Microsoft Bookings - Shared Booking Page
Microsoft Bookings gives your group or team the ability to create a page that others can use to schedule time on a shared booking calendar. The Bookings calendar syncs with Outlook to avoid overlap with other appointments.
Overview
Microsoft Bookings is a scheduling tool used to manage appointments, meetings, or services through an online interface. You are able to configure a bookings page for a bookings calendar. Others can visit this page and pick available time-slots based on appointment service types you define. Depending on the configuration, appointment service types can be assigned to a specific team member or a group. Any scheduled times are synced to the individual's Outlook calendar.
These instructions apply to a group or team's shared booking page. If you are looking for a scheduling solution for yourself, see this article: Microsoft Bookings - Personal Booking Page.
Some possible uses are:
Scheduled Office Hours
Student Advising
Tutoring Sessions
Administrative Meetings
Create a Shared Bookings Page
From the Shared booking pages section, click the Create booking page button.
Note: Once you create a shared Bookings page, you cannot delete the page without contacting Information Services.
If you have not created a shared bookings page a wizard will open to create a new shared booking page.
Note: When a booking page is created and email address will be created with the name you enter. Individuals will access a web page to schedule meetings. The website will contain the name you enter as part of the URL
Type in the the shared booking page name (1). Optionally, click the Add a logo link (2) to upload a file from your computer. Optionally, choose the Business type (3) from the drop-down menu. Check the business hours and click the Change link (4) if they are not correct. The hours can also be updated after the page is created.
Click the Next button.Your account will be added as the Administrator (1) for the shared bookings page. You can search for other individuals within the university by typing their name to search (2). Click a name to add them to the booking page as a member. Members can also be added or removed or changed to a different role after the page is created.
Click the Next button.A default service appointment type is created as a 30 minute block with a generated Teams meeting link. This can be modified by clicking the Change link (1) or it can be changed after the bookings page is created. Additional services can be added once the shared bookings page is created.
Click the Next button.Click to select who can view the booking page in order to book appointments (1).
Click the Create button to create the shared bookings page and open the dashboard for it.The shared bookings page will be created and you will see a confirmation page.
The link for the bookings page is shown (1). This can be shared (2) via email or by a copied link. Click the Get started button (3) to further customize the bookings page.
Customize the Bookings Page
Change Basic Details
The name of the "business", the business type, and the email address where customer replies will be sent can be changed by clicking the Business information link (1) in the left menu.
Click the carrot (2) to expand the Basic details section.
Make any changes and click the Save button (3).
Change Hours
The overall "business" hours that someone can schedule an appointment can be changed by clicking the Business information link (1) in the left menu.
Click the carrot (2) to expand the Business hours section.
Make any changes and click the Save button.
Change Default scheduling policy
The scheduling defaults for new service appointment types can be set from the Booking page menu (1) by clicking the carrot to expand the Default scheduling policy section (2).
Set the time increment for this service, the minimum amount of time, and how far in advance someone can book the service (3).
Set the email notification settings to determine if the business email will receive updates for each service booked or changed, and whether a separate email with meeting invite details will be sent to the customer.
If Allow customers to choose a specific person for the booking (5) is checked, a drop-down will be displayed for customers to pick a particular individual on the team.
By default, the General availability (6) setting is to be bookable when assigned staff are free. The other options are to set weekly custom hours or make the service not bookable. The service can also be set to use a different availability for a particular timeframe by clicking the Set different availability for a date range (7).
Click the Save button when done.
Add, Edit, and Delete Staff Overview
The Staff (1) menu option lets you manage bookable staff. Those who are part of the shared bookings page will appear in the middle column as an Administrator or Team Member. Users can be added from the Add new staff (2) link.
Click a staff member's name to show their details.
Hover over a name and click the pencil icon to Edit (3a) the staff details. The same menu appears when you click on the pencil icon under the staff name (3b).
To remove a staff member from the shared bookings page, hover over their name and click the trash can icon (4).
A staff member can be assigned a service appointment from the form presented after clicking the Book appointment (5) icon.
Details regarding the staff member are available by clicking the links under their name (6).
Add Staff Detail
After selecting the Add new Staff link, a staff member can be added by typing their name in the search box (1). Westminster University users will be shown in the results. Click their name to fill in their info and email (2). The color that appears on the calendar can be changed from the drop-down box.
Set the staff member's role (3) from the box by picking Administrator, Scheduler, Viewer, or Guest based on the descriptions shown.
Leave the check-mark to notify staff through email when a service appointment is scheduled (4).
By default, the general business hours are used. If these need to be modified for this staff member, move the slider to the left (5a) and then change the starting and ending times (5b).
