zenpageManual or automatic confirmation: handling appointment requests in Zenpage
Therapist on Zenpage: should you review each appointment request by hand or confirm automatically? Settings, practical use cases and mistakes to avoid.
In Zenpage, each appointment request arrives either with manual review or with automatic confirmation: in manual mode, you validate each slot from the admin before the patient is confirmed; in automatic mode, the slot is booked straight away. The right choice depends on your discipline, your response time and the risk of no-shows.
According to the Zenpage pricing page, checked on 13 November 2026: the free plan is at 0 € with no credit card, paid options can be tried for 15 days, and the Pro plan is at 29 € excl. VAT per month with no commitment, including 50 SMS for appointment confirmations and reminders.
What does the patient experience in each mode?
The difference between the two modes plays out in the minutes after the patient clicks. With manual review, they get a request-received message, then a confirmation email once you have validated; with automatic confirmation, they get their confirmation immediately, with no step in between. This table sums up what each side experiences in each case, so you can choose with full knowledge.
| Mode | What the patient sees | What you have to do | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual review | A request-received message, then a confirmation email after your validation | Validate, edit or cancel each request from the admin, within 24 hours if possible | First consultations, long assessments, diaries shared between practitioners |
| Automatic confirmation | A slot booked straight away, with an immediate confirmation email | Watch the diary and only handle exceptions (moves, cancellations) | Standard sessions, known patients, short back-to-back slots |
Automatic mode removes friction exactly when the patient is most motivated, just after picking a slot, but it also removes your human filter. If no-shows without warning are already frequent for you, read the guide against missed appointments first: the confirmation mode is only one lever among others, and it works best combined with well-set reminders.
When should you keep manual review?
Manual review stays the right choice as long as each request deserves a look before being accepted. That is the case when the consultation reason determines the length, the place or even whether the appointment goes ahead, or when several practitioners share one diary and must split incoming requests. Some typical situations:
- For a first session or an assessment, you check the reason before allocating an hour: well-chosen custom fields in the form give you the information, and manual review gives you time to read it.
- When several practitioners receive patients over the same hours, manual review stops a patient from booking a slot already promised verbally to someone else or assigned to the wrong practitioner.
- If your services have very different lengths (a one-hour assessment, a thirty-minute follow-up), a human eye spots inconsistent requests, such as a follow-up booked on an assessment slot, before they block the diary.
- When you are starting out with online booking, a few weeks in manual mode teach you which reasons come back, which questions are missing from the form and which slots cause trouble.
- If you only check your messages once a day, manual mode still fits your rhythm, provided you answer fast: Zenpage nudges you by email if a request sleeps for more than 12 hours.
When should you switch to automatic confirmation?
Automatic confirmation pays off as soon as your appointments look alike: same length, same place, same flow. The patient books at midnight a slot for the day after tomorrow, gets confirmation straight away, and you discover the appointment already sitting in your diary in the morning. For a practice where follow-up sessions are most of the activity, that is so many email exchanges saved each week, plus a higher conversion rate, because some patients never come back after a request left with no immediate answer.
The downside is well known: with no filter, curious visitors book as fast as motivated ones. Three safeguards offset this effect. First, a deposit asked for at booking time keeps away unserious requests for the services it suits. Second, an SMS reminder before the session catches the forgetful, with a delay of your choice between 2, 12, 24 or 48 hours. Third, well-set email automations resume the conversation after booking, for instance to send practical information or prepare the first session.
Practices whose diaries fill up smoothly do not pick their mode once and for all: they start manual, observe for a few weeks, then automate whatever has become predictable. Their shared rule is simple: answer every manual request within 24 hours, test the full journey with a trial booking at each settings change, and watch the no-show rate before and after switching. A confirmation mode is managed with numbers, not gut feeling.
How do you set the mode and test it in Zenpage?
Your starting point is the Diary and appointments section of the documentation: it describes the full flow, from the pending or confirmed request to the patient notification by email, plus the automatic nudges when a request is forgotten. Set how requests behave, check which notifications go out in each case, then run the full-scale test: book a slot yourself from your phone, in private browsing, and follow the emails received on both the patient and the practitioner side.
Use the occasion to set what surrounds confirmation: SMS notifications from the dedicated section, and your email sequences from the automations section, with triggers on requested, confirmed or cancelled appointments. The email automations guide details the useful scenarios, such as the practical-information email after confirmation or following up an inactive patient. An automatic mode without these supporting messages stays a silent diary: it is the combination of both that gives a polished experience.
What if neither mode is enough on its own?
Most practices end up with a compromise: manual review for sensitive services (first assessment, discovery session, limited-seat workshop) and automatic confirmation for routine follow-ups. Organise your services accordingly, with explicit titles and lengths, and tell patients on your public page what to expect after their request: an immediate confirmation or an answer within 24 hours. An announced wait is an accepted wait, in either direction.
On the tool side, Zenpage covers both modes with the plans mentioned at the top of this article: a free plan with no credit card, a 15-day trial of the paid options, then a Pro plan with no commitment including confirmation and reminder SMS. Open the Diary section of the documentation to set your requests, then create your page from the Zenpage signup if you have not yet. The right confirmation mode is the one you can sustain every day: pick it, test it, then let the diary work while you consult.
Frequently asked questions
Where do you set manual or automatic confirmation in Zenpage?
The setting lives with the diary: depending on your settings, each slot request arrives with a pending or confirmed status. You then validate, edit or cancel each appointment from the admin interface, and the patient is notified by email. The Diary and appointments section of the documentation describes this flow in detail.
Does automatic confirmation increase no-shows?
It can, if nothing filters the instant booking: without human review, a hesitant patient books as fast as a motivated one. Combine the automatic mode with a deposit at booking time, an SMS reminder before the session and well-chosen form fields to keep a high attendance rate.
Can you switch modes after a few weeks of use?
Yes, nothing is final: start with manual review while you observe your consultation reasons, then switch to automatic once your services and slots are stable. Always test the new setting with a trial booking before leaving it active.
What happens if a manual request goes unanswered?
Never leave a pending request unanswered for more than 24 hours: a patient with no answer books elsewhere. Zenpage sends you a summary email if a request stays pending for 12 hours, then again on the eve of the slot, so no request gets lost.
