Let's assume you are an IT consultant who works with clients in multiple countries. To schedule appointments and avoid any time-zone related complications, your booking platform should provide automatic time zone conversion. Additionally, your clients should have the option to select their preferred time zones for appointments. This feature can greatly benefit consultants who frequently travel or meet clients and experience varying time zones on different days.

Likewise, a yoga studio can effortlessly arrange online sessions for its global clients, regardless of their time zones.

Zoho Bookings offers a range of time zone settings, simplifying the appointment scheduling process regardless of service provider and customer location.

Benefits

• Minimized errors: Automatic time zone conversion reduces the risk of scheduling errors caused by manual time zone calculations.

• Time zone selection control: Admins can determine whether the time zone option on the booking should be displayed, hidden, or made editable, offering greater flexibility that is tailored to specific needs.
  

• Time zone-based notifications: Email notifications will be sent to both the staff and customers, according to their preferred time zones. For instance, if the staff works in an Australian time zone and the customer books in an American time zone, appointment emails will be sent to each party based on their selected time zones.
  

To access the time zone settings

1. Navigate to Services > Select the required service > Service Preferences.
   Note: For group and resource booking, the time zone settings can to be configured under Workspaces > Policies and Preferences.
   
   
2. Under General section, click the edit icon against Time Zone Presets.
   
   
   
   
3. A pop-up appears where you can configure the time zone settings.
   
   
   
    a. Time zone settings: The first dropdown is for choosing the time zone on the booking page. You have three options to choose from.
   
   
   
   

• Customer's local time zone: By choosing this, the customer's location will be detected and the corresponding time zone will be shown on the booking page.
• Business time zone: By choosing this, the default time zone of the business will be shown. This can be accessed under Settings > General > Basic Information > Time Zone.
  
• Any other time zone: You can choose any other time zone from the list of all time zones.
      

      b. Display options: The checkboxes below provide display options, which involve visibility and locking of time zone on the booking page.

           

          Visibility options:

• Show time zone: To show the time zone option on the booking page, select the checkbox next to Show time zone in Booking Page. This displays the time zone which is selected in the above pop-up.
  
  
• Hide time zone: To hide the time zone dropdown option on the booking page, deselect the checkbox next to Show time zone in Booking Page.
  This means that the time zone selected on the above pop-up is suitable for the appointment. However, it's essential to ensure that all parties involved are on the same page regarding the appointment's timing, which might require additional communication or clarification.
  

          Locking options:

• Lock time zone: To prevent the customer from changing the time zone, you can select the checkbox next to Lock time zone in Booking Page.
  Here, the booking system displays the specified time zone without the option for customers to modify it. This can be beneficial when strict scheduling adherence is crucial, ensuring that all appointments are synchronized according to a predetermined time zone.
  
  
• Unlock time zone: To allow the customer to edit/change the time zone, you can deselect the checkbox next to Lock time zone in Booking Page. 
  This option provides flexibility, allowing customers to select their preferred time zones, which can be particularly useful for businesses with a global customer base. It empowers customers to book appointments that align with their local time, reducing confusion and scheduling errors.

Combining the visibility and locking options, there are three display options as shown below.

To conclude, implementing time zone settings and providing visibility or locking options on the booking page can greatly enhance user convenience, minimize scheduling errors, and ensure a smoother experience for both customers and service providers.

Hope this tip is useful, let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

Happy scheduling!