Click the Save changes button to add the staff member.
Add, Edit, and Delete Appoint Service Types Overview
The Services (1) menu item lets you manage appointment service types for the group. Service appointment types can be added from the Add new service (2) link.
Click a service name to show the details.
Hover over a service and click the pencil icon to Edit (3a) the service details. The same menu appears upon clicking on the pencil icon under the service name (3b).
The service details can be copied and modified by clicking the duplicate icon (4).
To remove a service from the shared bookings page, hover over the name and click the trash can icon (5).
Staff can be assigned a service appointment from the form presented after clicking the Book appointment (6) icon.
Details regarding the service are available by clicking the links under the name (7).
Add Services Detail
Multiple appointment service types can be added to the bookings page. Review each item in the menu, starting with the Basic details (1).
The Service name and Description will be shown to customers on the bookings page (2).
Type a Location in the box. Optionally, move the slider to the right to create a Teams meeting for each appointment that is scheduled (3). Users will receive the meeting link in their email confirmation. Staff can access the meeting link from the event created on their calendar.
Set the duration for this service (4). Optionally, slide and select a buffer time added to the end of the appointment on the staff member's calendar.
Add Notes (5) that are only visible to Staff members.
If the service requires the same staff be available at the same time for multiple users, increase the maximum number of attendees (6). After this number of individuals have booked, the time slot will no longer be available on the bookings page.
If slid to the right (7), attendees will be able to cancel or edit their appointment.
The Default scheduling policy (8) takes effect for new services. If anything is changed the slider will automatically be set to the left (off). If this slider is then slid to the right, all customizations will be overwritten. This slider is the same for each option in the service menu.
Note: The Default Scheduling policy can be set from the Booking page menu.
The Publishing options (9) allows the service to be selectable on the booking page. If the slider is to the left (off) the service would need to be manually scheduled by a Staff member or the individual service link sent to an individual to book. This slider is the same for each option in the service menu.
Click the Save changes button to add the service. The save applies to all settings on the service menu.
The Availability options (1) menu is used to set the schedule and availability.
Set the time increment for this service (2), as well as the minimum and maximum amount of time in advance someone can book the service.
By default, the General availability (3) service will be bookable when assigned staff are free. The other options are to set weekly custom hours or make the service not bookable.
The service can also be set to use a different availability for a date range by clicking the Set different availability for a date range (4).
The Assign staff (1) menu is where you select which staff are available for this service appointment type.
Select which staff members can be selected for this service by clicking their name (3). The list of Assigned staff is shown (4). The staff member can be removed by clicking the X or clicking their name again to uncheck.
If Assign ANY of your selected staff for an appointment (2) is selected, the service will be available if any one of the Assigned staff has room on their calendar.
If Assign ALL of your selected staff for an appointment (2) is selected, the service will only be available if all of the Assigned staff has room on their calendar.
If Allow customers to choose a particular staff for booking (2) is active (slider to the right) a drop-down will be displayed for customers to pick an particular individual from the Assigned staff.
At the time the service is booked, information is collected about the individual booking the appointment service. The customer information to be requested can be selected and customized from the Custom fields (1) menu item.
By default, all customer information shown is requested (2). Uncheck a box in front of an item so it is no longer collected. If the Required slider for the item is to the right (enabled), that field is required when booking the appointment. Customer name is collected and required by default.
Custom fields (3) can be added and collected as well.
The Notifications menu (1) can be used to customize the email notifications that are sent.
Note: text message notifications are not available with our current license.
An email notification is sent to the customer and selected staff with details for each booked appointment. Additional information can be added to the confirmation email (3).
Under the Email Confirmation settings, you can select which email notifications go out when an appointment is booked (2). You can select for the business email to receive an email message for each service booked. This email address is found under “Send customer replies to” from the Business information menu then Basic details. You can also select for a separate email to be sent to the customer with meeting invite details.
Default email reminders, sent before the appointment, can be edited (4) or deleted (5). If additional reminders are needed, click the Add an email reminder link (6).
Default email follow-up messages, sent after the appointment, can be edited (7) or deleted (8). If additional follow-up messages are needed, click the Add a follow-up email (9) link.
Review and Share Bookings Page
It is important to review the bookings page that is generated to ensure it functions as you think it should. Click the Booking page link (1).
The Configure booking page drop-down (2) controls who can access the booking page to book appointment service types.
Click the link under Your booking page (3) to open the web page that the "customer" will see. Note: The link is not available if No self-service is selected (2).
If the page is correct, the link can be shared by copying the link (4) and pasting it where needed, generating an Email (5) with the link included, or using the Embed (6) button to embed the Link or an iFrame in a website.