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Setting Up Availability

Tell rendevo when you're open for bookings. This guide covers business hours, holidays, and advanced availability settings.

Why Availability Matters

Your availability settings control:

✅ When the AI offers time slots to customers
✅ What times appear on your booking page
✅ How far in advance bookings can be made
✅ Buffer time between appointments

ℹ️ Important: The AI will NEVER book outside your set availability.

Accessing Availability Settings

  1. Click Settings in the sidebar
  2. Click the Availability tab
  3. You'll see four sections:
    • Business Hours
    • Holidays
    • Booking Rules
    • Auto-Complete Settings

Business Hours

Set when you're open each day of the week.

Setting Hours for Each Day

For each day (Monday - Sunday):

  1. Toggle the day On or Off

    • On = You accept bookings this day
    • Off = Day is closed, no bookings

  2. Set Opening Time

    • When you start accepting appointments
    • Example: 9:00 AM

  3. Set Closing Time

    • When you stop accepting appointments
    • Example: 6:00 PM

Example setup:

Monday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ✅ Open
Tuesday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ✅ Open  
Wednesday: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ✅ Open
Thursday: 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM ✅ Open (late night)
Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ✅ Open
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM ✅ Open (shorter day)
Sunday: ❌ Closed

Tips for Setting Hours

Be realistic:

  • Set hours you can actually work
  • Include time for breaks and lunch
  • Consider travel time between locations

Account for preparation:

  • Don't book the first slot if you need setup time
  • Example: Open at 9 AM but first slot at 9:30 AM (use Min Advance Hours)

Consider peak times:

  • Stay open late on busy days
  • Open weekends if that's when customers prefer

💡 Tip: You can always create manual bookings outside these hours if needed.

Save Your Hours

Click Save at the bottom after setting all days.

Holidays

Block out days when you're closed for holidays, vacations, or special events.

Adding a Holiday

  1. Scroll to the Holidays section
  2. Click + Add Holiday
  3. Fill in the form:

Holiday Name (required)

  • What the day off is for
  • Example: "Christmas Day", "Summer Vacation", "Staff Training"

Date (required)

  • Select from the calendar picker
  • Format: MM/DD/YYYY

Recurring (optional checkbox)

  • Check if this holiday repeats every year
  • Example: Christmas Day recurs annually
  • Vacation days usually don't recur
  1. Click Add Holiday

Recurring vs One-Time

Recurring holidays:

  • Same date every year
  • Examples: New Year's Day, Christmas, National holidays
  • Set once, applies annually

One-time holidays:

  • Specific dates that don't repeat
  • Examples: Personal vacation, specific event days
  • Need to add each year if they repeat

Managing Holidays

To delete a holiday:

  1. Find it in the list
  2. Click the Delete icon (trash can)
  3. Confirm deletion

💡 Tip: Add holidays well in advance so customers can't book those days.

Booking Rules

Control how far in advance and how soon customers can book.

Min Advance Hours

What it is: Minimum time required before an appointment

Default: 24 hours

Range: 1 - 168 hours (1 hour to 1 week)

Examples:

  • 2 hours = Accept same-day bookings up to 2 hours away
  • 24 hours = Require 1 day notice
  • 48 hours = Require 2 days notice

When to use different values:

  • Same-day service: Set to 1-4 hours
  • Need preparation time: Set to 24-48 hours
  • High demand: Set to 48-72 hours

⚠️ Important: Lower values mean less preparation time but more flexibility for customers.

Max Advance Days

What it is: How far into the future customers can book

Default: 90 days

Range: 1 - 365 days

Examples:

  • 30 days = Customers can book up to one month ahead
  • 90 days = Three months in advance
  • 180 days = Six months for long-term planning

When to adjust:

  • Uncertain schedule: Use 30-60 days
  • Plan far ahead: Use 90-180 days
  • Seasonal business: Adjust by season

💡 Tip: Most businesses work well with 60-90 days.

Buffer Time Between Appointments

What it is: Gap automatically added between appointments

Default: 0 minutes

Range: 0 - 60 minutes

Purpose:

  • Cleanup time
  • Room preparation
  • Bathroom break
  • Catch up if running late

Examples:

  • 0 minutes = Appointments back-to-back (no gap)
  • 15 minutes = Small buffer for most services
  • 30 minutes = Longer buffer for complex services

How it works:

  • Added automatically after each appointment
  • Not bookable time - reserved for you
  • Example: 30-min service + 15-min buffer = 45 min blocked

ℹ️ Note: Buffer time is separate from service duration. Set service duration to actual service time only.

