📬 Understanding Service Reminders in Otto

Service reminders in Otto help your clinic stay connected with pet parents by sending timely, automated messages about upcoming wellness and vaccine care. They’re fully customizable, easy to manage, and designed to drive better compliance—without increasing your team’s workload.

🔗 How Otto Works with Your PIMS

Otto integrates directly with your PIMS to pull in your clinic’s service codes and due dates. This sync keeps everything up to date and eliminates the need for manual entry.

Once your data is in Otto, you can manage all service reminders within Flow.

⚙️ Setting Up and Customizing Service Reminders in Flow

In Flow, you have full control over:

📅 Reminder Timing

Choose when to send reminders based on the service due date. You can enable one or multiple timing options:

• 30 days before
• 15 days before
• 7 days after
• 30 days after

💡 Example: Want to nudge clients a month in advance, and again a week after the due date? You can do that!

✉️ Delivery Methods

Select how reminders are delivered to clients. Available channels include:

• Text (SMS)
• Email
• Postcard

You can choose one or multiple delivery options based on your communication strategy.

🧠 Smart Reminder Logic (So You Don’t Have to Think About It)

Otto uses built-in logic to ensure reminders are timely and relevant—without overwhelming pet parents.

1. One Reminder Per Household

   1. a. Reminders are grouped by pet and sent to the pet parent, not per pet.

   1. b. If multiple pets have services due within a 30-day window, Otto consolidates them into a single reminder.

2. Reminders Pause if an Appointment is Already Scheduled

   To avoid sending unnecessary or confusing reminders:

• No reminder is sent if a pet has an appointment scheduled within 30 days before the service due date.
• No reminder is sent if there’s an appointment scheduled within 60 days after the due date.

This rule applies regardless of the type of appointment or type of service but if needed you can customize the blocking logic at two levels for more precise control as it follows:

      2.a Appointment-Type Level Control: “Block Service Reminders” Toggle

You can define which Appointment Types should block reminders. Each Appointment Type  includes a toggle called "Block Service Reminder".

On Settings → Appointment Types → [Select a Type] → Toggle "Block Service Reminders"

Use Case Example

• Scenario: A pet has a vaccine due, and two appointments scheduled:
  • One is a Wellness Exam
  • One is a Grooming appointment
• Problem: Both appointments block the reminder by default — but vaccines are typically not given during grooming visits.
• Solution:
  • Keep the toggle ON for "Wellness Exam" (reminder should be blocked)
  • Set the toggle OFF for "Grooming" (reminder should be sent)

Result: The system now blocks the reminder only if a relevant appointment is scheduled.

   2.b. Service-Level Control: “Ignore Send Blocking Rules” Toggle

You can  override blocking rules per Service to ensure a specific reminder is always sent — even if appointments exist within the blocking window. Each service includes a toggle called "Ignore Send Blocking rules".
On Settings → Services → [Select a Service] → Toggle "Ignore Send Blocking Rules"

Use Case Example

• Scenario: A puppy is on a DHPP vaccine series (e.g., every 3–4 weeks).
  • The next dose is due, but there are already appointments booked for previous doses.
  • The tight schedule causes reminders to be blocked — even though they serve as important confirmations.
• Solution:
  • Go to the service "DHPP #3"
  • Set "Ignore Send Blocking Rules" to ON

Result: The reminder for the third vaccine is always sent, ensuring adherence to the vaccine schedule.

💬 Need Help?

If you need assistance configuring your service reminders or want help aligning them with your clinic’s workflows, contact Otto Support Team at Support@otto.vet or reach out to your Customer Success Manager.