If the SMS feature is enabled at your store and you have the mobile number for your patient, you will be able to schedule automatic SMS:

• Repeat Reminders
• Last Repeat Reminders
• Owing Reminders

Automatic SMS Sending

If a mobile number has been added to the patient profile, you will be able to schedule different types of SMS reminders while dispensing for them.

To queue up SMS reminders:

1. Go to Z Dispense and search for the patient.
2. Click on the pencil icon or use the keyboard shortcut F8 to open the Update Patient Details window.
3. Add the patient mobile and tick the automatic SMS options you would like to enable:
4. Click the Save button.
5. Continue dispensing your script as per usual.
6. You will see the SMS button with the number of queued SMS messages for the patient (this number will vary depending on the automatic SMS options you have selected as well as the number of scripts you have already processed for the customer).
7. The SMS message will be queued once the script is completed.

Manual SMS Sending

If you do not wish for reminders to be scheduled automatically or if you would like to change the default sending options:

1. Click the SMS button  while dispensing:
2. A new window with a list of queued SMS messages should appear:
   
3. Click the icon if you would like to queue a new message OR the icon if you would like to edit an existing message (alternatively, you can also queue a new SMS directly from the script history by right-clicking on the script and selecting Send SMS):
   
   
4. A new window will appear displaying the details of the SMS:
   
   Here you will be able to edit a number of settings:
   - Type: Allows you to select from one of the available SMS templates.
   - Patient: Displays who you are queueing the SMS message for.
   - Mobile: The mobile number which the SMS will send to.
   - Message: The contents of the message being queued (this will display some strange formatting for fields which will automatically be picked up by the system).
   - Schedule: When the message will be scheduled to send
   - Group with other messages: If there are other messages queued to send at the same time, Z dispense will group these together and try to minimise the SMS count.
   - Link with future dispensing of the same drug: If the medication you are dispensing does not fall into the default repeat reminder schedule, you may enable this setting and change the scheduled date. This will pick up the interval used the apply this to all future scripts in this particular script chain.
5. Press Save to queue the message or Send Now to send the message immediately.

Default Settings for Automatic SMS Sending

The default settings applied to patients and queued SMS's can be changed for the store.

To change the default settings for the store:

1. Go to Z Dispense > Store Configuration > Communication Tab
2. Under the Default SMS Sending Options, tick the settings you would like the system to automatically enable when you add a patient mobile:
   
3. You can also edit the Days before sending interval to change the delay before the next reminder is sent:
   
4. Press Save.

Adding/Editing SMS Templates

Custom SMS templates can be used when queuing up SMS messages.

To add/edit an SMS template:

1. Go to Z Dispense > Tools > SMS > SMS Template Editor
2. Click Add to create a new SMS template, otherwise select Update to edit an existing template.
3. Modify the template on the right-hand panel to your liking.
   
   Some text (Merge Values) in the template will appear to have odd formatting. This allows Z Dispense to pull information directly from the linked prescription.
4. Press Save.
5. Ensure that the correct template is selected when you are queuing up the SMS messages.  
   

Receiving SMS

If you have opted in for SMS receiving, patients can reply to your messages and their response will appear in Z Dispense.

To view your received SMS Messages:

1. In Z Dispense, click on the SMS messages menu icon along the top ribbon.
   
   This will display a number next to it if there are any unread messages. An alert will also periodically sound across all terminals until messages are viewed in the SMS messages menu.

   

2. Select the required date range and apply the filters for which you would like to view the SMS messages.
3. Once you have located the SMS, you have the option to mark it off using the action button .