Navigate to: Reporting > Client & Patient > Client Communication Report
The Client Communication Report shows all outgoing messages across your clinic — emails and SMS — in one place. Use it to check whether reminders, appointment notifications, surveys, and other messages are going out as expected, and to spot any that failed.
What This Report Is For
Checking whether messages were sent across your clinic.
Use this report when you need to review message activity across all clients, a specific date range, or a specific message type.
Confirming whether automated messages went out.
Filter by date, category, and type to verify that appointment notifications, reminders, or other messages were sent.
Seeing which messages succeeded or failed.
Filter by Status to find failed messages and see which clients or message types are affected.
Narrowing results by message type or delivery method.
Filter by Email or SMS, or by category such as Appointment Communications or Reminders - Service.
Downloading message data.
Export your filtered results as a CSV or PDF for recordkeeping or further review.
What This Report Is NOT For
Looking up one specific client's message history.
For a single client, go to the Client History/Activity Log — it shows every message sent to that client in order.
Seeing what a message actually said.
This report shows that a message was sent, not what it contained. To read the message, open the client's profile and check the History/Activity Log.
Managing due or overdue reminders.
Use the Reminder Report to see which patients are coming due or are overdue.
Finding out why a specific email failed.
This report shows that a message failed. For details on why — like an invalid address or a full inbox — check Failed Notification Events.
Checking whether a reminder showed up in Message Center.
Reminder notifications don't create their own thread in Message Center. If a reminder isn't there, that doesn't mean it wasn't sent.
What You Need to Know
"Successful" means the message was sent — not that the client actually received or read it. "Unconfirmed" means the message was sent but Shepherd hasn't received confirmation it was delivered yet.
If a client says they didn't get a message that shows as Successful or Unconfirmed, the problem may be a full inbox, a spam filter, or a wrong email address. Check the client's History/Activity Log for more detail.
This report doesn't show what was in a message.
To see the full content of a specific message, open the client's profile and check the History/Activity Log.
Reminder notifications don't create their own thread in Message Center.
If a reminder isn't showing in Message Center, that doesn't mean it failed. Check this report or the client's History/Activity Log to confirm it was sent.
Post-Visit Survey emails include historical data. All other data starts from your clinic's go-live date in Shepherd.
For communication types other than Post-Visit Surveys, records from before your clinic's start date are not available.
The Post-Visit Survey filter shows sends only — not responses.
To see how clients responded to surveys, go to the Post-Visit Survey dashboard. Responses don't appear in this report.
Not Finding What You Need? Where to Look in Shepherd
I want to know… | Where to look |
What messages went out across our clinic? | Client Communication Report |
Did any messages fail during this date range? | Client Communication Report |
What happened with this specific client? | Client History/Activity Log |
What did we actually send this client? | Client History/Activity Log |
Which reminders are due or overdue? | Reminder Report |
Why did this specific email fail? | Failed Notification Events |
Why isn't a reminder showing in Message Center? | Reminder notifications don't create a Message Center thread — check this report or the client's History/Activity Log instead |
Filters
Filter | Description |
Time Period | Choose a preset range (This Month, This Quarter, This Year, Last Month, Last Quarter, Last Year) or set a custom date range. |
Status | Filter by delivery status: All, Failed, Unconfirmed, or Success. Default is All. Success means the message was sent — not that the client received or opened it. Unconfirmed means it was sent but Shepherd hasn't received delivery confirmation yet. |
Communication Type | Filter by how the message was sent: All, Email, or SMS. Default is All. |
Communication Category | Filter by message type: Mass Communications, Sunbit Link Messages, Reminders - Service, Automatic Response SMS, Text-To-Pay SMS Links, Manual Communications, Post-Visit Survey, Appointment Communications. |
After selecting your filters, click View Report. Use Clear to reset all filters.
Post-Visit Survey Filter
Select Post-Visit Survey from the Communication Category filter to see survey sends on their own. Historical Post-Visit Survey data is included. This filter shows sends only — to see response data, go to the Post-Visit Survey dashboard.
Report Columns
Column | Description |
Date & Time | When the message was sent. |
Communication Type | How it was sent: Email or SMS. |
Communication Category | The type of message (for example, Appointment Communications, Reminders - Service, or Post-Visit Survey). |
Status | Whether the message was Successful (sent), Unconfirmed (sent but not yet confirmed as delivered), or Failed. |
Client Name | The client the message was sent to. |
Total Communications Row — Shows the total number of messages in your filtered results.
All columns can be sorted and filtered.
Export Options
After running the report, use the Client Communication CSV link at the top right to download your results. You can also use the Download button at the top right of the page to export before running the report.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't I find the Client Communication Report?
The Client Communication Report is under Reporting in the left-hand menu — not under Admin. Navigate to Reporting > Client & Patient > Client Communication Report.
If you don't see Reporting in your menu, you may not have permission to access it. Contact your practice administrator to check your access.
A message shows as Successful, but my client says they never got it. What does that mean?
Successful means the message left Shepherd's system — it doesn't confirm the client's email provider accepted it or that they opened it. Things like a full inbox, a spam filter, or a wrong email address can still prevent delivery.
To dig deeper, open the client's profile and check the History/Activity Log. You can also review Failed Notification Events for more detail.
A reminder isn't showing in Message Center. Does that mean it didn't send?
Reminder notifications don't create their own thread in Message Center, so a missing reminder there doesn't mean it failed. Check the Client Communication Report filtered by date and category, or open the client's History/Activity Log to confirm whether it was sent.
How do I see what was in a specific reminder or notification email?
This report shows that a message was sent, but not what it said. To read the full message, open the client's profile and check the History/Activity Log — each entry shows the full message and when it was sent.
How do I find out why a specific email failed?
This report shows that a message failed, but not why. For details — like an invalid address or a full inbox — go to Failed Notification Events.
My sent totals don't add up to what I expected. Where do I look?
Start by checking your filters — make sure the date range, Communication Type, and Communication Category are set correctly. If the numbers still don't match, check the client's History/Activity Log for individual message details and review Failed Notification Events for anything that failed.