Open Dental Reminder Texts Stopped? What to Check

When Open Dental reminder texts stop, start with the eConnector. It is a Windows service on your server that carries texting, Web Sched and eConfirmations between your database and Open Dental Software. If it stopped, did not return after a reboot, or its sign-in expired, the texts stop with it. The texting product is the vendor's. The server is ours.

Last updated: October 2026

What is the eConnector and why does it matter?

It is the Windows service every Open Dental eService needs: it carries traffic between the vendor's secure servers and the practice. It runs on one machine that stays on, usually the server. In eServices it shows as Working, Stopped or None. If it stops, or that computer sleeps, eServices stop.

It does not run inside the program on the front-desk PC. Reminder texts and confirmations go out through it, and patient replies and Web Sched bookings come back through it.

Because it is a Windows service on your server, it fails the way any service fails: stopped, failed to start, blocked by a firewall, quarantined by antivirus. Those are server problems, and they are ours.

Why did the eConnector stop?

Usually because the computer hosting it was off or asleep, or the internet dropped. An Open Dental update run without stopping the service first leaves it on the wrong version, a firewall can block it, and clocks out of sync make it look down when it is not.

• The server restarted and the service did not. Windows Update rebooted the server. The service is set to start automatically but gave up because the network or the database was not ready yet. Texting has been dead since, and nobody noticed until a patient asked.
• The sign-in expired or changed. The eConnector authenticates to Open Dental Software with the practice's eServices sign-in. A password change or expired registration stops it while the service still shows as running.
• A firewall change. The eConnector needs to reach the vendor over the internet. A new firewall, a new ISP router, or a tightened outbound rule blocks it.
• Antivirus. A scanner with no exception for Open Dental can quarantine the service's files or block its traffic.
• It was never on the server. On some installs the eConnector sits on a front-desk PC that someone now turns off at night. It belongs on a machine that is always on, which is the server.

What can the front desk check first?

1. In Open Dental, open the eServices setup window. It shows whether the eConnector is reported as running. If it is not, the fix is on the server.
2. Note when the last text went out, and ask whether the server restarted or the internet changed around then.
3. Check whether Web Sched and eConfirmations also stopped. If all three stopped together, it is the eConnector. If only one type of message stopped, it is more likely a setting inside the eServices product, which is the vendor's side.
4. Check whether Open Dental itself opens. If the whole practice is down, texting is the smaller problem and the Open Dental down page is the place to start.

What does ClearMax do?

Over a remote session to the server, in this order:

1. Open Windows Services and read the eConnector's state: stopped, running, or stuck starting.
2. Read the Windows event log for the time it stopped. The log usually names the cause: a failed start, a dependency, a crash, a quarantine.
3. Start the service, then set it to automatic with a delayed start so it waits for the network and the database after a reboot.
4. Confirm the outbound path: the firewall rule, DNS from the server, and the server's clock.
5. Check free disk space and the antivirus log for anything touching the eConnector's files.
6. Watch a reminder go out.

If the service is running, the path is open, and texts still do not send, the fault is inside the eServices product or the eServices account, and that is the vendor's. We open the ticket with Open Dental Software under your subscription, with the service state, event log entries and timeline attached.

Which parts are Open Dental Software's?

• The texting plan and the eServices account, including its sign-in and registration.
• Web Sched, eConfirmations and reminder rules, templates and timing.
• Delivery once the message has left the eConnector, including anything on the carrier side.
• Errors inside the eConnector itself once the server, network and account are shown to be healthy.

What stays with ClearMax is the server the service runs on, the patch schedule, the firewall it talks through, the antivirus that leaves it alone, and the disk it lives on. Most texting outages end on that list. The server and backups page covers the rest.

Common questions when reminder texts stop

Texts stopped right after our server rebooted. Why?

Because the eConnector service did not come back after the reboot, and every eService depends on it. In Open Dental, open eServices, eConnector Service. If it says Stopped, click Start, then read the eConnector History for errors. The machine running the eConnector has to stay on and awake.

Do we call Open Dental Software or you?

Either works, but calling us first is usually shorter. We check the server side in one session, and if it is the vendor's side we open that ticket for you with the evidence attached. If you call the vendor first, they will ask whether the service is running, and someone still has to look at the server.

Can the eConnector run on a front-desk computer instead of the server?

Yes, but only when the server is not an option, per Open Dental's manual. It goes on one machine, set as the Update Server, with the service logging on as an administrator. That computer must stay on and awake: a front-desk PC shut down at six stops texting at six.

If texting is down now, the contact page has the number and the form.