22.8 Calendars Setup (Showing Calendars, Consultation Calendars)

Purpose:

Create and configure the online booking calendars that your leads, clients, and potentially agents use to schedule appointments (showings, consultations, listing presentations, calls) directly into available time slots. This is where you define the rules and appearance of your booking pages.

Access:

Navigate to Settings → Calendars.

Setup Workflow:

  1. (Optional) Create Groups: Go to the Groups tab. Create logical groups to organize your calendars (e.g., "Showing Calendars", "Buyer Consultations", "Listing Appointments", "Agent Team Calendar"). This helps with management and potentially allows booking across multiple related calendars.
  2. Create Individual Calendars: Go to the Calendars tab → Click + Create Calendar.
  3. Choose Calendar Type: Select the type that best fits the purpose:
    • Simple Calendar / Unassigned Event: A standard calendar for booking appointments where the specific assigned user might vary or isn't predetermined by the calendar itself (often assigned later or via workflows).
    • Round Robin Event: Distributes appointments evenly among a selected group of assigned team members based on their availability. Ideal for scheduling initial consultations or duty agent slots.
    • Class Booking / Group Event: Allows multiple people to book the *same* time slot up to a defined limit. Useful for webinars, workshops, or potentially open house time slot reservations.
    • Collective Booking: Finds times when *all* selected team members are available simultaneously. Useful for scheduling internal team meetings or joint client calls.
    • Service Calendar (If available): Links booking to a specific pre-defined "Service" which might have a fixed duration, price, and assigned user(s).
  4. Configure Calendar Settings (CRUCIAL): Fill out the detailed settings for the calendar:
    • Details / General Tab:
      • Calendar Name: Clear, public-facing name (e.g., "Request a Property Showing", "Book Buyer Consultation", "Listing Strategy Session").
      • Description: Explain the purpose of the appointment.
      • Calendar URL Slug: Customize the end part of the booking link URL (e.g., /request-showing).
      • Appointment Title: Define how the event appears on the calendar (use merge tags! e.g., "Showing: {{contact.name}} - {{custom_field.property_address_requested}}" or "Consult: {{contact.name}}").
      • Meeting Location: Specify *where* the appointment takes place. Can be: Physical Address (property address for showings - maybe use a custom field, or office address), Phone Number, Custom (enter text instructions), or dynamically link to Video Conferencing (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams) if the assigned user(s) have connected their accounts in My Profile (use {{user.meeting_location}} or {{appointment.meeting_location}} merge tags).
      • Link to Calendar: Select the associated Calendar Group if applicable.
      • Assign User(s): Select the Close Master User(s) (agents) whose availability should govern this calendar and who will be assigned the appointment. For Round Robin, select multiple users. Users MUST connect their external calendars (Google/Outlook) in My Profile for accurate availability checking.
    • Availability Tab: Define scheduling rules:
      • Slot Duration: Length of each appointment (e.g., 30 minutes, 60 minutes).
      • Slot Interval: How frequently start times are offered (e.g., Every 30 minutes).
      • Buffer Duration Before/After: Automatically block time before or after appointments for travel/prep (e.g., 15 minutes buffer after each showing).
      • Appointments Per Slot: (For Class Booking) Max number of attendees per time slot.
      • Appointments Per Day: Limit total bookings per day on this calendar.
      • Minimum Scheduling Notice: Prevent last-minute bookings (e.g., require 4 Hours notice).
      • Date Range: How far into the future users can book (e.g., 30 days).
      • Office Hours / Set Availability: Define the specific days and times this calendar accepts bookings (can use the assigned users' availability from their My Profile or set custom hours specifically for this calendar).
    • Forms & Payments Tab:
      • Booking Form: Choose whether to use the default basic form (Name, Email, Phone) OR (Recommended) select a Custom Form (created in Sites > Forms) to gather more specific information relevant to the appointment type (e.g., Property Address for showings, Pre-Approval Status for consultations).
      • Consent Checkbox: Ensure your selected form includes the necessary contact consent checkbox (See 2.2).
      • (Optional) Payments: Enable and configure payment collection *at the time of booking* if charging for consultations or specific services (requires connected payment gateway).
    • Notifications & Additional Options Tab:
      • Acknowledgement Email: Select contact to receive confirmation (Contact, Assigned User, etc.). Customize notification settings.
      • Allow Reschedule/Cancel: Toggle ON/OFF if you want the confirmation/reminder emails to include links ({{appointment.reschedule_link}}, {{appointment.cancel_link}}) allowing clients to manage their own booking.
      • Cancellation Policy: Define rules (e.g., "Cannot cancel less than 2 hours before appointment").
      • Assign contact to the assigned staff member: Toggle ON if you want the contact record automatically assigned to the agent who gets the booking (useful for Round Robin).
      • Other options: Auto-confirm appointments, send alerts to additional emails.
    • Customization Tab:
      • Choose Calendar Style (Classic or Neo - Neo often more modern).
      • Customize colors, button text.
      • Allow Staff Selection (For Round Robin): Let the booker choose a specific agent if desired.
      • Look Busy: Reduce the number of available slots shown to imply higher demand.
  5. Activate & Save: Ensure the calendar status is set to Active. Click Save.
  6. Get Booking Link/Embed Code: Find the calendar in the list → Click the ... menu → Select Copy Scheduling Link or Copy Embed Code. Share the link directly or embed the calendar onto your website/landing pages (Sites builder Calendar element or paste code on external site).

(Other Tabs):

  • Service Menu/Rooms/Equipments: Less commonly used for standard real estate appointments.
  • Connections Tab: Manage the primary integrations for Calendars (Google/Outlook/iCloud via My Profile) and video conferencing tools (Zoom, Meet, Teams).
  • (Troubleshooting Tool): Look for a Troubleshoot Calendar option to diagnose availability issues.