Google - Calendar - Appointment Schedule Setup

This page explains how to set up an appointment schedule and you are allowed to create multiple appointment schedules for the different types of appointments you want to offer (i.e. Conferences, weekly office hours). A person will not need to have a Google account to book appointments on your calendar.

If you have already set up an appointment schedule and just want to add appointment slots to it, you should follow directions to 'Add/Delete Appointment Slots'

Setup is straight forward enough that you may want to proceeded on your own and only refer to the direction step if you have a question. Any choice you make can be easily edited later. Notice also there is a button at the top of the Appointment Scheduler to 'Take a tour' which will show you a quick overview of the features.

Step 1

Open Google Calendar

A. Open Google Chrome.

B. Select the Google Calendar icon from the waffle menu

OR go to calendar.google.com.

Step 2

Create a new Appointment Schedule

Notice as you create an appointment and adjust the settings it will be displayed on your calendar to the right.

A. Select the '+ Create' button at the top left to open its menu.

B. Select 'Appointment schedule" from the menu

In the new window that opens;

C. Replace text with a title. A good title will reflect the reason users are booking an appointment (i.e. Mr. Paquette's Conferences)

D. Select the length of time you would like meetings to last, NOT including any time you want between appointments which you can set later.

E. If your appointment availability does not have much repetition you should select this menu and change the option to 'Does not Repeat'. The schedule for a repeating appointments is replaced with a field for a date, start time, and end time. Adjust those fields to the first block of time you want to offer appointments. This is easy to adjust later following directions to 'Add/Delete Appointment Slots' so you can also leave it the way it is. If your availability does have a lot of repetition (i.e. every Monday from 1:00-3:00) then adjust the schedule accordingly. This is also easy to edit later.

F. The 'Scheduling Window' menu shows the current settings for when a person is allowed to schedule an appointment. The default is to stop accepting appointments 4 hours before a time slot which helps prevent you from being caught off guard by someone booking an appointment moments before it is to take place. Select the drop down arrow to adjust times or uncheck boxes to remove time restrictions.

G. The 'Adjusted availability' menu does not show unless you have set up the appointment to 'Repeat Weekly'. It is used to make adjustments if your long term repeating schedule changes.

H. The 'Booked appointment settings' shows the current settings for the buffer time between each appointment slot, limiting the number of appointments in a time period, and if users can share edit the appointment to include another guest. Buffer time is the amount of time you want between each booked appointment. This helps if you need time between each appointment to organize or it you think an appointment may not always end on time.

I. The 'Calendar' menu shows the current calendar under which these appointments are being booked. It also shows the color the appointments will be on your calendar and if you want to avoid scheduling conflicts. Select the drop down menu to adjust these settings. If you leave the option to 'Check calendars for availability' checked it will not offer appointment slots during the time period when you have something else scheduled on that same calendar.

J. The 'Co-hosts' menu allows you to add colleagues to the appointment schedule so they can view and edit the appointments just as you would.

K. When you are satisfied with the settings in this menu select the 'NEXT' button.

Step 3

Complete Meeting Specifics

A. When you complete these steps a Booking Page will be created which is the page you will share with others so they can view and select from the appointment slots you make available. The photo/icon associated with your Google account is shown here. If it does not match your school Google account then it is possible you associated the appointments with the wrong calendar and need to restart with the correct account. A link is provided to manage your Google account where you can replace the photo/icon.

B. The 'Location and conferencing' menu allows you to designate if your appointments will be through Google Meet, phone, or in-person. Whichever you choose as the default, you will be able to edit the appointment to a different selection after the appointment is booked. If you select Google Meet then, when an appointment is booked, it will create a link to the Google Meet within the appointment. The link can be copied and shared with those who are not included in the appointment. If you select 'In-person meeting' you will be able to designate a location for the meeting. If you select 'Phone call' then the person booking the appointment will be asked to share their phone number. If you select 'None' then the meeting location will be left blank unless someone edits the appointment after it is booked.

D. The 'Booking form' menu sets up the information you want collect from the person booking the appointment. They are required to provide their name and email address. Select the '+Add item' button in the menu. From there you can add 'phone number' to the list of items the person could provide. You can also check the box to require them to answer that question. You can also select 'Custom Item' to type in a question which you can leave as an optional or required response. If you are creating appointments for parent/teacher conferences it is convenient to ask the student's name, if the parent has specific issues they want addressed, or if they want other teachers/accommodations provided. Your choices show up in the 'Booking form' menu and can be edited or deleted. The check box at the bottom will bring the person through a short process to verify they have provided the correct email address.

E. The 'Booking confirmations and reminders' will not allow you to turn off the feature that emails a confirmation to you and the person booking the appointment. You can adjust when the participants will be emailed a reminder by selecting the drop down menu and you can add in multiple reminders by selecting the 'Add reminder' link. You can also turn off all reminders by unchecking the box. Keep in mind, you are setting a default for all appointments. These can be adjusted in the calendar appointment after it is booked.

F. Select the 'SAVE' button when you have all options set to your preference.

Step 4

Booking Page

Selecting 'SAVE' in the previous step opens the booking page links window. The 'Booking Page' is where others go to view and book the appointment slots you have available. If you prefer to set up appointments before reviewing this page, you can close the window by selecting the 'X" at the top right and then follow directions to 'Add/Delete Appointment Slots'. This same window appears by selecting an appointment slot in your calendar.

A. Select the 'Open booking page' to view what others will see. You can then select and book an appointment (with yourself) to see what others will experience. Select the 'Share' button on that page and then copy the URL that you need to share with others so they can access your booking page. If you have created multiple types of booking schedules you will be able to select that you want a link that has all your booking schedules on one booking page.

B. Select the 'Share' button to open the same sharing options described above without having to go through your booking page first.

Your Appointment Schedule is now set up and you can follow directions to 'Add/Delete Appointment Slots' to create the blocks of time you would like to provide appointment slots.

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