October 2026 Update

This update covers three changes in Version 10: two step sign in is now live, account owners can now control how it applies to their account, and you can now generate letters in batches, with an optional dictation add-on.

Two step sign in is live

We announced two step sign in in September, and it has now been rolled out to all accounts.

After a correct password, you may be asked for a six digit code, sent by email or text message or read from an authenticator app. You are not asked every time. A code is only requested on a new or unrecognised device, when a remembered device has expired, or when a wrong password was entered before the correct one.

What you need to do:

• Check that your email address is confirmed under My Profile. Email is always available as a method, and codes cannot be delivered to an unconfirmed address.
• Consider adding an authenticator app under My Profile > Two Step Sign In. It is the method we recommend, because it works without a network signal and does not depend on email or text message delivery.
• Tick Remember this device on your own computer, so you are rarely asked for a code there.

If you lose or replace your phone, sign in with the email code using Try another way, then remove the old authenticator from My Profile and set up the new one.

Account owners can choose how strictly it applies

Not every service works the same way, so the account owner now has two switches under Settings > Account Policies:

The two settings cannot both be on. Switching one on switches the other off. With neither on, the default behaviour described above applies.

We do not recommend turning two step sign in off. Your account holds client names, contact details and appointment histories, and a password on its own is a single point of failure. The option is there for services that already control access in other ways and have judged the extra step unnecessary. If you turn it off, we suggest recording the reason in your own security documentation.

Generating letters

You can now produce a batch of letters outside the reminder schedule. This is for letters that are not tied to one appointment, such as a service closure, a change of venue, or a recall for a group of clients.

You choose a Word template and the recipients, and Diarybook creates a PDF letter for each client from the client records you already hold. Clients who have opted out of letters are left out automatically. The finished letters are emailed to an address you give, for printing and posting, and can also be downloaded from the job for two months.

Generate Letter is available from the Jobs screen, from the appointments and clients lists, and from an individual client’s record. Before you send, a summary shows the number of letters, the page count, and the price. Letters are priced per page, so check that your template fits on the number of pages you expect.

The full guide is in the documentation: Generating letters.

Letter Dictation add-on

Some letters need a paragraph written for one batch, such as the reason for a closure, while the rest of the letter stays the same. Put a ^^dictation^^ field in your Word template where that text should go, and fill it in when you generate the letters.

You can always type that text. With the Letter Dictation add-on, you can also record it. Diarybook transcribes the recording into text you can review and edit before sending. A single recording can be up to five minutes long. Recordings are not stored; they are discarded as soon as the text is returned.

Transcription is not perfect, especially with names and clinical terms, and the same text goes into every letter in the batch. Read it through before you send.

Letter Dictation is added from the Billing page.

Questions

If you have any questions about these changes, please get in touch.