NEW requirement for text verification to receive text reminders

Hi ​@Samantha30014 - Thanks for confirming!

The recommendation now is to use the book on behalf flow as described in this article here.

We’re working on a new process for verification when using the book on behalf feature. With that said, the rollout is still in progress, so we can’t guarantee an exact timeline for access.

With the new flow, the host can enter the invitee’s phone number during booking, and the invitee will receive a text with a confirmation link to opt in to SMS notifications. That means the Invitee can complete verification when it’s convenient for them, rather than you needing to collect a 6-digit code live during booking.

If you have questions, or want to ensure the feature is enabled for you, I’d recommend reaching out to our support team at support@calendly.com

Let me know if you have any questions or feedback!

So, even though they opt-in to text messages on the actual booking form (with the checkmark box) per Calendly’s requirement, why are they required to do it again with this feature? Just curious. 

This new process is absurd. I create appointments on behalf of my clients every day. Or I guess I should say WAS….

I understand the legality of it all (mostly) and understand that sending sms without direct consent could be an issue… But what’s the problem with providing a simple opt-out option at the end of every sms that gets sent, regardless of what we put in our automation??? I’ll be looking for another service / booking company if this doesn’t get resolved ASAP, I’m loosing business because of this.  

I scheduled a test meeting to myself to see how this looks as the customer sees it. When I got the opt in text and I click the link to opt in I get a “404 page not found”. This is concerning on many levels. 

Yep just sent it via email. 

We've got 10+ clients using Calendly to book meetings on behalf of their clients. Since there's been no movement from Calendly on the issue with this feature being disabled, we're assessing alternatives. Currently looking at Cal.com, Zcal and SavvyCal.

Has anyone here made the switch, or have any experience with these products? We'll be recommending one as standard to all clients going forward, so keen to get it right. We work in an industry where a significant portion of meetings are booked for clients rather than by them, so booking on someone's behalf is a core requirement, not an edge case.

This change makes SMS reminders much less useful for organizations that schedule appointments on behalf of their customers.

In many cases, the person being scheduled isn’t available to receive and relay a verification code during the booking process. That creates unnecessary friction and defeats the purpose of having staff handle scheduling.

Please consider making phone verification an optional admin setting. Organizations that already obtain customer consent should be able to:

• Disable the verification requirement for staff-booked appointments.
• Certify they’ve obtained SMS consent through their own process.
• Or send an initial “Reply YES” opt-in text instead of requiring a live verification code.

The current approach penalizes legitimate businesses while doing little to improve the customer experience. If this remains mandatory, many organizations will be forced to evaluate other scheduling platforms.

Agreed. At least allow them to opt in to the text reminder by replying yes to the text instead of having to get a code from them to finish the appointment set or bypass and not have a text reminder at all.

I 100% agree that this needs to be revamped and allow the end consumer to simply reply yes from their phone to get text reminders instead of using a 6 digit code. We work with 100s of financial advisors that we book appointments for on their behalf with prospects not existing clients and the 6 digit code is definitely hindering this process. The public URL is the only thing we have access to so the reply from David is unavailable to us to use the “Book on Behalf” option.

This is ridiculous. Like many on this thread, we also schedule many of our meetings on behalf of our clients. You don’t just turn a feature like this on and not tell anyone. That’s amaturish. Furthermore, most of the people we schedule with have been receiving SMS verification from calendly for a few years now. Why make them consent again? You guys didn’t really think through this.