Applies to: Admins, Managers
This guide will help you understand how Endear's appointment availability system works and how the different availability settings interact with each other.
Overview
Endear allows you to set up multiple availability hours to give you highly customizable control over when appointments can be booked. This ensures that customers are only presented with appointments during acceptable time slots.
With Endear Appointments, you can set availability at 3 different layers:
Booking Link Hours - Availability for individual booking pages (most specific)
Service Hours - Availability for specific appointment types
Calendar Hours - Broadest availability for the entire calendar
When customers are presented with appointment availability, Endear looks at each layer and only provides appointment options during acceptable time slots.
Calendar Hours
Calendar hours set the overall availability for your entire calendar. You can either set specific hours or allow services and booking links to determine availability.
To configure calendar hours:
Navigate to Settings, then select Appointments
Select Calendars, then select your desired calendar
Set calendar specific available hours or use the service and/or booking link defaults
Best practices for calendar hours:
Match your store's operating hours for simplicity
Add time off to block appointments when you/your staff are unavailable
You can find and set the hours for a store calendar by navigating to Appointments > More Actions > Settings > Calendars.
Service Hours
Service hours allow you to control when specific types of appointments can be scheduled.
To configure service hours:
Navigate to Settings, then select Appointments
Select Services, then select your desired service
Set service specific hours
Best practices for service hours:
Consider if you would like each service appointment limited to a specific time frame or on a specific date. For example, perhaps you want to schedule styling appointments on Mondays when in-store foot traffic tends to be low.
You can also opt to set broad service hours and instead utilize calendar hours & booking links hours for further customization.
Service availability hours can be changed for specific booking links.
You can find and set the hours for a service by navigating to Appointments > More Actions > Settings > Booking Links. Services.
Booking Link Hours
Booking link hours provide the most granular control and can override both calendar and service hours.
To configure booking link hours:
Navigate to Settings, then select Appointments
Select Booking links, then select the applicable booking link
Set service booking link hours or use the defaults from the service.
Best practices for booking link hours:
Use when you need highly customized availability
Perfect if you need booking links for individual staff members
Alternatively, booking link hours can be left to inherit availability from the service.
You can find and set the hours for a booking link by navigating to Appointments > More Actions > Settings > Booking Links.
Recommended Configuration Strategies
Calendar Hours Driven Approach
Best for when: You want a store's calendar to control all appointment availability
Example Scenario: Let's say you want stores to accept all appointment types during specific, consistent hours that differ from one another. For example, your LA store wants appointments Mon & Wed, while your SF store wants appointments Tue & Thu. They both are okay with any appointment type during those days.
Set Up Recommendation:
Calendar Hours: Configure specific days/hours for each store location matching their appointment availability
Service Hours: Set broad availability windows for all services
Booking Link Hours: Leave as default to inherit from service hours
Service Hours Driven Approach
Best for when: You want service types to control availability
Example Scenario: Let's say you want to offer personal styling appointments only on Tuesdays and Thursdays at every store location. Set your calendar hours to use defaults, configure your personal styling service for Tuesday and Thursday, and then set your booking links to automatically inherit these service-specific hours.
Set Up Recommendation:
Calendar Hours: Set to "Use service and booking link defaults" or match general operating hours
Service Hours: Configure specific hours for each service type
Booking Link Hours: Leave as default to inherit service hours
Booking Link Hours Driven Approach
Best for when: You need custom booking links with varied availability for a shared service type.
Example Scenario: Let's say you have a seamstress who provides tailoring at a different store each weekday. Set your calendar hours to use defaults, set the tailoring service hours for Mon - Fri, then customize the booking links so each store only shows tailoring appointments on the correct day.
Set Up Recommendation:
Calendar Hours: Set to "Use service and booking link defaults" or match general operating hours
Service Hours: Set broad availability windows
Booking Link Hours: Configure specific hours for each booking link that matches when the selected service is are available at the linked store.
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