SMS is a powerful, personal channel, which is exactly why it comes with clear rules. Here's what's included and how to stay welcome in your customers' inboxes.
What's included
Paid plans include a monthly allowance of SMS credits (100 on Solo, 250 on Team), used by confirmations, reminders, waitlist offers and anything else you send by SMS, with top-up packs when a busy month needs more. Unused purchased credits carry over. An SMS up to 160 characters is one credit; a longer one uses one credit per extra 153 characters, and an SMS with an emoji in it fits less per credit. Every place you write an SMS shows what it will cost before it goes. The full picture is in SMS credits.
SMS covers Australian mobiles. A customer with an overseas number still gets everything by email, and your dashboard tells you so rather than pretending an SMS went out.
STOP means stop
If a customer replies STOP to any SMS, no more SMS go to them, anywhere on the platform. Their profile shows it, and their messages ride email instead. This isn't optional; it's how lawful SMS works, and it protects your name.
How email consent works
- Marketing email goes only to customers who opted in. The consent box at booking is unticked by default, because consent has to be given, not assumed.
- Every marketing email carries an unsubscribe link that works forever and takes effect instantly.
- Unsubscribing is the customer's own lever. Once someone opts out, only they can opt back in, through their own link. Nobody at your business, and nobody at BeNotely, can flip it back. That protects you legally as much as it protects them.
Booking messages are separate
Confirmations, reminders and change notices for a customer's own appointments always arrive, whatever their marketing preferences. Opting out of offers never breaks someone's booking.
FAQs
A customer unsubscribed by mistake. Can I re-add them?
Only they can, from the same link they used ("start receiving emails again"). Nobody else can, by design, because under Australian law consent has to come from the person. If they give you a genuinely new email address, that address starts fresh.
Why did a big send pause partway?
Occasionally a safety system holds a send if emails start bouncing or being marked as spam at unhealthy rates, to protect everyone's deliverability. The message on screen says what's happening, and we can help you sort the cause.