Event Lists

Automatically send reminders for appointments and events. Create events in your team list and TeamMessage will send SMS notifications at configured times before each event.

How Event Lists Work

An event list is a team list with scheduled messaging enabled. For each event you create, TeamMessage automatically sends an SMS reminder to all recipients in the list – typically a few hours before the event starts.

Example:

You create an event 'Team Meeting' for tomorrow at 14:00. With a send offset of -2 hours, TeamMessage will automatically send an SMS at 12:00 to remind everyone.

Enabling Event Lists

Event lists must be enabled for your account. Once enabled, you can activate the feature for individual team lists:

  1. Go to your team list settings
  2. Enable 'Scheduled Messages'
  3. Configure the send offset and message template
  4. Save the settings

Configuration Options

Each team list has its own event settings:

Send Offset

The send offset determines when the SMS is sent relative to the event start time. Negative values mean 'before the event':

  • -8 – 8 hours before (default)
  • -24 – 1 day before
  • -2 – 2 hours before
  • 0 – At the event time

Tip

Choose an offset that gives recipients enough time to prepare, but not so early that they forget. For morning events, -8 hours often means the SMS arrives the evening before.

Message Template

Define how reminder messages should look. You can use placeholders that will be replaced with event data:

  • {title} – Event title
  • {date_begin} – Event date
  • {time_begin} – Event start time
  • {location} – Event location
  • {author_name} – Contact person

Example template:

Reminder: {title} on {date_begin} at {time_begin}

Result:

Reminder: Team Meeting on 15.01.2025 at 14:00

Signature

Optionally add a signature that is appended to every reminder message, such as your team name or contact information.

Creating Events

Once event lists are enabled, you can create events for any team list:

  1. Open the team list
  2. Click 'Events' or 'Scheduled Messages'
  3. Click 'New Event'
  4. Enter event details (title, date, time, location)
  5. Save the event

Required fields:

  • Title – Name of the event
  • Date – When the event takes place

Optional fields:

  • Time – Start time (defaults to 00:00 if not specified)
  • Location – Where the event takes place
  • Contact – Person or organization responsible for the event
  • Description – Additional details (not included in SMS)

Note

The calculated SMS send time is shown when you create or edit an event, so you can verify when the reminder will be sent.

Managing Events

Active and Inactive Events

Each event can be active or inactive:

  • Active – The reminder will be sent at the scheduled time
  • Inactive – No reminder will be sent (useful for cancelled events)

You can toggle the status directly in the event list without editing the event.

Past Events

Events remain in the list after they have passed. You can delete old events manually or leave them for reference.

Import and Export

For managing many events, you can use Excel import/export:

Exporting Events

Download all events as an Excel file. The file contains one sheet per team list with columns for date, title, author, and active status.

Importing Events

Upload an Excel file to replace all events for a team list. This is useful for:

  • Bulk-creating events from an existing calendar
  • Migrating events between systems
  • Restoring events from a backup

Note

Importing replaces all existing events for the affected team lists. Export your current events first if you want to preserve them.

Use Cases

Event lists are ideal for:

  • Recurring meetings – Remind team members before weekly stand-ups or monthly reviews
  • Training sessions – Notify participants before courses or workshops
  • Maintenance windows – Alert on-call teams about scheduled downtime
  • Appointments – Remind customers about upcoming visits or deliveries
  • Deadlines – Send reminders before important due dates

Troubleshooting

If reminders are not being sent:

  • Verify that event lists are enabled for your account
  • Check that 'Scheduled Messages' is enabled in the team list settings
  • Ensure the event is marked as active
  • Verify that the SMS send time has not already passed
  • Confirm that recipients are configured in the team list
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