In this article, we'll walk you through the ins and outs of using ScheduleNow, a scheduler that lets customers conveniently book appointments with your company through various channels, such as your website, social media, email, or text. With ScheduleNow, you can ensure seamless and efficient scheduling for your services. 

Enable Schedule Now

To get started with ScheduleNow, follow these steps:

1. Login to your Inspector Dashboard
2. Click Appointments > ScheduleNow Settings
   

2. Select Enable ScheduleNow
3. Scroll down and click Save Settings
4. Follow the below steps to configure Schedule Now to your business needs

Setup ScheduleNow Time Slots

Efficient scheduling begins with properly configuring your availability. Here's how:

1. Scroll down to the Scheduling Configuration section
2. Set your scheduling limits to define the availability window
3. Click on Configure appointment slots, and a new tab will open to Inspector Settings for Appointments. You can create up to three inspection times, known as "Time Slots," per day. 
4. To make a time slot available for scheduling, specify the start and end times for the week. Leave the time slot blank if you want to keep it unavailable.
5. Scroll to the bottom and click Save Public Scheduling Time Slots
6. Click on the previous tab to go back to the Public Appointment Configuration page
7. Scroll down and click Save Settings

Block Time Slot

In the Block Time Slot section, choose whether appointments should block the time slot automatically before inspector approval.

1. On: When the toggle is blue, it means the feature is turned on. This removes the timeslot from the scheduler when someone books an appointment. This reduces double booking.
2. Off: When the toggle is grey, it means the feature is turned off. The timeslot is only removed from the scheduler once the appointment is approved by you. This may be ideal when you want to have control over scheduling appointments. However, you can be double booked for a time slot. 
   
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3. Scroll down and click Save Settings

Making Services Public

For customers to select services during scheduling, ensure that the desired services are public. You can see how many services are public.

1. Scroll to Services
2. Toggle on or off if you want customers and agents to select services
3. Toggle on or off if you want customers and agents to see the fees for the services
4. 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
5. Click on the previous tab to go back to the Public Appointment Configuration page
6. Scroll down and click Save Settings

Additional Property Details

Additional property details include the year built, square footage, bedrooms, full bathrooms, half bathrooms, MLS#, and utility information. You can choose to collect additional property details or not display them in the scheduler.

1. Scroll to Additional Property Details
2. Turn it on or off depending on if you want to allow customers and agents to provide additional property details
3. Scroll down and click Save Settings

If you want custom fields to gather information during the scheduling process, you can create them.

To learn how to create custom property fields, check out Inspector Dashboard: ScheduleNow Customize Property Details

Company Notification Email

To send appointment notifications to specific recipients, enter the email addresses below (separate by commas if more than one).

1. Scroll to Company Notification Email
2. Enter email
3. Click Save Settings

Customer Email Notifications

1. Click Customize Email Notifications under Company Notification Email to open a new tab for Appointment Notification Templates
2. Click the drop-down selector for Notification Type and
   
   • choose Public Appointment Scheduled for blocked time slots, or
   • choose Public Appointment Requested for unblocked time slots.
     
     
3. Update the email Subject and Body to your preference for each Recipient type
   

Test Your Configuration

Curious about what your customers or Realtors will experience when booking an appointment? Test out the configuration of your scheduler. 

1. On your Public Appointment Configuration page, scroll down.
2. Find your link by clicking on Test Your Configuration
3. Copy the link below
4. Open the link in a different browser or log out and use this browser
5. Follow the instructions to make an appointment

Sharing your Public Appointment Link

To make scheduling accessible, share your unique scheduler link with customers and REPs:

1. On your Public Appointment Configuration page, scroll down.
2. Find your link by clicking on Add Apt. To Your Site
3. Share the link via email, text, social media, or your website.

Finalizing Public Appointments

Once appointments are scheduled, manage them effectively:

1. ScheduleNow appointments will appear on the Inspector Dashboard's calendar view
2. For unblocked time slots, act on the appointment by accepting the proposed time or selecting a new slot
3. Follow the steps outlined in Inspector Dashboard: Creating and Managing Appointments to edit and add agreements, then schedule the appointment

Appointment Status

On the Appointment Calendar, appointments booked through Schedule now will have a status showing if it is pending, requested, or not.

Pending

If you have set up ScheduleNow to block your time slot automatically, the appointment does not require an approval. We recommend you review them, make any adjustments that may be necessary, and send the appropriate agreements and notifications. While looking at your calendar, blocked appointments will be 'Pending' until the appointment is confirmed scheduled by an inspector.

Requested

If you have set up ScheduleNow to leave the time slot unblocked, you will need to act on the appointment to either accept the proposed time or select a new time slot. While looking at your calendar, unblocked appointments will be 'Requested'. Finalizing the appointment will block your public time slot and notify the requestor that the appointment is accepted.