Add / Edit Appointment Types

Appointment types are useful when a “service” has multiple sub-types, which may have different lengths, but which are generally bookable at the same time and with the same rules.

• For example, a massage therapist may offer 30, 60, and 90 minute appointment types.

• For example, a family physician may offer appointment types specific to new symptoms, follow-ups, and vaccination.

If at least one appointment type is specified, Veribook will default to presenting your customers with a grid of available appointment times.

If multiple appointment types are specified, your customers will have the option of choosing between the various appointment types.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Click the service that you want to add / edit appointment types for.

Do NOT click the settings cog, this setting is not available through there.

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4. Add / remove / re-order the options as appropriate for your needs.

Automatically Accept Appointment Requests

By default, appointment requests for available times are automatically accepted. This is similar to how registration requests for events are automatically accepted.

You are also able to disable this feature so that you have an opportunity to review appointment requests before customers are advised that the appointment is confirmed.

In such circumstances, customers are nevertheless immediately advised by email that their request for an appointment has been received, and that they should expect further confirmation of their appointment.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to review and confirm booking requests.

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4. Select the General tab, and uncheck the Automatically accept booking requests for available times option.

Remember to save your changes.

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5. New appointment requests for this service will now be labelled Action required.

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6. Use the Accept, Decline, and Counter-Offer buttons to respond to new appointment requests.

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Appointment requests will now require manual review and acceptance.

Set Email Reminders for Appointments

By default, customers will be sent a reminder by email 1 day in advance of appointments. You are able to disable or configure the timing of these reminders.

In order to minimize spam complaints, it is not possible to configure multiple reminders.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update the timing of its email reminders.

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4. Select the General tab, and check off and configure the Automatically remind clients by e-mail option.

Remember to save your changes.

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Email reminders for this service will now be sent (or not sent) in accordance with your configuration.

Require Advance Notice to Cancel Appointments

By default, customers can cancel bookings anytime. You are able to configure this feature in two ways:

• After a certain deadline, customers are warned of potential fees when cancelling

• After a certain deadline, customers are prevented from cancelling

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update this feature.

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4. Select the General tab, and configure the Bookings must be cancelled in advance by at least option to set a deadline.

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5. If the Allow clients to cancel bookings after the cancellation deadline option is checked, customers are warned of potential fees when cancelling after the deadline, but are able to proceed with the cancellation.

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6. If the Allow clients to cancel bookings after the cancellation deadline option is unchecked, customers are prevented altogether from cancelling after the deadline and are instead instructed to contact you directly.

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Online Payments

Take payments or credit card authorization from customers as part of the booking process.

By default, with this feature enabled, users must submit payment prior to completing their booking request.

Alternatively, on request, please contact your account manager and we can configure your account so that users must submit a credit card authorization prior to completing their booking request, but their credit card is not actually charged. This facilities workflows such as taking a credit card authorization for a virtual appointment, and only charging for the appointment after the appointment is completed.

At the moment, Veribook fully integrates with PayPal Merchant Accounts.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to enable online payments.

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4. Select the Online Payment tab, then select the Account Payment Gateways button.

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5. Enter and save the e-mail address associated with your PayPal Merchant Account. All customer payments will be automatically directed into this account.

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6. Finish configuring the options for this service:

• Select the option to Accept Payments Online for this service

• Choose the desired currency (default is USD)

• Specify the price per booking

• Specify the applicable tax rate

Contact us if you require assistance implementing more complex pricing rules.

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You are now ready to receive online payments for your service. Bookings for which payments have been received will be automatically tagged paid

Mark Pending Appointment Requests as Unavailable

By default, timeslots corresponding to pending appointment requests that have not yet been accepted are immediately considered unavailable. This means other customers cannot request a timeslot that another customer has already requested, even if the request has not yet been accepted.

You are able to configure this feature so that this is not the case. That is, until an appointment timeslot has been accepted by you, other customers can continue to request the same timeslot.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update this feature.

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4. Select the General tab, and configure the Mark timeslots as busy upon receipt of booking request option.

Remember to save your changes.

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Configure How Far in Advance to Accept Bookings

By default, customers can book any available timeslot in the future. You are able to configure this feature so customers can only book a maximum amount of time into the future.

For example, you may require that bookings are made at most 30 days in advance.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update this feature.

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4. Select the General tab, and configure the Bookings may be requested in advance by a maximum of: option.

Remember to save your changes.

Leave this field blank to not have a maximum.

If using the “hour” option, any appointment available between now and now + X hours will be visible to people looking to schedule.

If using the “day” option, any appointment available between now and now + X days in the future will be visible to people looking to schedule. This is calculated according to the service timezone (if available), otherwise, the account timezone. This means additional appointments become available at midnight each day.

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Require Minimum Advance Notice for Bookings

By default, customers can book any available timeslot at least 5 minutes in the future. You are able to configure this feature so that only bookings further in the future are available to be booked.

For example, you may require that bookings are made at least 24 hours in advance.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update this feature.

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4. Select the General tab, and configure the Bookings must be requested in advance by at least: option.

The options include:
Weekday: 1 weekday in advance is equivalent to 24 hours in advance, with the exception that Saturday and Sunday are ignored. This means, to book an appointment on a Monday at 3PM, individuals would need to do so before Friday at 3PM.

Hour / Minute: Using the hour/minute function will stop allowing bookings X hours / minutes in advance of any given appointment.

Remember to save your changes.

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Your customers will now be able to see only available appointments at least the amount of time specified in the future.

Add a Minimum Gap Between Bookings

By default, appointments can be scheduled back-to-back without any gap. You are able to configure this feature so that there must be a minimum gap between appointment times.

