What Software Do Companies Use for Scheduling?

There are many different software solutions to help companies schedule appointments. Scheduling software can range from a simple spreadsheet to a sophisticated appointment booking system. With a multitude of options, rather than listing each one individually, it’s more valuable to look at how to evaluate a solution.

When looking for appointment scheduling software, there are the top ten questions to consider:

• How sophisticated of a solution do you need?
  Odds are, if you are at the point where you’re investing in or upgrading your appointment scheduling software, you’ll want one that can scale with your business. Be sure to think about what capabilities are a must-have and which are nice-to-have. It’s also appropriate to consider if the solution is highly configurable and secure in addition to your budget.
• How easy is it to use?
  Ease of use isn’t just on the employee’s side. Whichever solution you select should be intuitive for the customer as well. Look for an appointment scheduling system that is simple to use without sacrificing functionality.
• How does the system handle roles, permissions, and employee profiles?
  Every employee needs to have their own unique settings to make sure that customers are booking with the right person. It’s vital to be able to define each employee’s location, availability, and other business rules, as well as having the ability to set how appointments should be assigned when more than one employee is available.
• How are appointment types defined?
  Every industry has different needs, and some use specific methods of scheduling or have a variety of appointment types to suit their clients. Look for a solution that allows you to define appointment type attributes flexibly.
• How does the solution help with customer flow and queue management?
  Consider what types of capabilities are available to help staff assist customers at your locations? For example, you may want to ask about functions like:
  • The ability to accommodate walk-in customers
  • Status settings for appointments and if they can be actively managed (like “check-in, start, in-progress, complete”)
  • Estimated wait times that are automatically calculated based on historical data
  • Customer self-service capabilities like being able to check in at an on-location kiosk
  • Functionality to easily book future appointments for customers at different departments and locations
    
    These are just a few examples of how a scheduling system can help with customer flow and queue management, and a great solution will include all of these and more.
• How much monitoring and reporting is built in?
  Consider the analytics that are offered. It’s important to have comprehensive monitoring and reporting tools included in the solution. This gives management the ability to collect vital metrics, analyze operational efficiencies, generate real-time information, and access the reports they need, when they need them.
• How can customers interact with the system?
  In today’s world, there are so many different channels that a customer can come to you from. Whether they are booking on their mobile device, clicking a button on social media, scheduling from Google search results, or using a chatbot on your website, your appointment scheduler needs to handle self-service booking across every channel. In addition, having capabilities like adding appointments to a personal calendar, being able to log-in to reschedule or cancel, having a variety of field types to be able to enter all the required and optional information…these tools help customers have a smooth, positive experience.
• How are customers supported throughout the appointment process?
  Does the solution provide options like email and text reminders before the appointment? A great system will even include the ability to customize messages and send follow ups to help customers feel supported from start to finish.
• How will this solution integrate with your existing tech stack?
  It’s important to make sure that your appointment scheduling software will “play nice” with your CRM and calendar solutions like Microsoft Exchange and Google Calendar. Be sure to ask if there are packaged integrations available and, if so, what solutions are supported.
• How secure is the appointment scheduling system?
  Your appointment scheduler will inevitably contain a lot of sensitive information about your customers. With that in mind, it’s necessary to ask about end-user access controls like user authentication or password security controls. In addition, be sure to inquire about how they host and secure information (including disaster recovery policies). Do they conduct regular SOC II type 2 audits on their hosting service? How often do they take backups, where do they store them, and are they encrypted prior to transmission? These are just a few of the important questions to ask.

As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when selecting the right scheduling software for your business, and this list of ten questions barely scratches the surface. For additional questions, you can download our eBook that will help you evaluate your options so you can make an informed decision about your appointment scheduling vendor.

The last thing to consider when selecting software for your appointment scheduling needs is simple—is the vendor a true partner and a company that you want to work with? Are they providing you with great support and customer service? Are they engaged in the process, listening to your needs and responding to your concerns? Will they be there to support you through the implementation process? You’re making a significant investment, and you deserve a vendor who has exceptional customer service.

