Business Hours & Time Slots

Configuring your business hours and time slots is essential for managing when customers can book appointments. This guide covers setting up operating hours, creating time slots, and managing availability.

Quick Access

Access business hours and time slots at BOOKIN Slots.

Business Opening and Closing Hours

Set your operating hours for each day of the week to control when customers can book appointments.

Setting Business Hours

1. Navigate to the Slots page
2. You’ll see a weekly schedule with all 7 days
3. For each day, set:
   • Opening Time: When your business opens
   • Closing Time: When your business closes
4. After updating hours, click the “Save” button in the top right corner

Weekly Schedule

Configure hours for each day:

• Monday through Sunday: Set individual hours for each day
• Different Hours per Day: You can set different hours for weekdays vs weekends
• Closed Days: Leave hours empty or set to closed for days you don’t operate

Save Changes

Remember to click the “Save” button after making any changes to business hours.

Time Slot Management

Time slots define the specific times when customers can book appointments. You can create slots manually or generate them automatically.

Accessing Time Slot Management

1. On the Slots page, click the “Time Slots” tab
2. You’ll see the time slot management interface

Time Slot Interface

The time slot page includes:

Top Section:

• Date Selector: Choose the date you want to manage
• Action Buttons:
  • Save: Save all changes
  • Generate: Automatically generate time slots
  • Add Slot: Create a single time slot manually
  • Advanced Copy: Copy slots between dates

Slot List:

• All time slots for the selected date
• Each slot shows start time, end time, and max reservations
• Available/unavailable toggle for each slot

Creating Time Slots

Method 1: Generate Time Slots Automatically

If you don’t have any time slots for a date, you can generate them automatically.

1. Select the date you want to create slots for
2. Click the “Generate” button
3. The Generate Time Slot modal will open

4. Configure the generation settings:
   • Slot Duration: Select from dropdown (e.g., 1 hour, 2 hours, 30 minutes)
   • Default Max Reservations: Enter how many parallel reservations each slot can handle
5. Click “Generate”
6. The system will create time slots based on your business hours
7. You can then edit, add, or remove slots as needed

Method 2: Add Individual Time Slots

To add a single time slot manually:

1. Click “Add Slot”
2. Configure the slot:
   • Start Time: When the slot begins (e.g., 9:00 AM)
   • End Time: When the slot ends (e.g., 10:00 AM)
   • Max Reservations: How many parallel appointments this slot can handle
   • Available Toggle: Enable or disable the slot
3. Click to save the slot

Editing Time Slots

You can modify existing time slots:

• Change Times: Click on start or end times to modify them
• Adjust Max Reservations: Change how many parallel bookings are allowed
• Toggle Availability: Enable or disable slots
• Duplicate Slots: Click the copy icon to duplicate a slot
• Delete Slots: Remove slots you no longer need

Blocking Time Slots

Sometimes you need to block specific time slots (e.g., for breaks, maintenance, or private events).

How to Block a Slot

1. Find the time slot you want to block
2. Toggle the “Available/Normal” switch to “Blocked”
3. Optionally add a note or reason for blocking:
   • “Lunch Break”
   • “Maintenance”
   • “Private Event”
   • Any other reason
4. The slot will be unavailable for customer bookings

Blocked Slots

Blocked slots are not visible to customers and cannot be booked. They remain in your system so you can unblock them later if needed.

Navigating Between Dates

You can manage time slots for different dates:

• Arrow Navigation: Use left/right arrows to move between dates
• Date Picker: Click on the date to open a calendar picker
• Quick Date Selection: Jump to specific dates quickly

Advanced Copy Feature

The Advanced Copy feature allows you to copy time slots from one date to multiple dates, saving time when setting up recurring schedules.

Copy To (Copy Current Date to Other Dates)

1. Set up time slots for a specific date (your template)
2. Click “Advanced Copy”
3. Select the “Copy To” tab (default)
4. Choose destination dates:
   • Select All: Select all available dates
   • Weekdays Only: Select only Monday-Friday
   • Weekends Only: Select only Saturday-Sunday
   • Manual Selection: Click individual dates
5. Review your selection
6. Click “Copy” to apply slots to selected dates

Duplicate Prevention

Make sure the destination dates don’t already have existing slots to prevent duplicates. The system will warn you if duplicates are detected.

Copy From (Copy from Another Date to Current Date)

1. Select the date you want to copy slots to (current date)
2. Click “Advanced Copy”
3. Select the “Copy From” tab
4. Browse available dates (excluding the current date)
5. Each date shows a badge with the number of available slots
6. Click on a date to copy all its slots to the current date
7. Confirm the copy operation

Plan Limits

Your plan determines how far in advance you can create slots:

• Standard plan: Up to 3 months in advance
• We recommend copying 1 month at a time for easier management

Best Practices

Time Slot Management Tips

1. Start with Business Hours: Set your operating hours first
2. Generate Then Customize: Use auto-generation, then fine-tune slots
3. Regular Reviews: Review and update slots weekly or monthly
4. Block Strategically: Block slots for breaks and maintenance
5. Use Advanced Copy: Save time by copying templates to multiple dates
6. Monitor Capacity: Adjust max reservations based on demand

Setting Max Reservations

Max reservations determine how many parallel appointments a slot can handle:

• 1 Reservation: One appointment at a time (most common)
• 2+ Reservations: Multiple appointments simultaneously (for multiple staff or services)

Consider:

• Number of staff members available
• Service capacity
• Equipment availability
• Customer experience

Weekly Patterns

For businesses with consistent weekly schedules:

1. Set up slots for one week
2. Use Advanced Copy to replicate to future weeks
3. Make adjustments as needed for holidays or special events

Next Steps

Now that you’ve configured your business hours and time slots:

• Learn about creating appointments - Book appointments in your time slots
• Explore settings - Configure additional business settings
• Manage your services - Set up services customers can book

Related Guides

• Creating Appointments - Book appointments in your configured time slots
• Managing Appointments - Manage bookings in your time slots
• Settings & Configuration - Additional business configuration options