Appointment Scheduling Software

Appointment scheduling is the first interaction where your customers judge your competence, professionalism, and customer-oriented approach. Managing this interaction with excellence can work wonders for your business. Whether it is a group appointment, one-on-one appointment, or a Skype call appointment, managing all of them professionally is important. The way you handle appointments is not only going to optimize your time and costs but also catapult your brand image.

For companies and businesses with multiple engagements, it is a bit challenging to maintain all the appointments manually. No doubt why businesses and super-busy professionals are always looking for ways in which they can manage their daily appointments and bookings. They need a tool or software solution to manage their appointments and meetings with ease. An Appointment Scheduling Software can help businesses to manage their appointments professionally. 

Though many organizations require appointment scheduling software solutions, it can be a matter of confusion for them, when it comes to selecting one. Buyers seek more clarity regarding the need for an appointment scheduling software, its usage, benefits, features, etc. They seek to choose the most suitable appointment scheduling software from plenty of available alternatives. This buyer’s guide for appointment scheduling software is written with the purpose to guide the buyers of this service in making a calculated decision before initiating an actual purchase. This buyer's guide will also help them to understand appointment scheduling software in detail so that they can make a perfect buying decision.

Appointment scheduling software solutions are a set of software tools and programs that assist businesses in managing their appointments and meetings effectively. Organizations can avoid the overlapping of appointments by using these tools. An appointment scheduling software comes with features and tools to help professionals in setting appointment reminders, in managing appointments with employees and customers, in calendar integration, and many more.  Appointment scheduling software is available in the desktop format as well as in mobile format or both. Hence, professionals and business organizations can select whichever format is convenient for them. 

Earlier, customers booked appointments on the phone or by visiting the business in person. The booked date was manually entered into an appointment register. Later, with the advent of the technical tools, companies started using electronic calendars offered by Microsoft Outlook or Google. While these tools replaced the appointment register, the entry was still done manually.  They also were devoid of any use to customers as they didn't provide customers the flexibility to book an appointment online or after the business hours. Delay in getting appointments due to late responses, busy phone lines, unnecessary visits for getting appointments were common issues.

Today, such methods have been scrapped. We live in an era where every potential customer is equipped with a smartphone, and everyone is running short of time with busy schedules. Businesses cannot afford to lose customers because they got annoyed due to a lethargic appointment scheduling process offered by the business.  Now, people prefer booking appointments online, and businesses deploy an appointment scheduling software for the hassle-free appointment process.  

An appointment scheduling software works in three easy steps. Those steps are discussed below; 

Step 1: Mention your availability 

In the first step of using an appointment management system, you need to mention the dates and the time slots on which you will be available. Once you let this software program know about your availability, it will keep open only the convenient dates and time slots for any upcoming meeting or appointments. 

Step 2: Share your URLs 

You can also share the respective URLs denoting the need or probability of you to attend other meetings. The appointment scheduling tools will automatically sync this information to come up with a customized appointment schedule based on the given information. In this step, you may even sync your phone’s calendar with this software to get more optimized results and for better integration of information.  You can also leave customized notes for any preferences or priorities. The relevant information about such meetings will also be listed in that software.

Step 3: Schedule your appointments 

In the final step, an appointment scheduling system analyzes all the information provided by you and matches them with your available dates and time-slots. Accordingly, this software solution would set meetings and appointments in an organized manner so that you attain all of them. Your clients will be allowed to book only the available slots. An appointment scheduling software will also set reminders for all parties involved, to make sure that you or your clients don’t miss the meetings

Desktop-based/On-Premise 

These types of appointment scheduling tools are licensed, and users can easily install them within their computer devices. They offer the users large numbers of features and are highly customizable in nature. Users can also use these software solutions on their phones. Large organizations should try using these software solutions for optimum results. 

Web-based

These types of appointment scheduling software solutions are hosted, and third-party providers offer these tools. A common reason behind the popularity of these tools is that apart from the users themselves, customers and employees can also make changes in their schedules through these software solutions.

