---
title: "Set up messages and reminders"
description: "For Administración, choose what the patient gets by email, WhatsApp and call, when reminders go out, what the patient can do from their email and which notices your team gets."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getarbol.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Set up messages and reminders

This is where you decide what the patient gets about their appointment, through which channel and when, and which notices your team gets. Do it when you start using Agenda and whenever your organization changes how it reminds patients. How the team works with it day to day is in [Reminders and confirmations](/en/agenda/reminders/).

## Before you start

- You need the **Administración** role.
- The **Mensajes y recordatorios** (messages and reminders) feature must be on in **Configuración** › **Institución y funciones**. Without it, the section doesn't appear in **Configuración**. Turning it off stops every message to patients and the daily agenda.
- Give your organization a **Nombre** (name) and logo in **Institución y funciones** (see [Set up Agenda](/en/agenda/setup/)): every message is signed with them. Without a name, emails don't say who sent them.
- For emails to go out, the patient's **Correo** (email) must be asked for when booking; for WhatsApp and calls, the **Teléfono** (phone). See [Set up booking details](/en/agenda/setup/booking-details/).
- WhatsApp and calls need Raíz (Contactabilidad) connected to Agenda, a WhatsApp number and, for calls, a voice agent. The Arbol team makes the connection: if you need it, ask them.

## What starts off

At first nothing goes out to anyone: every message stays off until you turn it on.

| Setting | At first |
| --- | --- |
| Email confirmation, time change notice and cancellation notice | Off |
| Email reminders | None |
| Patient buttons (**Confirmar asistencia**, **Cancelar la cita**) | Off. When you turn cancellation on, the deadline starts at 2 hours before. |
| **Incluir la sede y su dirección** (include the site and its address) | On |
| Email design | Arbol's design |
| WhatsApp and call | No number, no template and no voice agent |
| Daily agenda PDF and waiting list notice | Off |

## See what the patient gets

1. In the menu, click **Configuración** and then **Mensajes y recordatorios**. The **Resumen** (summary) opens.

2. Under **Qué recibe el paciente** (what the patient gets), check each message (**Confirmación**, **Recordatorios**, **Cambio de horario** and **Cancelación**): when it goes out and through which channels, or **No se envía** (not sent).

3. Read the warnings at the top, if any, for example **El correo del paciente no se pide al agendar, así que no sale ningún correo.** (the patient's email isn't asked for when booking, so no email goes out). Each has a link to fix it.

At the top are the five sections: **Resumen**, **Correo** (email), **WhatsApp y llamadas** (WhatsApp and calls), **Diseño del correo** (email design) and **Avisos al equipo** (notices to the team). Each one is saved separately, with its own **Guardar cambios** (save changes). Under **Dónde se configura** (where it's set up), each section says how it stands, for example **2 de 4 mensajes salen por correo** (2 of 4 messages go out by email) or **Contactabilidad conectada** (connected).

## Email

1. Click **Correo**.

2. Under **Qué correos recibe el paciente** (which emails the patient gets), turn on the ones you want. **Ver** (view), next to each one, shows how it looks.

   | Email | When it goes out |
   | - | - |
   | **Confirmación al agendar** (booking confirmation) | As soon as the appointment is booked, from the agenda, the WhatsApp assistant or the API. |
   | **Aviso de cambio de horario** (time change notice) | When the clinic moves the appointment: the new date and time, and the buttons to confirm or cancel. |
   | **Aviso de cancelación** (cancellation notice) | When the clinic cancels the appointment, without the reason, with whom to contact to book another. It doesn't go out if the patient cancelled from their email. |

3. Under **Recordatorios** (reminders), add up to three. Click a shortcut (**2 días antes**, **1 día antes** or **2 horas antes**: 2 days, 1 day or 2 hours before), or type another under **u otro:** (or another): a number, the unit (**minutos**, **horas** or **días**) and **Agregar** (add). Each reminder goes from 15 minutes to 7 days before, and can't be repeated. To remove one, click the **X** on its row.

