Appointment Management - Appointment and Availability

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1 Overview

bxp has an inbuilt calendaring engine. This engine was built specifically for business process management and as such as features and functionality beyond being a normal calendar.


There are a number of terms that must be addressed early on in understanding how bxp operates the calendar.


2 Naming

The module that stores all the data is called Appointment Management by default. The name can be changed to anything but it can make understanding the wixi and support material a little more difficult. The icon to look for is 027.png


Within that is a Log / Timetable / Diary. For ease of use, the default term used is Diary. It is possible to change the naming to your business specific requirements in Main Menu > System Access Management > System Management > System Keywords > Appointment Management Module


The default term widely understood is a Diary and the concept is referred to as such in all the documentation in this Wixi.


Usually in a diary you have appointments, but there are two concepts here to be understood. The first is an "Availability". This Availability allows for Appointments to be be booked into it.


So I can go into the system and create in a Diary, an Availability time slot, into which Appointments can be made. This ensures appointments are only ever made in slots approved.


If you're using the diary for only appointments, then availability is a redundant concept. However as you can have multiple diaries the titles within the module reflect this dual capability.


appointment 001.png


3 Usage

So the first step is to create a Diary. There are details on the process and options for this here. Appointment_Management_-_Create_a_Diary


Then you decide using security permissions how you want to allow people to interact with the diaries.


If you give the user access to "Appointment Management" then they will only be able to fill into Availability slots that have been set up. This section is usually given to agents.


If you give the user access to "Availability / Appointment Management" then they will be able to do both. i.e. create availablity slots AND add appointments.


Security access to these sections is controlled through System Access Management.


It is important to note that an appointment in "Appointment Management" can only be created in a time slot. However an appointment created through "Availability / Appointment Management" can be placed anywhere. This distinction is critical to understand for operational usage.


4 Worked usage

We create a diary for a noun, so us say Dr. Jenkins. A team of receptionists work for Dr. Jenkins and want to book appointments for him.


We grant Dr. Jenkins access to the Diary and to the "Availability / Appointment Management" section. Dr. Jenkins can then manage when he is available to have appointments booked. Dr. Jenkins can also put in his own appointments as reminders in any of the time window. The diary empty looks like


appointment 002.png


So Dr. Jenkins creates a morning and afternoon slot for Monday. He also puts in an important reminder meeting in for Thursday afternoon (i.e. a round of golf). Please note the little arrow icon indicating where items can be inserted. In this section, with these permissions, everywhere is available. When a slot or availability is filled in, the arrow becomes unavailable.


appointment 003.png


If one of the receptionists views this diary, from their section of "Appointment Management" you can see the change of permissions. The little arrows to allow appointments are only available in the availablity slots set up. The other appointment set by Dr. Jenkins is also visible.


appointment 004.png


So the receptionist books in an appointment for half an hour on the Monday afternoon at 15:00.


appointment 005.png


Dr. Jenkins, then puts in an appointment for an hour from 15:30 till 16:30. You'll spot that for the agent view, the arrows disappear for adding an appointment.


appointment 006.png


If you would like to see how an outcome can now be used to create appointments try reading Using_bxp_outcomes_for_Appointment_Management