The scheduler
Screen: Planner, address /create-sms/scheduler.
The scheduler works from dates in the address book. Every day it looks at a date column and picks out the contacts whose date matches today, with the offset you choose — and those contacts get the message.
Birthday greetings, a reminder a few days before an appointment, a notice that something expires next week — that is what it is for.
What the address book must contain
The scheduler reads a date of the event from a column of the book. That column is what it compares with today, so a book that has one is a book the scheduler can send from. When the expected messages have not arrived, the date column is the first thing to look at.
What a plan is made of
| Setting | Note |
|---|---|
| One address book | Exactly one book per plan |
| An approved sender name | The same requirement as any other campaign |
| The text | With variables from the columns, if you need them |
| Time of day | When the plan runs |
| The offset | How far the event date is from today: on the day, or some days before |
| Active | The switch that turns the plan on |
Limits, prices and the set of available options are tuned to your account. This documentation gives the meaning rather than the figure: the current value is always shown on the screen, next to the field it applies to.
The active switch
A saved plan starts working the moment it is switched on, and switching it off pauses it without deleting it. A plan that exists is not yet a plan that runs, and this is worth checking second, right after the date column.
What the scheduler goes by
Dates, not a weekly calendar. Each day it looks at the dates in the book and sends to the contacts they point at, so a date changed in the book changes who gets a message tomorrow.