Appointments

A diarybook appointment contains various elements such as the service provider, the client and the date and time. Each element plays a part in how the appointment is managed.

Elements of an appointment

When creating an appointment in diarybook the following elements are used

• Service provider
• Client
• Appointment type
• Date and time
• Appointment duration
• Resources (optional)
• Waiting room (optional)
• Reminder setting (optional)

Service provider

The Service Provider is a diarybook user that can fulfill appointments. The service provider can create and manage their own appointments or have another diarybook user manage their appointments for them.

Work hours

The work hours of a service provider are the normal on-going hours of work for the diarybook user. It provides the basis for when appointments can be created for them.

Examples

The work hours can have one or more entries. For example a single entry can be

An example that takes in to account a lunch break

Another example for a part-time user

Appointment Restrictions

When an appointment is being made for a service provider the appointment is restricted by the work hours. For example, for a user with the following work hours

• An attempt to create an appointment earlier than 9:00 will be deemed in conflict.
• An attempt to create an appointment that ends later than 17:00 will be deemed in conflict.

diarybook will warn the user attempting to make an appointment that it is in conflict with the service provider’s work hours.

Overriding work hour conflicts

When making an appointment that is outside the service provider’s work hours there are 2 situations where the conflict can be overridden and the appointment can be made

1. The user creating the appointment is the service provider
2. The user creating the appointment has been granted permissions allowing them to double-book appointments

In either case diarybook will warn about the conflict but will provide a way for the user to override the conflict.

Client

An appointment requires a client. When creating the appointment the user searches for the client using the name or other details of the client. The appointment will be added to the client’s appointment history. An appointment can have more than 1 client for group-style appointments such as classes.

Reminder fields of a client

When adding client records the minimum requirement is the client’s name. However there are other fields to be considered.

To identify the client

Clients can have the same name so when searching for a client other details can help differentiate. The date of birth, mobile number and home address fields can help in this manner.

To send an appointment reminder

Your appointment can be configured to automatically send appointment reminders to the client. To make use of this other client fields need to be utilized.

Appointment type

The type of appointment to be performed. The type is selected from a drop-down of appointment types.

• Users can easily see the reason for the appointment
• It defines the duration of the appointment
• It can be assigned a colour for calendar views
• It can be assigned a department for reporting and analysis
• It can be assigned a waiting room for the appointment
• It can be assigned a reminder setting for the appointment
• It can have a seperate description for public noticeboards

Date, time and duration

The date and time of the appointment is when the client(s) will meet the Service Provider. The duration (in minutes) determines the end-time of the appointment and therefore the block of time booked.

The appointment block of time has the following restrictions.

• Needs to be inside the service provider’s work hours
• Must not conflict with another appointment for that service provider
• Must not conflict with a blocked time entry

If the appointment is also using one or more resources then the block of time has further possible restrictions.

• Must not conflict with another appointment using any of the resources selected
• Needs to be inside the work hours of the resource (if any)

Resources

diarybook resources are usually rooms where the appointment will be held but can also indicate equipment. By selecting a resource you are booking this resource for the duration of the appointment. diarybook will prevent other users from booking the resource for the duration of the appointment.

Resource work hours

Like a service provider, a resource can have work hours that define when it is available for booking. This puts a restriction on the date, time and duration of the appointment

Resource permissions

A resource may have access restricted so that only selected users can book the resource. In this case this refers to the user creating the appointment and not necessarily the service provider of the appointment.

Waiting room

An appointment can optionally be associated with a waiting room.

Waiting room capacity

A waiting room can have a maximum capacity defined.

• Patient capacity
• Average wait times

In a building where various users are creating appointments using the same waiting room, the numbers can be restricted if social distancing rules are in affect. This promotes the spacing out of appointments and avoids crowding the building.

Attendance

If a client is checked-in on arrival their name and appointment details will appear in the waiting-room screen.

Reminder setting

The reminder setting determines how the client will be reminded in advance of the appointment.

How

• SMS text
• Email
• Voice call
• Letter ^

When

Each reminder method can be given a schedule to determine when to send the reminder

• Number of days before the appointment
• Number of hours before the appointment
• The day the appointment was created

and for follow up SMS texts

• Number of days after the appointment

Location

The reminder setting can be associated with a specific location record. Locations can provide the client more information about where their appointment is. Location information can be used in SMS, Letter and Email reminders.