Collective Booking - Calendars

Collective booking enables attendees to arrange meetings with multiple team members at once. This type of calendar allows multiple users to share a common calendar. When someone wants to schedule an appointment with team members, they can see available time slots based on the combined availability of all the team members in the collective booking calendar.

Ideal for scheduling:

• Dynamic sales call with an executive and an SDR
• Technical support call with a customer support representative and an engineer
• Insightful interview with a recruiter and a hiring manager

Step 1: Creating your Collective Booking Calendar

• Go to Calendars > Calendar Settings
• Click on “Create Calendar”
• Select “Collective Booking”

Step 2: Add the mandatory details for this calendar:

• Calendar Name
• Select Team members (A minimum of 2 team members are required for a Collective Calendar)
• Custom URL
• Meeting duration
• Booking availability
• Accepts Payments toggle
• You can click on "Confirm" and your Collective Calendar will be created.

Note: To customize the Calendar Settings you can either click on “Advanced settings" or once the calendar creation is done, you can click on Edit Calendar which would take you to the advanced settings

Step 3: Choose the Primary Owner

A primary owner in Collective booking would be that team member who would be the lead for the appointment. The primary owner would also be the Appointment owner, and if the contact assignment is enabled then the contact would get assigned to the primary owner.

By default the first team member added to the collective booking would be made the primary owner and the primary owner in the Collective booking cannot be deleted.

Change Primary Owner

To change the Primary owner:

• Go to Advanced Settings/Edit Calendar > Meeting Details
• You will see the option "Make owner" against all the team members who are not currently Primary owner
• Click on "Make owner" against the team member whom you want to make Primary Owner
• The owner would change as shown below and would be indicated with the "Owner" label next to them

Configuring Availability:

• Weekly Working Hours: Set your regular, weekly working hours. This is useful for setting up your default schedule that repeats week after week.
• Date Specific Hours: Adjust your schedule for specific dates. Override your regular weekly hours.
• Booking Widget to Open First Available Date: Bookers can see and select the earliest available slot immediately, eliminating the need for manual searching. This is beneficial for businesses looking to accept early bookings for future events, such as special holidays or seasonal offers. 
• To use this feature, configure Date-Specific Hours without setting Weekly Working Hours. Ensure no recurring weekly hours are configured for this feature to function correctly.

• Duration & Interval: Set the time frame for meetings and the frequency of their occurrence.
• Buffer Time: Allow a cool-down period between appointments.
  • Pre Buffer: Additional Time added before an appointment.
  • Post Buffer: Additional Time added after an appointment.
• Max Bookings: Define daily appointment limits.
• Scheduling Protocols: Dictate prior notice and lead time requirements.
• Office Hours: Define your general availability or specify it for unique dates.
• Recurring Appointments: Choose the rhythm of repeated sessions.

Availability Type Selection

• Standard Availability: Ideal for routine appointments with fixed hours.
• Date-Specific Hours: Perfect for unique timeframes, such as webinars or one-off events.

Look Busy

• The "Look Busy" feature is designed to create urgency by hiding a percentage of your available booking slots, making you appear more in demand.
•  By limiting visible time slots, potential clients may feel a greater need to book quickly, which can lead to increased bookings.
• The hidden slots are randomized across different days, making your availability appear more varied and realistic.

How to use: To use this feature, simply navigate to your calendar settings, enable "Look Busy," and set the percentage of slots to hide.

This feature applies to:

• Event calendars
• Round-robin calendars
• Collective calendars
• Service calendars

PLEASE NOTE: The "Look Busy" feature is not applicable for class bookings and service menus.

Delving into Availability Settings

• Meeting Duration: Designate the length of your appointments (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour).
• Meeting Interval: Specify how often appointments can be scheduled.
• Pre-Buffer & Post-Buffer time: It ensures that pre and post-buffers for appointments do not overlap with blocked slots, providing appropriate buffer times. Input a downtime period between bookings. For instance, if a 30-minute appointment with a 30-minute interval & 30-minute pre and post-buffers were set, and a slot from 12:00 PM to 12:30 PM was blocked,  the next available slot would be 1:00 PM, accommodating the required 30-minute pre-buffer. The previous available slot would be 11:00 AM, considering 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM as the duration and 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM as the required post-buffer.
• Max Bookings Per Slot: Define the upper limit of appointments for each time slot. In cases where the set threshold is exceeded, the system Smoves on to the next user in the round-robin or marks the slot as unavailable.
• Max Bookings Per Day: Set a ceiling for the total number of appointments on this calendar daily.

Scheduling Notice & Date Range Configuration

• Minimum Scheduling Notice: Choose the lead time required before an appointment.
• Date Range: Define how far ahead appointments can be scheduled.

Notifications and additional options

All the team members would be notified once a contact books an appointment. Users can fully customize their email and in-app notifications related to appointments. This allows users more control over notification content and recipients, with six types of notifications available, including Appointment Booked, Cancellation, and Follow-Up.

Notifications

• How do the Notifications work?
  Notifications can be sent through the web app and mobile app, offering flexibility for businesses to choose between sending to the assigned user or any specific users.

• Notifications can be set up for each calendar on an individual level.
• For Event Calendars, the account admin is the default recipient for in-app notifications, while for other calendar types, the assigned user is the default recipient.

Email Notifications:

• Enable Email Notifications by toggling them on, and customize the content for different recipients.

