Appointment Scheduler

Anna Lieding

Hi,

I am looking for a way for event participants to schedule appointments. I have several time slots with several openings per slot and would like to allow participants to choose their slot and then that slot disappears once it is chosen.

It appears that Smartsheet does not have this capability, but perhaps I am wrong.

Or is there a recommended app to integrate that will make my life easy? I would like the integration but I will also go to another platform for appointment scheduling if anyone has any recommendations.

Thank you

Paul Newcome

The best solution I can think of uses a form on a second sheet, a report, and a dashboard.

Here's the basic rundown of what I am thinking...

Sheet 1 contains all of the available dates and at least a checkbox column that looks at Sheet 2 and checks the box when an available date is entered through the form.

Sheet 2 contains the form for sign-ups.

The Report points at Sheet 1 and only shows rows where the checkbox is NOT checked (slots that haven't been filled yet).

The dashboard uses two Web Content Widgets. One for the Form and the other for the Report that has been published in Calendar view.

Does that make sense? If so, does it sound like a viable option? I can provide more detail and help walk you through the setup if so.

Anna Lieding

Hmm... I don't think I am well versed enough in the intricacies of reports to accomplish this. Will I be able to send a link to participants for them to sign up and see what is available? Also would there be a cancellation option for them in case they are sick etc? I would be stoked if you could help walk me through this.

The scenario is this: We run a community event where residents can bring bulky item goods to recycle, think refrigerators, stoves, tires. Pre-covid participants would just drive up to the event and we would unload any items that they brought that fall under certain recycling criteria. Now, we need to change our protocol and I have created a questionnaire which will be QC'd prior to the participant getting sent a link to sign up for a time to drive up to the event.

The extra caveat is that for each time slot I would like to offer 3 availabilities. So for 9:00am-9:15am I would like to allow 3 signups.

Thank you very much.

Paul Newcome

Ok. There is another thread from a while back that used almost the exact same solution. I will dig around and see if I can find it.

Paul Newcome

Take a look at THIS THREAD and see if that helps.

Darrin Eisenbarth

Hi Paul - we are currently using something like this to schedule people for COVID-19 testing. In this case, we have schedulers who receive calls from the public and book them based on date/times that are available. Now we are trying to allow the public to self-register by publishing the form for sign up .. in this case the dashboard with the form and available dates side by side does not work - too wide for cell phone. What I can imagine as a possible solution is to show them the available date/time slots and have them select the desired slot and then collect their information .. just trying to figure out how to do this. Thoughts?

Adrian Backus

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/267331#Comment_267331

I have had luck using the DDupdate extension for a similar use case.

Sign Up sheet: Collect all the information you want, and set appointment time as a single select dropdown.

Sign Up From: Host on a website/ dashboard/ etc. Make sure it includes the dropdown for appointment time.

Enabling sheet: All appointment slots are listed in column 1, the number of appointments per slot is listed in column 2, and the number remaining is listed in column 3 (calculated with a countif function that looks at the sign up sheet). Column 4 lists the appointment slot only when the number of appointments remaining is greater than zero. See below.

=if(Column3@row <=0,"",Column1@row),

When the number of appointments for the slot reaches zero, column 4 is blank. Column 4 is then mapped to the appointment time drop down in the sign up sheet using dropdown update so that only available appointment times are left in the dropdown.

This works pretty well for some use cases. I would exercise caution if you're dealing with a lot of people though and have low flexibility resources because people leaving the form open for too long could submit after someone booked the same appointment resulting in a double booking. For us that's an acceptable risk, but it could be a problem for some

Darrin Eisenbarth

I'm not familiar with DDupdate extension for Smartsheet. Is that a premium service or 3rd party? Thank you - this is very interesting solution that I would like to explore.

Paul Newcome

@Genevieve P @Andrée Starå @Mike Wilday @L@123

Does anyone have any info on the DDupdate above? I haven't heard anything about it?

Genevieve P.

Hi all,

I don't have much information about this website as it is not accredited by Smartsheet.

Andrée Starå

@Paul Newcome

I haven't tested it, but I've heard good things about it.

I'm waiting for the Smartsheet accredited version. @Genevieve P 😉

L_123

@Paul Newcome

I have not used this extension, and haven't heard anything about it.

Gwen Rymill SBP

Hi @Anna Lieding and @Darrin Eisenbarth

We have built an appointment booking system, currently being used in COVID-19 vaccinations clinics https://www.smarterbusinessprocesses.com/smarter-vaccination-bookings/

Let me know if you would like a demonstration

Best regards

Gwen

Charlene Pons

@Adrian Backus I have set-up both sheets and selected them in DDupdate. I am testing the form now by filling it out multiple times and choosing the same time slot for the allotted # of slots available. However, after selecting the time slot for the allotted # of slots available, that time slot is still populating in my form. What could I be doing wrong?

BraceF

https://community.smartsheet.com/discussion/comment/249414#Comment_249414

Hi Paul,

Your solution sounds like it might work for an appointment scheduling form I need to implement. I have several advisers who have specific times available to meet with advisees. Advisees would need to book only available time with the adviser of their choice. Would you be able to share some details on what you proposed a few years ago?

BraceF

@Paul Newcome Your solution sounds like it might work for an appointment scheduling form I need to implement. I have several advisers who have specific times available to meet with advisees. Advisees would need to book only available time with the adviser of their choice. Would you be able to share some details on what you proposed a few years ago?