Managing appointments online using free web tools
Do you need your students to make an appointment with you? Or maybe you want to set up a meeting and need to know what the best date/time based on everyone’s availability is? Do you want to get rid of paper sign up sheets?
There are a few online options available, most of which offer a free version (either for a limited time, or with fewer bells and whistles).
Doodle.com
Doodle is quite popular within our team and is a free web tool that allows you to share available slots with users (such as students). Users then choose from these slots and sign up for their choice. You can set these slots up so that there is only one slot per user (E.g. for an individual one-to-one appointment) or you can get users to choose their preferred slot(s) so that you can easily see which is the most popular date (E.g. If you wanted to pick the best date/time for a meeting).
The site offers integration with Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal and Lotus Notes. In addition, the site offers Mobile Doodle and Doodle for Facebook, iGoogle and XING. The best part, it’s all free! Ok, so you have to put up with the advertising at the top and side of your screen, but for US$28 a year, you can get an ad free, customisable version.
Below is an example of appointment slots for students to choose from and sign up for….
Below is a sample schedule to determine the best date and time for a meeting. (In the example below, so far the best date/time is Thursday the 6th of May at 11am, as 4 out 5 people can attend that date/time)…
Doodle Features
- Online scheduling tool that allows participants to vote on the best time and date for them for a meeting or event
- Registration is not required to use the site
- Registered users can manage and edit their polls
- Free membership provides unlimited polls and participants – ads are displayed
- Premium membership removes ads, provides additional features, such as automatic reminders
To start using Doodle, go to: http://www.doodle.com
SuperSaas.com
Similar to Doodle.com, SuperSaas offers a free online appointment scheduling service for small users. For US$8.00 a month you can get more advanced services such as no advertising and automatic iCal (Outlook/Google calendar) synchronization.
SuperSaas received “Best User Interface of 2008” award and has many advanced features:
- Send e-mail or SMS reminders to reduce no shows
- Automated waiting lists
- Automatically synchronize with Outlook and Google Calendar
- Use your own URL and color scheme, the user does not have to know he is on another site
- Available in 6 languages
To view various demos of their online scheduling tools, go to: http://www.supersaas.com/info/demos
Checkappointments.com
Another online scheduling tool offering free features such as managing appointments online and notification emails. For US$19.95 per month there is a 2-Way Google Calendar Sync and other advanced features such as customisation and ability to embed calendar onto your website.
To view their demos, visit: http://checkappointments.com/online-demo.htm
Acuity Scheduling
Acuity is another tool to manage appointments online with a free version. This software also has a payment option for more advanced features starting at US$10 per month. The free version offers a basic scheduling site with limited customisation.
View their demo at: http://www.acuityscheduling.com/appointments.php
MemoTXT Scheduler
MEMOTXT Scheduler is another free simple calendar diary software tool for booking, managing, tracking and analysing day-to-day meetings and appointments. It also has SMS reminder capabilities (at a cost of .9p per text). There is a more advanced tool available starting at £39 per month, however the free tool should be sufficient if you don’t have that many appointments per day.
These are just 5 of the many free tools that are out there…with the option to upgrade for more functionality. The best solution really depends on your needs, but we have found that Doodle works best for us.