• You can select an existing email template or create a new one with a custom subject line and message body. Set the timing for Reminder and Follow-Up emails, and send a test email if necessary.

• Click Save to confirm your changes.
• Cancellation & Reschedule Policy 

Users can set specific time frames for cancellation and reschedule options on the booking widget, enhancing appointment management. Businesses can define how far in advance bookers can cancel or reschedule appointments, ensuring better control over scheduling and reducing last-minute changes. This helps maintain a well-organized schedule by limiting changes within a defined period.

How to Use:

1. Go to the Notifications and Additional Options section.
2. Enable "Allow Cancellation" and "Allow Rescheduling."
3. Specify the time range for link accessibility. Leaving the value blank means the links will always be accessible.

When enabled, the cancellation and rescheduling links will be added to the additional notes section and included in the calendar invite, expiring as configured to prevent changes outside the specified window.

Payments

Payments would continue to work for Collective Booking if they are enabled for the Calendar, where the user would have to make the payment first, and once the payment is confirmed only then the appointment would be booked.

Payment System

• Payments include capabilities such as confirming transactions before the appointment is finalized, ensuring a secure and streamlined booking process.

Troubleshooting Tool for calendars

This tool provides users with detailed insights into unavailable time slots, helping to quickly identify and resolve issues that may be affecting calendar bookings. By showing the reasons behind unavailable slots, the tool enhances scheduling efficiency for businesses and administrators, making it easier to manage calendars without guesswork.

Benefit: This feature improves booking visibility and helps users make necessary adjustments to avoid missed opportunities.

To use, simply go to Calendar Settings, select your calendar, and choose the "Troubleshoot Calendar" option from the three-dot menu to view available and unavailable slots along with explanations.

FAQs

1. How many team members can I add to a single collective booking calendar?
   You can add up to 100 team members in a collective calendar. However, keep in mind that the more team members you add, the fewer the chances of finding available slots that fit everyone's schedules.
2. Would payments work in Collective Booking?
   Yes, payments would work for Collective Booking. If enabled, the user must complete the payment first, and once confirmed, the appointment will be booked.
3. Can I use Collective Booking for virtual appointments?
   Yes, Collective Booking can be used for both virtual and physical appointments. Ensure to add the correct details in the Meeting location field, such as a virtual meeting link for online appointments.
4. Can I remove a team member from an existing collective booking calendar?
   Yes, you can remove any team member from the collective booking calendar except for the Primary Owner. If the team member you want to remove is the Primary Owner, you must change the ownership first before removing that team member.
5. I have changed the primary owner of the collective booking calendar, but for the existing appointment, I still see the old primary owner. Why?
   The details of the booked appointment reflect the Calendar settings that were in place when the appointment was booked. Any appointment booked after the changes would start reflecting the new settings, including the new Primary Owner.
6. Is there a way I can change the Primary Owner for an already-created appointment?
   No, there is no way for users to change the details of an already booked collective appointment, including the Primary Owner. Changes will only apply to new appointments.
7. Can I edit or reschedule a booked collective appointment?
   Yes, you can edit or reschedule a booked collective appointment. However, you cannot change the team members involved once the appointment has been booked.
8. How many team members can I add to a single collective booking calendar?
   You can add up to 100 team members in a collective calendar. Keep in mind that with more team members, the chances of finding mutually available slots decrease.
9. Would payments work in Collective booking?
   Yes, payments work for Collective Booking. If enabled, users must complete the payment first, and only after the payment is confirmed will the appointment be booked.
10. Can I use Collective Booking for virtual appointments?
    Yes, Collective Booking can be used for both virtual and physical appointments. Be sure to enter the appropriate details in the Meeting location field, whether it's a virtual link or a physical address.
11. Can I remove a team member from an existing collective booking calendar?
    Yes, you can remove any team member from the collective booking calendar except for the Primary Owner. If the Primary Owner needs to be removed, change the ownership to another user first.
12. I have changed the Primary Owner of the collective booking calendar, but for the existing appointment, I still see the old Primary Owner, why?
    The details of the booked appointment will reflect the settings of the calendar at the time the appointment was made. Appointments booked after the owner change will reflect the new Primary Owner.
13. Is there a way I can change the Primary Owner for an already-created appointment?
    No, there is no way to change the Primary Owner for an appointment that has already been booked.
14. Can I edit/reschedule a booked collective appointment?
    Yes, you can edit or reschedule the details of a booked collective appointment, but you cannot change the team members involved once the appointment has been booked.
15. Can I customize the content of email and in-app notifications for appointments?
    Yes, you can fully customize both email and in-app notifications, allowing you to control the content and choose specific recipients. You can create custom messages for notifications such as Appointment Booked, Cancellation, and Follow-Up.
16. 2. Who receives the default notifications for different calendar types?
    For Event Calendars, the default recipient for in-app notifications is the account admin. For other calendar types, the assigned user is the default recipient for notifications.
17. Why are some time slots unavailable on my calendar?

The Troubleshooting Tool provides a detailed explanation for unavailable time slots, helping users understand why certain times cannot be booked. By using the tool, you can identify specific issues such as conflicting appointments, user availability, or calendar settings that may be blocking these slots. To view the reasons, navigate to Calendar Settings, select your calendar, and use the "Troubleshoot Calendar" option from the three-dot menu.