Customer Story
How TBHG used SMS reminders to streamline appointment communications
Overview
Challenge: Manually managing around 200 appointments a week in Outlook made it hard to send timely reminders, reduce no-shows and communicate appointment changes efficiently.
Solution: Sinch Engage provided SMS appointment reminder automation through the web portal, with Outlook calendar connections, sub-accounts for users and two-way messaging for faster communication.
Results: Automated appointment reminders, easier rescheduling and a more scalable way to manage client communications.
“We have found the platform to be very user friendly and easy to implement. This has been particularly important as we onboard new staff to fulfil further contracts and scale up the number of SMS messages immediately. It has also been beneficial for our partners, as Client ‘no-shows’ have been reduced, and it has also allowed clients who need to reschedule an appointment the opportunity to do so in good time.“
The Better Health Generation (TBHG) delivers health and wellbeing services across mental and physical health, including individual assessments, interventions, group programmes and digital solutions. As the organisation grew, it needed a more efficient way to manage appointment communications at scale.
At the time, TBHG was using Outlook to manage appointments and manually handling around 200 appointments each week. The team needed an automated way to send SMS reminders 24 hours before appointments, helping maximise read rates and improve attendance. It also needed a faster, more effective way to communicate appointment details and cancellation updates to clients.
To solve this, TBHG turned to Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia). Using the web portal, the organisation was able to create individual sub-accounts for users and connect their native Outlook calendars directly to the platform. Appointment ID numbers could also be included and matched with the organisation’s case management platform, making the process more connected and easier to manage.
The setup also gave TBHG room to grow. As new contracts are awarded and new staff come on board, additional calendar connections can be added easily, supporting the organization’s future scalability.
A more efficient way to manage appointment reminders
With Sinch Engage (formerly MessageMedia), TBHG users can now schedule appointments more efficiently and automatically trigger SMS reminders at set intervals before the event. This removed much of the manual work from the process and made it easier to deliver timely reminders consistently.
The organisation also used two-way messaging to improve communication with clients. This allowed text conversations to happen directly through the web portal, with messages stored in one place for better visibility. For clients, SMS offered a simple and convenient way to receive updates and reply when needed.
Supporting scale and reducing no-shows
According to TBHG, the platform has been user friendly and easy to implement, which has been especially valuable as new staff are onboarded to support additional contracts. The organisation says the solution has helped reduce client no-shows and has also made it easier for clients to reschedule appointments in good time.
For a growing healthcare organisation, that combination matters. Automated reminders help reduce administrative effort, while two-way SMS gives clients a straightforward way to stay informed and respond quickly. The result is a more scalable appointment communication process that better supports both staff and clients.
