Integrations · Messaging channels
Text messages, and the photos clients send
Texting is not switched on yet. Confirmations, reminders and deposit details go by email. This page describes what texting will do when it is; the agent does not promise a text on a call today.
Texting is not switched on yet. Confirmations, reminders and deposit details go by email.
Sends on it
What it does
Confirmation, reminder, deposit link, review request
Once texting is on, every booking path sets off the same sequence: the confirmation, your deposit link with your own note, your consent form, then a reminder inside the window you choose — and a review request after the appointment, but only if they actually turned up. Asking a no-show for a review is how a studio looks like it is not paying attention. Today the confirmation and the reminder go by email.
Clients will be able to text you photos
The thing tattoo and PMU clients actually do. Until texting is on, a photo sent in a DM on Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp is read the same way. The photo attaches itself to their pending request, or to their next booking, and appears as a thumbnail exactly where you will need it. An ambiguous one attaches to nothing rather than to the wrong client's booking.
Consent is recorded, not assumed
The agent asks on the call, in words, and what the caller said is stored as evidence with the exact wording used. Marketing consent is asked separately and never inferred from a booking. STOP takes effect immediately and permanently.
A cancelled booking cancels its reminder
A reminder queued last night for a booking cancelled at eight this morning does not go out. That sounds obvious and is the kind of thing that is wrong in most systems.
Turning it on
- Nothing to switch on yet — booking confirmations and reminders already go by email.
- Open Settings → Client messages and set your reminder window, your deposit note and your consent form link, so they are in place for when texting arrives.
What this actually takes
- Carrier registration for business texting, once it is switched on. In the US, carriers register every business that sends texts — it applies to every provider and it protects you from having your messages silently filtered.
- Your own deposit and consent-form links, if you want those sent. Nothing is invented.
the part nobody else prints
What it will never do
- Text anybody who has not consented, or who has said stop.
- Send marketing. These are transactional messages about an appointment that exists.
- Tell you a deposit was paid. Harkbell never touches a payment API, so the diary says “link sent” and nothing more.
Questions people ask about this one
Why does business texting need registration?
US carriers require every business sending texts to register the brand and the campaign behind them. It is not specific to Harkbell — it applies to every platform — and its purpose is to stop your messages being filtered as spam while still being reported to you as delivered.
What happens if somebody replies STOP?
Everything stops immediately, and permanently, including booking confirmations. The refusal is recorded against the contact and every send path checks it.
Messaging channels
Hear it before you connect anything.
The free plan has real answered minutes. Put it on your own website, ask it the questions your callers ask, and turn on texting when you are convinced.