Managing Appointments

Effective navigation of the calendar view and appointment booking process is crucial for your reception team to efficiently manage appointments and provide a seamless customer experience, particularly when handling phone bookings.

Topics Covered in Managing Appointments:

• Booking Requirements
• How to Book an Appointment
• How to Move an Appointment
• How to Cancel an Appointment
• How to Double Book
• How to Schedule a Task

Permissions Overview

• Receptionists, Managers, and Admins: Default access to all calendars across all locations.
• Operators (Clinical Staff): Access only to their assigned location’s calendars.

Booking Requirements

To create an appointment in Cosmesoft, ensure the following:

1. Operator’s Roster: Must be set up and open for bookings.
2. Services: Operator profile must include required services.
3. Double Booking: Enable "Allow Double Booking" in the operator's profile, if needed.

How to Book an Appointment

1. Access Calendar: From the left menu, select Calendar. The view will default to today’s date.

• To choose a future date, use the arrows or date picker in the top-left corner.

2. Select Location / Operator: Ensure the correct Location (if you have more than one) and Operator’s calendar is selected. For Day View, you can view all staff. For Week View, only one operator can be selected at a time.

3. Choose Time Slot: Click on an available time slot for the selected operator.

4. Complete Booking Form:

• Search for Client: Enter the client's name or phone number, or select + New Client to add a new client
• Fill Mandatory Fields: Ensure all required client information, including DOB (important for compliance), is entered.
• Select Service: Choose the appropriate service by first selecting the Service Category dropdown and then the desired service from the list. If the service is unavailable, update the operator’s profile to include it.
• Multi Service Option: If more than one service is required, select the green “+” icon. A new row will appear beneath with an additional service selector. Choose the next service you’d like to add and repeat as needed. To remove any added services, select the red “–” icon.
• Treatment Time: Adjust the total treatment time to cover all selected services, then add any required Buffer Time. Buffer Time is added to the end of the booking. For example, if Lip Volume and Wrinkle Reduction services are booked for a total of 60 minutes with a 30-minute buffer (for consultation, aftercare, or sales), the total booking duration will be 90 minutes.
• Notes: Add any Booking Notes that other reception and clinical team members can view.
• SMS a Confirmation (optional): Tick the box to Send an SMS if you'd like the client to receive a confirmation.
• Deposit: If a deposit is required, a Deposit Required notification will appear. Collect the payment immediately by selecting the deposit button and entering the payment details.

5. Booking on Calendar: Once the appointment is booked, it will appear on the calendar. You can view options such as Summary, Manage, Consultation, and Client, simply by selecting the appointment box.

Managing Appointments: Key Tabs and Functions

Summary Tab:

• View booking details (treatment duration, services).
• Booking Activities (with filter)
• Send a Booking Confirmation SMS (checkbox required to send).
• Access key management buttons:
• • Start Consult: Begin writing the treatment note.
  • Modify Booking: Change time/date, location, or operator.
  • View Client File: Access patient information and previous visits.
  • Edit Client: Update client details (e.g., name, contact info).
  • Add to POS: Open the Point of Sale system for payment processing.

Manage Tab:

• Modify appointment details (service types, time, date, location, buffer time or operator).
• Duplicate Booking: Create a copy of the appointment and adjust the details as needed.
• The Operator cannot be modified in the Manage Tab; to change the operator, delete the appointment and create a new one.

Consultation Tab:

• Access past treatment notes, forms, and scripts.
• Start the Consultation Process.
• Add a New Form.
• View/update consents without needing to open the full client file.

Client Tab:

• Quick access to client details, including contact information, account balance, and loyalty points.

Appointment Statuses

To the right of the client’s name, use the Status dropdown to flag any relevant statuses for the client (e.g., No Show, Cancelled). These statuses are helpful for reporting purposes and will appear in the client's visit history.
Set a Status (4 available eg. No Show) or check the Legend (7 available based on actions eg. Booked Online = O) to remind yourself what the abbreviation refers to.

How to Move an Appointment

1. Same Day Change: Simply drag and drop the appointment to a new time or operator column.
2. Different Day:
3. • Select the appointment and click Modify in the Summary tab or the Manage Tab.
   • Adjust time, date, location, or service type as needed. To change the Operator, you must delete and rebook the appointment.
3. Send New Confirmation: To resend an SMS confirmation, tick the box next to Send Booking Confirmation and select Send Now.

How to Cancel an Appointment

1. Select Appointment: Click on the appointment you wish to cancel.
2. Add Status: In the Add Status dropdown next to the client’s name, select Cancelled.
3. Remove from Calendar: The appointment will be removed from the calendar, and the client will have a Cancelled status in their visit history.

How to Double Book

1. Enable Double Booking: The operator must have "Allow Double Booking" enabled in their profile.
2. Create Double Booking: When scheduling an appointment, a small gap will appear next to the initial booking. Click the gap to open the Booking Form and schedule the second appointment.
3. Profile Adjustment: If the operator’s profile does not allow double booking, an error message will appear. Adjust the profile settings to enable this feature.

How to Schedule a Block Period

Block Periods can be scheduled without a client attached to the appointment slot. (e.g., tasks, lunch break or administrative work).  These are scheduled similarly to appointments:

1. Choose Time Slot: Click on an available time slot on the calendar.
2. Select a Service: In the Booking Form, Client search is removed, and choose an Internal Use Only Service (used for Tasks or Block Periods) from the Service list.
3. Adjust Duration: Drag the task’s time block to cover the desired period on the calendar.

Tips for Efficient Appointment Management

Service Availability: Ensure services are correctly set up in the operator’s profile for the assigned location. A service cannot be booked unless it’s allocated to the operator for the specific location.

Avoid creating a 'Dummy' Client file: Do not use placeholder clients to block out time. If you need to block time, use a Task or adjust the Roster.  Dummy clients end up cluttering your database, showing up in reports where you dont want them.

Spell and Format Client Names Correctly: Double-check spelling, capitalization, and hyphenation, and verify email and mobile numbers. Precision is essential for communications and accessing promotions.

Modify, Don’t Duplicate: Use the Modify Booking feature to reschedule appointments. This prevents multiple bookings for the same client/service and ensures accuracy.