Text message notifications
SalesMarketing NewEmail is easy to miss. A text message isn't. Preb can send your invitees a short SMS at the key moments around a booking — confirmed, reminder, moved, or cancelled — so fewer people forget or no-show. Texts are sent in addition to the usual emails, never instead of them.
Text messages are a paid add-on billed in credits, and everything is opt-in: you choose which texts go out, per event type, and you always see what you have to spend before turning them on.
What invitees receive
You can send a text at any of four moments. Each one is a single, plain message from the sender Preb:
| Text | Sent when | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmation | Right after someone books | Preb: Your booking with Alex on Wed, Jul 8 at 9:00 AM is confirmed. Manage: … |
| Reminder | Before the meeting, at each reminder timing you set | Preb: Reminder — your meeting with Alex is on Wed, Jul 8 at 9:00 AM. Join: … |
| Reschedule | When a booking is moved to a new time | Preb: Your booking with Alex was moved to Thu, Jul 9 at 2:00 PM. Manage: … |
| Cancellation | When a booking is cancelled | Preb: Your booking with Alex on Wed, Jul 8 at 9:00 AM has been cancelled. |
The reminder text is smart about your meeting location, so the invitee gets exactly what they need to show up:
- Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Zoho Meeting — the actual join link.
- Phone call — a note that the host will call them.
- In person — the address or place (yours or the one the invitee entered).
- Custom link — the link you set.
Messages are written in the same language as your event type — English or German — matching the emails and booking page.
How invitees give consent
Every text requires the invitee's active opt-in, collected right on the booking form: an unchecked checkbox ("Remind me about my appointment by text…") that appears when the invitee enters a US or German number and the event has texts turned on. They only receive texts if they tick it — booking still works either way, they just won't get texts if they leave it unchecked. Preb stores the opt-in with the booking, so you always have proof of consent.
The wording adapts to the destination:
- US numbers get the carrier-required disclosure, including "Reply HELP for help, STOP to unsubscribe" — and anyone who replies STOP stops receiving texts.
- German numbers are texted from a one-way sender that can't receive replies, so the checkbox says so and explains how to stop the messages instead (contact the organizer or cancel the booking).
Booking pages that don't use SMS never show the checkbox, so they stay clean.
Why the opt-in matters
US carriers require explicit opt-in consent before an appointment text can be sent, and German law (§ 7 UWG) puts the burden of proving consent on the sender. The stored checkbox tick is exactly that proof — no ticked box, no text, in any country.
What you need to send texts
Three things have to be in place. Preb checks all of them automatically:
A paid or comped plan
A phone number from the invitee
Enough credits
There's one more step, handled on the booking form itself: the invitee must tick the opt-in checkbox (see How invitees give consent). Without it, no text is sent — the email still goes out as normal.
Until all three are ready, the text-message switches stay greyed out with a short hint telling you what to fix.
Turning text messages on
Open the event type
Turn on Text message notifications
Choose which texts to send
Text messages are off by default on every event type — you always turn them on deliberately. Each event type has its own settings, so you can text for a high-value sales call but not for a free intro chat.
Reminder texts follow the reminder sequence you set in the Reminders card on the same screen: each reminder there can be sent by email, by text, or both. See Reminders.
Which countries are supported
Preb can text numbers in the United States and Germany. If an invitee gives a number from anywhere else, no text is sent (their email still goes out as normal). We're expanding coverage over time.
Credits and cost
Texts are billed in credits, and how many a text costs depends on where it's going:
| Destination | Cost per text |
|---|---|
| United States | 2 credits |
| Germany | 15 credits |
German networks charge carriers more, which is why a text to Germany costs more than one to the US. You're only ever charged when a text actually sends — skipped texts (no number, unsupported country, out of credits) cost nothing.
You have two pools of credits, and Preb always spends the free monthly ones first:
- Included credits come with your plan and reset on the 1st of each month. Unused ones don't carry over.
- Purchased credits are ones you buy. They never expire and are used only after the monthly ones run out.
The moment you turn text messages on, the Notifications screen shows a Text credits panel with your total balance, how it splits between monthly and purchased, and roughly how many texts that buys. To top up, go to Settings → Billing → Text messages, where you can buy more in one payment. See Billing & subscription for details.
You'll get a heads-up
When your monthly included credits start running low, Preb emails you so you can top up before any texts get skipped.
Good to know
- Texts never delay or block a booking. If a message can't be sent for any reason, the booking still completes and the email still goes out.
- Only invitees are texted. Hosts and team members don't receive booking texts.
- One message, one charge. A longer text (for example, one that includes a join link) may be delivered in more than one part by the phone network, but you're always charged the single per-text price above.
- Privacy and consent. Texts go only to invitees who share a number on the booking form and actively tick the opt-in checkbox — Preb stores that opt-in with the booking as proof. Make sure phone collection is covered by your privacy policy, the same as any other contact detail you collect.