What the customer experiences
Customers can start a conversation by texting your designated number after seeing your opt-in disclosure. Greeta replies as an automated AI booking assistant for your business only. The customer can ask about availability, book, reschedule, or cancel an appointment, and ask appointment-related customer service questions.
Texting isn’t the only way in: if a customer calls and the call is dropped or missed, Greeta can follow up by text — a service follow-up that goes only to people who called your business, who can reply STOP to stop messages (HELP for help). See how AI text-back works.
Illustrative example — the exact wording may differ. Customer: “Hi! Do you have a haircut appointment available tomorrow?” Greeta: checks live availability, offers open times, and books the one the customer picks.
How it differs from a chatbot on your website
A website chatbot answers questions inside the page. AI SMS booking happens in the customer’s normal text thread, against the same live availability as your phone bookings — so a booking made by text lands in the same calendar as one made by voice.
Setting it up: the consent step
Customers can start a conversation by texting, and AI SMS booking stays off until your opt-in disclosure has been reviewed. In short:
- Turn on Greeta Chat Booking in your dashboard.
- Copy the ready-made disclosure and add your business name and number.
- Publish it where customers will see it — your website, Facebook, Instagram, or a sign in your location.
- Email Greeta a screenshot or photo of the live disclosure.
- Greeta reviews it, and then sets Chat Booking to active.
Messages are transactional appointment messages, and STOP and HELP work on every message. SMS registration is handled by Greeta — nothing for you to set up. The full steps are on the Chat Booking page.
What’s included in your plan
AI SMS booking is included in the Text and Complete plans; Complete adds voice and the Greeta calendar. See the pricing page for current plan details.
Related: how AI text-back recovers missed calls.
When customers prefer text over a call
Plenty of everyday moments make a call awkward: someone is in a meeting, on public transport, in a noisy place, or simply doesn’t like talking on the phone. A text thread fits into those gaps, and it lets the customer scroll back to the confirmed time later. Offering both channels means you stop losing the customers who would have booked if only the channel had suited them.
Get your setup ready first
AI SMS booking works against the same data as your voice bookings, so the quality of the conversation depends on the quality of your setup. Before you switch it on:
- Give services clear, customer-friendly names and correct durations.
- Check business hours, closed days, and each team member’s days off.
- Make sure each person is assigned to the services they actually perform.
- Once Chat Booking is active, send a test text from your own phone and confirm the booking lands in your calendar.
Text and voice together
Because both channels share one booking engine, a customer can call, get cut off, and carry on by text without anything being double-booked. Pair it with missed-call text follow-up and your front desk covers the call, the dropped call, and the follow-up message.
Keeping the conversation on topic
Greeta replies as an automated assistant for your business only, and it’s there for appointments and appointment-related questions. For anything outside that scope, customers should still contact you directly. Setting that expectation in your disclosure — “text us to book, reschedule, or cancel” — keeps conversations short and customers happy.