Approve or deny appointments based on criteria

Approve or deny appointments based on criteria

Hey, community members!

 

Have you ever wondered how to automatically approve or deny appointments?

 

While we're still working on building that feature, we've got an alternative method to cancel appointments if they don't meet your specific criteria.

Let me share a recent client request as an example: Our customer has two types of services that are similar: One is for grown-ups and the other is for children. However, often adults mistakenly book these services without realizing that they are not intended for them. This results in unnecessary confusion for our customers, as they have to contact those who accidentally booked appointments and reschedule them, causing a significant amount of administrative work.

Here's how we helped our customer: We added a criteria field to the booking page (e.g., "What is your age?") Then, we automatically cancel appointments where the input age is greater than 15 and we'll even notify the grown-up client that their appointment has been canceled and guide them to book the appropriate service.


To make this happen, you'll need Zoho Bookings and the Zoho Flow Standard Plan.


Here's a simplified breakdown of the process in three steps:  

  • Zoho Bookings will collect the criteria data and pass it to Zoho Flow.

  • In Zoho Flow, we'll configure a workflow to verify the validity of the data.

  • If the data is invalid, Zoho Flow will trigger a cancellation request to Zoho Bookings, resulting in the appointment being canceled.

 

Don't forget these additional steps: Edit the booking confirmation page and notification email to proactively inform customers that their booking maybe subject to cancellation.

Let's dive into the details together!!!

STEP 1: TO BE FOLLOWED IN ZOHO BOOKINGS APPLICATION:


1. Create a mandatory field in Zoho Bookings Forms.

     A. For service booking form: Add Field

     B. For workspace booking form: Add Field

 

NOTE: Workspace-level settings apply to group and resource bookings, while for One-on-One bookings, you will need to make the necessary changes within the specific One-on-One service settings.

At the end of step 1, let's say we have created a mandatory field called "What is your age?". Now the customers on the booking page will have to provide their age to book an appointment.

Additional Step:

Canceling an appointment without the customer's knowledge might affect the customer experience. Therefore, we should acknowledge the customers in every possible way.

 

Here are some tips:

 

A. We can use the 'Custom Redirection' feature to redirect customers to a custom page after they book an appointment, instead of the default booking confirmation page.

Here is how to change booking confirmation page: Booking Confirmation Page


Here is the sample custom page:



B. By using the "Terms and Conditions" check box, you can include the following message in the box: "This service is specifically designed for children under the age of 15. Bookings made by individuals above the age of 15 may be subject to cancellation". Customers will then need to check the box to confirm their agreement before completing their bookings, ensuring that they are aware of this policy.

More details: 

STEP 2: TO BE FOLLOWED IN ZOHO FLOW APPLICATION

A: Log in and search the template

  • Sign in to Zoho Flow application and create a new flow using the create flow option.

  • Select App > search for Zoho Bookings in the search bar.

  • Select the "Appointment Booked" trigger.

  • Select "Connection" and "Variable" > Done.


How to create a flow in Zoho Flow: Create a flow from scratch

How to create connection in Zoho Flow application: Create a Connection


At the end of step A, we have created a new flow including Zoho Bookings application.


B: Set Variable

  • In the Logic option > Flow Control > Set Variable > Edit the variable

  • Name the variable and in the value provide the input in following format "${trigger.customer_more_info.get("What is your age?")} " > Click on done.



 

NOTE: In Step 1, we created a multi-line field named "What is your age?" If you have instead created a single-line field without spaces (e.g., "Age?") on the booking page, the format for the field would be as follows:

  • Single line field format: ${trigger.customer_more_info.fieldname}

  • Multiple line field format: ${trigger.customer_more_info.get("fieldname")}

At the end of step B, we are fetching the output of the "Age" field from the Zoho Bookings form.


C: Create Condition

  • In the Logic option > Flow Control > Decision.

  • In the condition 1, configure as Set Variable(Age) > is not null. 


At the end of step C, we set up conditions to ensure that all bookings made through the Zoho Bookings application meet the requirements specified in the above conditions.


D: Custom Function

  • In the Logic option > Custom Functions > Create Function.

  • Configure function name, return type and input parameter.