Cloud-based

These types of appointment scheduling software solutions are hosted through third-party cloud service providers. 

Open-Source

These types of appointment scheduling system solutions allow users to customize the software as per their needs. With open-source code, users can modify the software settings and add extra plugins to enhance the utility of the software.

The application of appointment scheduling software can improve the efficiency of any organization. The requirements for appointment scheduling tools may vary from organization to organization. However, the primary need is to make sure that better management of appointments and bookings take place. That means, the basic requirement of any professional behind the selection of appointment scheduling tools would be to show up in meetings and appointments within time, without missing to attain them. Furthermore, an organization can increase its professionalism to a large extent by introducing the appointment scheduling software solutions in its daily business operations. 

You will need appointment scheduling software for the following reasons; 

Scheduling appointments 

It is the basic need for any appointment scheduling software. Organizations and professionals can schedule their meetings and bookings with the help of this software through an appointment calendar. Professionals can also enter details and information of those appointments in such software like the purpose of the appointment, date and time, topics of discussion, etc. Hence, the maintenance of meetings and appointments become a lot easier.

Customizing your schedules 

Customization of a professional’s daily, weekly, and monthly plan is also possible through appointment scheduling software solutions. For example, the professionals can provide names to each appointment, along with their purposes and information. They can also differentiate those appointments with different colors, can prioritize these meetings on the basis of duration and more. 

Viewing appointments easily on phone/desktop 

The usage of appointment scheduling software gives the professionals the freedom to view their respective appointments with multiple devices. For instance, if you are comfortable with viewing the appointments and related details on your smartphone, you can do so by downloading the appointment management system on your phone. It is also possible to view daily, weekly, and monthly appointment calendars in advance so that you can make any changes if required.

Increasing revenue 

Finally, every organization’s ultimate aim is to increase its revenue. If they implement an appointment scheduling software properly, they can succeed in this goal as well. These types of software solutions improve customer satisfaction levels and hence play a crucial role in customer retention which ultimately leads to more revenue. Therefore, this type of tool will be useful for organizations to increase their profitability. 

Now you need to know what may happen if you don’t use appointment scheduling software. The probable outcomes are as follows; 

• Missing critical meetings and appointments frequently 
• Overlapping of two or more important meetings on the same date 
• Increasing dissatisfaction of clients and customers 
• Difficulty in maintaining records, analytics etc.
• Declining revenue in the long run 

The global appointment scheduling software is expected to hit at $546.31 million by 2026, garnering a CAGR of 13.1% from 2019 to 2026. This growth shows that now more and more businesses are investing in this technology. It also means that while earlier, only large business players deployed this software, today, even the small businesses are implementing this technology. Today, the need to optimize business processes is more than ever before. It is, therefore, prudent for small businesses to utilize the services of an appointment scheduling system.

• In their growing phase, small businesses employ a lot of field agents for marketing their business. Field agents have to meet multiple clients in a day. They can schedule bookings and follow-ups without worrying about the overlapping of appointments due on the same day. 
• For small businesses missed revenue opportunities due to no shows of appointment can be detrimental to their business growth. No shows can be decreased significantly with an appointment reminder software that sends timely reminders to clients and gives clients the flexibility to change appointment time when required. 
• Not only will it save paper costs, but it will also provide better insights into their business with detailed reports and analytics. 
• Small businesses should not miss the opportunity to gain new clients due to the unavailability of multiple channel appointment booking facilities. With the best appointment scheduling software for small businesses that is compatible with all devices, small businesses can ensure that their clients can book appointments with them irrespective of the type of device they possess.  

There are some industries and professions where customers rarely go without booking an appointment. With advanced features for appointment management, appointment scheduling software is undoubtedly a valuable asset for industries and professions.

