Tutorials / Setting it up
Setting it up . 5 min read
Let people book themselves in
Booking by phone tag costs you more jobs than a bad quote does. A booking calendar gives people a link, shows them only times you are genuinely free, and puts the appointment in your diary with confirmations and reminders attached.
First, make sure you exist as a user
A calendar needs a host, and the host has to be a user in the system. If you are setting this up for yourself and you are not listed yet:
- Go to Settings, then My Staff.
- Click Add User, add yourself, and save.
Create the calendar
- Go to Calendar, then Calendar Settings.
- Click + New Calendar.
- Choose the type. For a normal one person appointment, that is Personal Booking.
- Fill in the detail: a name the customer will understand, yourself as host, the booking link, how long the appointment runs, and your available hours.
- Save.
Do the connection step or you will get double booked. Until you connect your real calendar, this system does not know about the dentist appointment in your personal diary and will happily offer that slot. Open the Connections tab and click Add New to link your actual calendar. If you take video calls, link that under Video Conferencing at the same time.
Turn on confirmations and reminders
This is the bit that cuts no shows, and it is not on by default. You do not have to build it from scratch:
- Go to Automation.
- Click Create Workflow and choose Recipe.
- Pick Appointment Confirmation + Reminder.
- Update the meeting link if it is a video call, then save the action.
- Click Publish.
Getting the link out there
Click Share in the top right of the calendar. You get three options:
- Copy Link, the normal one. Put it in your email signature, your website button and your text replies.
- One-Time Link, for a single person, useful when you do not want it passed around.
- Embed Code, to drop the booking form straight into a web page.
Set the duration honestly. If a site visit takes 45 minutes plus travel, do not set it to 30. The calendar will pack your day to the point where you run late all afternoon, and then people stop trusting the times it offers.