  • Details on custom function: Custom Function

Reference below: 




Below is the sample code which you can have for reference. You can configure and modify the code according to your specific requirements.



Code Explanation:


Line 1: To pass the input data below to the code

  • Age: This is used to verify and analyze the customer's input.

  • Customer Email: This is required to send an email notification to the customer in the event of an appointment cancellation.

  • Booking ID: This serves the purpose of identifying the specific booking that needs to be canceled using its unique booking ID.

Line 3: We are implementing an "if condition" to verify the customer's input. In this case, we will check if the entered age is greater than 15. If it meets this condition, the following loop will be executed.

Line 5 - 8: To update appointments, we are utilizing the Zoho Bookings API. Within the update appointment API, there are two mandatory fields that need to be included: BookingID and action (completed/cancel/noshow). In cases where the criteria are not met and an appointment needs to be canceled, we will pass the action field as "cancel".

Line 9 - 14: We are using invokeURL task for API calls. To know more about invokeURL task please refer to the following document: InvokeURL task for API calls

Line 16 - 21: We utilize the sendmail task to send an email to the customer when their appointment is canceled. Additionally, the Zoho Bookings application automatically sends a cancellation email to the customer in such cases. Therefore, you have the option to either use the sendmail task or rely on the default notification system to inform the customer about the cancellation of their booking.


More details on send mail task: Send Mail Task

This is what the final flow will look like:



Here is the demo video:  In this demo video, we have showcased the behaviour of our setup configuration for different inputs from customers. One input satisfies the configured condition, while the other input does not meet the configured condition.




CONCLUSION:

In the preceding discussion, we have outlined a method for automatic appointment cancellation. You can use this document as a reference to explore the various possibilities that suit your needs.

In the upcoming posts, we will explore various scenarios and methods for updating the appointment status. Furthermore, we have covered the process of canceling an appointment after it has been booked.If you are wondering whether there is a way to verify customer inputs before booking an appointment, the answer is yes. We will delve into that topic in the next series.

As the above configuration may differ based on individual business requirements, we have provided a generic example for reference. If you have any questions or need assistance with configuration to align with your specific business needs, please email us at hello@zohobookings.com or support@zohobookings.com.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Approve or deny appointments based on criteria

      Hey, community members! Have you ever wondered how to automatically approve or deny appointments? While we're still working on building that feature, we've got an alternative method to cancel appointments if they don't meet your specific criteria. Let

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • New Toolbar in Zoho Sheet

        We have revamped our toolbar design in this new version of Zoho Sheet. Below are some screenshots to help you get accustomed to this new interface. Click on the picture below to view the animated image in its original size. Scroll down this post to learn about the changes. Highlight of Changes: The previous format tab is now split into 2 tabs - Home and Format. The Home tab contains the commonly used functions and the Format tab holds formatting related options. Under the Home tab towards the far

      • Zoho inbuilt Telephony made a lot of issues!

        Hi there, I am a user that I am working with zoho inbuilt telephony around 1 month. Non of my colleagues are happy with this app! most of the time customer cannot hear my customer service team, customers say our voice is breaking. whenever Telephony support

      • Sending workflow notifications using popular chat services

        Hello everyone, We have introduced instant and scheduled notifications on some of the most popular chat platforms to facilitate easy collaboration, quick action, and wider reach. Workflow notifications can be sent to the following chat platforms: Zoho

      • Webhook not firing.

        I created a webhook using the Web UI, it looks very nice and the testing worked without an issue, but when i save/ update a ticket, the webhook is not firing. Here are the details of the web-hook i get from using the API "modifiedTime": "2019-10-22T09:23:37.380Z",

      • Adding Images to a Quote in Zoho CRM

        We are currently preparing to use Quotes in Zoho CRM and we are building out our Quote templates.  We came across an issue of not being to add Images of the products to the Quote - specifically in the body of the Quote templates.   This is a problem,

      • Applications built with Zoho Creator

        Hi, I’m really interested in seeing how others have built their application using Zoho Creator, especially those designed for external users (clients, vendors, or the public). If you’ve developed something along those lines and don’t mind sharing, I’d

      • Is it posssible to add Asap Widget on Wordpress?

