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A channel is simply a way of reaching someone — a text message, a phone call, a fax, an email. This tab lists the ones your practice has arranged with a provider and switches them on, so reminders and automated messages have somewhere to go.

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What this tab controls

The E.164 form asked for in several fields just means the number written with its country code and a leading plus, no spaces or brackets.

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Set it up

1

Gather your provider details

Open your messaging provider’s dashboard and note the numbers and connection identifiers for each service you pay for. You cannot invent these — a channel with no working number behind it will not send.
2

Fill in the numbers you have

In Messaging & voice, complete only the rows you actually use. Leave the rest empty rather than guessing.
3

Set your sending address

In Email, enter your Send from (verified address) — an address on your own domain that your provider has verified. Add a Reply-to if replies should reach a different inbox, such as your front desk.
4

Switch on the channels you are ready to use

In Enabled channels, turn on only what you filled in above.
5

Select Save changes

You should see “Communication settings saved”.

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What changes once you save

Enabling a channel opens a route. Reminders, confirmations and automated messages that were written to use text or email start actually going out over it, from the number and address you set here. Until you enable one, anything that depends on it stays silent rather than failing — no error appears, the message simply never leaves. That is worth knowing, because a practice can run for weeks assuming reminders are going out. Setting Send from (verified address) means your messages arrive from your own address rather than a generic one, which is the difference between an email that looks like your practice and one that looks like a system. Reply-to decides where a client’s reply lands — set it to a mailbox somebody actually reads. Switching a channel off stops future sends immediately. It does not recall anything already sent, and it does not change any client’s own contact preferences — a client who has opted out of reminders stays opted out whatever you enable here. Two limits to expect. Outbound messages are disabled outside the live product, so a test workspace will not send. And Send from your own mailbox is still rolling out: the Google and Outlook buttons are visible but not yet selectable, and “Until mailbox sending is enabled, agents send from the verified address above.”

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Check it worked

Save, leave the tab, and come back — the switches and fields you set should have persisted. Then trigger something real that uses the channel: book a test appointment for yourself and confirm the confirmation arrives at the right address or number, sent from the address you configured.

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Common issues

Communications starts on the Starter plan: “Connect SMS, WhatsApp, fax, voice and email so your AI agents can reach patients. Available on any paid plan.” See Change your plan.
An accountant can reach settings but not this tab’s controls. Ask an owner or manager to make the change.
Check the number in SMS from (E.164) — it must be a real number you have with your provider, written with its country code and a leading plus. A switch on its own does not create a number.
They are marked Rolling out and are not active yet. Email is sent from your Send from (verified address) in the meantime.
Set Reply-to (optional) to a monitored inbox. Without it, replies go back to the verified sending address.
This tab opens the channel; each client’s own notification preferences decide whether they are contacted on it. Check the client’s record, and the appointment’s own notification setting.