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This is the setup for letting your agent book appointments during the call, straight into your calendar, with no back and forth. It removes work rather than adding cover, which is why it is usually the second thing businesses set up after answering the phone.

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What this setup does for you

A caller rings, asks for an appointment, and your agent checks what is genuinely free, offers times, books one, and texts a confirmation. Nobody on your side is involved, and the appointment is in the same calendar your team already works from.

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What good looks like

  • Bookings appear in your calendar with the caller’s name and number, at the right time.
  • No double bookings, because availability comes from the calendar rather than from a guess.
  • Callers get a confirmation in writing, which cuts no shows more than anything else in this setup.
  • Nothing is offered outside the hours you work, including the gaps you need between appointments.

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Before the instructions: get your calendar right

This setup lives or dies on your calendar, not your prompt. Do these three first:
  1. Block the times you do not work. Your agent offers whatever the calendar says is free, including 7am on a Sunday if nothing says otherwise.
  2. Put your buffers in as calendar time. If you need ten minutes between appointments, that has to exist as an event, not as an understanding.
  3. Decide the appointment length, and keep it consistent. A booking that is too short silently breaks your whole day.
Then connect it: Connect Google Calendar.

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What to put in your instructions

Paste this into your agent’s Prompt tab and change everything in square brackets.
The last paragraph matters. Decide what happens with changes and cancellations before you go live rather than finding out on a live call.

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What your agent needs to know

  • What each appointment type involves and how long it takes. In customer words.
  • Your prices, or how pricing works, since a caller booking will usually ask.
  • What to bring or prepare, which saves your team a second call.
  • Your cancellation and deposit policy, so your agent can state it consistently.
  • Where you are, and where to park.
See Add a document or website.

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What to let your agent do

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What to test before you go live

  1. Book a normal appointment. Then look at your calendar and check the time, length, and details.
  2. Ask for a time you know is busy. Does it offer an alternative rather than double booking?
  3. Ask for a time outside your hours. Does it decline?
  4. Book, then immediately try to change it. Does it do what your instructions said?
  5. Give a mobile number with digits missing. Does it notice and ask again?
  6. Check the confirmation text, on a real phone, for wording and the right time.

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Rules to know

  • Confirmations and reminders by text are usually welcome, but messaging rules still apply, especially in the US where the number must be registered. See Register your business.
  • Health related bookings carry extra obligations about what may be recorded and stored. See Healthcare and HIPAA.

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FAQ

Yes. With a calendar connected and the booking action switched on, your agent checks availability, offers times, books the appointment, and can text a confirmation, all during the call.
Google Calendar. Connect as many as you need, which is how one agent books several members of staff. See Connect Google Calendar.
Yes, because availability comes from your calendar in real time rather than from a copy. The usual cause of an apparent double booking is a busy event sitting on a calendar the action is not reading.
Yes, if the gaps exist in your calendar. Put your travel or turnaround time in as calendar events, because your agent can only respect a buffer it can see.
Test this before you rely on it, and until you have, point changes and cancellations at a person in your instructions. Booking is the part that works reliably out of the box.
A confirmation at the time of booking is straightforward. A reminder the day before is a separate job, best handled by an after call automation or your existing reminder system. See Automate what happens after a call.
Yes, with a calendar per person connected. Keep the caller’s side of the choice simple: most callers want the earliest slot rather than a list of six names.
Whatever you tell it to. The best answer is usually to offer the next two available times even if they are further out, and if those do not work, take a callback. Leaving this unsaid is how callers end up with nothing.
Not on the call, because your agent cannot take card details. Send a payment link by text after booking instead, which is safer and works better on a phone anyway.
The block is on a different calendar from the one the action reads, or it is marked in a way the calendar does not treat as busy. Check which calendar the action points at first.