4. Under **Lo que puede hacer el paciente** (what the patient can do), decide which buttons the email carries:

   - **Confirmar asistencia** (confirm attendance): the appointment becomes **Confirmada**.
   - **Cancelar la cita** (cancel the appointment): the appointment is cancelled with the reason **Cancelada por el paciente** and its time is freed. In **Puede cancelar hasta** (can cancel until), choose the deadline, from **La hora de la cita** (the appointment's time) to **2 días antes** (2 days before). After that deadline, the button asks them to contact the clinic.

   The buttons open a page with the appointment, and nothing changes until the patient confirms there.

5. At the bottom, click **Guardar cambios**.

At the bottom it says **Guardado. Aplica a las citas que se agenden… desde ahora.** (saved, it applies to appointments booked… from now on). What you turn on applies to appointments booked or rescheduled from that moment; what you turn off stops going out right away, also for appointments already booked.

Email reminders are separate from WhatsApp and call reminders: if you turned on both channels, the patient gets both. If a reminder's time has already passed when the appointment is booked, that one doesn't go out.

## WhatsApp and calls

WhatsApp numbers, approved texts (templates) and voice agents are created in Raíz (Contactabilidad): see [Bulletins, templates and campaigns](/en/raiz/campaigns/). Here you choose which ones Agenda uses and when.

1. Click **WhatsApp y llamadas**. Under **Conexión con Contactabilidad** (connection with Contactabilidad) it should say **Conectada** (connected), with how many WhatsApp numbers and voice agents your organization has. If it says something else, see common problems below.

2. Under **1. Recordatorio por WhatsApp** (WhatsApp reminder), choose your organization's **Número de WhatsApp** (WhatsApp number).

3. In **Plantilla del recordatorio** (reminder template), choose the approved text. Below it, **Así dice la plantilla:** (the template says) shows it, with its placeholders in braces, such as `{{1}}`.

4. For each placeholder, in **Qué va en** `{{1}}` (what goes in, or the placeholder's name), choose the appointment detail: **Nombre del paciente** (patient name), **Fecha de la cita** (date), **Hora de la cita** (time), **Servicio** (service), **Profesional** (professional) or **Sede** (site). When you choose the template, Agenda suggests them in this order: name, date, time, site, service and professional. Check that each one lands where the text says.

5. Under **Cuándo** (when), turn on **2 días antes**, **1 día antes** or **2 horas antes**. You can turn on all three. If you turn on none, no automatic WhatsApp reminders go out, but your team can send one by hand from the appointment.

6. Under **2. Avisos por WhatsApp** (WhatsApp notices), choose a template for **Cita agendada** (booked), **Cita reprogramada** (rescheduled) and **Cita cancelada** (cancelled), or leave **No enviar aviso** (don't send). Only templates in the same language and with the same details as the reminder's appear.

7. Under **3. Llamada de recordatorio** (reminder call), choose the **Agente de voz** (voice agent) and, under **Cuándo**, when it calls. With **Sin llamadas** (no calls), it doesn't call. The voice, what the agent says and the number it calls from are managed in Raíz.

8. Click **Guardar cambios**.

At the bottom it says **Guardado. Los recordatorios pendientes se reprogramaron con esta configuración.** (saved, pending reminders were rescheduled with these settings). Unlike email, this change also applies to appointments already booked for the coming days.

Keep in mind:

- If you change the **Número de WhatsApp**, the template, the details, the notices and **Cuándo** are cleared: choose them again.
- If you set the template back to **Sin seleccionar** (not selected), the WhatsApp notices also turn off, because they use that template's details.
- Messages and calls need the patient's phone with the country code, for example **+57**. Unless someone changed it, the form's **Teléfono** field shows «+57 300 000 0000» as its example.
- The details are filled in like this: the date as «14 de octubre de 2026», the time in 24-hour format («14:30»), the site with its name, address and city (or your organization's name if the agenda has no site) and the professional with their name (or «Equipo de atención», care team, if the appointment is for a room or piece of equipment).
- The notes, the authorization, the ID document and the record's notes are never sent.

