Overview
The Messages section is a two-way SMS inbox built into Bella Booking. With a dedicated phone number for your business, you can send messages directly to clients and receive their replies — all within a single threaded conversation view.
Messages is part of Messages Plus, an add-on subscription. See Settings — Messaging for setup and pricing.
Key Features
- Dedicated phone number — Your business gets its own local number for sending and receiving SMS
- Threaded inbox — One conversation per client, with full message history
- Two-way messaging — Clients reply to your messages and their responses appear instantly
- Internal notes — Add private notes to any conversation (visible to your team only, not sent as SMS)
- Automated messages in context — Appointment reminders and other automated messages appear in the same thread
- Real-time updates — New messages and delivery status updates appear automatically
- Client profile integration — See client details, upcoming appointments, and consent status alongside conversations
The Messaging Inbox
The Messages page is a three-panel layout:
- Thread list (left) — All your conversations, with search and filters
- Conversation view (centre) — The selected conversation’s full message history
- Contact info (right, desktop only) — Client details and upcoming appointments
Thread List
The thread list shows all conversations sorted by most recent message. Each thread displays the client name (or phone number for unknown senders), a preview of the last message, and the timestamp.
Filters:
| Filter | Shows |
|---|
| All | All active conversations |
| Conversations | Threads where you and the client have actually exchanged messages — automated-only threads are hidden |
| Automated | Threads that contain only automated traffic (reminders, confirmations, etc.) with no manual or inbound messages yet |
| Unread | Conversations with unread messages |
| Unanswered | Conversations where the last message is from the client |
| Starred | Conversations you have starred for follow-up |
| Archived | Conversations you have archived |
Conversation View
Select a thread to see the full message history. Messages are displayed chronologically with date separators between days.
Message types are visually distinct:
- Your messages — Sent by your team, shown on the right in a coloured bubble
- Client messages — Received from the client, shown on the left
- Internal notes — Shown full-width with an amber background, visible to your team only
- Automated messages — Appointment reminders and other system messages, shown with a dashed border and bot icon
Delivery status indicators appear on sent messages:
| Icon | Status |
|---|
| Spinner | Queued — message is being sent |
| Single tick | Sent — delivered to the carrier |
| Double tick | Delivered — reached the client’s phone |
| Red X | Failed — could not be delivered |
- All — Every message in the thread
- Conversations — Only manual messages and internal notes
- Automated — Only automated messages (reminders, confirmations, etc.)
Thread actions in the conversation header:
- Star / Unstar — Flag important conversations for follow-up
- Archive — Move the conversation out of your active inbox
- Mark as read — Clear the unread badge
The right-hand panel shows:
- Client name, phone number, and email
- Communication consent — Whether the client has opted in to announcements and marketing
- Upcoming appointments — The next three scheduled appointments
- Quick links to View Profile and Book Appointment
For messages from unknown phone numbers, you will see an option to create a new client linked to that number.
Sending Messages
Reply to an Existing Conversation
- Select a conversation from the thread list.
- Type your message in the compose box at the bottom.
- Press Enter (or click Send) to send.
Use Shift + Enter to add a new line without sending.
Start a New Conversation
- Click the New Message button at the top of the thread list.
- Search for a client by name or phone number.
- Type your message.
- Click Send.
You can also start a new message from a client’s profile — click Send Message in the client details, and the Messages page opens with the client pre-selected.
Add an Internal Note
Internal notes let you record information about a conversation without sending an SMS to the client.
- In the compose box, click the Note toggle (switch from Reply to Note).
- Type your note.
- Press Enter to save.
Notes are free — they do not consume SMS credits.
SMS Segments and Character Counting
SMS messages are billed per segment, not per message. The compose box shows a real-time character count and segment indicator as you type.
| Encoding | Characters per segment | Multi-part segment |
|---|
| Standard (GSM-7) | 160 | 153 per segment |
| Unicode | 70 | 67 per segment |
- Standard encoding is used for basic Latin characters, numbers, and common punctuation
- Unicode activates automatically when you use emoji, accented characters, or non-Latin scripts — a badge appears in the compose box to let you know
Keep messages under 160 characters when possible to use a single segment and conserve credits.
Automated Messages in Threads
Automated messages — appointment reminders, confirmations, cancellation notices, and other notifications — appear inside the relevant client’s conversation thread. This gives you a complete communication history with each client in one place.
Automated messages are marked with a bot icon and labelled with the message type (e.g., “Automated — Reminder”). They count toward your SMS credits just like manual messages.
You can filter the conversation view to show only automated messages using the Automated tab, or hide them to focus on your manual conversations.
Configure your automated messages in Settings — Automated Messages. The Messages inbox shows them alongside your conversations but does not control when or how they are sent.
Communication Consent
Bella Booking tracks two types of communication consent on each client profile:
| Consent type | Default | Purpose |
|---|
| Announcements | Enabled (opt-out) | General business announcements |
| Marketing | Disabled (opt-in) | Promotional messages and offers |
Always respect client consent preferences. Only send marketing messages to clients who have opted in.