Same-Day Cutoff Time (Optional)

What it is: Time of day after which same-day booking stops

Example: Set to 3:00 PM = No same-day bookings after 3 PM

When to use:

  • You stop checking messages after a certain time
  • Need guaranteed preparation time
  • Prefer next-day bookings for evening slots

Auto-Complete Past Appointments

What it does: Automatically marks past appointments as "Completed"

Toggle: On or Off

Default: Off

Benefits when On:

  • Keeps calendar clean
  • Don't need to manually mark each as complete
  • Easier to track statistics

Keep Off if:

  • You want to manually mark each status
  • Track no-shows separately
  • Review each appointment individually

💡 Tip: Turn this On if you have many appointments and want automatic management.

Location-Specific Hours (Multiple Locations)

Have different hours at different locations? You can override global hours.

How it works:

  1. Go to Locations page
  2. Click on a location
  3. Toggle Custom Business Hours
  4. Set hours specific to this location
  5. Save

Example:

  • Main Location: Mon-Fri 9 AM - 6 PM
  • Second Location: Mon-Fri 10 AM - 4 PM, Sat 9 AM - 2 PM

ℹ️ Note: Location hours override global hours. If not set, uses global hours.

Available on: Growth and Business plans

Team Member Availability (Team Plans)

Set different availability for each team member.

How it works:

  1. Go to Team Members page
  2. Click on a team member
  3. Click Set Availability
  4. Configure their specific schedule
  5. Save

Use cases:

  • Part-time staff with limited hours
  • Different schedules per team member
  • Specialists available certain days only

How AI uses this:

  • Only offers time slots when the assigned staff member is available
  • If no staff assigned to service = any available staff can do it

ℹ️ Important: Team member availability further restricts bookings beyond business hours.

Available on: Growth and Business plans

Testing Your Availability

Check Available Slots

Test your settings:

  1. Go to your booking page
  2. Select a service
  3. Choose a date
  4. See what time slots appear

Verify:

  • ✅ Slots only show during business hours
  • ✅ Buffer time is respected
  • ✅ Min/max advance rules apply
  • ✅ Holidays block bookings

Manual Booking Test

  1. Go to Calendar
  2. Click New Appointment
  3. Try booking at different times
  4. Verify restrictions work

💡 Tip: Test with a friend's phone number before going live.

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Salon with Lunch Break

Goal: Open 9 AM - 6 PM but closed 12 PM - 1 PM for lunch

Setup:

  • Business Hours: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (Morning session)
  • Cannot set split hours directly

Workaround:

  • Set hours 9 AM - 6 PM
  • Manually block 12 PM - 1 PM in Calendar
  • Or create a recurring "Lunch Break" appointment

Scenario 2: Weekend Business

Goal: Only open Saturdays and Sundays

Setup:

  • Monday-Friday: Toggle Off (closed)
  • Saturday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM ✅
  • Sunday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM ✅

Scenario 3: Emergency Same-Day Appointments

Goal: Accept bookings with just 1 hour notice

Setup:

  • Min Advance Hours: 1
  • Check phone/messages frequently
  • Set buffer time to 0 for maximum flexibility

⚠️ Warning: Very short advance times require constant availability.

Scenario 4: Seasonal Business

Goal: Open different months of the year

Setup:

  • Set normal business hours
  • Add holidays for off-season months
  • Or manually block dates in Calendar for closed periods

Common Questions

Q: Can I have different hours on different days?
A: Yes! Set hours separately for each day of the week.

Q: What if I need to close unexpectedly?
A: Add a holiday for that specific date, or manually block time in Calendar.

Q: Can customers book outside my hours?
A: No. The AI and booking page only offer slots within your availability.

Q: I changed my hours. Do existing bookings change?
A: No. Only new bookings use the new hours. Past bookings remain unchanged.

Q: Can I override availability for one appointment?
A: Yes. Use manual booking in Calendar - you can book any time regardless of availability settings.

Q: What happens to bookings on holidays I add?
A: Existing bookings remain. The holiday only prevents NEW bookings on that date.

Q: Do I need buffer time?
A: Not required. But recommended (10-15 min) to stay on schedule.

Next Steps

Now that availability is set:

  1. ✅ Test your booking page - See what slots customers see
  2. ✅ Add holidays - Block off known days off
  3. ✅ Share your link - Start accepting bookings
  4. ✅ Monitor first bookings - Verify slots work as expected

Related Articles

Your availability is the foundation of your booking system. Set it right and the AI handles the rest! 📅