Service Preferences | Help - Zoho Bookings

Service Preferences

Service preferences allow you to set up booking policies and preferences for a particular service. 
Notes
Note: Configuring preferences here will override the policies and preferences at the workspace level.
To access this section, click the required one-on-one service and choose Service Preferences



Service Preferences comprise of the below sections: 
  1. General 
  2. Time Zone Presets 
  3. Booking Confirmation Page
  4. Booking Notice
  5. Terms and Conditions 
  6. Cancelations & Reschedules 

General 

Let Customers Select Staff 
When this setting is 'Enabled', it allows the customers to choose their preferred staff from the available list on the  booking page. When the  Include 'auto-assign staff' in the staff list box is checked, it will display 'Auto-assign staff' as the first item in the staff list. 

 

The image below displays "Auto-assign staff" displayed as a default value on the booking page. 

 
NotesNote: When 'Auto-assign staff' is selected, scheduling follows a load balancing algorithm while assigning a staff for a booking.  
When the Include 'auto-assign staff' in the staff list  box is unchecked, the Auto-assign staff option is removed and only the Staff List shows up on the booking page. 

 

The screen below shows the 'Auto-assign staff' option removed on the booking page. 


Setting Let Customers Select Staff to 'Disabled' will restrict staff selection by customers, and staff will be assigned automatically based on their availability. And all appointments will be distributed equally among allocated staff. 

 

The screen below shows the staff selection dropdown being removed from the booking page.

 

Scheduling Interval

Scheduling interval determines how start time is divided on the booking page. This interval is independent of the appointment duration and can be in any multiple of 5 minutes.

For example, if your service typically lasts two hours and your slots are fixed (e.g., 8-10, 10-12), a customer needing an appointment at 9 might be missed. Setting the scheduling interval to one hour (8:00, 9:00, 10:00, etc.) allows for more flexibility. This way, customers can book for any hour within your service duration, reducing missed opportunities and accommodating various customer time requirements.

Info
  1. Scheduling interval can be set in any multiples of five.
  2. The default scheduling interval is 15 minutes.
  3. Each service can have a separate scheduling interval.
  4. To have a scheduling interval same as service duration, you can set the interval similarly.


To set a scheduling interval:

  1. Click Services on the menu bar and select the required service on the left pane.

  2. Click Service Preferences in the middle pane.

  3. Under the Scheduling Interval section, hover over and click the edit icon. Choose one of the two options in the drop-down.

    1. Fixed slots: This option ensures the time slots remain unchanged. That is, it won't be adjusted according to other existing appointments or external events.

    2. Adjusted slots: This option automatically modifies the time slots based on any other existing appointments or external calendar events. This will be the default option.



      InfoInfo: If scheduling interval is 30 mins, the time slots will be 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00 and so on. Say you are booked for another appointment from 10:00 to 10:15, then the time slots for both options will be as shown below.
      Fixed slots: The time slots would show as 9:00, 9:30, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30 and so on.
      Adjusted slots: The time slots would be shown as 9:00, 9:30, 10:15, 10:45, 11:15 and so on.

  4. Set the time for the scheduling interval. You can choose time in any multiple of five. Then click Save. 
    On the booking page, you can see that your time slots are divided accordingly.


Time Zone Presets 

This setting lets you customize how the time zone of your booking page should be made available for your Customers. It also deals with the visibility and editability of the time zone field in the booking page. The time zone in the booking page can be set to any of the following presets -  Customer's local timeBusiness time zone and Specific time zone.
NotesNote: Customer's local time preset is selected by default.
 
 
 

  1. To change the Time zone preset: 

    1. Click the edit icon against the selected preset. 

       
    2. A pop-up containing the different presets and their preferences opens up once the edit icon is clicked. 

       

              Below are the available Time Zone Presets: 

      • Customer's local time  - This preset automatically detects the time zone of the customer and displays the booking slots based on the Customer's local time. 
        
 
         

        Show time zone in Booking Page -  When this option is checked, the time zone field shows up in the Booking Page. Unchecking this option will remove the time zone field from the Booking Page. 

        Lock time zone in Booking Page -  When this option is checked, the time zone field shows up in the Booking Page but is disabled for further updates. Unchecking this option will remove the time zone field from the Booking Page. This option is disabled when  Show time zone in Booking Page  is unchecked. 

      • Business time zone  - This preset allows you to enforce the business time zone as the only available time zone on the Booking Page, irrespective of the customer's location. 

         

        Show time zone in Booking Page  - When this option is checked, the time zone field shows up in the booking page. The time zone field is locked for further updates, by default. Unchecking this option will remove the time zone field from the Booking Page. 

      • Specific time zone  - This preset allows you to enforce a specific time zone as the only available time zone on the booking page, irrespective of the customer's location. 

        You can choose a required time zone from the list of available time zones. 

         

        Show time zone in Booking Page  – When this option is checked, the time zone field shows up in the booking page. The time zone field is locked for further updates, by default. Unchecking this option will remove the time zone field from the booking page. 

          3. Choose the required preferences for each time zone preset and click Save. The changes will reflect in the booking page. 

Confirmation Page

This is the page that will be displayed to customers once an appointment is booked or rescheduled



The Appointment Summary page 

This is displayed to customers by default with a Book another appointment button. 


