In this guide you can read more on how to set up the availability and buffers for a meeting type. 



1. Go to the advanced settings


When you create a new meeting type or edit an existing one, you will immediately see the Meeting type details. Scroll down until you see the slider Show advanced settings and activate it.



2. Advanced settings


Additional invitees

In the advanced settings of the meeting type, you can give the guest the option to invite up to 6 additional invitees to the meeting. Fill in the number of additional invitees (max. 6), so the guest will see this on the booking page. 

E.g. If you fill in 2, the guest will be able to invite 2 additional guests, meaning you will have a meeting with 4 participants (you, the guest and 2 additional invitees).



Meeting room template

If you have created meeting room templates to have meeting rooms prepared in advance, you can also use them for booked meetings. Select the preferred template for this meeting type.



Bookable range defines the range for booking this meeting type and can be a maximum of 90 days. You will see 3 default options: 

  • 30 days
  • 60 days
  • 90 days


If you want a different range for this meeting type, click on custom and type the amount of days. E.g. 45 days.


In Booking start date and Booking end date, you can define a specific period in which people can book a meeting. This can be used in combination with the minimum buffer and the max range of days in the future.


Example: You have a product promotion in March and want people to book only between the first and last day of March. Make sure your max range covers the whole period if you want people to be able to book from today.




Show availability in increments of 'x minutes' gives the possibility for your clients to book every '15, 30 or 60 minutes'. If you pick 30 minutes and your day starts at 9AM, your clients will be able to book a meeting at 9AM, 9.30AM, 10AM, …




Booking buffer defines the amount of working hours before a booking can be made. By default it will show the next working day, this means that same day bookings are not possible. You can also select 4 hours, 2 hours or Custom.


If you click 'Custom' you will be able to set an amount of hours before a booking can be made. E.g 16 hours.



Your working hours are defined by your availability!


Example 1: Your working hours are set from 9AM to 5PM and your custom buffer is set to 3 hours. When a client visits your booking page at 11AM then the earliest time slot he can book is 2PM that same day.


Example 2: Your working hours are set from 9AM to 5PM and your custom buffer is set to 3 hours. When a client visits your booking page at 4PM then the earliest time slot he can book is 11AM the next day.



The Meeting buffer (before) and Meeting buffer (after) give more information on when the meetings can be booked. If you want no other bookings 15 minutes before and after a meeting you fill in 15 minutes in both boxes.


You will see 3 default options: 

  • No buffer
  • 5 minutes 
  • 10 minutes


If you want a different buffer for this meeting type, click on custom and type the amount of minutes. E.g. 30 minutes




3. Select your availability

Below Meeting type details you will find Availability. On this page, you can set up your availability and unavailabilities in detail.


Availability


There are 2 ways to set up your availability: Hours view or Calendars view.



Hours view

In Hours view you can select the days with a checkmark and select the hours by filling in the fields. By default Monday until Friday will be checked and 09:00 until 17:00 will be chosen.




If you would like to add a break (e.g. one hour at noon), just click the ‘+’ icon and change the hours from 09:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 17:00.



To remove an hour selection click on the bin icon. Don’t forget to change the hours if needed!


If you click on Reset to default all the days and hours will go back to the Monday to Friday and 09:00 to 17:00 selection.


Calendar view


All the fields in blue indicate that you're available for a meeting. Every blue field is 30 minutes. You can select and drag the available time slots in the overview.


This availability will be overwritten if your connected calendar has another meeting planned at that time.


Unavailability

Below the availability you can set up unavailable dates. When adding a date here, guests will not be able to book them.



Add an unavailable date

  • Open the dropdown
  • Click on the button ‘Add dates’
  • Select a Start and End date when you will not be available



You can remove the unavailable date by clicking on the bin icon. Or you can add another unavailable date by clicking on ‘Add dates’


Vectera is looking forward to your feedback so we can offer you the best scheduling and customer meeting experience. Set up your next customer meeting right away by logging into your account or sign-up for a free, fully-featured trial of Vectera!