### How to write the templates

Templates are written in Raíz and only appear here once they're approved. For them to work well with Agenda:

- Write one template per message: the reminder, booked, rescheduled and cancelled, each with its own text. The rescheduled one states the new time; the cancelled one states which appointment was cancelled.
- Use the same language and the same placeholders, in the same order, in all four: the notices reuse the reminder's details.
- Don't include diagnoses, results or clinical details: whatever you write in the template reaches every patient the same way. Also consider whether the service's or professional's name could say more than the patient wants others to read on their phone.
- Only invite replies in the chat if someone on your team or an agent handles that number in Raíz.

```text
Hola {{1}}, te esperamos el {{2}} a las {{3}} para revisar
el resultado de tu biopsia. Trae tus exámenes anteriores.
```

```text
Hola {{1}}, te recordamos tu cita en Clínica Ejemplo
el {{2}} a las {{3}}, en {{4}}. Si no puedes asistir,
respóndenos por este chat.
```

The first one tells everyone why the patient is coming («to review your biopsy result»); the second only says where and when, and invites a reply. Each service's instructions, such as fasting, go in the email and in the reminder the team writes from the appointment, not in the WhatsApp template.

## Email design

1. Click **Diseño del correo**.

2. Check **Quién escribe** (who writes): your organization's logo and name. You change them in **Institución y funciones**, with **Cambiar** (change).

3. Check **Lo que trae cada cita** (what each appointment brings): each email uses the color and instructions of the appointment's service. You change them in each service, with **Ir a Servicios** (go to services) (see [Create and set up services](/en/agenda/setup/services/)).

4. Under **Pie y sede** (footer and site), write the **Pie del correo** (email footer), up to 500 characters: address, phone, policies. It appears at the end of every email and of its buttons' page.

5. Leave **Incluir la sede y su dirección** on if you want the email to say where the appointment is, when the agenda belongs to a site.

6. Look at the preview: choose the email, **Computador** (computer) or **Celular** (phone) and the sample service.

7. Click **Guardar cambios**.

Agenda sets each email's subject: what happened, the day and the time, for example «Recordatorio de tu cita: Miércoles 14 de octubre, 9:00 a. m.».

### Use your own HTML

If your organization wants a different design, each email can have its own HTML. All reminders use the same one.

1. Under **Plantillas** (templates), click the email: **Confirmación al agendar**, **Recordatorio**, **Aviso de cambio de horario** or **Aviso de cancelación**.

2. Choose **Mi propio HTML** (my own HTML). The editor starts with Arbol's design, for you to change.

3. To insert an appointment detail, place the cursor and click the detail under **Datos que puedes usar** (details you can use).

4. Check the preview, which updates as you type, and click **Guardar cambios**.

Each email takes up to 30,000 characters. To go back, click **Volver al diseño de Arbol** (back to Arbol's design); to start over, **Empezar de nuevo desde el diseño de Arbol** (start again from Arbol's design). The details you can use:

| Detail | What it inserts |
| --- | --- |
| `{{clinica}}`, `{{marca}}`, `{{logo}}` | Your organization's name; its logo or, without a logo, its name; only the logo |
| `{{paciente}}`, `{{nombre}}` | The patient's full name and first name |
| `{{dia}}`, `{{fecha}}`, `{{hora}}` | The day («Miércoles 14 de octubre»), the full date with the year, and the time |
| `{{ocupacion_hasta}}` | Until when the agenda stays occupied, or nothing |
| `{{servicio}}`, `{{profesional}}`, `{{sede}}`, `{{direccion}}` | The service, the professional or professionals, the site and its address |
| `{{indicaciones}}`, `{{orden_llegada}}` | The service's instructions; the first-come, first-served notice, or nothing |
| `{{color}}`, `{{color_suave}}`, `{{color_texto}}` | The service's color; very light, for backgrounds; darkened, for text |
| `{{boton_confirmar}}`, `{{boton_cancelar}}` | The patient buttons, or nothing if they're off |
| `{{link_confirmar}}`, `{{link_cancelar}}` | Only those buttons' links |
| `{{aviso_cancelacion}}` | «Puedes cancelar hasta…» (you can cancel until…), or nothing |
| `{{pie}}` | The email footer |

A detail that isn't on the list stays empty. If your HTML has no `{{orden_llegada}}`, the first-come, first-served notice goes next to the time.

