SMS booking

How do you book an appointment by SMS with a customer?

To book an appointment by SMS with a customer, a Muzau agent answers the texts received on your business's 09 number: it offers up to three free slots, holds the one the customer picks, asks for their email by SMS, then books the appointment. It books one per conversation. You choose whether it books on its own or passes the request to your team, who confirm it from Muzau.

Why an SMS appointment gets lost in back-and-forths

A customer texts you: “Can I come by next week?” Then comes a “Tuesday or Thursday?”, a “Afternoon, ideally”, a “3 pm, does that work?”. Several texts later, nothing is in the calendar, and the email is missing to send the invitation.

You answer a text between two tasks, from memory, without the calendar in front of you: a slot given off the top of your head may already be taken. Your team keeps the appointment and the relationship; it is the exchange leading up to it that the agent takes on.

How the agent goes about it

Input

An SMS received on your business's 09 number

It does

Offers free slots, holds the one the customer picks, asks for their email

It delivers

The appointment booked, the invitation sent by email, and a text confirming it

Free slots, in the format of a text

When a customer texts the agent's number for an appointment, the agent offers free slots: read from your Google Calendar or Outlook calendar if connected, otherwise taken from the hours you have set. That means up to three slots, each on a different day, within the next 14 days. Its reply is made to fit in a single 160-character SMS, in plain text. Its first text of the conversation tells the customer they are talking to an AI: “Hello, this is the AI assistant of”, followed by your business name.

The email is asked for when the slot is blocked

The customer replies “Thursday” or asks for another time: the AI recognizes what they want, then Muzau, not the AI, checks that the time is really free. Once the slot is chosen, the agent asks for the address: “To block this slot and send you the invitation, please give me your email address.” It then books the appointment, the invitation goes out by email and a text confirms it. If the slot has just been taken, the agent says so and offers to pick another.

You decide whether the SMS appointment is booked without you

Each text from the agent follows your setting: it goes out on its own, or waits for your approval in “To approve”. The appointment has its own setting. If it does not let the agent book on its own, the agent replies: “I'm passing your appointment request to the team, who will get back to you to confirm it.” Your team then confirms from the conversation card: see how to confirm an appointment requested by SMS.

How many appointments the agent books alone by SMS

The agent books a single appointment per conversation and moves none. Those it books on its own are capped at five per 24 hours for the whole business, site chat and SMS counted together: beyond that, it no longer offers a slot, and the agent's log says so. For its other replies by SMS, see whether an AI can answer your customers' texts.

Offering an SMS appointment without back-and-forths

With or without an agent, an appointment by SMS takes three replies on your side: the slots, the email, the confirmation. Each text should move things forward one step.

• Offer precise times rather than “when are you available?”: two or three slots seen free in the calendar, on different days, call for a one-word answer.
• Ask for the email when you block the slot, and say why: to send the invitation.
• Confirm in one sentence that repeats everything: the day, the time, and the place or video call.
• Keep preparation questions for after the slot is chosen: a text is not a form.
• Keep each message to a single SMS, with no emoji: a message that is too long, or contains one, is split into several parts.

The skeleton of the exchange, in three texts from your side:

• The customer: “Hello, I'd like an appointment next week.”
• You: “Hello, I can offer you Tuesday at 10 am, Thursday at 2:30 pm or Friday at 11:30 am. Which suits you?”
• The customer: “Thursday.”
• You: “To send you the invitation, what is your email address?”
• You, once the appointment is entered: “It's blocked: Thursday at 2:30 pm, by video call. The invitation is going to your address.”

For length and tone, see also how many characters a professional SMS should be.

What it does not do

• It never writes the first text: it answers the customer who texted the number, and sends no follow-up or appointment reminder by SMS.
• It books a single appointment per conversation and neither moves nor cancels any; those it books on its own are capped at five per 24 hours for the business, site chat included.
• It only answers by SMS to French mobiles starting 06 and 07: a customer texting from a landline or a foreign number is received all the same, and a card alerts you.

Frequently asked questions

Can you book an appointment by SMS without a connected calendar?

Yes, if your business email is enabled: the Muzau agent offers slots within the hours you have set, then sends an email invitation to the customer and to you. It then cannot see your other commitments: only appointments booked by Muzau block a slot.

Do you need the customer's email for an appointment booked by SMS?

Yes, to send them the invitation: the number is enough to continue the conversation, not to invite someone into a calendar. A Muzau agent asks for the email when it blocks the slot, keeps it in the conversation, and files it in your tracking file if you keep one.

How do you rebook an appointment by SMS with a customer you have already met?

With Muzau, the customer just has to text your business number: the agent offers slots and books the appointment once the email is given. If they already have a customer record in Muzau, you get a briefing on them the morning of the appointment: the last appointment, promises kept or not, the emails exchanged since.

Can an appointment booked by SMS take place by video call?

Yes: with Muzau, it takes place by video call or in person depending on your setting. Booked in Google Calendar, it carries a Google Meet link; in Outlook, the one from your account's video tool. In person, your address appears in the invitation, and an invitation sent without a connected calendar contains no video link.

Should you send a booking link by SMS rather than slots?

A link makes the customer leave the conversation, open a page and fill it in. Two or three slots written in the text let them answer with one word. With Muzau, the agent offers the slots in the conversation and books the appointment if your setting allows it.