Recalls Setup

Recalls automate the recall process by sending SMS, email, letter, or telephone messages to patients who are due for a recall. Optional follow-ups nudge patients who haven't booked yet — the cadence, channels, and number of follow-ups are entirely up to you, from a single send to a multi-step sequence over several months.

First: complete the shared Messaging Setup — it covers SMS configuration, how templates work (including Draft with AI), staff logins, and the API permissions recalls require (Patient Recalls, Recall Types, Patient Notes on Optomate). This guide covers the recall-specific setup only.

This guide applies to both Optomate Touch and Sunix Vision; where they differ, look for the Optomate / Sunix callouts. All four recall channels (SMS, Email, Letter, Telephone) are supported.

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Quick Start

The fastest way to get recalls running:

1. Make sure the recall prerequisites are done — SMS configured, and (Optomate) the Patient Recalls / Recall Types / Patient Notes permissions enabled.
2. Go to the Recall Rules tab and click Quick Setup (shown when no rules exist yet). It creates a sensible recall rule, the templates it needs, and the per-channel default-template mappings, and can enable automation — all in one step, all editable afterwards.
3. That's it. The manual steps below cover everything Quick Setup doesn't ask about (recall-to-appointment mappings, holidays, custom follow-up sequences, start/end dates).

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Step 1: Create Recall Templates

You need at least one template per channel you plan to use. Default templates are provided for you. To create new ones, go to the Templates tab → New Template, set Scope to Recall and choose the Channel (SMS, Email, Letter, or Telephone). You can write it yourself or use Draft with AI — see how templates work.

Recall template placeholders

Example recall templates

Initial recall (SMS):

Hi {PATIENT_PREFERRED_NAME}. You're due for your eye check at {PRACTICE_NAME}. Book here: {RECALL_LINK} or call {PRACTICE_PHONE}.

Follow-up recall (SMS):

Hi {PATIENT_PREFERRED_NAME}. You're still due for an
 eye appointment at {PRACTICE_NAME}. Book here {RECALL_LINK}
 or call {PRACTICE_PHONE}
{OPT_OUT_INSTRUCTIONS}

Telephone script:

Hi {PATIENT_PREFERRED_NAME}, this is {PRACTICE_NAME}
 calling regarding your eye exam recall ({RECALL_DESCRIPTION}).
 You're due around {DATE_DUE}. Would you like me to book
    an appointment for you now?

Step 2: Set Up Recall Template Mappings

Different recall types can use different templates. For example, a diabetes recall might use a different message than a standard recall.

1. Go to the Recall Templates tab
2. Set a Default Template for each channel (SMS, Email, Letter, Telephone) — this is used when no specific mapping exists
3. For each recall type, optionally select a specific template per channel

Step 3: Excluded Recall Types

Some recall types (e.g. "NR" for no recall) should never be sent.

1. Go to the Excluded Recall Types section on the Config tab.
2. Click on any recall type that should be skipped

Excluded types still appear in the recall preview but are marked as excluded and won't be sent.

Step 4: Set Up Recall Mappings

Recall mappings link your practice system's recall types to appointment types in the booking system. They drive two patient-facing behaviours:

• Recall link clicks — when a patient clicks a recall link in an SMS or email, the booking page pre-selects the right appointment type for them. They go straight to choosing a time, with the recommended type highlighted with a "Recommended" badge and the remaining appointment types listed below.
• Regular booking flow — when an existing patient lands on the booking page directly (not via a recall SMS), the system checks their next due recall and shows the same "Recommended" badge on the matching appointment type if they're close enough to their due date.

To set up the mappings:

1. Go to the Recall Mappings tab
2. Click Sync from Optomate (or Sync from Sunix, depending on your PMS) to import all recall types from the practice's system
3. For each recall type, select the corresponding appointment type from the dropdown

For example, map the "12" (12-month recall) to "Comprehensive Eye Exam" so that patients clicking a 12-month recall link — or landing on the booking page near their 12-month due date — are shown availability for that appointment type.

Unmapped recall types still work — the patient just sees the standard booking flow where they choose their own appointment type.

When no recommendation is shown

All three thresholds below are tunable in the Reminders & Recalls → Config tab:

• Too early — in the regular booking flow only, the recommendation only appears once the patient is close to their due date. Configurable as Recall recommendation start % (default 90%, meaning the last 10% of the recall interval).
• Too late (stale) — once the recall is significantly past due, the patient may need a different appointment type, so no recommendation is shown. Configurable as Recall stale threshold % (default 60% past due).
• Too old — recall links older than this redirect to the standard booking flow regardless. Configurable as Recall standard flow months (default 12 months).

Recall links can also be set to expire after a number of days using Recall link expiry days in the same tab (default: never expire).

Step 5: Set Up Holidays

Holidays prevent automated recalls from being sent on public holidays (when the recall automation has Skip public holidays enabled).

1. Go to the Holidays tab
2. Click Import from ICS to import public holidays from an online calendar (defaults to Victorian public holidays)
3. Or click Add Holiday to add individual dates manually

Holidays only affect automated recall runs. Reminders are not affected because they are tied to appointment dates, not calendar dates.

Step 6: Create Recall Schedule Rules

Recall rules control when and how recalls are sent. You can have multiple rules with different schedules.

