Customer Story
Monkey Software helps optometrists reduce no-shows with integrated SMS
Overview
Challenge: Monkey Software wanted to help optometrists contact patients more quickly and effectively for appointment confirmations, notifications and follow-up, while reducing the time and cost of manual communication.
Solution: Sinch Engage was integrated into Optomate to support two-way appointment reminders, once-off patient messaging, order collection alerts, bulk marketing and patient recall messaging directly inside the practice management system.
Results: Faster patient contact, fewer no-shows, time and phone cost savings, stronger workflow efficiency and a more convenient experience for both practices and patients.
“It’s a lot quicker than making a phone call, and as the software is on all computers, anyone can send and check messages and report back to reception or follow up.“
For Monkey Software, SMS was not a bolt-on feature. It was one of the earliest ways the company made Optomate more useful for optometrists and more convenient for patients. Monkey Software, an Australian company and part of the world’s largest optical IT supplier to independent optometrists, built Optomate into one of the most widely used practice management systems for optometrists and optical dispensers in Australia and New Zealand.
The company began working with MessageMedia back in 2002, well before business text messaging had become commonplace. Chris Monks and the team saw early that SMS offered qualities that mattered in healthcare communication: it was brief, instant and ubiquitous. Just as importantly, Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia) offered features that supported a true software integration, including two-way messaging and an API that Monkey Software found easy to work with. That made it possible to build messaging directly into Optomate rather than leaving practices to manage communication outside the system.
Building SMS into the everyday workflow
Initially, Monkey Software integrated Sinch Engage for appointment confirmations and once-off patient or sales representative messaging. That gave practices an immediate operational benefit, because attendance confirmation happens instantly and cancelled appointments can be refilled more easily from a waitlist. Glenn Howell Optometrists said the system was much quicker than making phone calls and easier for staff to manage because any team member at a computer could send, check and follow up on messages.
Over time, Monkey Software expanded the role of SMS inside Optomate. Practices began using Sinch Engage for order collection reminders, where a pre-set pickup notification could be sent to a customer’s mobile in seconds, cutting phone bills and saving staff time. More recently, Optomate Touch added bulk patient recall SMS, allowing practitioners to identify patients based on criteria like not having had an appointment in more than 12 months and send a prompt to book again.
Faster patient contact, fewer no-shows
That broader use of Sinch Engage is what made the integration more valuable than a simple reminder tool. Monks said integrated SMS delivers strong benefits for both Monkey Software’s customers and their patients because it enables fast, easy contact, helps practices make better use of their time, and gives patients a sense that they are dealing with progressive practitioners.
