The Five Templates
Each notification event has its own editable template. From queue settings → Templates:
- Added — sent on join. Confirms position and estimated wait. Defaults to:
"You've been added to {queue_name}. Position: #{position}. Estimated wait: {wait_time}. Track: {status_link}" - Paged — sent when staff calls the person. Defaults to:
"{name}, it's your turn at {org_name}! Please head to the front." - Reminder — sent when 1-2 positions away. Defaults to:
"You're almost up at {org_name}. Please be ready." - No-show — sent on auto-removal. Defaults to:
"We missed you. You've been removed from the queue. Reply JOIN to rejoin." - Requeued — sent on re-add. Defaults to:
"You've been re-added to {queue_name}. New position: #{position}."
Edit each one in place. Save. Done.
Available Variables
Wrap a variable in curly braces and the platform replaces it with the live value:
{name}— the person's name as they entered it.{party_size}— number of people in the party.{position}— current position in the queue (1, 2, 3...).{wait_time}— estimated wait, e.g. "about 25 minutes".{queue_name}— the queue's name (e.g. "Front Counter").{org_name}— your organization's name.{status_link}— the unique short URL to the public status page.
Unknown variables stay literal in the message — {customer_email} will go out as the literal string {customer_email}. Spell-check your variable names.
Writing for SMS
SMS has a soft limit of 160 characters per segment. Longer messages split into multiple segments — they still arrive, but each segment costs your account separately.
Keep templates short:
- Lead with the most important info ("It's your turn").
- Cut filler words.
- Skip the greeting on follow-ups (the person knows who you are by message #2).
- Drop the punctuation if it saves a character —
!reads warmer than.anyway.
A template like "Hello {name}, this is a friendly reminder that your turn at {org_name} is approaching. We will see you soon!" is 130+ characters of fluff. Compare to "You're almost up at {org_name}. Please be ready." — 50 characters, identical meaning.
Keeping It Brand-True
Your messages are the closest interaction the person has with your brand while they're waiting. Make them sound like you.
A bakery saying "Your loaf is almost ready 🥖 come grab it" reads warmer than the default "You're almost up." An auto shop saying "Bay 3 is yours when you're ready" hits different than the default. The default is correct; the custom version is yours.
Take five minutes per template. It's a one-time edit and customers feel the difference.
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting to add
{status_link}to the Added template. Without it, customers can't track their position from their phone — they have to physically come back inside or call. - Mismatched variable names.
{customer_name}instead of{name}— silently sends literal{customer_name}to every customer. - Putting too much in one message. SMS is not email. One sentence per message. Two if you must.
- Being too casual in regulated contexts. A medical clinic should not send
🎉 your turn!. Match tone to industry expectation.