A client can book while the front desk is helping someone else. Give the team enough notice and a clear way to check new appointments before the client arrives.
How much notice should we allow?
Choose a Minimum notice that leaves time to prepare the room and tell the provider. It controls how close to a start time a client can book online. A short opening in the calendar does not need to become an immediate booking.
Find it under Booking rules in your online booking settings. Follow Set up online booking for the full path and location settings. Check each location that accepts online bookings.
Where should the front desk look?
Keep Calendar on the correct date and location, with the relevant providers visible. A filter or a view of one provider can hide an appointment elsewhere in the business. See Find your way around the calendar.
The calendar refreshes when appointment changes arrive over its live connection. If you suspect it is out of date, refresh and verify the booking itself. A notification is a prompt to check, not a substitute for the appointment record.
Open the appointment to check its client, service, time and assigned provider. Make one person on each shift responsible for passing new arrivals to the right team member.
Who receives a new online booking notice?
| Surface | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Calendar | Bookings appear within the date, location and team view you can access. |
| Notification bell | Recent bookings appear according to your role and access. Regular staff see bookings assigned to them. |
| Today | Bookings awaiting confirmation can appear in the confirmation queue. This is not a list of every confirmed booking. |
| Optional email | The booked team member, owners and admins, or addresses you list, such as a front desk inbox, as the business chooses. |
To choose who is emailed, an admin opens Settings → Booking → Online booking and, under Email notifications, turns on Send emails to booked team members, Send emails to owners and admins or Send emails to specific addresses, then selects Save email notifications. Only the first is on to start with. A shared front desk inbox goes under specific addresses. See Get emails about online bookings.
Do not rely on email arriving immediately. Agree who watches the calendar during the shift.
How can we check our setup?
Use a test client you control and agree on the test with the front desk. Open the public booking link on a phone and book an available time that meets your notice rule. Your configured deposit or card requirements still apply.
Check all three outcomes:
- The phone shows the completed booking and its correct date, time and location.
- The front desk finds that same appointment on its calendar and opens the details.
- The intended staff member can see the booking, and whoever you chose to email checks the email arrived.
Check the experience using the receptionist's own account too. An owner's view alone does not prove that the front desk receives the same notices. Cancel the test appointment afterwards and review any payment separately.
Common questions
The client has a confirmation, but I cannot see the booking
Check the location, date, provider filters and your access before creating another appointment. Refresh the calendar and ask an admin to look for the original reference if it is still missing.
Should a same-day client receive all the usual reminders?
No. A reminder whose scheduled time has already passed is skipped. See Set up appointment reminders. The booking confirmation and the team's review are separate from reminders.
Can I tell that a booking is new just from its colour?
Use the appointment details and notification bell to check. Calendar colours depend on the selected colour setting; they are not a guaranteed alert for a new same-day booking.