Google Calendar text reminders: why there are none, and how to add them

What Google Calendar does today

Google Calendar used to be able to text you before an event. Google’s own announcement said that starting on January 7, 2019, SMS notifications from Google Calendar would no longer be available. People who had been getting SMS alerts were moved to in-app and email notifications instead.

Google’s support page on notifications lists what is left: alerts on your phone, in your web browser, and by email. You can set email notifications per calendar, per event or by category. There are also desktop and in-app alerts. Every one of these goes to the person who owns the calendar. None of them reach the person on the other side of the appointment.

The gap: your clients get nothing

If you run a studio, a practice or a shop from a Google Calendar, your clients get no reminder from Google. You are the only one who is reminded. Unless you text each client by hand, the empty slot is the first sign that someone forgot.

The workarounds, and what they cost you

People usually try one of two things.

• Zapier. You build a recipe that watches your calendar and passes the event to a texting app. It can work, but you are now running a small system of connected apps. When the event layout changes or a step fails, you find out when a client does not show.
• Twilio and a script. You write code that reads your calendar and sends texts. That is the most flexible and the most work. You also own the sending number, the opt-out handling, and what happens when someone replies.

Both give you a text going out. Neither gives you a clean place to read the answers unless you build that too.

What NoShowText does differently

NoShowText is that system, already built. You sign in with Google and it reads your calendar in view only mode. You pick which calendar. It finds the client’s mobile number using the rule you set, and sends reminders 24 hours and 2 hours before, between 8am and 9pm in the client’s time.

Replies come to your phone. Clients can answer C, R or X, or write “running 10 late” in their own words. You see the name and appointment, and you reply by text. Nothing changes in Google.

Why not just use email reminders?

Google Calendar can email guests, and email is fine for some clients. But many people do not open email before an appointment, while almost everyone reads a text within minutes. A text also gives the client a one-tap way to answer. If an email reminder already works for your clients, keep it. If they still forget, a text is the next thing to try, and it is the one Google no longer offers.

Set it up in 5 minutes

1. Start the free trial and sign in with Google Calendar.
2. Choose the calendar to watch.
3. Tell NoShowText where the phone number lives in your events: the description, the title, or a guest’s phone.
4. Paste the consent sentence we give you into your booking form, so each client has agreed to be texted.
5. Text yourself a sample from the site to see what clients will receive.

Price

$39 a month flat, with a 14-day free trial. A card is required to start, and you can cancel any time.