How to set up online appointment booking: a 6-step guide
The technology is the smallest part these days. What matters is that services, hours and rules are entered properly — then the booking page and the phone AI work without any rework.
Step 1: Create services with realistic durations
Every service gets a duration and, optionally, a price. Factor in preparation and tidying up, or work with buffer times. Rule of thumb: better five minutes too generous than a daily schedule that falls apart by 11 a.m. At HoraDeck you can also store the service name in every language — the AI suggests the translation.
Step 2: Define opening hours, breaks and lead time
Enter opening hours per weekday, lunch breaks and a lead time (for example "bookable no earlier than 2 hours ahead") so nobody turns up at your door five minutes from now. Holidays and individual days off are entered as absences.
Step 3: Assign staff and their services
Who offers what, and when does that person work? The booking page then only shows times when the right person is genuinely available — which prevents appointments that nobody can actually carry out.
Step 4: Make your booking page visible
The booking link belongs everywhere your customers look for you: your website (a "Book appointment" button), Google Business Profile, Instagram bio, email signature, and as a QR code in the shop window or on the invoice. This visibility brings more bookings than any setting in the system.
Step 5: Activate reminders and cancellation rules
Switch on appointment reminders (for example 24 hours ahead) by email and — if you wish — by SMS. Define until when customers may cancel or reschedule themselves. Together, these two settings reduce no-shows and make freed-up slots immediately bookable again.
Step 6: Switch on the phone AI
Many people still prefer to book by phone. With a Voice plan (from CHF 79 per month) you get a number to which you forward your existing number when you cannot answer. From then on the AI picks up, books into the same calendar and logs every conversation. After two weeks, the reports show you how many calls would otherwise have been lost.
Common mistakes
- Service durations calculated too tightly — the day runs late.
- Booking link only on the website, not in the Google profile.
- No cancellation deadline: last-minute cancellations can then no longer be re-booked.
- Reminders switched off because "customers know their appointment" — the no-show rate usually says otherwise.
More about the software: online appointment booking, appointment management and pricing.
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