To remove the button or edit the text on it:

1. Click the edit icon

     

2. A pop-up appears, containing options to display or remove the  Book another appointment  button. It also provides a text box to customize the button text. 

     

3. Edit the button text and click  Save . The custom button text is reflected on the booking summary page. 

     
NotesNote: Unchecking  Show 'Book another appointment' button on booking page  removes it from the booking page.

Custom URL Redirection 
NotesNote: Redirecting customers to a custom URL on booking confirmation is available the paid plans of Zoho Bookings.  
You can override the default booking summary page and redirect customers to a custom URL or page when they book or reschedule appointments. 

1. Click the edit icon and select Show your own confirmation page.

      

2. Enter the URL of the page you want to redirect customers. 

     

3. Additionally check the Pass booking details to confirmation page option to pass booking details and UTM parameters to your page.
NotesNote: UTM parameters can help gauge your booking page's effectiveness. Learn how 

Assume that you have embedded the booking page on a website (say, Twitter). And you would want to track the source for your campaign (say, 'user-adoption'), you can append UTM parameters to your page (say https://www.zylker.com/thankyoupage) like the below. 

Info
https://www.zylker.com.thankyoupage?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-adoption    

List of supported UTM parameters 
           
These parameters can trace aid performance-tracking and analytics. 

          1.  utm_source
          2.  utm_medium 
          3.  utm_content 
          4.  utm_campaign 
          5.  utm_term 

List of supported Booking parameters 

These parameters can pass booking details along with your custom URL. 
Info
https://www.zylker.com/thankyoupage?booking_id =ZO-12345&assigned_to=John%20Doe    
Booking details 

          1.  booking_id=<value> 
          2.  workspace_uuid =<value> 
          3.  workspace_name =<value> 
          4.  assigned_to =<value>  (staff or resource name) 
          5.  service_uuid =<value> 
          6.  service_name =<value> 
          7.  booking_start_time =<value>  (represented in ISO 8061 format in customer timezone) 
          8.  booking_end_time =<value>   (represented in ISO 8061 format in customer timezone) 
          9.  booking_cost =<value> 
          10.  booking_cost_paid =<value> 
          11.  booking_currency =<value> 

Customer details 

          12.  customer _name =<value>
          13.  customer_first_name   =<value>  (if applicable) 
          14.  customer_last_name =<value>  (if applicable) 
          15.  customer _contact_no =<value> 
          16.  customer_email =<value> 

Custom fields 

          17.  customer _<custom_field_name> =<value>

Appointment Title  Customization

Zoho Bookings let you have a customized appointment title by including variables according to your preferences. This will be applied to the event title in calendar invites. It will also be used as titles of online meetings(Zoho Meeting, Google Meet, Zoom Meeting, Microsoft Teams, Zoho CRM Calendar), Zoho Assist sessions, and ICS files.

Steps to Customize Appointment Title

  1. Click Services on the Bookings menu bar.

  1. Select the required service from the left pane and click Service Preferences in the middle pane.

  1. Under the General section, you can see the Appointment Title Customization option. In the text box, add the required text.

  1. Click Insert Variable to the right of the text box to include variables in the title.

  1. Click Save.



Booking Notice

  • Avoid last-minute bookings by setting minimum booking notice. (eg. two hours from booking time)

  • Avoid too far bookings by setting maximum booking notice. (eg. 24 hours from booking time)

Minimum Booking Notice 

            Kevin, the Super Admin of Zylker Consultations needs at least two hours of notice before any appointment is booked so that he gets time to prepare. Therefore, he sets the Minimum Booking Notice to two hours. Now, customers can only see the slots after two hours from the current time. This prevents last-minute booking. 


Maximum Booking Notice

            In the same way, Kevin doesn't want the appointments that are too far in the future. So he sets the Maximum Booking Notice to 20 days. Now, only the slots for 20 days will be available to book. This prevents bookings too far out.

 

  1. To edit this value, select the required values from the dropdown. Changes are auto-savedThe setting period can be in days/hours/minutes.

     


Let's assume the time now is 2.00 pm and we want to set the minimum booking notice to two hours. Now, the booking page will not show the slots of the next two hours. The below image shows the slots that are available after two hours (4.00 pm in this case).



 

 

Let's assume that today is February 2nd and we want to set the maximum booking notice to 20 days. Now, the booking page will only show slots for the next 20 days. The below image only shows the dates of the next 20 days.

 


 

 

 Info: This duration between the two times should be sufficient, as it is the open window for accepting appointments. In the above case, from any given time, 2 hours to 20 days will be the scheduling window. 

If the maximum and minimum booking notices are set to 0, appointment slots are open always.  

Terms and Conditions 

To enable terms and conditions: 
  1. Set toggle to Enabled

  2. Specify the required text in the editor. For example, include a link in your message and redirect customers to read your privacy policy or terms and conditions. 

  3. Click Save

     

Cancelations & Reschedules

This allows you to define a period of time before the appointment during which customers are allowed to cancel or reschedule their appointments. For example, if the value is set to "6 hours", an appointment at 6 pm can be canceled or rescheduled by customers as long as they do so before 12 pm on the appointment date. 

To edit this value, select the required values from the dropdown. Changes are autosaved. 

 
Notes
This setting does not restrict the staff from canceling or rescheduling bookings from the admin interface.




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