The Online Scheduling tool (OS) will allow your contacts to easily schedule an appointment, consultation, event, session, etc. all with a few clicks of a button. 

Contacts will be able to book an appointment using the link provided through an email, or you can embed your schedule to your website. Once they select their preferred date, they’ll get a confirmation email and you can even trigger a workflow to further automate your client experience. 

Within the Online Scheduling feature of 17hats, you have the option to automatically apply a workflow when someone submits a booking that requires approval, and when someone submits a booking and it is confirmed. 

Once the Workflow is activated, it will use the booking date as the Base Date. Meaning, if a customer books an appointment or service on August 1st, the Base Date of the active Workflow will be set to August 1st. 

To add a workflow to your online schedule, you will need to apply the workflow from the service previously created. 

For your Bookings that "require approval", your workflow can then be used to confirm the booking for you (automatically) once the steps that are required are completed:

To add a workflow automatically to your Unconfirmed Bookings, you must turn on the setting: "Require Approval to Confirm" under your the Approval & Booking Setting section.

To create your workflow, first and foremost, have a brainstorming session! Write out the requirements you need in order to confirm a booking. No requirements? Then maybe you don't need to turn on the approval step. 

From your list of requirements, create your first Workflow template by navigating to your Workflows tab and clicking on Templates. Add a new workflow template and title it based on your service, an example can be: "Unconfirmed Bookings" 

In the example above, my Dog Walking Service requires the invoice be paid in full prior to confirming the booked Walk. 

Step 1: Create an Action: Send Invoice

Step 2: Make sure that it is marked to complete "When fully paid" (Or when you want this step to trigger and the workflow to move on)

Step 3: Create an Action: Confirm the Booking
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You can use the Prompt: Confirm automatically OR have it set to Approve before confirming: 

Step 4: View your workflow, are there any other steps you want to add prior to confirming the booking?

Step 5: Edit the Service you want to start your new Workflow from, and scroll down to the Approval & Booking Settings. Choose your newly created workflow from the dropdown menu and save:

Tip: Since this workflow can send an email as soon as a booking is made (with the invoice that requires payment for example), we have the "waiting for approval" email set to "Do not send an email". You can select an email here, but please note that it will send in addition to any of your automatic workflow emails. 

Use this setting to add a workflow to your booking once it has been confirmed. This is great for users who would like to have a Questionnaire sent pre-booking date/time, or be shown To-Do reminders based around the time of the booking. 

Below is an example of how to utilize a Confirmed Booking Workflow:

Step 1: Write out what items need to be sent to your Client prior to their booking and after their booking. Are there any reminders you want to have shown for yourself?
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​Step 2: Create your workflow, we suggest using a "Pause" for the booking itself, since this will not show on your calendar as a To-do would

Step 3: Once your Workflow is created, head to your Online Scheduling > Service settings > Confirmation & Cancellation Settings section and update the Workflow saved in your dropdown

Step 4: Save your Service settings, and test things out! 

Remember: You can always make changes to your workflow later on, but those changes made will not impact already active workflows. 

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Since everyone's process will be a bit different, the options you have are very flexible. As always, feel free to reach out via Live Chat if you still have any remaining questions and we'll be happy to help out!
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Online Scheduling: Create your Services
Learn the steps to setting up your Services within the Online Scheduling feature in 17hats

​Online Scheduling: Setup Your Availability Settings
Learn the steps to setting up your Availability Settings, and get your Booking URL within the Online Scheduling feature in 17hats!

​Online Scheduling: FAQS
Learn answers to common questions for the 17hats Online Scheduling Feature

Online Scheduling Basics
Learn the basics of the 17hats Online Scheduling Feature