IN THIS ARTICLE:
Learn how to configure the Appointment Registration and Appointments Filters areas of your Customer Portal settings. The appointments settings determine how the system handles requests to book appointments via the Customer Portal, while the appointments Filter options control which filters will be available for customers when searching for appointments.

• How do I enable the appointments feature for the Customer Portal?
• How do I configure the Appointment Registration settings?
  • General Appointment settings
  • Auto Charge Scheduler
    • Single Select
    • Month to Month
    • Custom 
  • Customizing Automated Emails
• How do I configure the Appointment Filters settings?

How do I enable the appointments feature for the Customer Portal?

To enable the appointments feature for the Customer Portal, navigate to SETTINGS>CUSTOMER PORTAL>OTHER SETTINGS>GENERAL SETTINGS and enable the option to "Show Appointments And Allow Visitors To Register For Them."

How do I configure the Appointment Registration settings?

The Appointment Registration settings under SETTINGS>CUSTOMER PORTAL>OTHER SETTINGS>APPOINTMENT REGISTRATION determine how the system handles requests to book appointments via the Customer Portal.

General Appointment settings

The General Appointment settings are miscellaneous settings that determine how the Customer Portal handles various options related to appointments.

• Limit booking start date to at least X days from today - limits the start date of an appointment booking to at least this number of days in the future from the date of registration. (For example, if set to "2", customers cannot book an appointment less than two days in advance.)
  • NOTE: This setting only applies to new appointment bookings.  Therefore, the start date requested for rescheduling an appointment may be outside this date range.
• Limit booking start date to at most X days from today - limits the start date of an appointment booking to at most this number of days in the future from the date of registration. (For example, if set to "5", customers cannot book an appointment more than five days in advance.)
  • NOTE: This setting only applies to new appointment bookings.  Therefore, the start date requested for rescheduling an appointment may be outside this date range.
• Auto Approve Appointments - enables the Customer Portal/Mobile App to automatically approve appointment requests for students where an opening exists and the students meet the established requirements of age and gender. This must be enabled to allow the Customer Portal to charge for bookings and to collect payment.
  • Send Email Notification Upon Auto-Approved Appointment Booking To Email Address Of Appointment Location - if enabled, the system will send the "Notification of Appointment Booking" email template to the email address associated with the Location of the appointment if a customer books an appointment via the Customer Portal.
    • Send Confirmation Email to Instructor - if enabled, the system will send the "Notification of Appointment Booking" email template to the email address associated with the Instructor attached to the appointment if a customer books an appointment via the Customer Portal.
• Allow Customers to cancel appointments - if enabled, customers will be allowed to cancel appointments from the Customer Portal.
  • Cancellation Timeframe (Days/Hours/Minutes) - limits the cancellation timeframe based on a certain number of Days/Hours/Minutes before the scheduled appointment timeslot.
  • NOTE: If "Charge Cancellation Fee" is enabled under SETTINGS>SETUP>APPOINTMENT SETTINGS>GENERAL APPOINTMENT SETTINGS, the system will charge a cancellation fee accordingly.
    • Send Email Notification Upon Auto-Approved Appointment Cancellation To Email Address Of Appointment Location - if enabled, the system will send the "Notification of Appointment Cancellation" email template to the email address associated with the Location of the appointment if a customer cancels an appointment via the Customer Portal.
      • Send Confirmation Email to Instructor - if enabled, the system will send the "Notification of Appointment Cancellation" email template to the email address associated with the Instructor attached to the appointment if a customer cancels an appointment via the Customer Portal.
• Allow Rescheduling - if enabled, customers will be allowed to reschedule appointments from the Customer Portal.
  • Rescheduling Timeframe (Days/Hours/Minutes) - limits the rescheduling timeframe based on a certain number of Days/Hours/Minutes before the scheduled appointment timeslot.
  • Auto Approve Rescheduled Appointments - if enabled, the system will automatically approve rescheduled appointments if they are submitted within the Rescheduling Timeframe.
    • NOTE: If "Charge cancellation fee for rescheduled appointments" is enabled under SETTINGS>SETUP>APPOINTMENT SETTINGS>GENERAL APPOINTMENT SETTINGS, the system will charge a cancellation fee accordingly.
  • Send Email Notification Upon Auto-Approved Rescheduled Appointment To Email Address Of Appointment Location - if enabled, the system will send the "Notification of Appointment Booking Reschedule" email template to the email address associated with the Location of the appointment if a customer reschedules an appointment via the Customer Portal.
    • Send Confirmation Email to Instructor - if enabled, the system will send the "Notification of Appointment Booking Reschedule" email template to the email address associated with the Instructor attached to the appointment if a customer reschedules an appointment via the Customer Portal.
• Charge Type - allows staff members to choose how they wish to charge for appointment bookings with a specified end date upon checkout:
  • Charge for First Active Month - if enabled, the system will charge the customer for all appointment timeslots for which they are booked within their first active month. (default)
  • Charge for all Appointment Timeslots (Fixed-length Enrollments Only) - if enabled, the system will charge for all appointment timeslots for which they are booked.
  • NOTE: For open-ended Appointment bookings (i.e., those without an end date), the system will only charge for the first active month regardless of which setting is enabled.