        I have tried to add the ASAP widget so users could iniciate chats and see the KB information but nothings seems to work. I have tried to add the script using a php snippet that adds the to the footers and also tried one for the header in the functio

      • Require ticket resolution

        Hi Zoho team, Is there a way to require resolution even if an agent did not use a blueprint? for example, our blueprint has a "resolve" transition but what if agent revoked blueprint and manually set the status of ticket to closed? Is there a way where

      • Tables from ZohoSheets remove images when updated from source

        I have a few tables from a ZohoSheet in a ZohoWriter document that will remove the images in the cells when I refresh from the source. The source still has the images in the table when I go to refresh. After updating from the source, as you can see the

      • API Pagination Error: 'from' Parameter Limit

        Hello, I am encountering an error while paging through the Zoho Desk API results: Status code: 422 - {"errorCode":"UNPROCESSABLE_ENTITY","message":"The value passed for field 'from' exceeds the range of '0-4999'."} Is 5000 the maximum number of records

      • How to go to the next open ticket in the queue when agents closes ticket

        Zoho Desk When agent closes a ticket - eg when they choose 'Send and Close" - where is the setting that automatically redirects them to the next open ticket in the queue?

      • CRM verify details pop-up

        Was there a UI change recently that involves the Verify Details pop-up when changing the Stage of a Deal to certain things? I can't for the life of me find a workflow or function, blueprint, validation rule, layout rule ect that would randomly make it

      • Custom templates for calendar report

        What about being able to design custom templates for the calendar report, as well as for other types of reports? I think more users are waiting for this.

      • Print a price list or price book

        Hi Community. Am I right in concluding that Zoho has no functionality to print a price list from either Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory or Zoho Books? I won't get stuck on the fact that Zoho doesn't sync price books between Zoho CRM and Books/Inventory (more

      • Disable payment thank-you emails

        Hello, can someone please tell me how to disable sending of the "Payment Thank-You" emails? 

      • Maximum tags possible in Contacts Records

        I read in some documentation that Zoho allows a total of 200 tags across all records. Is this correct? So is it not possible to have one tag per record for 500 records?

      • Any way to "Pay with Check" or "Refund with Check" for Credit Notes?

        When we have a Bill in Zoho Books, we can select the "Pay with Check" option which then allows us to print/cut the check directly out of Zoho Books. When we created a Credit Note and want to refund the customer, is there any way to Refund with Check,

      • CRM Mobile reports

        When our engineers finish a job they like to email the customer a job report. This is best done todate as an email template but we can find no way to include an image field from that module. Is there any other options?

      • When Zoho Tables Beta will be open to EU data center

        Hello all, We in EU are looking at you all using and testing and are getting jealous :) When we will be able to get into the beta also? We don't mind testing and playing with beta software. Thank you!

      • Start Form on a different page (i.e., hide form pages)?

        I have a Zoho form that uses the `Field Alias - Prefill URL` feature. My goal is to have a pre-filled field that directs the user to a specific starting page in the form. For example: The URL will have a field alias that will auto-populate a field with

      • How can we disable "My Requests"?

        We are not using this functionality in our system at all and our users get confused.

      • PayPal payment received recording problem

        Hi, A little while back one of our customers used the PayPal payment option to pay an invoice For some reason though the payment is showing up twice within the Payments section of the invoice! Instead of setting the invoice value to ZERO, it now shows a negative value Anyone else face this problem? I've checked PayPal and there is only 1 payment in reality... A bug? Actonia ps: for anyone from Zoho Customer Service or tech team,  its Invoice 785 in our account

      • string(87) "{"code":"INVALID_TOKEN","details":{},"message":"invalid oauth token","status":"error"} " grtting this error

        Using access token i am trying to add sales orders through api but it is throwing errors like the above i have mentioned. Please help me for that

      • How to mute chat notification sound by default in Zoho SalesIQ?

        We’ve recently embedded the Zoho SalesIQ chatbot on our website, and we’ve noticed that notification sounds sometimes play even when the visitor hasn’t interacted with the chat widget yet. We’re trying to understand two things: Why do these sounds occur

      • Kanban View for Projects.

