Customers & Automation
SMS & Email Allocation and Limits
SMS & Email Allocation and Limits
Understand your monthly SMS and email allocation — how many messages are included, what happens when you go over, and how to monitor your usage so campaigns keep sending without interruption.
Where to find it — Web: Sidebar → Settings → Engage → Usage This Period card. Allocation warning banners also appear at the top of the Engage section when usage reaches 80%.
Overview
Every Engage subscription (or NZ PRO plan) includes a monthly allocation of SMS and email sends. The allocation system:
- Provides a monthly pool of transactional and campaign messages sized by your team
- Tracks usage in real time and warns you at 80% so you can prepare for overage
- Charges overage automatically from your wallet balance when the allocation runs out
- Resets each billing period — unused messages do not roll over
Note
SMS is only available in Australia and the United Kingdom with an active Engage subscription. New Zealand is an email-only market — SMS is not available.
Monthly allocation amounts
Transactional messages
Transactional messages include booking confirmations, appointment reminders, and other system-generated notifications sent to individual customers.
| Channel | Market | Per seat | Maximum cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS | AU | 50/month | 350/month |
| SMS | GB | 50/month | 350/month |
| SMS | NZ | Not available | — |
| AU | 100/month | 700/month | |
| GB | 100/month | 700/month | |
| NZ | 100/month | 700/month |
Allocations scale with your team size. A venue with 3 staff members (seats) gets 150 transactional SMS (3 × 50) and 300 transactional emails (3 × 100), up to the maximum cap.
Campaign messages
Campaign messages are bulk sends to audience segments (e.g. all clients, inactive clients, VIPs).
| Channel | AU (Engage) | GB (Engage) | NZ (PRO) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS | 200/month | 200/month | Not available |
| 2,000/month | 2,000/month | 2,000/month |
Campaign allocations are flat — they do not scale with seat count.
Overage pricing
When your allocation runs out, sends continue at overage rates charged automatically from your wallet balance.
| Channel | Australia | United Kingdom | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS | A$0.06 per SMS | £0.04 per SMS | Not available |
| A$0.002 per email | £0.001 per email | NZ$0.003 per email |
Email overage accumulates in fractions of a cent. For example, at A$0.002 per email, the system tracks sub-cent charges precisely and only debits your wallet when the accumulated overage crosses a whole-cent boundary (every 5 emails in this case). This prevents rounding losses.
Tip
Keep your wallet balance topped up if you regularly exceed your allocation. When the wallet reaches zero, overage is tracked but not charged — you will not be billed retroactively, but the ledger records the usage.
Checking your usage
On web
- Go to Settings in the sidebar.
- Scroll to the Engage section.
- The "Usage This Period" card shows:
- Transactional SMS — current count / limit with a progress bar
- Campaign SMS — current count / limit with overage amount (if any)
- Campaign Emails — current count / limit with overage amount (if any)
- Resets [date] — when the current billing period ends
Overage charges appear as a currency amount below the relevant counter (e.g. "A$0.50 overage charged").
On mobile
SMS and email usage statistics are not currently displayed in the mobile app. Check your usage from the web app at Settings → Engage.
80% allocation warning
When usage for any message type reaches 80% of its allocation, OpenChair sends an in-app notification:
Title: "[SMS/Email] allocation at 80%" Message: "You've used 80% of your [transactional/campaign] [SMS/email] allocation this billing period. Consider topping up your wallet for overage charges."
The warning also appears as a banner at the top of the Engage section on web, showing:
"Your [campaign SMS/transactional email/etc.] allocation is 80% used this month. [X] of [Y] remaining. View usage →"
The banner can be dismissed for the current session. Warnings fire once per channel per billing period — you will not receive repeated warnings for the same allocation type.
Dedicated SMS number
To send and receive SMS, your venue needs a dedicated phone number provisioned through Twilio.
Requirements
- Country: Australia or United Kingdom only
- Subscription: Active Engage add-on
- Status: No existing dedicated number (one number per venue)
Provisioning a number
- Go to Settings → Engage on web.
- The "Dedicated SMS Number" card shows your current status.
- Click "Provision Number".
- Provisioning takes 3–8 seconds. The card shows "Provisioning your number..." while in progress.
- Once active, the card shows your number (e.g. +61 412 345 001) with a green status indicator and the message "Active and receiving messages".
Releasing a number
- On the "Dedicated SMS Number" card, click "Release Number" (red text link).
- The number is released back to the pool.
- Your SMS inbox, SMS campaigns, and transactional SMS stop working immediately.
