What’s new in Appointment schedules in 2024?

Efficient scheduling is a key element for productivity and success within any business, especially if the business is reliant on time as a resource. Google Workspace's “Appointment Schedules” function is a valuable tool for many users, allowing them to streamline the booking process and manage their time effectively. Last year, we delved into the intricacies of this feature. Today, we'll explore the latest updates which make Appointment Schedules even more versatile and user-friendly in 2024. We expect more updates this year but these are the most useful ones we’ve seen. Watch the video below for more in-detail points or continue to read for a summary.

Quick Recap: Access and Functionality

Before we dive into the new features, let's quickly revisit the basics of Appointment Schedules. This feature is not available for free Google accounts; a Google Workspace individual account or a business account (starting from Business Standard and above) is needed. The user must activate the function in the calendar settings by accessing the cog icon, clicking settings, and choosing Appointment Schedules in the General menu.

Appointment Schedules allow users to create a page for internal and external contacts to book appointments. Custom durations, repeat criteria, and various scheduling parameters can also be set. Users can also add customisations such as page name, description, in-person locations, and Google Meet details. The form captures attendee information, and each completed booking sends a confirmation email to both users and owners, with options for up to 5 reminders. You can set appointments from 5 minutes to 5 hours (and beyond) and repeat criteria to create availability very quickly.

We go into more detail into the functionality and usability of Appointment Scheduling in the video, but here’s a brief summary of the updates that could be useful to you.

What's new in Appointment Schedules then?

Checking Availability against other calendars

Last year, Google introduced the "Review Secondary Calendars" function, allowing users to check availability against personal secondary calendars and subscribed colleagues' calendars. However, it had limitations – checking a colleague's calendar did not automatically add them to the booked appointment.

This month, Google has addressed this issue. Now, users can check a colleague’s calendar and add them as a co-host to the meeting. Up to 20 co-hosts can be added, ensuring better coordination for cross department appointments. It's crucial to add colleagues to both the check availability and co-host sections for comprehensive scheduling. You can now also create appointments in a secondary calendar (previously appointments were not visible) so a secondary calendar can be the owner of an appointment schedule, making it possible for anyone with the “make changes to events” permission to edit the schedule too.

Delegated Calendar Management

A recent update addresses the needs of users managing senior leadership calendars. Delegated Calendar users can now create and manage Appointment Schedules, providing them access to all the functionality available in a personal calendar. They can even edit existing schedules created by the calendar owner, enhancing collaboration and coordination between teams. 

Viewing Appointment Schedules in the Calendar

For users who found the function cluttering up their calendar interface, Google introduced a “Show” and “Hide” toggle in October 2023. This toggle, added to the Calendar's view drop down allows users to manage the visibility of Appointment Schedules easily.

Providing a Schedule Regardless of Clashes

Google has tweaked the default behaviour of the Appointment Schedules function. Previously, it automatically reviewed the user's primary calendar for clashes. Now, users have the option to switch off this review, providing a schedule of times regardless of existing or future events in their calendar. This can be particularly useful for scenarios where prioritising incoming bookings over existing meetings is necessary.

Conclusion

These updates may feel small, but they can be mighty, and regular users of the Appointment Schedules function will see a significantly improved workflow. The ability to seamlessly check colleagues' calendars, auto add to booked appointments, manage delegated calendars, and toggle visibility in the calendar view makes scheduling a breeze.

Whether you're a business professional coordinating client appointments or a team member scheduling internal meetings, Google Workspace's enhanced Appointment Schedules feature is designed to boost efficiency and collaboration. Take advantage of these new functionalities to make your scheduling process smoother and more productive!

As always we’d love to hear from you! If this is something you’ve found useful or there’s any other functions within Google Workspace you would like assistance with, please do get in touch with us here or subscribe to our YouTube channel