An appointment scheduling software solution can be beneficial for different types of industries:

Corporate 

The primary usage of appointment scheduling software for corporate organizations is the management of meetings and appointments. Additionally, other assistance that can be offered by appointment scheduling software for businesses includes customer scheduling, automatic reminders, real-time automated scheduling, etc. Customer scheduling means the customers of corporate companies can view the available dates for appointments, and they can book accordingly. Managers of corporate companies are able to receive automatic reminders when an appointment is nearing. Furthermore, through the real-time scheduling feature, appointment scheduling software can automatically confirm or deny a new appointment based on the previous bookings.

Health and wellness; Doctors

The usage of an appointment scheduling system can be highly relevant when it comes to the health care sector. If hospitals start using this software program, they can help the patients to a large extent. Patients can easily monitor the availability of appointments in a hospital through appointment scheduling software, and accordingly, they can make their visit decisions. If a hospital cannot accommodate new patients on a particular date, that too is visible through this software. Individual medical practitioners can also manage different patient appointments with the help of an appointment scheduling software. Hence, the overlapping of two different patients doesn't take place. 

Government agencies 

Government agencies can also be benefitted from the appointment scheduling software tools. They can perform their annual calendar management by these software solutions. If a meeting or appointment is created in the calendar, and it is shared in different places, then it becomes easier for the stakeholders of the government agencies to access relevant information. The real-time scheduling feature of appointment scheduling software can also be useful for government agencies.

Health-clubs and gyms 

Health-clubs, gyms, Yoga instructors, and others are also the regular users of the appointment scheduling system, and they can enjoy an organized approach by installing these software solutions. Gym instructors update the available slots within the appointment scheduling software tools used by them, and the customers visit the gyms accordingly. As a result, the risk of an overflow of customers at a single slot can be avoided. 

Human Resources 

The HR department of any company can also be mainly benefitted through the usage of an appointment scheduling system. Staff scheduling is a critical job, and the usage of appointment scheduling software can help business organizations in that area. It can manage the working hours of the employees actively and can monitor their real-time working hours within the calendar. Hence, HR managers can plan their appraisals and payrolls accordingly. 

Salons 

Salons also use an appointment management system to show the available slots to the customers so that they can book their appointments accordingly. Appointment scheduling software also provides reminders to the customers about their bookings. 

Lawyers 

Lawyers are often struggling with multiple cases, and clients and the need for a suitable appointment scheduling software is high for them. It can help lawyers to schedule appointments with different clients based on the court dates priority.

Educational institutions 

Appointment scheduling software solutions can help school management in keeping track of their appointments with parents, service vendors, officials, admin staff and teachers. 

Media 

The media industry runs on a very tight schedule. Moreover, they require continuous feeds to stay competitive in the market. The media industry can use this software for scheduling interviews, talk-shows, and video conferences. An appointment scheduler can help them to gain more relevant appointments. 

Showrooms 

Showrooms with considerable footfalls need a proper customer management system in place. There can be a frenzied atmosphere in the showroom if the number of customers exceeds the handling capacity of the showroom. Showroom managers should deploy appointment schedulers to plan the visits of their customers. This can be very useful in catering to the regular and the high-value customers who require a dedicated time of the showroom officials.

Improved Customer Service

Case 1:

For some businesses such as car showrooms, it is essential to make certain arrangements before the arrival of a customer. For instance, a car showroom can handle multiple footfalls for general inquiry, but if a customer wants to book an appointment for a test drive, then the car sales executives have to make sure that at least one car is available for a test drive and no other customer is seeking the same at the given time. In such scenarios, appointment software would be a great choice as it can be customized to book two different types of appointments for the same business.

Case 2:

Suppose you run a business where the inquiry for a product and delivery of the same requires two different appointments. Moreover, the inquiry part takes more time than the delivery. In such a case, you will have to increase the time-slot of appointments that you allow for inquiry and simultaneously reduce the same for delivery. An automated appointment scheduler can do it easily for you.

