Scheduling Settings Configuration

Guide to help admins set the online scheduler settings.

Written By Christopher Scott

Last updated 3 months ago

Overview

The Scheduling Settings page is your central hub for controlling how the scheduler behaves for both customers and staff. These settings determine everything from how long quotes are held to what information customers see when booking appointments.

What you can configure:

  • How long time slots are held during the booking process

  • What information displays in customer-facing portals

  • The order of information blocks in your internal scheduler

  • Booking restrictions and cutoff times

  • AI-powered addon recommendations

  • Inspector visibility preferences

Access these settings anytime to adjust your scheduler's behavior as your business needs change. Changes take effect immediately for new bookings.

Setup

Accessing Scheduling Settings

  1. Log in to your admin dashboard

  2. Navigate to /settings/scheduling

  3. The settings form displays with your current configuration

  4. Make changes to any setting

  5. Save setings (a save prompt appears at the bottom of the screen)

Permissions required: You need settings-admin or scheduler-admin access to modify these settings.

Setting Options

Quote Scheduler Settings

Default Hold Duration (Hours)

What it does: Controls how long a time slot is reserved while a customer completes their booking or reviews a quote. This applies to the online scheduler as well as in the internal scheduler.

How to set it:

  • Enter a number in hours for these holds to be created on quote creation.

  • Common settings:

    • 24 hours - Standard for most businesses

    • 48 hours - Gives customers more time to decide

    • 2-4 hours - For high-demand times or busy seasons with limited availability

When to adjust:

  • Increase if customers frequently lose their time slots while deciding

  • Decrease if you need to maximize schedule availability

  • Consider your typical customer decision timeframe

Online Scheduler Settings

These settings are specific to the customer-facing online booking experience.

Show Inspector In Online Scheduler

What it does: Displays inspector avatars and names in the calendar view and time slot recommendations.

Toggle on when:

  • Customers value knowing their inspector in advance

  • Inspector profiles are complete with photos

  • You want to highlight your team's expertise

  • Personal connection improves customer confidence

Toggle off when:

  • You want the best inspector to be selected

  • You emphasize company brand over individuals

  • Inspectors should be abstracted from the user.

View WITH Inspectors:

View WITHOUT inspectors

Next Day Cutoff Time

What it does: Prevents customers from booking next-day appointments after a specified time.

How to set it:

  • Choose the time using the time picker (12-hour format)

  • Example: Set to 3:00 PM to prevent next-day bookings after 3 PM

Common settings:

  • 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM - Standard for most businesses

  • 12:00 PM (noon) - For businesses needing more preparation time

  • 6:00 PM - For businesses with evening coverage

Why it matters:

After the cutoff time, customers can only book appointments starting 2+ days out. This ensures your team has adequate time to prepare for access, confirm the job, and handle administrative tasks.

Example:

  • Cutoff time: 3:00 PM

  • Current time: 4:00 PM on Tuesday

  • Customer cannot book for Wednesday

  • Customer can book for Thursday onwards

Max Sqft Online

What it does: Prevents customers from booking services online if their property exceeds a specified square footage.

How to set it:

  • Enter maximum square footage (optional field)

  • Leave empty for no size restrictions

  • Common thresholds: 5,000 - 10,000 sqft

When to set a limit:

  • Large properties require custom pricing

  • Complex properties need manual review

  • Scheduling requires special inspector assignment

  • Equipment or time requirements vary significantly

What happens when exceeded:

  • Customer receives a friendly message

  • They're directed to contact you directly for custom quote

  • Prevents pricing errors for oversized properties

  • Office is immediately notified of a blocker. Draft quote is saved to quote list.

Leave empty when:

  • Your pricing scales automatically with size

  • You handle all property sizes the same way

  • No special considerations for large properties

AI Addon Service Recommendations

Custom AI Prompt Guidelines

What it does: Adds your company-specific expertise and regional considerations to the AI that recommends addon services to customers.

The system automatically uses best home inspection practice to recommend the correct add-ons. However the prompt can be customized for your business.

How to use it:

  • If desired, enter guidelines in the text area (up to 3,000 characters)

  • Test the feature without a prompt to see gaps in recommendations.

  • Include regional factors (climate, regulations, common issues)

  • Mention your company's specializations

Example guidelines:

Our company specializes in older homes (pre-1980) in the Denver area.

Regional considerations:
- High altitude affects radon levels - recommend radon testing for basement properties
- Dry climate causes foundation settling - recommend foundation inspection
- Older neighborhoods have aging sewer lines - recommend sewer scope for homes 40+ years old

Company expertise:
- We're certified for commercial properties up to 20,000 sqft
- We have specialized equipment for pool inspections. Recommend pools.
- Same-day mold testing available. The humidity here increases mold risk

What the AI does with this:

  • Incorporates your guidelines when suggesting addons

  • Considers property details + your expertise

  • Provides relevant recommendations to customers

  • Improves suggestion accuracy over generic recommendations

Tips for effective guidelines:

  • Focus on when to recommend specific services

  • Include regional factors customers might not know

  • Keep it focused on addon recommendations

  • LESS IS MORE. Overloading the prompt can cause it to be even less specific with its recommendations and you may see worse results.

Service Filter Configuration

What it does: Links to the advanced service filter builder, where you create guided questions for customers.

Navigate to filter setup:

  • Click the Configure Filter button

  • Build a tree of questions that guide customers to the right services

Why it's separate:

The service filter is complex enough to need its own dedicated page. See the Service Filter Setup guide for complete instructions.

Saving Your Settings

Auto-save behavior:

  • A save prompt appears at the bottom of the screen when you make changes

  • Click Save to apply your changes

  • Click Cancel to discard changes and revert

  • Changes take effect immediately for new bookings

Settings are live immediately:

  • Customer-facing changes appear in the online scheduler right away

  • Staff-facing changes apply to internal tools instantly

  • No need to restart or reload anything

Best Practices

Start conservative, adjust based on data:

  • Begin with standard settings (24-hour hold, 3 PM cutoff)

  • Monitor customer behavior and booking patterns

  • Adjust settings to optimize for your specific workflow

Test customer-facing changes:

  • After changing online scheduler settings, generate a test URL

  • Go through the booking process yourself

  • Ensure the experience matches your expectations

Document your decisions:

  • Keep notes on why you chose specific settings

  • Helps when training new staff

  • Useful when troubleshooting booking issues

Review settings quarterly:

  • Business needs change over time

  • Seasonal adjustments may be beneficial

  • New features may warrant enabling previously-disabled options

Troubleshooting

Customers losing time slots too quickly

→ Increase the hold duration

Too many next-day booking requests

→ Adjust the cutoff time earlier (e.g., from 4 PM to 2 PM)

Customers confused by service options

→ Enable service descriptions in portal settings

AI recommendations not matching your business

→ Add custom prompt guidelines with specific business practices

Large properties causing pricing issues

→ Set a max sqft limit to catch oversized properties

Internal team struggling with workflow

→ Reorder scheduler blocks to match natural workflow

Related Guides:

  • Service Filter Setup - Build guided questions for customers

  • Generating and Embedding the Scheduler - Share your scheduler with customers

  • Booking an Appointment - Understand the customer experience