Manual Vs. Automated Appointment Scheduling - Appointment-Plus

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Inconvenience for customersNot offering an online alternative to picking up the phone and calling in an appointment is aninconvenience to customers in today’s Internet-connected society. Customers, clients, studentsand patients not only desire the ability to conduct transactions—like booking appointments orreservations—online, they also expect it. In some instances, they may look elsewhere for acompeting organization that does offer it.Let’s look at a chain of fitness centers that routinely book a variety of services. But this can bechallenging for members, as the centers have limited hours when appointments are booked. Tomake matters worse, some instructors book their own appointments, instead of having themscheduled through a front-desk employee or administrator. Most of their membership isconnected to the Internet 24 hours a day through laptops and smartphones. And they want theability to book their gym services online, instead of having to call them in. For many, this lack ofan online scheduling alternative and the hassles that come with it are enough for them toconsider another fitness facility to join.Why Online SchedulingAlthough other alternatives exist for managing the appointment-booking process, onlinescheduling software is without doubt the most efficient and affordable option for all-sizedorganizations, regardless of the type of service they schedule.Appointment-Plus | Manual vs. Automated Appointment Scheduling | 6
Advanced FunctionalityFeatures found in online scheduling software applications that can completely automate,streamline and improve the appointment- and reservation-booking process are simplyunavailable in the traditional scheduling process. These include:Online self-scheduling, whereby individuals can book their own appointments andreservations at their own convenience, 24 hours a dayBy giving people the power the book their own appointments and reservations online,organizations and their staff can free up a tremendous amount of time that would otherwisehave been spent answering the phone, responding to e-mails and voice messages, and manuallymanaging a paper appointment book or electronic calendar.90%Now Book OnlineOnline self-scheduling is one feature that individuals quicklybegin using. For example, one counseling group saw animmediate change in the way its clients scheduled theirappointments: over 90 percent of them now book online.Automated e-mail and text message remindersOne counseling groupsaw an immediatechange in the way itsclients scheduled theirappointments:over 90 percent ofthem now book online.Studies have shown that reminders of any kind can significantlyreduce the number of “no-shows”, the bane of manyorganizations. But unless this process is automated, a staffmember must spend time contacting scheduled individuals,either by phone, e-mail, text message or other form ofcommunication. Depending on the number of scheduledappointments or reservations, this task could have a significanteffect on overall productivity. A reminder sent automaticallythrough an online scheduling system requires no additionalstaff time and can reduce the no-show rate by over 50 percent.It also can reduce the number of phone calls from scheduledindividuals checking to see when their next appointments orreservations are booked for.Appointment-Plus | Manual vs. Automated Appointment Scheduling | 7
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Manual Vs. Automated Appointment Scheduling - Appointment-Plus

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