Choose the sender for each automated text

Your texts continue to use the reply-enabled phone number by default. Automated messages now include your clinic name if it is missing from your wording, so patients can recognise who contacted them.

You can also choose to show your clinic name instead of the number for selected automated texts. This is optional: setting up a name does not switch any messages.

Choose which texts use your clinic name

1. Open Settings → Messaging. Only clinic owners can change these settings.
2. In SMS sender and replies, enter a recognisable clinic name or abbreviation of up to 11 letters, numbers or spaces, including at least one letter, plus a UK clinic phone number patients can call. Confirm the no-reply notice and save the setup.
3. Find the message you want to change, such as the 24-hour reminder. On its SMS card, change Send this SMS from to the clinic-name option with no replies, then press Save sender.
4. Leave other SMS cards on the phone-number option that allows replies. Each card is saved separately.

Which option should I choose?

Phone number: use this whenever you want the patient to answer. Their reply appears in Messages when your clinic owns the reply conversation for that mobile number. Adding the clinic name to the message text does not prevent replies.

Clinic name: suitable for information-only reminders. Patients cannot reply directly, including YES or STOP. Each named text includes “Help or stop texts:” followed by your clinic phone number. Your team must handle those calls and update the patient's messaging preferences when requested.

Staff messages normally use the phone number. Automated wording that asks for a reply also normally keeps the phone number. Named sending applies to UK mobile numbers; other destinations normally keep the number.

If another clinic already owns replies from a patient's mobile on the shared SMS number, your message is sent without replies instead. For a UK mobile it uses a suitable clinic name and contact number; for other destinations it adds instructions to call. If no suitable contact details are available, the message is skipped. Your inbox shows the reason.

Credits and changing your mind

The sender-name feature has no extra fee, but normal SMS credits apply to the complete message. Adding the clinic name or contact instructions can increase the number of segments and credits used.

To restore replies for a template, choose Phone number on that SMS card and save. This changes future messages only. It does not resend older messages or change whether the automation is switched on. Clearing both fields in the clinic-name setup resets every template to the phone number. Setting up another name later requires choosing the templates again.

More reliable reply matching

We have also corrected matching between UK numbers saved as 07… and replies arriving as +44…. Incoming messages are recorded in the inbox before the optional email notification, and repeated delivery of the same reply creates one inbox entry.