For example, you may require that there be a minimum gap time of 15 minutes between appointments to allow for cleaning or preparation time.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update this feature.

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4. Select the General tab, and configure the Leave a minimum gap between bookings of: option.

Remember to save your changes.

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Your appointments for this particular service will now be scheduled to have a minimum gap relative to any other appointment or event.

Add A Booking Manually

Sometimes it's necessary to manually enter appointments into a resource's schedule.

For example, some clients may prefer to schedule appointments by phone or email, or wish to schedule an appointment at the end of a previous appointment. In other situations, it's helpful to add appointments on a recurring basis (e.g. every Monday afternoon).

By entering such appointments into Veribook manually,

• your calendar is kept complete and comprehensive;

• double bookings are prevented;

• customers can cancel and reschedule online; and

• reminder emails can be automatically sent.

It can also be useful to use this feature to block out breaks, as an alternative to adjusting the resource's working hours or adding an event.

Instructions

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1. Select the Calendar button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Bookings tab.

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3. Select one of the existing resources.

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4. Select the New Booking button

It's also an option to simply double-click on the calendar itself.

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5. Complete the form as appropriate to create a one-time or recurring booking, and click the Create button.

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6. If the E-mail field is completed, a confirmation (and reminders) will be sent to this email address.

If a single booking is being added, the emails will include a link to cancel or reschedule.

If a recurring booking is being added, the emails will direct your customer to contact you directly to cancel or reschedule.

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Change your Service Time Zone

If your customers are in a certain time zone, or if appointments or events are always conducted in a particular time zone, set the time zone for a particular service to reduce the likelihood of error and confusion.

By setting the time zone, available appointments will be presented in the selected time zone and emails will be formatted in the selected time zone.

Do not configure this setting if your service is provided remotely or online - Veribook will automatically adjust for time zone differences in this situation. This is the default setting.

Note that this setting is separate from your account time zone. The service time zone configures the time zone that is presented to your customers, whereas your account time zone configures the time zone that is primarily used when sending you emails.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update its time zone.

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4. Select and save the time zone.

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The time zone for this service has now been configured. Emails associated with this service will be sent in the selected time zone, and the available appointments will also be presented in this time zone.

Share a Direct Link to your Service

The simplest way to have customers or clients schedule with you is by sharing a direct link to a particular service.

Share this link by adding it to your website or social media presence, or by emailing it to appropriate individuals.

Alternatively, consider integrating your booking form directly into your existing website.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the links icon for the service that you wish to share.

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4. The Share Your Booking Request Form option will display a link corresponding to the selected service.

Share this link with customers by email or social media, or by adding it into your existing website.

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Embed a Booking Form into your Website

While it's easier to have customers or clients schedule with you by sharing a direct link to a particular service, it's oftentimes preferable to integrate Veribook directly into your website.

By doing so, customers are kept within your website for the entire booking process, delivering a more streamlined user experience.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the links icon for the service that you wish to embed into your website.

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4. The Add a Booking Request Form to Your Website option will display two short snippets of code. Add the first to the HTML Head tag section, and the second to the HTML Body tag section of your own website.

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5. As an example, this sample file embeds a booking form to schedule an online demo with us.

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Customize your Booking and Registration Form Fields

By default, your customers are asked to supply only their name, phone number, and email address when booking an appointment or registering for an event.

Certain information is also displayed, such as the applicable resource, price, and location.

It is often convenient to ask for additional or different information, or to hide some of the information displayed by default, as in these examples

• medical clinic

• municipality

• staff interviews

• visitor parking

The types of form fields available include:

• text fields

• text areas

• drop down menus

• check boxes

Instructions

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1. Email customercare@veribook.com with the details of the new form(s) to be added to your account. There is no charge for this service.

Continue with the following steps once you have received confirmation back.

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2. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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3. Select the Services tab.

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4. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to set or update this feature.

(pro-tip: if updating the form for multiple services at the same time, you can check off the services simultaneously, then click the Edit Service button to change the form for all services simultaneously.

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5. Select the Misc tab.

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6. Select the appropriate form from the list of forms added to your account.

Remember to save the change.

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7. Customers booking or registering for this service will now see the customized form.

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Add Custom Information into Confirmation Emails

Confirmation and reminder emails sent to your customers can be customized to include additional information. For example, supply:

• Pre-appointment instructions

• Links to documents or useful information

• Parking instructions

• Travel directions

These instructions are specific to each of your services so that different services can include different custom information.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to supply custom information.

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4. Select the E-mail tab

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5. Select the Confirmation Message option from the Settings List

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6. To add custom information into all confirmation and reminder emails sent to your customers for this service, enter and save a message.

Leave this field blank if no additional information needs to be supplied.

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7. Confirmation and reminder emails sent to your customers will now include this additional information

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Usually for no extra cost, our team is able to deliver additional email customizations. Contact us to request these customizations.

Include a Calendar Invitation in Confirmation Emails

By default, many notification emails sent to your customers include an ICS file (also known as a calendar invitation) to update third-party calendars such as Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar. For example, by default:

• Confirmation emails include a file to add the appointment

• Cancellation emails include a file to remove the appointment

• Rescheduling emails include a file to add the new appointment time

You are able to disable this feature so that these ICS files are not sent. This setting is specific to each of your services.

Instructions

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1. Select the Setup Services button in the main navigation bar.

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2. Select the Services tab.

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3. Select the settings cog for the service for which you want to supply custom information.

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4. Select the E-mail tab

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5. Select the ICS File option from the Settings List

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6. Uncheck the option to “Include ICS file to add bookings and events to third-party calendars such as Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar”.

Leave this value checked to continue to include an ICS file.

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Usually for no extra cost, our team is able to deliver additional email customizations. Contact us to request these customizations.