What are Buffers?
Availability Buffers allow you to define the soonest possible appointment times that your Schedule Engine Scheduler will offer to customers both on website and through live services. With Buffers you can:
- Define the Buffer Area - Service Zones
- Define Services - Trades and Service Codes
- Set Duration - How much should appointments be buffered in Days or Hours (rolling time block)
- Create Buffer Label - descriptive label to delineate between buffers
Example Use Case: We are too busy and despite having availability in our FSM, we need to block customers from booking Preventative Maintenance for the next few months
How do you set up a Buffer?
Visit https://provider.scheduleengine.net/settings/operations/advanced-scheduling/buffers
Click Settings > Advanced Scheduling > Buffers
Click Plus + symbol > Define Buffer Area > Next
Define Services if applicable or Apply to all trades and service codes > Next
You can get even more granular and define by Service Codes!
Set Duration in days or hours (rolling time block) > Next
Create a Buffer Label to differentiate you out of service dates > Finish
There is no limit on the amount of buffers you can create. These can be viewed, edited, or deleted at any time in the Advanced Scheduling section of the dashboard.
*If criteria matches for multiple buffers (overlapping times, days, services), the longest one will be applied