đď¸ The Reminders feature is exclusively available to Admin and Ops users on the Professional and Premium subscription plans.
ShiftCare's reminder system allows you to automatically notify clients and staff about important upcoming or overdue events. You can customise the timing and the exact message content for these alerts. All email reminders are sent each morning automatically.
Types of Reminders
When creating a reminder, you can choose from one of the following five types:
Client Document Expiry: Sends an email to a client when one of their documents is approaching or past its expiry date.
Client Shift Schedule: Sends an SMS message to the client about an upcoming scheduled shift (including date, time, location, and assigned staff).
Fund Expiry: Sends an email to the admin when a client's fund is approaching or past its expiry date.
Invoice Due: Sends an email to the client when an invoice is nearing its due date and remains unpaid.
Invoice Generation: Sends an email to the client immediately after an invoice has been generated.
Price Book Limit: Sends an email to all admin users when a client's usage reaches their authorised limit/allocation (e.g., reaching their maximum hours or visits allocated in their price book). This alert is triggered immediately when the limit is reached, not on a daily schedule.
Quote Expiry: Sends an email to a client when a formal service quote they received is approaching or past its expiry date. This only applies to quotes awaiting approval or already expired. Quotes that were declined before expiring are ignored.
Staff Document Expiry: Sends an email to a staff member when one of their documents is approaching or past its expiry date.
Staff Qualification Expiry: Sends an email to a staff member when one of their specific qualifications is approaching or past its expiry date. This monitors the expiry date on the actual Qualification record, whereas Staff Document Expiry monitors general documents.
Note: The recipients and delivery channel (Email or SMS) are locked automatically by the system based on the reminder type you choose.
Creating a New Reminder
To configure a new automated alert:
Navigate to Account > Reminders from the sidebar menu.
Click the 'New Reminder' button.
Select the reminder type from the dropdown menu.
Choose the timing for the alert. Depending on the reminder type, you can select:
Before (e.g., 30 days before expiration).
On the date (Exactly on the expiry or due date).
After (e.g., 7 days after expiration).
If you select the 'Price Book Limit' reminder, the timing is locked to 'On limit reached' because it is an immediate, event-based notification rather than a date-based schedule.
Type the message you want the recipient to read. (See below for tips on using Placeholders or AI).
Click 'Save'.
Tip: You can create multiple reminders for the same event. For example, you can create one reminder to alert staff 30 days before their First Aid Certificate expires, and a second, more urgent reminder for 7 days after it expires.
Using Dynamic Placeholders
When writing your message, you can use dynamic placeholders (variables). When the system sends the email, it will automatically replace these placeholders with the correct information for that specific person.
Below the message box, simply click on a placeholder button to insert it into your text.
A live character counter sits below the text box. This tracks your estimated message length to ensure it fits within the channel's limit (2,000 characters for Email; 160 characters for SMS). It automatically estimates the extra length that placeholders will take up when expanded.
Using AI to Write Messages
If you aren't sure how to word your reminder, you can use ShiftCare's AI to draft it for you.
Note: To use this feature, an Admin must first enable 'AI Reminder Message Generation' via Account > AI Settings.
When creating or editing a reminder, click 'â¨Generate with AI' beside the message box.
Choose your preferred tone: Professional, Friendly, or Formal.
The AI will instantly write a contextually appropriate message for you, including automatically inserting the correct dynamic placeholders.
You can edit or regenerate the AI-generated text before saving if you wish.
Note: AI is a great tool for drafting messages, but human oversight is always recommended. Be sure to review the generated text for accuracy before hitting save!
Managing and Deleting Reminders
The 'Last Run' column shows when each reminder was last processed.
To view a structured summary of an existing reminder, click its title in the list.
To change the timing or message of an active reminder, click 'Edit'.
If you no longer want a reminder to be sent, click 'Edit', then click 'Delete'.
Note: Reminders cannot currently be archived or paused. They must be fully deleted to stop them from sending.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How does the Price Book Limit reminder work?
Whenever a shift is created or updated, the system recalculates how much of a client's price book (allocation/authorization limit) has been used. If the used amount (e.g., hours or visits) has reached or exceeded the limit, the reminder is triggered immediately, and an email is sent to your Admins. This reminder deals with quantity (hours/units/visits), not the fund dollar amount.
Will I receive the Price Book Limit notification twice for the same client?
No. The system tracks which authorizations have already triggered a notification. However, if the client's limit is increased (resetting the balance) and their usage eventually reaches that new limit again later, a fresh notification will be sent.
For further assistance with Setting Up Reminders, please contact our Support team using online chat when you're logged into ShiftCare or email our Support team at support@shiftcare.com.