What Are Three Methods of Appointment Scheduling?

The three most common types of scheduling methods are time slot scheduling, wave scheduling, and open booking.

Time Slot

Clients are given a specific time slot for their appointment.

Wave

Many clients are given the same time and assisted in order of arrival.

Open Booking

Clients are given a time range of time for their appointment.

1. Time Slot Scheduling

Also known as stream scheduling, this is the most common scheduling method that most people are familiar with. Clients are able to view a list of available time slots, pick the time that works best for them, fill out details for the appointment, and receive a confirmation by email or text message. Double scheduling is a modification to this method where the business can choose to schedule two appointments into the same time slot. This allows the ability to accommodate customers with urgent needs, especially when a schedule is full.

The benefits of time slot scheduling are clear—the business can easily set the appointment availability and clients can simply select a convenient time. However, if clients arrive late or an appointment runs over, this can impact the following appointments in a negative way.

2. Wave Scheduling

This type of scheduling method gives a group of customers the same arrival time, usually at the top or bottom of the hour, and then accommodates them in the order they arrive. Another version is the modified wave scheduling, where a group of appointments is scheduled at the top of the hour with single appointments every 10 to 20 minutes throughout the rest of the hour. Wave scheduling is very flexible and adaptable but could lead to customers leaving if there aren’t enough consultants available at the time they arrive.

3. Open Booking

Also called tidal wave scheduling, open booking is a method where clients are given a window of time to come in. For example, there may be a time range like 10 am to 12 pm where clients can arrive at any time and will be helped in the order of their arrival.

This type of booking doesn’t require much administrative work and is highly flexible. The downside is that it can be difficult to forecast traffic, leading to difficulties with appropriate staffing. Additionally, it is possible for clients to arrive close together, leading to long wait times.

While there are a few other methods, these 3 types of appointments are the most common strategies when booking clients.

How Do You Keep Track of Business Appointments?

The best way to keep track of your business appointments is to use a solution with comprehensive measuring and reporting tools. It’s easy to forget about the analytical side of appointment scheduling, but this is one of the most important parts of the entire process. Keeping track of your appointments allows you to identify areas for improvement as well as positive trends that you can encourage at every location.

Metrics that are important to examine include:

All of these metrics and more help teams make decisions that are rooted in data—from measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns to analyzing the quality of customer interactions.

What Is the Best Scheduling System?

At Engageware, we know that the best online booking system is one that helps you create high value interactions that connect the customer to the right person at the right time. Our appointment scheduling solution is focused on building stronger relationships through customizable features and core capabilities like:

• Omnichannel scheduling to connect customers at their moment of peak interest wherever they may be.
• Smart resource matching and appointment routing that ensure each appointment request is sent to the appropriate team member and includes the best resources.
• Pooled resource management that maximizes appointment availability by dynamically publishing employee availability in one easy-to-read calendar.
• 1-on-1 and team meeting capabilities for simple team scheduling and personal calendar sync to stay up-to-date with your teams’ personal calendars.
• Custom availability with offerings like fully open availability, rolling availability, a set date range, or choosing specific dates and times.
• Configurable rules like easy to implement business rules, timeframes, and appointment limits that give you the control you need.
• Automated reminders that help reduce no-show rates and ensure customer satisfaction with customized post-appointment follow-ups.
• Web/video conferencing with unique, private web conference meetings created automatically for each appointment type from integrations such as Vidyo, Zoom, WebEx, GoToMeeting, POP I/O, Join.me, Google Hangouts, Invo Video Banking and Microsoft Teams.
• Reporting and analytics that provide clear insights for making data-informed decisions to help you and your team optimize your marketing efforts, plan resources, achieve positive experiences for your customers, and profitable outcomes for your business.
• CRM connector that captures all of the data during the booking process so you can see the impact your appointments have on your sales funnel into your CRM.

Ready to start enabling, empowering, and engaging your customers and employees? Schedule a time to learn more about Engageware appointment scheduling.