The Diary

When you would use it

Keep it open at the front desk or on a tablet through the day, and use it whenever a customer telephones or walks in.

How to set it up

1. Open Diary. Use Previous day, Next day and Today, or choose a day under This week.
2. If you have more than one location, choose one under Location. To see a single person's day, use Show one person.
3. To book for a customer, select New booking, or select a free space in someone's column to fill in the person and the time. Choose Returning customer if they have booked before, then choose the service, the date and the time, and select Book.
4. For someone who has just walked in, select Walk-in (now). Today's date and the next available time are filled in for you.
5. To move an appointment to another time, drag it up or down in its column. On a touch screen, hold it first. It can only go to a time that is free under the normal booking rules.
6. The Colours key explains each colour, such as Confirmed, Request and Deposit due.
7. Booking requests are answered under Bookings: filter by Waiting for your answer, then select Approve or Decline.

What your customers see

Customers do not see the Diary. A booking you add gets the same confirmation email as one made online, provided you entered the customer's email address. Bookings you add yourself never ask the customer for a deposit or a card.

How double bookings are prevented

Every booking is checked again at the moment it is saved, whether a customer books online or you add it in Diary. Two customers can never be booked with the same person at the same time: if two people choose the same time at once, the first is booked and the second is asked to choose another time. A double tap or a dropped connection never creates a second booking.

When you add a booking, take a walk-in or move an appointment, the Diary makes the same check. If the time is no longer free, you see a message saying so and nothing is booked or moved.

The check takes account of closures, opening hours, time off, the time kept free between appointments, people who work at more than one location, and the journey between visits to customers. A time that comes free is offered to one person on the Waitlist at a time, until the time given in their email, and only then to the next.

Examples from different trades

• BarberKeep the Diary on a tablet by the chairs, and use Walk-in (now) for each customer who comes in off the street.
• PhysiotherapistShow one physiotherapist's day, and drag a follow-up later in the afternoon when a patient telephones to say they are delayed.
• Dog groomerSelect a free space to book a regular's next groom before they leave, choosing Returning customer to fill in their details.