Generic availability sets the number of booking slots based on a set limit of concurrent appointments you allow. It does not take into account the number of staff available. This is the ideal method where you have a lot of staff working set shift patterns.
Setting and Managing Generic Availability in queue settings
This video covers the settings on how to:
- Set up and edit Generic Availability
- Create Special Availability for specific days
To check which type of availability you are using:
Under the Admin tab
Select the queue you are creating availability for
Select Booking Settings
At the top, you will see the field: Define booking slots by, next to this will show which type of booking availability that queue is using.
If you don't see this option you are using Staff Availability. Learn more here about how to create and manage Staff Availability for appointment booking
Setting Generic Availability:
You’ll then need to define what the slots are for each day of the week by going to: Admin > Select a Queue > Booking Availability > Generic
Within the displayed calendar view you’ll be able to click and drag Generic Availability times
Appointment bookings can only occur inside of the available slots that you set. Example: If you create availability from 9 am to 5 pm. The first appointment can commence at 9 am. The last appointment will finish at 5 pm.
Once created, you will see within each booking slot a number, this dictates how many customers can book in concurrently.
We recommend basing the number of slots on the minimum number of staff you have in your venues, but not the maximum. Unless you are not accepting Walk-in customers. Otherwise, you run the risk of reaching the maximum capacity of pre-booked appointments and leaving no staff available to serve queuing customers on the day.
To remove or edit availability, click on the slot and click Remove.
Because Generic Availability reoccurs every week, you may find that you need to set specific dates up with unique availability slots.
For example, if your venue is closed on a bank holiday or has fewer staff available. So you’ll want to reduce the Generic Availability for that day in advance.
Creating Special Days:
Go to Admin > Select a Queue > Booking Availability > Special Days.
Choose a date from the calendar.
Then click and drag the availability that you would like to set for this day.
When you create Special Days Availability, it will overwrite the generic booking slots you have already created for that specific day. Once the Special Day's Availability has passed, the generic availability will resume.
You can increase or decrease the number of concurrent slots using the arrows.
To remove or edit the existing Special Date’s availability, you can find it by clicking on the calendar. Or you can search it via the search fields below the calendar.