Microsoft Bookings

Microsoft Bookings

Microsoft Bookings is designed to allow customers (clients) to book appointments with your business.  It is geared towards service industries like spas, medical offices, auto shops, and hair salons.  However, it can be applied for any business that needs to book appointments, or even give your clients the ability to book one on one appointments with individuals at your business.

There are other software vendors out there that have specific products for booking one on one appointments like Calendly and Bookafy which work just fine, but why pay for something when you most likely already have an option with something you are already paying for?

If you have an Office 365 Business Premium plan (there are other plans that qualify as well) you have access to Microsoft Bookings.

Bookings have 3 primary components:

• An online booking page where your customers can schedule appointments with specific staff members. This page can be used as a stand-alone page or embedded in your website and works on desktop and mobile devices.
• An online backend where you can view and manage appointments, set a staff list and schedules, specify your services and pricing, record customer preferences, and customize how the service works.
• A mobile app you can use to view and manage bookings and access customer information from anywhere you can get an internet connection.

With Bookings, you can efficiently:

• Bring in Business 24/7 – You get a customizable public web page your customers can use to book appointments around the clock.
• Put an End to Phone Tag – Customers can view available times online and book the slot that’s most convenient for them. Customers who prefer to call can do so, and you can enter their information manually. Either way, confirmations are sent immediately and automatically.
• Offer Self-service Rescheduling and Cancellations – It’s easy for customers to change or cancel an appointment. All they have to do is click the link contained in the appointment confirmation email. You can control how much advance notice is required for cancellations.
• Manage Bookings on the Go – With the mobile app, you can add or view appointments and access or change staff and scheduling info when you’re away from the office. You can also view customer information and call or text customers directly from your mobile device.

How it Works

Bookings appointments can be made two different ways: customers can schedule an appointment themselves using the online booking page or staff can manually enter appointments. To make an appointment, the customer first selects the service they want. Then, based on the availability schedule you created, they can choose a day and time and enter their contact information to book the appointment.

As soon as the appointment is submitted, the customer is sent an email confirmation notice. The notice contains details of the appointment and a link for directions. It also includes a link the customer can use to change or cancel the appointment.

At the same time, the date is automatically added to your calendar or your staff’s calendar. Bookings work with Outlook calendar and Google calendar. Your customers won’t see your linked business calendars; they’ll only see the Bookings calendar you publish online.

The configuration is highly customizable and easy to configure. To set it up, you simply:

1. Enter your business information.
2. Set your scheduling policies, such as length of appointments, acceptable cancellation times, and automatic notifications.
3. Define your service offerings, including service name, description, location, and pricing. You can also add internal notes about the service.
4. Create your staff list.
5. Set employee working hours.
6. Schedule business closures for vacations or other reasons.
7. Publish your booking page.

You can even then create links to individual schedules (or services) for yourself and include it in your email signature, allowing anyone you send an email the ability to easily schedule some time to talk to you.

If you have any questions on Microsoft Bookings or any other Microsoft Office 365 product please reach out to us.

Chris Roberts

As our Chief Strategy Officer, Chris Roberts is committed to helping each and every one of our clients attain a higher standard of IT efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and optimization. He focuses on research and development in an effort to identify and harness the best IT practices for businesses.