Case 3

While all customers are valuable, some customers are more valuable for your business in terms of the revenue they bring in. For such high-end customers, you have to provide an appointment on a preferential basis and in priority slots. With appointment scheduling software, you can keep two separate lists of customers along with their complete demographic and earlier transaction records. 

Time-saving 

When an organization, irrespective of its industry of operations, uses an appointment scheduling system tools, then it becomes easier for that organization to save a lot of time. In the presence of an appointment scheduling software, organizations are not required to hire specific employees for activities like scheduling appointments, setting reminders, etc. Hence, the organization can allocate more vital tasks to those employees. This particular benefit applies to all industries.

Cost-saving 

The second major advantage of appointment scheduling software is cost saving. If the reduction takes place in the numbers of employees and activities, it is evident that organizations can save a lot of money. This excess money can also be utilized for different activities and operations by the same company. It is another advantage of appointment scheduling software.

Ease of online payment 

Online payment activities become a lot easier with appointment scheduling system tools. Through an appointment scheduling software, professionals can easily integrate with different electronic payment gateways. Hence, you can easily receive your payment when your customers are booking their appointments. 

Appointment scheduling software solutions have some significant features that make them a useful tool for every organized business. 

Real-time and automated scheduling 

Appointment scheduling systems are mostly based on cloud technology. Hence, when the client initiates an appointment request, this software can easily approve it or deny it, depending on the already existing appointment commitments.

Reminders of appointments 

Appointment scheduling software tools are also able to offer reminders to the users regarding their upcoming bookings and appointments. Confirmation emails are sent automatically to the users when a particular booking is confirmed, and accordingly, you will get reminders through this application. Appointment reminder software is also able to make cancellations to a booking depending on the demands of the user. The cancellation notifications are communicated with the concerned individuals. 

Personalized calendars shared with customers 

Most of the appointment scheduling software also includes a customized appointment calendar where an organization can update all its upcoming appointments and can accordingly share the personalized calendar with employees and clients, so that they can also make changes as per their convenience. Additionally, the customers of business organizations receive greater freedom of scheduling their availability due to this feature of appointment scheduling software.

Multi-channel payment options 

Many organizations charge a fee when a client books an appointment with them. The appointment scheduling system can be of great help to receive payments on booking for those companies. You can integrate different channels of payment and various payment gateways directly with your appointment scheduling software. It enables clients to make payments smoothly.

Reporting and Analytics

This feature of appointment scheduling software provides you data regarding the total number of appointments in a given period, no shows, appointment cancellation percentage, rebooking of appointments, busiest period and the idle periods of the month, etc.

24/7 convenience of booking appointments

It allows clients to book appointments anytime, cancel or reschedule their appointments 24/7.

Assigning User Roles

The appointment scheduling system comes with the feature that allows the admin to assign access or control of the software to other users.

Security and reliability

The software has a secure framework to ensure the data is safe. All appointments booked via appointment booking software are reliable. 

Compatibility with all devices

An appointment scheduling software solution should be compatible to work with all devices such as desktops, tablets, mobile phones, etc.

Chat options

Some online scheduling software lets the user chat with their clients. It is an excellent feature as it provides personalized treatment to your client. Your clients may chat with you about last minute availability, road directions, additional information about documents, etc. For you, it is an easy way to follow up with your clients.

Branding options

The software should let you customize the booking page with your company’s logo, font style matching your website and other formats. The booking page should be devoid of any advertisement or marketing material from the software vendor.  

Integration with Social media sites such as Instagram, Facebook

Your Facebook page visitor should have an option to book an appointment right from there itself, without having to visit your website. Your appointment scheduling system should integrate well with popular social media sites.

Scalability

You never know when your business may grow exponentially in a short duration of time. As your customer base increases, your appointment schedule software will need to handle more customers and provide more customized features with the changing needs of the business. Your appointment schedule software should have the ability to expand whenever required.

Adaptability

A great feature of this software is its adaptability to any business. The core functions are designed in such a way that no matter which business you are in, the appointment scheduler can adapt to it and provide you a seamless experience. 

