Availability

A time is free when all of these are true:

• the location is open, under Opening hours on Availability;
• the person works then, under their own hours on Staff, or the location's hours if they have none;
• nothing is booked for them then, counting the free time before and after each appointment;
• they aren't off or busy, in Booking Orbit or in their connected calendar;
• every room or piece of equipment the service needs has one free;
• it fits your booking rules.

Booking rules

Set these under Availability for every service, and change them for one service on the service itself.

• Notice: how far ahead customers have to book. 2 hours means a time at 14:00 can be booked until 12:00.
• Furthest ahead: how many days ahead the booking page shows.
• Start times every: the gap between times offered, such as every 15 minutes.
• Customers cancel up to and Customers move up to: after this they have to contact you.
• Most a day per customer: stops one person taking every time.
• You approve each booking: new bookings wait under Appointments until someone confirms them.

Time off, closures and extra hours

Choose Change the hours to add:

• Time off: no bookings at all, for the whole location, one person or one resource. Use it for public holidays and staff holidays.
• Blocked: keeps a time free, like a meeting, without closing the day.
• Extra hours: opens times outside the usual hours, such as a Saturday before the ski season.

Time zones and changing clocks

Opening hours follow the location's time zone, so 09:00 stays 09:00 when the clocks go forward or back. Customers elsewhere see times in their own time zone on the booking page.

Your team can book outside the rules

When your team books from the calendar, notice and how far ahead don't apply, and they can type any time. Booking Orbit still checks that the person, the time and any rooms are free.