The scenarios below are designed to help your team test Shepherd Connect using workflows similar to those you handle every day — they are not a strict testing script. Explore beyond them and use Shepherd Connect as naturally as possible.

As you test, please tell us about anything that feels confusing, broken, difficult, or different from what you expected. Small friction points are just as valuable as larger issues.

You can test:

You can test:

Your existing registered Shepherd SMS number is used with Shepherd Connect — no additional SMS setup is required.

Across both Email and SMS, you can test workflows including:

Use the scenarios that make sense for your practice. You do not need to complete them in order.

Try this:

Expected result:

Your clinic's Shepherd Connect email address is generated and ready to send and receive email.

Watch for:

For example, try a prescription refill question or a follow-up after a recent visit.

Try this:

Expected result:

The incoming email appears in your Communication Center, your reply sends from the clinic's assigned address, and the conversation is associated with the appropriate client record.

Known Beta Behavior: If you export an email conversation into the Medical Record as an attachment, the email signature cannot currently be removed and the attachment may appear as 0 bytes. Please still tell us if this affects your workflow.

For example: Running 10 minutes late for my 2 PM appointment.

Try this:

Expected result:

The SMS appears as a conversation in the Communication Center, your response reaches the client, and the conversation is associated with the appropriate client record.

Try clients with different available contact methods. Tell us if the channel options are confusing or do not behave as expected when a client only has one communication method available.

Try this:

Expected result:

A new conversation appears in your conversation list and the client receives the message through the selected channel.

Test scheduling with either an SMS or email conversation.

Try this:

Expected result:

The message remains scheduled until the selected time and then sends automatically.

Watch for:

Use a real conversation that would normally need to be routed or categorized by your team. For example, you might categorize a conversation as a billing, medical, or scheduling question.

Try this:

Expected result:

The assignment, client and patient association, and category save and are visible to other team members.

Watch for:

Choose a conversation with several interactions.

Try this:

Expected result:

The displayed counts accurately reflect the content available within each section. Tell us if the counts become inaccurate, particularly after assigning, closing, or reopening a conversation.

Once you have several conversations available, experiment with the Communication Center filters.

Try filtering by:

Then combine filters, such as SMS + Assigned to Me.

Expected result:

Each filter narrows the conversation list to matching conversations. Combining filters should narrow the results further. Tell us if conversations appear that do not match your selected filters, or if combining filters produces unexpected results.

Try this

Expected result:

The conversation leaves the active queue but remains available for future reference. Tell us if a closed conversation becomes difficult to locate or disappears from areas where you expect its history to remain available.

Try handling a scheduling request without leaving the conversation.

Try this:

Expected result:

Appointments created from Shepherd Connect behave like appointments created through the normal scheduling workflow. Tell us if creating, editing, or cancelling an appointment behaves differently than you expect.

Try this:

Expected result:

The note saves successfully and is available to other team members from the appropriate client or patient record.

You do not have to follow the scenarios every time you test. Use this list when you want a quicker way to explore Shepherd Connect.

Tell us about anything that feels confusing, broken, unexpected, or unnecessarily difficult — even if you were still able to complete the workflow. Screenshots and examples are especially helpful when something does not behave as expected.

You can send beta feedback through the in-app chat. Let the Support team know you are submitting beta feedback and they will connect you with the right team.

The scenarios in this guide are only a starting point. Use Shepherd Connect in your normal workflows and tell us where the experience works well and where it can be better.