-Cort, Inc.) services. Please refer to the Terms of Service and EULA for more information.
If your business utilizes Salesforce, you know that converting a lead to an opportunity is a critical step in the sales process. It indicates that a lead has become a concrete prospect that a sales representative should actively pursue.
That’s why we’re excited to announce that Salesforce leads can now be automatically converted to opportunities if they book an appointment via an Apptoto booking page. This update helps teams streamline the sales process and ensures reps can act immediately on qualified, engaged opportunities.
How do I Convert a Lead to an Opportunity with Apptoto’s Salesforce Integration?
To convert a lead to an opportunity after a person schedules an appointment, you’ll first need to sync your Salesforce Calendar and your Salesforce Leads Address Book to Apptoto.
  1. Navigate to the Booking Pages tab in Apptoto and click "+Add Booking Page."
  2. On the
    Availability
    tab, ensure your Calendar is set to sync to a Salesforce Calendar. SF Availability Calendar
  3. On the
    Address Book
    tab, set your Address Book to your "Salesforce Leads" address book.
  4. Click the checkbox that appears to enable
    “Convert Salesforce Leads to Opportunities upon Booking.”
  5. Enter the name a converted lead is set to when it becomes an opportunity in the
    “New Lead Status (After Conversion):”
    field. Screenshot 2024-02-05 at 2
  6. After implementing the rest of your booking page settings as desired in Apptoto, click “Create” to launch your new booking page.
IMPORTANT:
In step 5, Apptoto will default to utilizing "Closed - Converted" for the New Lead Status name. To check if your company utilizes a different naming convention (and/or if testing fails) follow the directions in this Salesforce Help Article.
Moving forward, when a Salesforce Leads books an appointment with you, they’ll be updated to a Contact and a new Opportunity will be created. You’ll be able to view their upcoming appointment on their Contact record, as well as on your Calendar tab.
Need more help?
For more information, please check out the help articles above or contact our expert Customer Support team.
We're excited to introduce Conditional Fields to Apptoto’s Online Scheduling forms.
With Conditional Fields, your clients’ responses to certain questions can trigger additional fields to appear on your booking forms. This helps you gather necessary information from clients without having to present them with a huge list of fields upfront (that may not be relevant to them).
Conditional
What are Conditional Form Fields?
After a client selects their preferred appointment type and time on your Apptoto booking page, they’re directed to fill out a form with information about themselves or their visit (such as their name, phone number, and email). They must enter this information before they can submit their booking.
These are Form Fields. You can choose to use Apptoto’s standard Form Fields or create “Custom Fields” to collect information unique to your business needs.
Conditional Fields are Form Fields that will only appear after a client enters a specific answer into one of your “Custom Fields.” An example of when you might use a Conditional Field is if you need to collect more information about customer preferences or needs.
For example, when a client indicates they want to book a Massage at a Spa, a new conditional field could appear asking them to note any skin allergies or sensitivities they have. If they booked a manicure or pedicure, the Spa could choose not to display any additional fields.
How do I add Conditional Form Fields?
You can add Conditional Form fields in Apptoto by navigating to the “Booking Pages” tab > “Form Fields” tab.
Conditional Form fields only trigger off of Custom Fields. So, if you don’t already have at least one Custom Field set up, follow the directions found in our Form Fields Knowledge Base article to do so. Then:
  1. Select +Add Custom Field
  2. In the Field Editor, enter your Field Name, Target, Type, Default Answer, and Description. Then, check if this is a “Required” field.
  3. In the “Visibility” section, select “Based on another field.”
  4. Select which Custom Field you want the new Conditional Field to trigger off.
  5. Choose whether the answer “is equal to” or “not equal to”
  6. Enter the answer in the final field
  7. Click “Done.”
conditional form in apptoto copy
Once you add your Conditional Fields, we suggest testing your booking process in Preview Mode to ensure your forms behave as you expect!
Questions?
For more information, please review our Form Fields Knowledge Base article or connect with our expert Customer Support team.
Starting today, all emails sent on behalf of your business to your customers by Apptoto will include a “One-Click Unsubscribe” button.
