Microsoft bookings

[chrisstribbs]

Hi,
I am curious as to whether people use Microsoft Bookings?

One of the companies that I work with wants to send it to clients to book their coaching.
I realise it is about making sure that the calendar for the availability is current.

My assumption is that I can offer the link to another company and they can use this to see my availability and then book into both calendars.

Does anyone who uses the tool have any thoughts please?

 

[ivanjay205]

Hi,
I am curious as to whether people use Microsoft Bookings?

One of the companies that I work with wants to send it to clients to book their coaching.
I realise it is about making sure that the calendar for the availability is current.

My assumption is that I can offer the link to another company and they can use this to see my availability and then book into both calendars.

Does anyone who uses the tool have any thoughts please?

I have used Boomerang for Outlook (also have it for gmail) and that works really well for sharing availability. I have not used Microsoft Bookings. Calendly is of course the big name in that space.

 

[chrisstribbs]

I have used Boomerang for Outlook (also have it for gmail) and that works really well for sharing availability. I have not used Microsoft Bookings. Calendly is of course the big name in that space.

Thanks. I am mainly drawn to it because it is part of 365 rather than paying for calendly .

 

[mcogilvie]

Wow, a thing I didn’t know existed. But I live mostly in an Apple and Unix environment.

 

[John Forrister]

Wow, a thing I didn’t know existed. But I live mostly in an Apple and Unix environment.

@mcogilvie Are you using a computer system that still runs on Unix?

Years ago I had a boss who offered to send me to training on Unix, and I didn't do it. Still wish I had.

 

[mcogilvie]

@mcogilvie Are you using a computer system that still runs on Unix?

Years ago I had a boss who offered to send me to training on Unix, and I didn't do it. Still wish I had.

Just about all research computing beyond desktop systems is carried out on Unix systems, often varieties of Linux. That’s where most scientists and engineers encounter it. However, Unix is all around us. Apple’s operating systems are all Unix-based: Mac’s, iPad, iPhones, Apple Watches and Apple TV’s. Android has a partial Unix lineage, and many programmable devices are based around Unix. In macO, the Terminal app gives you a shell which executes all the standard Unix programs. For the most part, Unix is hidden from most users, but I think a lot of the operating system concepts can become familiar quickly.

 

[bishblaize]

Yeah we use MS Bookings for our clients. We already use O365 and it has everything we need for our purposes. It doesnt have any integrated payment system as far as I can tell, which is the main thing many will want. But if you just want people to book a slot in a calendar it'll work fine. You can set working times and then additionally rule out times when you have another appointment. So for example you could set it so that it only allows appointments between 10 and 2 Monday to Thursday, but if you have another appointment, it won't book into that slot.

 

[chrisstribbs]

Yeah we use MS Bookings for our clients. We already use O365 and it has everything we need for our purposes. It doesnt have any integrated payment system as far as I can tell, which is the main thing many will want. But if you just want people to book a slot in a calendar it'll work fine. You can set working times and then additionally rule out times when you have another appointment. So for example you could set it so that it only allows appointments between 10 and 2 Monday to Thursday, but if you have another appointment, it won't book into that slot.

Thank you

 

[chrisstribbs]

Yeah we use MS Bookings for our clients. We already use O365 and it has everything we need for our purposes. It doesnt have any integrated payment system as far as I can tell, which is the main thing many will want. But if you just want people to book a slot in a calendar it'll work fine. You can set working times and then additionally rule out times when you have another appointment. So for example you could set it so that it only allows appointments between 10 and 2 Monday to Thursday, but if you have another appointment, it won't book into that slot.

Is there anything you know that you wish you knew about it before starting?

 

[Diego]

After an entire day of torture testing Bookings I have come to the conclusion that it does “pick-your-employee-from-the-list” bookings very well and the page design is aesthetically pleasing but for 1:1 individual bookings it is far inferior to Calendly and I will continue to pay for Calendly rather than use Bookings, which is included for free. The design of the individual Bookings page is one reason (it looks like garbage and the icon options you have to bullet appointments look childish) but the lack of customization options, rules, and advanced workflows is the main reason. Also, there are several Calendly alternatives, each with its own set of features and strengths.

 

[chrisstribbs]

After an entire day of torture testing Bookings I have come to the conclusion that it does “pick-your-employee-from-the-list” bookings very well and the page design is aesthetically pleasing but for 1:1 individual bookings it is far inferior to Calendly and I will continue to pay for Calendly rather than use Bookings, which is included for free. The design of the individual Bookings page is one reason (it looks like garbage and the icon options you have to bullet appointments look childish) but the lack of customization options, rules, and advanced workflows is the main reason.

What specifically keeps you paying for calendly? A colleague of mine decided to stop and switch to bookings. I am loath to use anything, as i want a minimum gap between appointments. Coaching and training is most effective when you have the time to do stuff between sessions.

 

[nlemon3434]

Hi,
I am curious as to whether people use Microsoft Bookings?

One of the companies that I work with wants to send it to clients to book their coaching.
I realise it is about making sure that the calendar for the availability is current.

My assumption is that I can offer the link to another company and they can use this to see my availability and then book into both calendars.

Does anyone who uses the tool have any thoughts please?

We use Bookings extensively in our company. All customer appointments are set using the Bookings Calendar, as many of the appointments require the attendance of more than one member of our team, and the Bookings Calendar allows us to quickly find a time that works for everyone. In this instance, our sales person is referencing the calendar and proposing times to the customer while either on a call or in a meeting. We do not share the services page online or send links to it via email; it is just used as an internal scheduling tool. For my own meetings, I have created an e-mail signature with a line that says "Click Here to schedule a meeting with me". Initially it went to a Bookings Services page where they had the option to select a 30 minute or 60 minute meeting, but I decided to take more control over my schedule, so now I have one version for a 30 minute meeting and one for a 60 minute meeting. I'm thinking of adding a 15 minute option as well for a quick call or check-in. I have one more signature with no meeting offered, so I can choose how much of my time I want to give the person, if any. I think it saves me a lot of time in coordinating meeting times with people, especially when you throw time zones in there which sometimes can be confusing. In response to your desire for buffers between meetings, you can set booking to require a buffer before and/or after a meeting. I have mine set to 15 minutes. I think every knowledge professional who frequently needs to schedule virtual meetings via e-mail should use a calendar link. Do not ask me to propose some times so that you can respond tomorrow with one that works for you, by which point that time is now full, so I have to respond with several more times, and by the time we arrive at a time, I'm no longer interest in having the meeting. Scheduling an appointment should take 2 minutes tops between both parties. See attached image for what it looks like in Outlook in my signature box. It sounds more complicated than it really is. It takes me a split second when writing an email to decide if I want to offer a meeting or not. My favorite part of this is that the meeting is automatically input in my schedule without me doing anything. (Which is why I want to be more selective about what meeting times I offer). I suggest you give it it a try, maybe just set up one email link and try it to see if it works for you to get started

 

[chrisstribbs]

My hypnotherapist moved to tidy cal , does anyone use this please?