What is online booking?
Online booking in its simplest form is a process whereby a client requests
a reservation of service space and service time through the internet.
Service time can be broken down into year, month, day, hour, minute and second.
Service space often refers to the room, chair, tanning bed or person who will
be performing the service.
A salon, for example, may have several employees or rent space to licensed
professionals, and each room or person will represent a percentage of the total
service space within that business.
Online booking comes into play when the client is provided with a form which
they can use to submit information to that business. The submitted information
will include their identity, the service, the service space and the service time.
These four variables represent the WHO WHAT WHERE and WHEN of online booking.
What types of online booking systems are available?
There are three distinct types of online booking systems. The simplest is the
web form which allows the user to select their service, their service space
and their service time. An email message containing that information is then
submitted to the business.
A more advanced system involves a connection between the business computer and
a database on a remote server. When appointment information is entered locally
into the business software, the business will then synchronize the appointment
data in their remote database with the appointment data on their local computer.
Appointment information in the remote database can then be used to display
available service space and service time to their web site visitors.
The third type of online booking system removes the need for local software
because it is self contained. It will include a database and an interface which,
like local software, organizes the information contained in the database into
a visually meaningful arrangement.
How do these different systems work?
The first system is easy to deploy and these types of services and scripts
will often be free. The service space (the WHERE) and the service itself
(the WHAT) can be confirmed - i.e. the user knows who they want to perform
the service and they know the service they want performed.
The problem with this approach becomes apparent when we realize that the user
cannot make an informed choice with respect to service time (the WHEN). With
this method the user is not provided with all of the information needed to
confirm the appointment through the internet. As a result, this approach
requires that the business contact the user with a confirmation because the
selected time may or may not be available.
For this reason this method is often referred to as an online booking request.
But in addition to the extra time required to process the user's request, the
business must also confirm the WHO. There is often no login required with request
forms, so the business doesn't initially know if the client is legitimate
and actually exists.
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Software based online appointment systems require a capital outlay and they often
charge additional fees for the online booking component. This component usually
includes room for sign ups and logins, thereby allowing the business to remove
any doubt as to the legitimacy of the user who is submitting the information
from their web site.
The software company will often provide the business with a ready-made database
and hosting service as part of the online booking package. Other software
companies may provide all of the web pages and database installation files as
a self install system which functions independently of the software company's server.
These software systems are genuine online appointment systems because they
accurately collect the information regarding WHO, WHAT, WHERE and WHEN. If
the online booking component does not collect these four variables from the
user then it should be more properly categorized as a glorified appointment
request form.
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Self contained types of online booking systems are usually hosted by
a service provider. These systems provide everything needed for
confirmed online appointments, but they do require a fast and super
reliable server that delivers 100% uptime.
The interface that organizes the database information into a comprehensible
visual representation of WHO WHAT WHERE and WHEN varies from one system to
the next. Some service providers are better at this visual aspect, while
other systems can be confusing and require a steeper learning curve. Finally,
some of these systems provide each business with the tools for self management
while others require administrative supervision.
The business will pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to compensate
for development and bandwidth costs, and these can vary from a few dollars
per month to tens of dollars per month, depending on the subscription and
service provider's price structure.
A few free downloadable systems are available, but there is no guarantee
as to the absolute security of the code, or whether the system will indeed
collect the required WHO WHAT WHERE and WHEN for confirmed online bookings.
Moreover, every free download script must be scrutinized with a security
audit, and requires hosting, installation, configuration and testing on
a reliable host.
Conclusion
These are your options. We hope this has been informative and that you decide
to get a membership and take a closer look at the online appointment system
we have spent years developing and refining. This is a genuine online appointment
system, providing you with WHO WHAT WHERE and WHEN.
Let us help you to achieve your goal of successfully implementing a professional
online booking solution for both you and your clients.
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