### Send a test

1. In the preview, click **Enviar prueba** (send test).

2. In **Qué correo** (which email), choose one. In **Para** (to), type a single address: yours is filled in.

3. If you like, type the **Nombre del paciente** (patient name) it greets and choose the **Servicio de la cita** (appointment's service), which brings its color and instructions. Use a sample name, never a real patient's.

4. Click **Enviar prueba**.

The test arrives within seconds with the subject «[Prueba] …». It shows a sample appointment for tomorrow at 9:00, with a service, a professional and a site of your organization, and its buttons don't change any appointment. It goes out with what was last saved: if you have unsaved changes, the window warns you.

## Notices to the team

1. Click **Avisos al equipo**.

2. Under **Agenda diaria en PDF** (daily agenda PDF), turn on **Enviar la agenda cada día** (send the agenda every day) and choose under **Qué agenda se envía** (which agenda is sent): **Del mismo día** (same day), to close the day, or **Del día siguiente** (next day), to prepare the front desk. It goes out every day at 7:00 p.m., Colombia time.

3. Under **Aviso de la lista de espera** (waiting list notice), turn on **Avisar al equipo** (notify the team) if you want an email every time the WhatsApp assistant leaves someone on the waiting list, because of a payer only the team books or a priority appointment. It carries the service, the reason and the links to the entry and the conversation, with no patient details.

4. Under **Destinatarios** (recipients), type the emails that receive them, separated by commas. Up to ten.

5. Click **Guardar cambios**.

The daily agenda contains patient details: only send it to authorized people. With **Enviar ahora** (send now) you send today's or tomorrow's agenda right then, to the emails in **Destinatarios**, without changing the 7:00 p.m. send. Under **Últimos envíos de la agenda** (latest agenda sends) you see how each day went: **Enviado** (sent), **Rechazado** (rejected), **Enviando** (sending) or **Por revisar** (to review).

## Common problems

Your organization doesn't have Raíz connected to Agenda yet ("not connected"), or the connection isn't enabled for it ("no permission").

**What to do:** ask the Arbol team to enable it.

Raíz didn't answer ("no response"), so your numbers and templates can't be shown right now. What you had set up is still saved and shows under **Lo que tienes configurado** (what you have set up).

**What to do:** click **Volver a consultar** (check again) in a few minutes. If it stays the same, tell the Arbol team and give them the reference the screen shows, if any.

Only approved templates of the chosen number appear. For notices, only those in the same language and with the same details as the reminder template.

**What to do:** check in Raíz that the template is approved and belongs to the same number. If it's for a notice, adjust it so it has the same placeholders as the reminder template.

You turned on a **Cuándo** or a WhatsApp notice without choosing the reminder's number and template ("choose the channel and the approved template in Raíz").

**What to do:** choose the **Número de WhatsApp** and the **Plantilla del recordatorio**, and save again.

The appointments may lack the email, or the email you expected may be off.

**What to do:**

- In the **Resumen**, check that the message says **Correo** and not **No se envía**.
- In **Datos al agendar**, check that **Correo** isn't set to **No se pide** (not asked). If it's **Opcional**, the field sits inside **Más datos (opcional)** (more details) when booking and is easy to forget: set it to **Obligatorio** (required) or ask the team to fill it in.
- Remember that a new reminder applies to appointments booked or rescheduled after you save it.

The test goes to a single address and may land in spam or promotions.

**What to do:** check those folders. If the window says **Tu cuenta no tiene correo: escribe a qué dirección enviarlo.** (your account has no email, type where to send it), type an address in **Para**. If it says **El servicio de correo no acepta esa dirección. Prueba con otra.** (the email service doesn't accept that address), use another.

Someone else saved these settings while you had them open ("availability or the record changed, refresh and try again").

**What to do:** reload the page, check what changed and make your changes again.

Source: https://docs.getarbol.com/en/agenda/setup/messages-and-reminders/index.mdx