The type of appointment scheduling software solution can vary from profession to profession based on your requirements. Hence, before you select a particular appointment scheduling software, make sure that the appointment scheduling software you have chosen is capable of answering the following questions;

Does it provide adequate functionality? 

Before you purchase an appointment scheduler, make sure it functions according to your needs. What are your main requirements for such software? It can be the scheduling of appointments, setting reminders, integration with payment channels, and many more. So, before initiating a purchase you should confirm that your selected appointment scheduling software fulfills these functions.

Can you customize the calendar as per your needs? 

Customization is a significant feature for any appointment scheduling tool, and you should confirm that the software solution you have selected is capable of customizing the calendar based on your requirements. You need to verify the settings of your appointment scheduling software before you buy it.

Is your selected software solution cloud-based, web-based, or on-premise?

If your selected appointment scheduling software solution is cloud-based or web-based, then you can access it from anywhere with proper internet connectivity. Cloud-based software would not require any additional hardware or installation. You can operate such an appointment scheduling software like social media platforms. Hence, you must be able to collect this information before you buy this tool. On-Premise software will not be accessible from outside of the organization. If your organization books, cancel or reschedules appointments only during working hours and if you want to keep your data in-house in your own local servers, then you can install an on-premise software. 

Is the appointment scheduling software user-friendly for your customers and employees? 

You should remember that even though you have purchased the appointment scheduling software solutions but you are not the only user. Your clients and employees will also operate it. Now, you must know that all clients are not tech-savvy, and hence, it is mainly crucial that your selected appointment scheduling software is user-friendly, so that customers and employees can use it comfortably. Organizations may lose potential leads in case of complicated appointment scheduling software solutions.

Are there Privacy issues? 

You cannot avoid the privacy issues associated with an appointment scheduling software. You need to give access to the customers of your schedule, but your appointment scheduling system should clearly define that apart from the clients, who else can access your sensitive information. Also, look for at least 256-bit encryption for all communication between you and your clients

Can it work with low bandwidth internet connectivity?

While using appointment scheduling software, you need to ensure that your appointment software can work with low bandwidths and also in the absence of stable internet connectivity. An appointment scheduling software that fails to function successfully with lower internet connectivity can be avoided.

The cost of an appointment scheduling software depends on multiple factors like features, functions performed, type of deployment, degree of user-friendliness, privacy, and more. The costs of such software solutions may increase or decrease depending on the offered values. 

In most cases, the costs of appointment scheduling software solutions are charged on a monthly, weekly, or yearly basis. The average cost for a full featured appointment software is around $20 per month. We have come to this price by analyzing multiple options available in this category. 

For example, if you purchase software like Bookeo, 10to8, Set a Time etc. then you would have to pay $10 to $20 on a monthly basis. Additionally, cheaper options like YoucanBook.me, Timely etc. are also available, which charge you less than $10 per month. Finally, there are many free appointment scheduling software like Supersaas, Time Tap, Appointy  , Acuity Scheduling etc. There are free and open source appointment scheduling software such Easy! Appointments where you can customize the source code to suit your needs. If you are interested in advanced appointment scheduling software solutions like Vagaro, Honeybook, Time Trade, Booker for Salons etc. the costs may range from $25/month to $ 129/month. 

If you refer to the list of appointment scheduling software generated by GoodFirms, then you can find the best possible alternatives available for your business needs. You can categorize the listed software solutions as per your functional needs, affordability, and other necessary factors. GoodFirms produces a list of appointment scheduling software after conducting thorough research. It applies stringent analysis policy, and currently, it has a whopping database of above 9000 software services with 15K unbiased reviews of verified users. Hence, you can rely upon the listing provided by GoodFirms. You can easily visit the official website of the listed software solutions by GoodFirms, and this will also be convenient for you to make your purchasing decisions. You are advised to go through the list and apply filters based on pricing models, devices supported, features, deployment criteria, available support, etc. to find the appointment  scheduling software that will best suit your needs.