        At our organization, we describe active projects with various statuses like "In Proofing" or "Printing" or "Mailing". In the Projects view, one can set these project statuses by selecting from the appropriate drop-down. While this works, it's difficult to view and comprehend the progress of all of your projects relative to each other in a table. Creating a Kanban view for projects where I can move them from one status to another allows me to see where each project is in the order of our workflow.

      • How to Hide Article Links in SalesIQ Answer Bot Responses

        I have published an article in SalesIQ, and the Answer Bot is fetching the data and responding correctly. However, it is also displaying the article link, which I don’t want. How can I remove the link so that only the message is shown?

      • Add RECURRING option when adding email to calendar events

        When you add an email to a calendar event, there is no option to make that new calendar event into a recurring event.  It is counterproductive to make an event from your email to then have to go to your calendar, find the event, and make it recurring. 

      • LINE Auto Message Connect to Zoho

        When I integrated LINE into the CRM, I was prompted to disable “Chat,” “Auto Response,” and “Greeting Messages,” and to enable the webhook. However, since I have already set up some auto-reply features in LINE, including Rich Messages and greeting automation,

      • Option to block bookings from specific email address or ip adresss in zoho booking

        Sometime few of our client keep booking irrelevant booking service just to resolve their queries and they keep booking it again and again whenever they have queries. Currently its disturbing our current communication process and hierarchy which we have

      • Threaded conversations for emails sent via automation

        Hi Guys, I hope you are doing well. Don't you guys think we should have an option in a workflow to notify users either as a new email or the previous email thread. For example, if you have one deal in the process and there are 10 different stages during

      • Create folder is fetch fails

        coming from zapier... zapier has a google drive task that searches for a specific folder in google drive, and if it fails to find the folder it will create a folder based on the search criteria, and contine along the singluar path of the flow. Trying

      • Meetups de Usuarios de Zoho - Noviembre 2025

        ¡Hola, Comunidad! Durante el mes de noviembre celebraremos los Meetups de usuarios de Zoho, encuentros presenciales pensados para quienes queráis mejorar vuestras estrategias de lead nurturing y aprender a sacar el máximo partido a herramientas como Zoho

      • Introducing 7 New Connectors in Zoho DataPrep!

        We’ve just made data management even easier - Zoho DataPrep now supports 7 new external connectors to help you build more robust, scalable ETL pipelines. Why it matters: ✅ Broader data access ✅ More automation, less manual work ✅ Smarter pipelines, better

      • Sales Order, Invoice and Payment numbers

        Hi zoho friends, it is me again, the slow learner. I'm wondering if there is a way to have it so the Sales order, invoice and payment numbers are all the same? It would be easier for me if they were the same number so there is not so many reference numbers

      • Missing information data Zoho inventory

        there some missing data in Zoho inventory connection. pick list stock counts bin location we have requested it via mail and the support team doesn’t gove feedback. has anyone achieve to get these info or to ask other ya les

      • First day of trying FSM in the field.

        What we found. 1. with out a network connection we were unable to start a service call? 2. if you go to an appointment and then want to add an asset it does not seem possible. 3. disappointed not to be able to actually take a payment from within the app

      • Zoho Desk app update: AI powered features

        Hello everyone! We’ve introduced various AI-powered services on the Zoho Desk app. Let's take a look at what's new. Generate Content: Generate Content uses AI to formulate responses based on the your query and provides a ready-to-use reply which can be

      • How to Automate Email Sequence

        I'm having trouble trying to set up a workflow to automate an email sequence. Once a group of emails in a Task has been tagged by a certain tag, I want an instant email template to be sent. After 7 days with no response, another email template would be

      • Turning off the new UI

        Tried the new 'enhanced' UI and actively dislike it. Anyone know how to revert back?

      • Zoho Sprints Android v2.0.4 app update: Item reminders, archive Epics, Kanban projects, Epic progress

        Hello everyone! In the latest version(v2.0.4) of the Zoho Sprints Android app update, we have introduced various new features. Let's take a look at what's new! Item Reminder Stay organized and never miss an important date with the all-new Item Reminder

      • Next Page