PRICE TIER: Gold or Higher
APPOINTMENT VERSION: All Versions
In many businesses, multiple Staff Members or Services may be necessary to support the Customer’s needs. The DaySmart Appointments® online scheduling system supports these scenarios when using the Multiple Resources per Appointment preference. A resource may be a Staff Member, Service, or Room.
If you are interested in this advanced configuration or have questions about it, please open a ticket with the Support team from inside your scheduling system account.
Note: This document uses default terminology (Appointments, Staff Members, Services, Customers, etc.). The terms you use in your account may differ from these terms. Please keep this in mind when you are reading this article.
The following enhancements to the process for booking Appointments begin after you click on the grid or have used the Appointment Search tool to locate an available time slot.
Additional Appointment Options
After selecting an existing or creating a new Customer, you move forward in the process to configure the Appointment. From this page, you can:
Change the Location or Date
Choose Service(s) and/or Add-On Services
Select Staff Member(s)
Set a Start Timeand/or specific Duration for each Service
Enter Appointment-specific information into special fields
With the click of a button, you will be able to select multiple Staff Members. You can even add more Services by clicking the Add New Service button.
Scheduling Multiple Services
In your business, you may offer Services that can be booked in sequence, or your Customers prefer to book back-to-back while at your Location. By adding an additional Service to the Appointment, you can schedule the Customer with the appropriate Staff Member and Service combinations. Here are some examples:
Your Customer desires to have maintenance conducted on their car. They need an oil change and new tires. You can schedule the oil change with your mechanic John at 10 am for 45 minutes, and then the installation of new tires with George at 11 am. The system will book the Services with the right Staff Member, while the Customer will receive one notification of the combined Appointment.
Your business offers personalized services that are offered as a package. When booking the Services for your Customer, you can select the same Staff Member to conduct the full Appointment. You can identify which Service will be the first Service by choosing the earliest available start time. Your Customer will receive one notification that summarizes both Services and the full amount of time for the combined Appointment.
If you start from the grid and pre-select a time slot, it will be the default time in the Staff Member and Start Time field. If you decide to change either the Location or Staff Member, you will need to select a new start time, based on availability for the other Location's or Staff Member's schedule.
Selecting Multiple Staff Members
So, why would you want to select more Staff Members? Here are some reasons:
You need two Staff Members to facilitate the Service. Maybe you are a medical office, and you need to schedule a doctor and a nurse. Now, you can choose both service providers and their combined availability will be considered for available start times.
You are scheduling panel-style interviews for potential job candidates. You can select as many Staff Members to participate as needed, and their combined availability will be evaluated to find a common time to conduct the interview.
The image below is an example of this screen with multiple Services and Staff Members selected for an Appointment.
The system will automatically adjust the options in the succeeding drop-down fields as you build the Appointment attributes. If you choose a Service that only two Staff Members (of six, as an example) are assigned to offer, only those two Staff Members will be available to select in the Staff Member drop-down field. Click Next when you have finished building the Appointment.
The Time drop-down may require you to choose a different start time, if you select multiple Staff Members that are both not available at the original selected time. In this situation, the Time drop-down will only display the start times that are commonly available for all Staff Members selected for the Service.
When adding a second Service, you will need to select a start time. The options for this subsequent Service will only display those that are available for the selected Staff Member, and that will not conflict with the other Service already set up.
Note: If you have other Appointment fields currently enabled for your account, they will be available on this page.
Review and Finalize
Prior to booking the Appointment, you can review and ensure the details of the Appointment are correct. On this page, you will see all the details from the Customer and Appointment pages, including all Services, Add-on Services, Staff Members, or other attributes. Additionally, you can set which Notifications shall be sent after you Finalize Appointment.
If any changes are necessary, click Back to return to either the Appointment or Customer page to make changes.
Save the Appointment
Clicking Finalize Appointment on the Finalize page will book the Appointment!
The Appointment grid for all Staff Members will be updated to display the Services of the Appointment they are assigned to conduct. No design changes are being made to the Appointment grid page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How will a status change update the Appointments?
A. All Service Appointments will reflect the same status. Therefore, it is recommended to set the Appointments to other statuses when they apply to all Services scheduled for the Customer.
Q. What happens if I remove a Service from an Appointment?
A. The Appointment calendar will be updated to remove the Staff Member Appointments that are related to the edit performed. Customers will receive an email update based on the adjustment, and the Staff Member(s) associated with the change will receive a cancelation notification. The Service removed is not considered canceled if the Appointment still contains at least one other Service. The Staff Member associated with the removed Service will be sent the cancelation notification and the Customer will receive a change notification, based on the decision made by the user saving the updated Appointment.
Q. How can I move a Service from one Staff Member to another Staff Member?
A. Click to on the specific Staff Member’s Appointment and Edit Appointment. In the Staff Member drop-down, choose the alternate Staff Member(s). If the new Staff Member is no longer available at the previously scheduled start time, you will also need to select a new Start Time from the drop-down field. You may Save and Close the updated Appointment information. When saved, the Staff Member selected for the Service will receive the confirmation notification, the Staff Member removed from the Service will receive the cancelation notification, and the Customer will receive a change notification with the updated details.
Q. My Staff Members have customized Service duration settings. What will be the duration when multiple Staff Members are added to a Service?
A. The system will set the duration field to the Service’s default duration when the Staff Members selected for it have different settings. The user creating the Appointment may modify the duration from the dropdown.
Q. Can I schedule Services in different Locations or on different Dates?
A. At this time, each Appointment may only be scheduled in a single Location or on one Date. If your Customer needs Appointments in two different Locations, you will still need to create separate Appointments for each Location. Similarly, for Appointments that span multiple dates, you will need to schedule separate Appointments for each date.
Q. Can I assign multiple Staff Members to an Event?
A. At this time, Events are limited to be assigned to a single Staff Member.