If you cancel your Engage subscription, your number enters a grace period until the end of your billing cycle. During grace, the card shows: "Your Engage subscription has been cancelled. Your number [+61...] will be released at the end of your billing period."
Is a dedicated number required?
| Feature | Number required? |
|---|---|
| SMS inbox (two-way messaging) | Yes |
| SMS campaigns (bulk sends) | Yes |
| Transactional SMS (confirmations, reminders) | Yes |
| Email campaigns | No |
| Transactional email | No |
Without a dedicated number, all SMS features are unavailable. Email features work independently.
Dedicated SMS Number card states
The card on the Engage settings page adapts to your venue's status:
| State | Card message | Action button |
|---|---|---|
| NZ venue | "SMS is not available in New Zealand. Use email campaigns instead." | None |
| FREE plan | "Upgrade to PRO to access dedicated SMS numbers and campaign messaging." | Upgrade to PRO |
| PRO, no Stripe | "Get a dedicated phone number for two-way SMS, campaigns, and inbox." | Subscribe to Pro + Activate Engage |
| PRO, no Engage | "Get a dedicated phone number for two-way SMS, campaigns, and inbox." | Activate Engage |
| Engage, no number | "Your Engage subscription is active. Provision a dedicated phone number to start sending and receiving SMS." | Provision Number |
| Provisioning | "Provisioning your number... This usually takes 3-8 seconds." | Spinner |
| Active | "Active and receiving messages" (with phone number displayed) | Release Number |
| Grace period | "Your Engage subscription has been cancelled. Your number will be released at the end of your billing period." | None |
| Released | "Your dedicated number has been released. Subscribe to Engage to provision a new one." | Activate Engage |
Billing period and resets
- Allocations reset automatically at the start of each billing period (monthly, based on your Stripe subscription date).
- Unused messages do not roll over — each month starts fresh.
- The billing period is shown on the usage card as "Resets [date]".
- Allocation limits are snapshotted at the start of each period. If you add team members mid-period, the transactional allocation for that period does not change — the new seat count applies from the next period.
Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What counts as a "seat" for allocation calculation? | Each active staff member on the venue counts as one seat. The transactional allocation is calculated as seats × per-seat amount, up to the maximum cap. |
| What happens when my wallet runs out? | Sends continue even with a zero wallet balance. Overage is tracked in the ledger but no charge is applied until you top up. You are not billed retroactively — the overage amount is recorded for reference. |
| Can I buy more SMS without Engage? | No. SMS (both transactional and campaign) requires an active Engage subscription and a dedicated phone number. Without Engage, all SMS features are unavailable. |
| Why is SMS not available in New Zealand? | SMS infrastructure (dedicated Twilio numbers) is currently only provisioned for Australia and the United Kingdom. New Zealand venues use email for all customer communications. |
| Do automations (birthday, rebooking, reconnect) count against my allocation? | Yes. Automated messages use the same transactional allocation pool. A birthday SMS to 20 customers uses 20 from your transactional SMS allocation. |
| Can I see a breakdown of what used my allocation? | Overage charges appear in the wallet ledger with feature keys identifying the source (e.g. campaign SMS, transactional email). The usage card shows totals by type but not individual send details. |
| What happens if provisioning fails? | The card shows an error state. Wait a moment and try again. If provisioning continues to fail, the issue is with Twilio number availability in your region. |
| Does the allocation include replies from customers? | No. The allocation tracks outbound messages only. Inbound customer replies (received via your dedicated number) are free and unlimited. |
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| Allocation warning appeared but I have not sent many campaigns | The warning tracks all SMS types — transactional (confirmations, reminders, automations) and campaign (bulk sends) are counted separately. Check the "Usage This Period" card to see which type is nearing 80%. |
| Overage charges appearing but allocation shows messages remaining | Transactional and campaign allocations are separate pools. You may have campaign SMS remaining but exhausted your transactional SMS (or vice versa). Check both counters on the usage card. |
| Cannot provision a dedicated SMS number | Verify you have an active Engage subscription and your venue is in Australia or the United Kingdom. NZ venues cannot provision SMS numbers. You must also be on a PRO plan — FREE tier does not include Engage. |
| SMS features disappeared after cancelling Engage | When Engage is cancelled, your dedicated number enters a grace period until the end of the billing cycle. After that, the number is released and all SMS features stop. Re-subscribe to Engage to provision a new number. |
| Usage card not showing on mobile | SMS and email usage statistics are only available on the web app under Settings → Engage. The mobile app does not currently display usage data. |
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Last updated: March 2026