This includes all individual emails, bulk campaign emails, and appointment reminder emails (including booking confirmations, follow-ups, etc.).
One Click Unsubscribe
Apptoto is adding a one-click unsubscribe button to all emails to help assist our customers in meeting new email authentication rules established by Google and Yahoo that go into effect in February 2024.
Beginning next month, Google and Yahoo will require bulk email senders to meet guidelines designed to make inboxes safer and reduce spam, phishing attacks, and spoofing. A business is considered a bulk email sender if it sends over 5000 email messages to Gmail or Yahoo inboxes daily.
The three major requirements established by Google and Yahoo mean that businesses must:
  • Authenticate their email to ensure messages are being sent from an authorized sender using a legitimate domain
  • Keep their spam complaint rates lower than 0.1% and no higher than 0.3%
  • Allow users to unsubscribe with one click and remove them from email lists within two days
Apptoto will continue to inform you about any new updates we release surrounding Google’s and Yahoo’s email authentication requirements. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Customer Success at support@apptoto.com.
We've made two updates to Apptoto that make it simpler for you to search appointments by custom and standard fields.
Searching by Custom Fields:
Previously, if you wanted to search all of your appointments in Apptoto to see which contained a certain custom field, you needed to append "custom.event" before your search. For example, searching for an appointment that had a custom field of "clinic" set to the Pocatello location might look like this:
custom.event.clinic:pocatello
Now, you can simply search
clinic:pocatello
, and Apptoto will return any results with the custom field and matching result.
Filtering by Most Popular Results
We've also upgraded the filtering functionality. Now, when you click Filter and select any field name, Apptoto will return the most popular results for that field.
In our example above, imagine you have four upcoming appointments at your Twin Falls location, and one at your Pocatello location. When you filter by "clinic," your results will look like this:
Filter Clinic Values
Video Overview
To see both these updates in action, check out the short video below:
We're always on the lookout for ways to improve our Booking Page experience for both our customers and their clients. Helping you generate useful, beautiful custom appointment scheduling pages helps your business attract, gain, and retain more clients. That’s why we're excited to announce 6 new Apptoto platform updates that make creating and editing booking pages simpler and faster.
booking_page_card_view
  • Booking Page "Card View":
    Access vital information about your Availability and Signup pages using Apptoto's new "Card View." Review details such as page type, appointment types, synced calendars, and performance metrics.
  • Streamlined Settings Organization:
    Apptoto's extensive customization options are now more accessible with our redesigned settings tabs. Essential settings have been moved to the top of each tab for smoother navigation and easier updates.
  • Advanced Tab for Power Users:
    For those who want added control over how their booking pages look and operate, we've introduced the "Advanced" tab. This tab unlocks additional settings that help you manage how people interact with your page and calendar(s).
  • Account-Level Holidays:
    Specify which days your business will be closed across your entire account using the new "Holidays" tab in Apptoto’s Settings. Booking pages will use these account-level holidays by default, so you don’t have to hide your holiday availability on a booking page-by-page basis.
Screenshot 2023-10-27 at 12
  • Link New Events to Sign Up Pages Faster:
    Seamlessly add new events or link existing ones to Signup pages during the creation page process. You no longer need to create a Signup page, create an event, and then add the event to the signup page…that is, unless you want to!
  • Custom Cancellation Notifications:
    * Sometimes plans change, and customers cancel their appointments. Let your clients know you’ve canceled their appointment and provide options for rebooking with Apptoto’s new customizable "Cancellation" notifications. *
    NOTE: This is not enabled for all Apptoto accounts yet. Please email support@apptoto.com to have this feature enabled.
While we highlighted the biggest changes above, we also wanted to mention a few more features we don’t want you to miss:
  • New: Filter booking pages by URL, title, linked calendars, or appointment types
  • New: Turn off and on booking pages directly from the new Card View
  • Updated: Sort booking pages by title, status, URL, number of views, or number of bookings
Check out our most recent booking page improvement blog post and our knowledge base for more in-depth details about these changes, or contact our Customer Support team if you have any questions.
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