Since I’ve moved out of London, I’m expanding Red Desk’s customer and contact base to Buckinghamshire, where I now live. I’ve been attending a couple of networking groups (shout out to Aylesbury Business Buzz and Aylesbury Business Connected) and I’m booking in follow-up meetings. A few of my new contacts have been using calendar apps for appointment and meeting bookings.  I’ve listed a few to consider if you are looking to automate your appointment bookings.

Calendly

If you are finding yourself going back and forth with people trying to find a convenient time for a meeting then perhaps it is time you tried Calendly. You can sign up for free with Google or Microsoft. The free option is great for testing out this appointment scheduling app.  You can connect it to one calendar (Google, Microsoft 365, Outlook etc), one event type (15 minute catch up call, 1:1 hour meeting etc), embed scheduling into your website and much more. If you decide to roll it out to your team or you require a more complex set up then the next tier up will cost you $10 a month and this allows you unlimited calendars, unlimited event types, appointment reminders, 24/7 live chat support and more. You can see the pricing and levels of membership here.

You Can Book Me

YouCanBookMe is trusted by 1 million plus users worldwide and boasts big brands like Randstad and Shopify amongst its customers. It can eliminate manual tasks and it can provide automated video links, CRM updates and follow ups. It can seamlessly integrate into so many services that you already use like Google Calendar, Zoom and Stripe.  Sign up for a free plan and enjoy a powerful booking page with your own text and logo, cancellation and rescheduling links, the opportunity to set prices and take payments, and integrate it into one calendar.  Once you are up to speed, you can try their paid plan for free on a 14-day trial.  At the end, you can either upgrade for £9 a month or revert to their free plan.

Doodle

You might be familiar with Doodle polls which very quickly gathers your group’s availability and allows you to book your social or event effectively.  However there is much more to Doodle that just polls. With Doodle you can save time, increase productivity, improve organization, give yourself greater flexibility and provide improved communication.  Whether you are an entrepreneur, a freelancer, in sales or recruitment, Doodle has a plan suitable for you.  Plans prices range from $0 –  $8.95 per month, per user.  Each plan includes unlimited polls!

Microsoft Bookings

If you are a Microsoft user then you might have access to Microsoft Bookings.  You can customise appointment details and booking requirements.  As you may have guessed, Bookings is integrated with your Microsoft 365 calendar.  If you are a Teams user then Bookings will appear as an app within Teams.  You can create calendars, assign staff, schedule new appointments and meet online without leaving Teams.  The beauty with Bookings is that you will be able to create as many calendars as you like, each with its own unique setup.

There are so many more calendar apps for appointment and meeting booking out there.  If you’ve found one that you can’t live without then we’d love to hear about it.  Do get in touch by emailing mel@reddesk.co.uk.