Configuring available time slots for online booking in the new interface

Altegio has introduced a new version of setting available times for online booking. Configure the rules and available times for clients to book appointments with your staff online. Based on the settings you establish, customers will be able to schedule services online at times you designate.

You can activate the "Optimal" setting for online appointments, which is suitable if you aim to minimize gaps in the schedule and offer clients more options for booking.

Additionally, you can set up a fixed time for appointments using the "Fixed" setting.

Beyond these two types, it's now possible to configure a dynamic type of slots with the "Dynamic" setting—where an additional slot is created following the completion of an appointment or a break, with the remaining slots adjusting accordingly.

Important

Currently, the new functionality for setting available times for online booking is still under development and is in the process of being rolled out to all users. In the near future, this updated setting will be available to all companies using Altegio.

Configuration and Editing

Available time slots can be configured in two sections of Altegio:

1. For all employees of a location in the "Online booking" > "General settings" > "Online booking available slots" section.

To access the settings, click the "Configure" button in the "Online booking available slots" section.


2. Individual time slots for specific employees in the "Settings" > "Main settings" > "Staff" section.

To access the settings, click on the employee's name in the list, open the "Online booking" tab, and select "Personal for the employee" in the "Available time for online booking" field. Unavailable days for online booking can also be configured individually for each employee. However, the available time slots for online booking can be either general for the location or personalized for the employee.



The settings for the location and for employees are similar, with the only difference being that the location-wide settings apply to everyone, while employee-specific settings apply only to the selected individual. Different time slot settings can be assigned to different employees.

Read below for more details on all available time slot setting options. After making changes, be sure to click the "Save" button.

Unavailable Days for Online Booking

You can disable online booking for specific days and/or periods. For instance, if you prefer to accept clients offline on certain days. This can be particularly useful during the days leading up to holidays, allowing you to manage bookings and schedule clients manually.

To configure this, click the "Add" button and select the required day, several days, or a period.

To delete, press the button with the trash can icon.

Available Time for Online Booking

Configure the rules for constructing time slots that will be displayed for online booking.

In the "Rules for arranging slots" section, click on the "Edit rules" button. Follow the on-screen prompts to select settings that match your company's needs. To proceed with the setup, press the "Next" button, to go back to the previous step, press "Back," and finally, make sure to click "Complete the setup" at the end. Read more about all the possibilities below.


Online Booking Density

Choose the type of slots that best suits your company: fixed, optimal, or dynamic.



Fixed — You create a set schedule for appointments. This is suitable if you have a stable flow of clients and want to lock in slots for maximum efficiency.

In this type, the start time of each booking slot is fixed and depends only on the specified interval.

This setting allows you to display only the times you have selected.

For example, if an employee works from 9:00 to 18:00 and appointments typically last 1 hour, bookings can only be made for 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, and 17:00. If the duration of the service is less than 1 hour, then clients will be offered only the times you have selected; there will be no additional slot.

 

Optimal — If an appointment ends earlier, an additional slot is created, while the rest of the slots remain unchanged. Also, if an employee's schedule includes a break, an extra slot will appear after the break. This is suitable if you want to offer clients more options for booking and minimize idle gaps.

In this case, the system automatically generates additional slots, taking into account the end time of the previous booking and breaks.

With the optimal type of slots, clients will see not only the slots you have chosen yourself but also additional slots that the system creates automatically after each booking.

For example, if there are available slots at 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, etc., and there are bookings made for 9:00 and 11:30, then the client, during online booking, will see slots not only for 10:00 and 13:30 but also for 9:45 and 13:10.


Dynamic — An additional slot is created following the conclusion of an appointment or break, with the rest of the slots adjusting accordingly. This option is ideal if you aim to offer maximum flexibility in slot selection for clients.

This represents a novel approach to setting time for online bookings. In this scenario, the system searches for available time slots starting from each employee's free time.

With the dynamic type, slots are arranged based on employees' work schedules, existing appointments, and breaks, with a selected step for displaying slots. Unlike the fixed or optimal scenarios, it's not possible to configure individual available slots for booking; slots adjust to an employee's free time and are automatically presented.

For example, if an employee works from 9:00 on one day and from 10:00 on another, the initial slots for different days will match the start of their workday, provided they are not already booked or allocated for breaks. If a break is added from 13:00 to 13:30 and an appointment from 14:00 to 16:05, clients will also see available slots at 13:30 and 16:05, demonstrating the system's ability to dynamically adapt to scheduling changes.

Start of Online Booking

Choose what will determine the display of the first time slot for online booking: the time set for online booking or the start of the employee's workday.

Important
The choice of where to start the online booking is only available for fixed and optimal types of slots.

Based on the time set for online bookings. Slots start according to the online booking time settings. This setting is suitable if the employee's workday usually begins at the same time. In this case, you manually set the first slot, and subsequent slots will be generated from it.

For example, if the online booking time is set from 10:00 to 17:00, but the employee's work schedule is always from 8:00 to 15:00, then clients will see the first slot at 10:00 and the last at 14:00 (assuming an hourly step and that the service booking ends by 15:00).

Based on the start of the employee's workday. Slots begin according to the employee's work schedule. This setting is suitable if the employee starts work at different times.

For instance, if the employee's schedule is from 8:00 to 15:00 on one day, then clients will see the first slot at 8:00 and the last at 14:00 (assuming an hourly step and that the service booking ends by 15:00). If on another day the employee starts work at 10:00, then the first slot will also be displayed at 10:00.



Booking Interval

Select the interval at which clients can book appointments with employees online. The booking interval divides the schedule into intervals specified in this setting.

Choose the booking interval based on the duration of your most popular services. If you offer many services with varying durations, you might set the interval at 30 minutes.

You can select an interval ranging from 5 minutes up to 7 hours, starting at 5-minute increments.



Buffer Time Before the Visit

Specify the time frame within which clients will not be able to book an appointment with an employee.

This option is useful if preparation is needed before providing a service, or if an employee needs to arrive at a certain time for the appointment and it takes, for example, half an hour to travel to the workplace. You can set a buffer time of 30 minutes, ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours.

For instance, if the setting is for 30 minutes, and it's currently 15:39, the nearest available slot at 16:00 will not be visible due to this setting; thus, clients will see the next available slot at 16:30.



Manual Slot Configuration

After completing the setup, you will have the ability to manually deactivate or activate booking slots.

Important

Manual slot configuration is available only for fixed and optimal types of slots with the "From the time of online booking" option.

This feature is useful if you wish to remove morning and evening slots to manage peak hour traffic.

In the "Available slots for booking" section, you can configure the necessary time slots for online booking. If you prefer certain slots to be invisible to clients, simply deactivate them.

You have the option to hide all slots in the morning, afternoon, or evening by unchecking the corresponding box.

For example, you can hide all evening slots for online booking but keep morning and daytime slots available.

Additionally, you can selectively deactivate specific time slots for online booking. To do this, click on the desired slot:

Slots in black indicate they are active;

Slots in gray indicate they are inactive.

For instance, on the schedule grid, you can deactivate bookings for 13:00, 13:30, 15:00, and 15:00.

 

 

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