Message Formatting Guidelines

Avoid using abbreviations in your call verbiage since the IVR system may not recognize the abbreviation and pronounce it incorrectly when making the phone call to the patient. For example, the abbreviation "appt" should be replaced with the full word of "appointment" in the configured call message.

Here is a list of leading practices for formatting call messages:

• Avoid using "/" which will read as "slash."
• Avoid the abbreviations Bldg, N, E, S, W. Instead, type the complete word.
• Abbreviations that are recognized include Ste. and Ste as "Suite" and Dr. and Dr as "Drive."
• 101-B ignores the - and will be read as "101B."
• When creating appointment confirmation messages (i.e. messages where you are asking the patient to confirm an upcoming appointment), ensure the {eventConfirmText} Smart Phrase is the last part of your call message.

Preview Phone Call: Before creating a message that is sent via phone call to patients, we recommend validating how the message will sound. In the sample call, any Smart Phrases will be randomly populated with generic placeholders. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click the Phone icon at the bottom of the message.
2. Enter a valid phone number and select Call Me. 
3. Answer the call and say "hello" to activate the message delivery.