Automatic SMS reminders help reduce no-shows and can keep volunteers who are scheduled at the same shift in contact with each other. By allowing each volunteer to specify whether or not they wish to receive these reminders (and not sending them to anyone you're not sure about), you can tap into the benefits of this new reminder technology starting with just the people that want it most.

1. Start in the Web Terminal pane inside of VSP, and click on the "Web Terminal settings..." button at the top of the Home tab.
2. In the new dialog box that opens up, click on the Auto Reminders heading.
3. Make sure to check the box to send automatic SMS reminders to your volunteers. If this is the first time you've checked the box, you'll be led through the steps of opening your SMS account.
4. Check the box that says "Don't send automatic text message reminders to these volunteers...". A list of all of your volunteers will appear.
5. Use the Shift key to select all of your volunteers, then click "OK". This will essentially have turned on auto reminders, but excluded everyone. This way volunteers will be able to sign up to receive them.
6. In the same "Web Terminal Settings" dialog, click on the Profile Changes pane on the left, and then click on the "General info" sub-heading.
7. In this section, check the box that says, "Allow volunteers to view and request changes to their automatic SMS reminder settings". Click "OK" to close this dialog box, and then click the "Commit Changes" button. You can then click the "Login as..." button to login as a volunteer and click on the "My Profile" tab to see the new options regarding SMS reminders.

NOTE: We recommend sending an email to all of your volunteers using VSP's Announcements pane to let them know this new option is available to them.