This article walks you through ScheduleNow, a scheduler that lets customers book appointments with your company through your website, social media, email, or text. ScheduleNow keeps your booking process smooth and efficient.
Classic Scheduler and Request Appointment are older scheduling tools that came before ScheduleNow. They no longer receive updates and are not available to new customers.
If you still have Request Appointment enabled, switching to ScheduleNow will remove it.
Enable ScheduleNow
Login to your Inspector Dashboard
From the left-hand menu, click Appointments > ScheduleNow Settings
Select Enable ScheduleNow
Scroll down and click Save Settings
Follow the steps below to configure ScheduleNow for your business.
Setup ScheduleNow Time Slots
Good scheduling starts with setting your availability.
Scroll down to the Scheduling Configuration section
Set your scheduling limits to define the availability window
Click on Configure appointment slots. A new tab opens to Inspector Settings for Appointments, where you can create up to three inspection times, called Time Slots, per day.
To make a time slot available for scheduling, set a start and end time for the week. Leave a slot blank to keep it unavailable.
Scroll to the bottom and click Save Public Scheduling Time Slots
Click on the previous tab to return to the Public Appointment Configuration page
Scroll down and click Save Settings
Block Time Slot
In the Block Time Slot section, choose whether a booking should hold the time slot automatically before you approve it.
On (blue toggle): the slot is removed from the scheduler as soon as someone books it. This helps prevent double booking.
Off (grey toggle): the slot is only removed once you approve the appointment. This gives you more control, but you can be double booked for that slot.
Once you've made your selection, scroll down, and click Save Settings.
Make Services Public
For customers to select services while scheduling, the services you want them to see need to be public. You can see how many services are currently public.
Scroll to Services
Toggle on or off whether customers and agents can select services.
Toggle on or off whether customers and agents can see service fees.
If you need to edit which services are public, click Edit Your Company Services to open a new tab for Inspection Services. To learn how to make your services public, please visit Inspector Dashboard: Setup and Manage Inspection Services
Click on the previous tab to return to the Public Appointment Configuration page
Scroll down and click Save Settings
Additional Property Details
Additional property details include year built, square footage, bedrooms, full bathrooms, half bathrooms, MLS number, and utility information. You can choose to collect these details or leave them off the scheduler.
Scroll to Additional Property Details
Turn it on or off depending on whether you want customers and agents to provide these details.
Scroll down and click Save Settings
You can also create custom fields to gather information during scheduling. For help, see Inspector Dashboard: ScheduleNow Customize Property Details
Company Notification Email
To send appointment notifications to specific recipients, enter their email addresses here. Separate multiple addresses with commas.
Scroll to Company Notification Email
Enter the email address(s)
Click Save Settings
Customer Email Notifications
Click Customize Email Notifications under Company Notification Email to open a new tab for Appointment Notification Templates
Click the Notification Type drop-down, and choose:
Public Appointment Scheduled for blocked time slots, or
Public Appointment Requested for unblocked time slots.
Edit the email subject and body for each Recipient type. See how here: Inspector Dashboard: Appointment Notifications
Test Your Configuration
Want to see what your customers or agents experience when booking? Test your scheduler.
On the Public Appointment Configuration page, scroll down.
Click Test Your Configuration to find your link
Copy the link
Open it in a different browser, or log out and use your current one.
Follow the steps to book a test appointment.
Share your Public Appointment Link
Share your unique scheduler link with customers and agents to make booking easy.
On the Public Appointment Configuration page, scroll down.
Click Add Apt. To Your Site to find your link.
Share the link by email, text, social media, or your website.
A few ways we recommend sharing it:
Email: paste the link into scheduling emails you send to customers and agents.
Text: send the link so customers and agents can book from their phone.
Social media: add the link to your company's Facebook page or other social profiles.
Website: add the link to your site as a clickable link or button.
If HomeGauge hosts your website, email your link to hgwebteam@spectora.com and ask us to add it for you. Otherwise, provide the link to your website manager.
Finalize Public Appointments
Once appointments come in, manage them from your dashboard.
ScheduleNow appointments appear on your Inspector Dashboard calendar view
For unblocked time slots, act on the appointment by accepting the proposed time or selecting a new slot
Follow Inspector Dashboard: Creating and Managing Appointments to edit, add agreements, and schedule the appointment
Appointment Status
On the Appointment Calendar, appointments booked through ScheduleNow show a status of pending or requested.
Pending If you set ScheduleNow to block the time slot automatically, the appointment does not need approval. We recommend you review it, make any needed adjustments, and send the right agreements and notifications. On your calendar, blocked appointments stay Pending until an inspector confirms them as scheduled.
Requested If you set ScheduleNow to leave the time slot unblocked, you need to act on the appointment to accept the proposed time or choose a new slot. On your calendar, unblocked appointments show as Requested. Finalizing one blocks your public time slot and notifies the requestor that the appointment is accepted.