If there are no recall rules yet, the Quick Setup wizard on the Recall Rules tab creates a sensible starting rule, the templates it needs, and (optionally) the per-channel default-template mappings, all in one step. Use it as a starting point — everything is editable afterwards, and the manual steps below cover the additional fields it doesn't ask about (start/end dates, custom follow-up steps, etc.).

To create additional rules or edit an existing one manually:

1. Go to the Recall Rules tab
2. Click New Rule (or click the pencil icon on an existing rule)
3. Configure:

Choosing the recall channel

How the send channel is decided differs between the two practice systems.

Optomate: each rule (and each follow-up step) can be set to a specific channel, or to Patient preference — which sends on whichever recall channel each patient prefers in Optomate. If a patient prefers a non-digital channel you haven't enabled, they're skipped.

Sunix: Sunix doesn't store a per-patient recall channel, so there's no "Patient preference" option — you choose the channel for each rule and follow-up step (SMS by default). If that channel can't reach a patient — for example you chose SMS but they have no mobile on file — Your Booking automatically falls back to the next workable channel, in order:

• SMS → Email → Letter → Telephone
• Email → SMS → Letter → Telephone
• Telephone → Letter

Which channels it's allowed to fall back to is controlled by the channel switches in Step 7 — so Letter and Phone only come into play if you've turned them on (they add printing and call-queue work, so they're off by default). A patient with no reachable channel is skipped. Any patient who ends up on a fallback channel is flagged in the recall preview on the staff dashboard, so you can see who didn't get the channel you picked.

Follow-up steps

Follow-ups are automatic messages sent to patients who haven't responded to the initial recall. Each step escalates the channel or adjusts the message.

1. Expand the rule and click Follow-up Steps
2. Add steps with:

Example follow-up sequence:

Locked steps

Once a follow-up step has been sent to at least one patient, the editor locks that step to protect patients in flight:

• The Days after initial send field is disabled
• The delete button is replaced with a lock icon (hover for the reason)
• A small "Sent — to change the cadence, create a new rule" note appears below the step

You can still add new steps at the end of the sequence, and edit channel/template/respect-marketing settings on any step (those changes only affect future sends, not patients already in flight).

To change a locked step's timing, use the start/end date approach below.

Start and end dates

Use start and end dates when you want to change the follow-up cadence without losing any follow-ups:

1. Set an end date on the existing rule — it stops sending new initial recalls but continues follow-ups for patients already in the sequence
2. Create a new rule with a start date matching the old rule's end date
3. No follow-ups are missed and no duplicates are sent

Step 7: Enable Recall Automation

If you used Quick Setup with Enable now ticked, this is already done — automation is enabled and all four channels are allowed.

1. Toggle Enabled in the Recall Automation card
2. Configure which channels Your Booking may use (SMS, Email, Letter, Telephone). Choose the channels you want Your Booking to handle. (Optomate: also match the channels you ticked in the API settings.)

   Sunix: this card is labelled Fallback channels. Each recall rule sets its own channel (Step 6); these switches control which channels a recall is allowed to fall back to when its channel can't reach a patient. Letter and Phone add printing and call-queue work, so they're off by default — turn them on only if you want recalls to fall back to paper or a phone call rather than skip an unreachable patient.

3. The Scheduled Runs section shows when the next run is due for each recall rule

Recalls are now active. The system will process due recalls on the configured schedule.

Per-channel rollout

You don't have to transfer all recall channels at once. You can enable just the channels you want Your Booking to handle (e.g. SMS only) and leave your practice system's built-in recall system handling the others (e.g. letters and phone calls).

For example, a practice might start with:

• SMS: Handled by Your Booking (automated with follow-ups and reply tracking)
• Letter/Telephone: Still handled by your practice system's recall system

Once comfortable, enable the remaining channels in Your Booking and disable them in your practice system. The recommendation is to transfer all channels to Your Booking for a unified view of recall status, follow-up tracking, and summary reporting.

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Recall replies

When a patient replies to a recall message, the body is stored in your practice system (see Patient Replies) and the reply triggers:

Optomate: a STOP reply sets the patient's Marketing preference to "Exclude" and the Initial Recall preference to "Mobile Phone". The note is labelled Recall SMS reply (stop); a free-text reply is labelled Recall SMS reply (message).

Sunix: a STOP reply updates the patient's recall preference so future newsletters and recalls are suppressed. The reply text is saved to the patient's Patient Notes either way.

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Recall summary email

After each recall batch finishes sending, the system schedules a summary email to the practice (delay configurable per rule via Summary email delay (hours)). It splits initials from follow-ups so progress through the chain is visible:

• Quick stats — sent, failed/unconfirmed, skipped/suppressed, opt-outs, letters pending print, calls pending in the queue.
• Action items — letters waiting to be printed, calls waiting in the queue, opt-outs, and (for multi-branch businesses) recalls suppressed because the patient already has an appointment or consult at another branch.
• Replies — recall replies received, with STOP/opt-outs called out separately.

The summary includes direct links back to the staff dashboard tabs that need attention (Print Queue, Call Queue, Sent History), and goes to the practice email configured in the practice settings.

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Troubleshooting

Recalls not sending

• Check Recall Automation is enabled with at least one channel allowed
• Check the recall rule is Active and the current date is within the start/end date range
• Check the Recall Templates tab has default templates set
• Check the rule's send day matches today's day of the week
• Check the agent is online

For SMS-delivery, duplicate-message, and "no template found" issues, see Messaging Setup → Troubleshooting.