Notification Preferences
Each client’s profile includes notification preferences that control how they receive automated messages:
- SMS notifications — Requires a phone number on file
- Email notifications — Requires an email address on file
These preferences apply to automated messages (reminders, confirmations, etc.) and can be managed from the client’s profile.
Unread Badge
The Messages item in the sidebar shows a badge with the number of unread conversations. This updates in real time as new messages arrive.
Auto-handling Client Replies
When a client texts your dedicated number, Bella checks the message against a small set of keywords and may take action automatically. Anything that doesn’t match a keyword is left untouched and shows up in your inbox for you to read and reply to manually.
Confirmation keywords
If a client replies to an appointment reminder with one of these single-word affirmatives within 48 hours, Bella will:
- Confirm the appointment automatically
- Send a one-line auto-reply: “Your appointment on has been confirmed. See you then!”
- Add a green Confirmed via SMS pill below the original reminder bubble
Confirm keywords (case-insensitive, exact whole-message match):
yes, y, yeah, yep, yup, confirm, confirmed, ok, okay, sure, absolutely, definitely, yea, 👍
Single-word match. A client who texts back “Yes please, see you then!” will not auto-confirm — only a one-word affirmative does. Their message still lands in your inbox; you confirm it manually.
Decline keywords
If the client replies to a reminder with a decline keyword within 48 hours, Bella will:
- Not auto-cancel the appointment (a “No” could mean “I need to reschedule”)
- Send an auto-reply: “We’ve noted your response. will follow up shortly.”
- Add an amber Declined — needs follow-up pill below the reminder bubble
Decline keywords:
no, n, nah, nope, cancel, decline, 👎
You’ll see the pill at a glance and can ring or text the client to figure out the next step.
Consent keywords
These take effect immediately and apply to all automated messaging from your business:
| Keyword | Action |
|---|
STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, END, QUIT, OPT OUT | Stops all SMS to this client. They will not receive reminders, confirmations, or marketing. |
NO PROMOS, STOP PROMOS, STOP MARKETING | Stops only marketing SMS. Transactional messages (reminders, confirmations) continue. |
START, SUBSCRIBE, OPT IN | Re-subscribes them to all messaging. |
Inviting clients to confirm via SMS
The default reminder template doesn’t tell clients they can reply YES — so unless they happen to text back one of the confirm keywords, the auto-confirm flow won’t fire.
To get more reminders auto-confirmed, edit your reminder template in Settings → Automated Messages and add a prompt like:
Reply YES to confirm.
Keep the prompt concise — adding extra characters may push your reminder over the 160-character single-segment limit and double its credit cost. Most reminders fit comfortably with the YES suffix.
Auto-reply visibility
Auto-replies that Bella sends to the client appear in the conversation thread with a dashed border and a small Auto-reply label, so you always know exactly what the system told the client. Their delivery status (sent, delivered, failed) is shown the same way as any other outbound SMS.
Permissions
Access to messaging is controlled by team permissions:
| Permission | Allows |
|---|
| View messages | See the inbox and read conversations |
| Send messages | Send replies, compose new messages, add internal notes |
| Manage messaging settings | Provision phone numbers, manage subscription, purchase credits |
FAQs
Q: Do I need a Messages Plus subscription to see automated messages in threads?
A: No. Automated appointment messages (reminders, confirmations, etc.) are sent through your plan’s included SMS allowance regardless of Messages Plus. The Messages Plus subscription adds the two-way inbox, dedicated phone number, and the ability to send manual messages.
Q: What happens when a client replies to an automated message?
A: Their reply appears in the conversation thread. If the message matches one of Bella’s auto-handled keywords (YES/STOP/NO PROMOS/etc.) the appropriate action runs automatically — see Auto-handling Client Replies. Anything else lands in your inbox for you to read and reply to. You need an active Messages Plus subscription and dedicated phone number to receive client replies.
Q: A client replied “Yes please” to a reminder — why didn’t the appointment auto-confirm?
A: The auto-confirm classifier requires a single-word affirmative like Yes or Y on its own. Yes please, Yes thanks, or any longer message lands in your inbox for manual confirmation. If you’d like a wider range of replies to auto-confirm, raise a request — we may relax the classifier in a future update.
Q: Can I message clients who are not in my client list?
A: You can only compose new messages to existing clients. However, if an unknown number sends you an SMS, their messages appear in your inbox and you can reply — you will also see an option to create a new client record for them.
Q: Are internal notes visible to clients?
A: No. Internal notes are only visible to your team members who have messaging permissions. They are never sent as SMS.
Q: What does “Unanswered” mean in the thread filters?
A: A conversation is unanswered when the most recent message is from the client (inbound). Once you send a reply, it moves out of the unanswered filter.
Q: How quickly do client replies appear?
A: Replies appear within seconds. The inbox updates in real time using live notifications, with a fallback refresh every 15 seconds.
Q: Does archiving a conversation delete it?
A: No. Archiving moves the conversation to the Archived filter. You can unarchive it at any time to bring it back to your active inbox. All messages are preserved.
Q: Do automated messages consume my SMS credits?
A: Yes. Every SMS sent — whether manual or automated — consumes credits from your monthly allowance. See Settings — Messaging for credit details.
