WhatsApp Reminders & Messages
Dentospire sends a dental clinic's appointment reminders, prescriptions and patient messages on WhatsApp through the WhatsApp Business Platform, instead of from a staff member's personal phone.
The problem in a real clinic
Reminders go out from the receptionist's own WhatsApp, one by one, when she remembers. When she is on leave they stop, the messages sit in her personal chats, and patients reply to a number that nobody at the clinic is watching.
How it works
- Switch on WhatsApp for your clinic and choose the language your patient messages go out in.
- Every day, patients with an appointment tomorrow get a reminder on WhatsApp, with SMS as a fallback and an email where you have their address.
- Open Communication to see tomorrow's reminders, send a broadcast to a group of patients, or prepare a festival greeting.
- When you save a prescription or choose to send a dental chart, the patient can receive it on WhatsApp too.
- A patient who replies STOP stops receiving WhatsApp messages from the clinic until they send START.
What you see on screen
- The Reminders tab with tomorrow's appointments and who will be reminded.
- A Broadcast tab for a message to many patients at once.
- A Greetings tab with a festival calendar that prepares a greeting image and text to share from your own WhatsApp.
What the patient gets
- A reminder the day before their appointment, from a business sender rather than a staff member's phone.
- Their prescription on WhatsApp after the visit, when the clinic sends it.
- A way to stop the messages by replying STOP.
Safety and control
- Opt-outs are honoured per channel: a patient who stops WhatsApp messages is not sent them again.
- Promotional messages are held back during the night-time quiet hours set by TRAI; reminders and prescriptions are not.
- Only message templates approved for WhatsApp are used for template messages.
- Patient WhatsApp and SMS are paused for clinics outside India, so a message never goes to a wrongly formatted foreign number.
Good to know
- Patient WhatsApp and SMS work for clinics in India only for now. Clinics elsewhere reach patients by email.
- The Free plan has no monthly WhatsApp allowance; paid plans include one that rises with the plan.
- Festival greetings are shared from your own WhatsApp, not sent automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Does Dentospire send dental appointment reminders on WhatsApp automatically?
Yes, for clinics in India with WhatsApp switched on. Patients with an appointment the next day get a WhatsApp reminder, with SMS as a fallback and an email when their address is on file.
Do clinic WhatsApp messages come from my receptionist's personal number?
No. Dentospire sends through the WhatsApp Business Platform from a business sender, so reminders keep going when a staff member is away and patient messages are not sitting in someone's personal chats.
Can a patient stop getting WhatsApp messages from my dental clinic?
Yes. A patient who replies STOP is marked as opted out of WhatsApp messages from the clinic, and START turns them back on. SMS and email opt-outs are kept separately.
Does Dentospire's WhatsApp messaging work for clinics outside India?
Not yet. Patient WhatsApp and SMS are paused for clinics outside India, and Dentospire tells staff to use email instead. Email reminders and messages work for clinics everywhere.
Related
WhatsApp Booking Agent
Patients book themselves on WhatsApp after hours, and clinical questions are handed to a person rather than answered.
Drag-and-Drop Scheduling
Day, week and month views, drag to reschedule, chairs, repeat visits, day-before reminders and no-show tracking.
Prescriptions & Rx Templates
Write an Rx from your templates or a past prescription, with allergy alerts and printing in the patient's language.