How-to
Client Reminders by Email or Text: Choosing What Suits Your Clients
Email reminders are free and texts cost credits. Here's a practical way for small NDIS providers to decide which to use, and when to use both.
Kim MatthewsFounder and disability support provider
If you are trying to decide between email or text reminders for clients, the short version is this: email reminders are included at no extra charge, while text reminders use separately purchased SMS credits. Most small providers do not need to pick one over the other for every client. You can set a default, then make exceptions where a text genuinely helps.
1. Start with what's already free
Client email reminders are included in Sparks Provider at no extra charge. For most participants, especially those who check email regularly or have a family member or support coordinator keeping an eye on their inbox, email reminders do the job. There is no credit cost and nothing extra to manage. If you are not sure whether a client needs text as well, leave them on email only and see how it goes.
2. Know what a text actually costs
Text reminders use SMS credits, bought in the browser under Business, then Text reminders. Current options are 1,000 credits for $129, 2,500 for $300 or 5,000 for $600, all including GST, and credits do not expire. One credit covers one SMS part, and longer messages or certain special characters can use more than one part. Before you send anything, the app shows the character count, number of parts and credit cost, so there are no surprises on your balance.
3. Set a default, then handle exceptions
Under Business, then Text reminders, then Scheduled reminders, you choose whether scheduled reminders send texts alone or email and text together. If you tick Send an email as well, every text reminder goes with a matching email. If you leave that off, email becomes the automatic fallback whenever a text cannot be sent or your credits run low, as long as an email address is saved for that client. This means you can set text as the default for everyone and still know email is quietly backing it up, rather than running two separate settings per person.
4. Use Send a text for one-off situations
Scheduled reminders run once a day at 7am AEST, based on the days-ahead setting in Client reminders. If a shift changes late or you need to reach someone sooner, open Send a text and choose either a Shift reminder tied to a participant and an upcoming shift, or a Custom text to a participant or an Australian mobile number entered directly. Send now does not wait for the 7am run, so it suits last-minute changes. Check the preview carefully. The contact phone number and NOREPLY wording stay in the final message, and including your business name is optional.
5. Respect an opt-out properly
Consider a fictional, anonymous example: a small support service we will call Provider A has a client who finds text reminders intrusive and asks to be taken off them. The admin opens that participant's profile, goes to Text messages, selects Change, ticks Do not send text messages and saves. This stops both scheduled and individual texts without deleting the phone number or message history. Email reminders can keep going if the client is happy with those. One detail worth knowing: if a phone number is shared across more than one participant in the same business, an opt-out on that number blocks texts for all of them, including archived participants. SPARKSPROV cannot receive replies, including the word STOP, so an opt-out has to be recorded in the app rather than expected to work automatically from a text reply.
6. Check what was actually sent
If a client says they never received a reminder, open their profile, then Notes, then Messages sent. Texts show the number, the message and its delivery status. Newer email reminders show the subject and original message too, though earlier emails may not have their content recorded. Direct-number texts sent from Send a text, rather than tied to a participant, appear under Recent texts in Business, then Text reminders. If a message still shows as being checked, wait and look at history again rather than resending it straight away.
None of this needs to be complicated. Most providers land on email as the quiet default, with text reserved for clients who specifically benefit from it, and a clear process for the few who would rather not get texts at all.
Common questions
The details people ask next.
Do staff get text reminders too?
No. Text reminders in Sparks Provider are for clients only, sent from Business, then Text reminders.
What happens if a client has no saved email address and their text fails?
The fallback to email only works if an email address is saved for that client. Without one, a failed text has no automatic backup.
Can a client opt back in after opting out of texts?
Yes. Open their profile, confirm their preference under Text messages, untick Do not send text messages and save.
Does recording an opt-out delete their phone number?
No. It stops scheduled and individual texts but keeps the phone number and message history on the profile.
This article is general information about provider operations and Sparks Provider. It is not legal, financial, employment, NDIS or compliance advice. Check current requirements with the relevant authority or an adviser for your business.