Google Calendar is Google's free calendar that opens on your computer and your phone, and it is the calendar iSend syncs for automatic appointment reminders. To make it work you need a Google account, a separate calendar used only for appointments, and one rule: in every event you write the customer's full name exactly as it appears in the contact, or their mobile number. With these three things the sync finds every appointment on its own and the reminder goes out without you doing anything else.
Step 1: The Google account
If you already have a Gmail address, you already have Google Calendar. Open calendar.google.com and sign in with the same account. If you do not have one, create a free account at accounts.google.com. If your business has Google Workspace with its own email addresses, the calendar is included.
Decide from the start which account will be "the business calendar". iSend connects to one Google account per iSend account, so it is cleaner not to use your personal Gmail but an account that belongs to the business, for example the company's info@ address or a Gmail account named after the practice. Other colleagues get access through sharing, as described below, without you giving out the password.
Step 2: A separate calendar just for appointments
Every Google account has a primary calendar with your name, but that one also collects personal events, birthdays, holidays and everything else. Create a second calendar just for appointments, so the sync reads only that. Calendars can be created from a computer, not from the mobile app:
- At calendar.google.com, in the left column, next to Other calendars click the + (Add other calendars) and choose Create new calendar.
- Give it a name, for example "Clinic appointments" or "Salon appointments", and optionally a description.
- Check that the time zone is Athens and click Create calendar.
The new calendar appears under My calendars with its own colour. From now on, when you create appointments, pick this calendar. When you connect Google Calendar to iSend you will see it in the calendar list and select it as the source.
Step 3: How to write an appointment so that iSend finds it
You create a new appointment by clicking an empty time slot in the calendar or the Create button at the top left. What matters to iSend is the title of the event. The sync looks, in this order, at the guests' email addresses, a phone number in the title or description, and the full name in the title. One of the three is enough:
| What you write | Where | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The customer's mobile number | In the title or the description | "Cleaning 6912345678" |
| First and last name, as in the contact | In the title | "Maria Papadopoulou, check-up" |
| The customer's email | As a guest | maria@example.com in the Guests field |
The most reliable way is the mobile number, because it does not depend on spelling. Write it any way you like, with or without spaces and dashes, with or without the 30 country code in front. With the name, both first and last name must be present, written as in the iSend contact, in either order. Upper and lower case do not matter. "Maria P." or just "Maria" is not enough. A good combination is the title "Maria Papadopoulou 6912345678", readable by you and by iSend.
The guest method only works if the same email address is stored in the contact's email field. When you add a guest, Google asks whether to send them an email invitation. You can decline, the matching in iSend happens either way.
Two more points:
- Time. Give the appointment a proper start time. If you leave it as All day, iSend records it with a time of 09:00 and the reminder counts from there.
- Calendar. In the event form, next to the calendar icon, select the "Appointments" calendar rather than the primary one. If you create the event by clicking on the calendar grid, check that it has the colour of the right calendar before you save.
Step 4: Recurring appointments
For a customer who comes every other Tuesday, create one event and, in the repeat field where it says Does not repeat, set the rhythm. iSend reads each occurrence as a separate appointment. In the contact, however, the field holds one appointment, the last one within the 30-day window the sync read. For the customer to receive a reminder for the next appointment, not the one after, sync daily. The connection article explains the logic in detail.
Step 5: On your phone and at the front desk
Download the Google Calendar app from Google Play or the App Store and sign in with the business account. On your phone you can create and change appointments with the same title rule. Only creating a new calendar requires a computer.
If appointments are booked by a receptionist or a colleague with their own Google account, share the calendar with them instead of giving them your password:
- On the computer, under My calendars, click the three dots next to the "Appointments" calendar and then Settings and sharing.
- In the Share with specific people or groups section click Add people and groups and enter your colleague's email address.
- Choose the permission Make changes to events, so they can add and move appointments, and click Send.
The reverse also works: if the calendar belongs to the receptionist and they have shared it with you, it appears in the calendar list iSend sees and you can select it for syncing. It only has to be visible in the left column of your own Google Calendar.
Changes and cancellations
When you move an appointment to another time or day, at the next sync iSend sees the new time and updates the contact. The reminder goes out for the correct time, as long as you synced before the reminder time.
When you delete an appointment from Google Calendar, iSend no longer sees it and changes nothing: the old time stays in the contact and the reminder would go out as normal. So on a cancellation, open the contact in iSend and clear the appointment field, or write the date of the new appointment there if another one was booked straight away. If the customer cancelled through the link in the reminder, iSend has already recorded it.
The daily routine
- Book appointments in Google Calendar, on the computer or the phone, with first and last name or mobile number in the title.
- Every morning, or before the time the reminders go out, open iSend under Integrations, check the Preview events to catch appointments without a contact, and click Sync Calendar.
- Add a new customer to the contact group first, with mobile number, first and last name, then run the sync again.
- On a cancellation, clear the contact's appointment field.
Setting up the reminder itself, how far in advance it goes out and what it says, is covered in the article on automatic appointment reminders.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need paid Google Workspace?
No. Google Calendar on a free Gmail account has everything you need: separate calendars, recurring events, sharing and a mobile app. Workspace offers the same calendar with email on your own domain.
Can I use a calendar that belongs to a colleague?
Yes, as long as they have shared it with the Google account you connect to iSend. Every calendar that appears in the left column of your Google Calendar, your own or shared, also appears in the selection list in iSend.
What happens if I misspell the name in the title?
The event counts as "skipped" in the sync and is not written anywhere. The preview in iSend shows you which events did not find a contact. Correct the title in Google Calendar or add the customer's mobile number next to the name, and run the sync again.