Bookings

Overview

Microsoft Bookings is an online scheduling service in Office 365 that allows users to make online appointments with you and your team.

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Updates and new features for Microsoft 365 apps can be found in our public team, KU Teams User Group. A channel in this team is dedicated to Microsoft 365 apps. Members are invited to ask questions and share information.

To join:

  1. Go to Teams
  2. Select Join or Create a Team
  3. All public teams will be listed in the interface
  4. Select KU Teams User Group

If you need assistance joining the team, reach out to us at training@ku.edu and we will add you to this team. 

Getting Started

Two ways to get to Bookings:

  1. Sign in to office365.ku.edu  and select the App Launcher (waffle icon) in the top-left.
    View ScreenshotSelect Bookings icon at left edge of screen or select All apps at the bottom for another view of all apps.
    Select the Bookings icon.  
    View ScreenshotSelect Bookings icon at left edge of screen or select All apps at the bottom for another view of all apps.

  2. Go to bookings.office.com and sign in from there. 

First time accessing Bookings:

  1. Select Get it now, then fill in your "business" name with your department, center, organization or your name if the Booking page is just for you. The name you choose for your Booking page will also be the URL, so consider a short, but descriptive title. 
  2. Provide a name and optional description.
  3. Select Continue > OK.

To create additional, new Bookings pages, go to space below the logo at the top-left, select the down arrow, then select New to create new Bookings page for you or your department. 
View ScreenshotSelect drop down under Bookings profile image, then select New. 

Set Up Booking Page

Use the links in the left navigation to set up your Bookings content. 

Business Information 

Add contact information, URLs, logo, and set business hours. If this is for your own bookings page, you can set your hours here. If this is for multiple staff, set your business hours; individual staff can set their own hours under the Staff link. 

Staff

If this is a departmental account, you’ll need to add staff, additional contact information, and hours of availability if different from Business hours.

  1. Choose the Staff link in the left navigation.
  2. Select +Add Staff at the top of your view. 
    View ScreenshotSelect Staff from left panel, then Add staff from top of interface.
  3. Select their role located below the Phone number field.
    View ScreenshotSelect role for the staff member.
    • Guests cannot open the bookings mailbox.
    • Visitors have read-only access.
    • Administrators can edit all settings. Find more information about roles on the Microsoft support site. 
  4. Add their contact information. If a staff member’s hours are different from business hours, deselect box next to Use business hours and define hours. Staff given an Administrator role can edit their own availability, as well.
  5. To edit or delete a staff member, select the name of the staff member to bring up options in the top menu.

Services 

If you provide more than one type of service, you can create them here. When users set meetings with staff in your organization, they will first select the service they need. Example of services might include project consultation, meeting, advising appointment, presentation, etc.

  1. Go to Services in the left navigation.
  2. Select +Add a service at the top of the screen. 
  • Name your service.
  • Set your default duration.
  • Buffer time refers to any time before of after your meeting that you will need for set up, walking or travel time between appointments, etc. 
  • Allowing customers to manage their bookings will give them options in the confirmation email of rescheduling or cancelling without having to contact you. Their selections will be reflected in your calendar. 
  • Add email reminder with customized text, if applicable.
  • Uncheck Online Scheduling options to customize additional options, such as designating how much advanced notice you need for the service (i.e. hour before, 24 hours before, etc.).
  • Customize hours for this service if different than regular business hours. 
  • Assign specific staff members to the service or leave it open to all staff.
  • You can copy or share a link to the service or use the link from the Booking page for all services. 

Booking Page

Publish your page using the Save and Publish link at the top of your view. After you publish, a link will be generated that you can copy and send to users, post to social media, link or embed on your webpage. 

Calendar 

All bookings scheduled will populate in your Bookings calendar as well as your Outlook calendar. Both calendars will show names of those who scheduled the meeting and any answers to questions you asked in the Service EXCEPT for group appointments.

For group appointments, you will need to use the Bookings calendar to view all who have scheduled an appointment.  

Answers to Common Issues

Select Staff

Be sure to select staff for a given service or they will not appear during scheduling. 
View Screenshot

Select name of staff member to add to service. Select name will show checkmark.

Max Number of Attendees

If you create a session that allows only one person, you cannot add another person to the meeting by sending them the link.
View ScreenshotSelect name of staff member to add to service. Select name will show checkmark.

After you save a service, you cannot change from one person maximum to more than one person. If you want to the service to be for a group, you will need to recreate it.

Names of attendees for individual sessions will appear in your Outlook calendar, but not for group sessions. To find attendees names for group meetings, go to the calendar in Bookings.

Zoom Instead of Teams

To use Zoom instead of Teams for online meetings, toggle Add online meeting to off and paste the Zoom link and password in the Additional Information for Email Confirmation field. 
View ScreenshotChange number of maximum attendees.

Students can be added as staff in Bookings, but they don't have access to manage their booking.

How to delete unused Bookings Pages

You will need to contact the office365support_sn@ku.edu for assistance. 

Calendar Times are Off

If your appointments are missing or at the wrong times, check your time zone settings. 

  1. Go to Booking page in left pane
  2. Select Region and time zone settings
  3. Select UTC-06:00 Central Time

Bookings Appointment Times Listed Incorrect

If you have multiple staff listed for a service everyone's times will be listed as options. If this is not the case, check your time zone settings. See previous heading for instructions. 

Getting Two Notifications?

If you get two email notifications, go to Bookings page > Default Scheduling Policy > deselect the checkbox Notify the business via email when a booking is created.
View ScreenshotDeselect checkbox next to Notify the Business ...

Support

Technical Support: itcsc@ku.edu | 785-864-8080

Schedule an Overview or Training Support: training@ku.edu | 785-864-5155