The Availability is a template that is used to connect appointment booking parameters to an appointment booking session.
When a new appointment booking session is created, the appropriate availability is used, for the activity - and the appointment parameters are copied from the availability into the booking session. The availability is linked to the Activity Type.
The availability has parameters to define the appointment period (request period and period start offset), the appointment mode (appointment to start/appointment to complete), the auto request option and the default slot availability (all slots are initially available, or unavailable). Each availability has one or more Slot ID connected to it and each connected slot has an availability calendar. One slot is always the default. The calendar defines the working hours/working days/exceptions, when appointment slots are generated within a booking session.
The result is that the availability parameters, together with the default
slot parameters, provide all of the data required to create an appointment
booking session. If the default slot is not suitable for the booking then this
can be changed to one of the other slots listed under the availability. For more
information refer to the activity Define Appointment Slot.
To perform this activity, one or more generated calendars must exist.
As a result of this activity, the availabilities are defined for a company.
Note: these availabilities are connected to the activity types that will be used by the Scheduling Engine and Appointment Booking Engine.
Scheduling Basic Data/Activity Type
Appointment Basic Data/Availability
Application Base Setup/Work time Calendar
1. Open the Appointment Basic Data window.
2. Click the Appointment tab.
3. Click the Availability tab and create a new record (F5).
4. In the Availability ID field, enter the ID of the availability.
5. In the Description field, enter a description of the availability.
6. In the Request Period (Days) field, enter the number of days over
which potential appointments should be requested.
7. In the Period Start Offset (Days) field, enter the number of days,
from the current day, before the start of the request period. Entering zero will
start the request period on the current day
8. In the Appointment Mode field, select the relevant mode, from
‘Appointment to Start’ and ‘Appointment to Complete’. An appointment to complete
takes into account the activity duration, and buffer time where relevant, when
booking the slot, so that the activity can be started and finished within the
slot window.
9. Select the Slot Availability check box if you want to indicate that
all slots are default to being available.
10.Select the Auto Request check box if you want to
indicate that an appointment request is made as soon as Appointment booking
client is open.
11. Save the information (F12).
Use the following procedure to connect an appointment slot to an availability:
1. Create a new record in the Slot table(F5).
2. In the Slot ID field, enter the slot ID. Use the List of Values to
select a valid value.
3. Select the Default Slot check box if you want to set the slot ID as
the default for the availability. Only one slot can be a default per
availability.
4. In the Availability calendar field, enter the calendar ID. Use the
List of Values to select a valid value.
5. In the Offer Rounding field, specify the number of minutes, in order to round the offers received from Appointment booking engine
6. Save the information (F12).