Toggle an option on/off by clicking the box next to it. After making any changes to these settings, click “Save Settings."

Auto Charge Scheduler

The Auto Charge Scheduler allows you to configure the Charge Category used for auto-created appointment tuition charges created via the Customer Portal/Mobile App. (Appointment tuition charges that are created manually on the customer ledger or when using the "Appointment Tuition Charges" task will still need to be manually selected.)

You can configure the Charge Category to be used by choosing a method to answer the question “How do you wish to manage Auto-Charge Categories?”

Single Select

The "Single Select" option allows you to select a single Charge Category to be used for all auto-created appointment tuition charges until you manually change it. (This is the default option.)

• Auto-Charge Category – select the Charge Category to be used.

NOTE: If the selected Charge Category is deleted or expires, the system will still continue to use it until it is manually updated by a staff member.  This is to prevent scenarios where a customer would be unable to complete checkout because there is no Charge Category selected.

Month to Month

The "Month to Month" option allows you to select a Charge Category to be used each month. The system will automatically select the appropriate Charge Category based on the first billable appointment date.

• Select a Charge Category for Each Month – select the Charge Category to be used for each month of the year.

NOTE: If the selected Charge Category is deleted or expires, the system will still continue to use it until it is manually updated by a staff member.  This is to prevent scenarios where a customer would be unable to complete checkout because there is no Charge Category selected.

Custom

The "Custom" option allows you to define your own schedule to change the Charge Category to be used for all auto-created appointment tuition charges. The system will automatically select the appropriate Charge Category based on the first billable appointment date.

• From/To – the selected Charge Category will be assigned to auto-created appointment tuition charges for appointment bookings with start dates within the specified date range.
• Charge Category – select the Charge Category to be used.
• Add New Row – creates a new row so you can specify an additional custom schedule.
• Choose Backup Charge Category – select a backup Charge Category to be used whenever a charge is created outside the specified date ranges.

After selecting your option and configuring any settings, be sure to SAVE your changes. Once saved, the method being actively used by the system will be flagged as “Currently Using.”

Customizing Automated Emails

The system will use the following automated email templates to notify customers of actions related to appointments that are performed in the Customer Portal/Mobile App. These can be customized under SETTINGS>SETUP>GENERAL SETTINGS>COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES>"Customer Portal."

• Appointment Booking (Approved) - An email sent to customers for each appointment booking processed through the mobile app or Customer Portal. Includes the booking details and a transaction summary from checkout.
• Appointment Booking (Request) - An email sent to customers for each appointment booking processed through the mobile app or Customer Portal that was submitted as a request. Includes the booking details.
• Appointment Booking Canceled - An email sent to customers to confirm the cancellation of an appointment via the Customer Portal. Includes the booking details.
• Appointment Booking Rescheduled (Approved) - An email sent to customers to confirm that an appointment was rescheduled via the Customer Portal. Includes the booking details.
• Appointment Booking Rescheduled (Request) - An email sent to customers for each appointment booking rescheduled via the mobile app or Customer Portal that was submitted as a request. Includes the booking details.
• Notification of Appointment Booking - An optional email sent to the location email address for new appointment bookings in that location made via the Customer Portal.
• Notification of Appointment Cancellation - An optional email sent to the location email address for appointment bookings in that location that have been canceled via the Customer Portal.
• Notification of Appointment Reschedule - An optional email sent to the location email address for appointment bookings in that location that have been rescheduled via the Customer Portal.

Click here for information about customizing automated emails for actions related to appointments that are performed in the Office Portal.

How do I configure the Appointment Filters settings?

The Appointment Filters options under SETTINGS>CUSTOMER PORTAL>OTHER SETTINGS>APPOINTMENT FILTERS control which filters will be available for customers when searching for Appointments.

These filters include:

• Age
• Gender
• Program
• Start Time
• Day
• Instructor
• Search

Toggle an option on/off by clicking the box next to it. After making any changes to these settings, click “Save Settings."