Once your Microsoft Bookings Calendar is created it will be handed off to you. You will be assigned the role of Admin, and can start configuring and personalizing your Bookings Calendar. To access your Microsoft Bookings Calendar, navigate to Office365.IllinoisState.edu and click on the Microsoft Bookings App Icon after signing into your account. You may need to click the All Apps icon to locate the Bookings icon.

Now that the creator of your Microsoft Bookings Calendar has been removed, you are ready to configure your calendar.

Configuring Your Calendar

BUSINESS INFORMATION: Start by clicking the Business Information tab from the left-hand menu. Here you will fill in your business/department’s information, hours and can choose to upload a logo (optional) (Figure 2).

• Business Name: This field will be filled out with the name you originally requested for your bookings calendar. It is not recommended to change this name. If you do feel this name needs to be changed, please submit a ticket at ITHelp.illinoisstate.edu with the requested name change.
• Business Address: This will typically be wherever the appointment is scheduled and should be an official address. You may leave this field blank, or choose a general address as opposed to your immediate location. While your address will be visible on the customer facing request form, anyone who obtains the URL to that form will be able to view it.
• Business Phone: This number should be the number customers call requesting information about their appointment. You may leave this field blank if you wish to keep your number private.
• Send Customer Replies to: Enter only one valid email address (ilstu address recommended) where customer inquiries will be sent.
• Website URL: The URL of the site of your department or business (e.g., ITHelp.illinoisstate.edu).
• Privacy Policy URL: Unless your department has its own Privacy Policy, this field can be left blank.
• Terms and Conditions URL: Unless your department has its own Terms and Conditions URL, this field can be left blank.
• Business Type: This field is optional, and can be used to describe the type of business (i.e., Admissions, Support, etc.).
• Currency: Recommended to leave as USD$
• Business Logo: You have the option to upload a staff picture or department logo here (within University guidelines).
• Business Hours: Set your business hours based on appointment availability
  
  

Figure 2:

SERVICES: In the Services Tab, you can add services you provide. To get started, click on the Services tab in the left-hand menu and then click Add a Service (See Figures 3).

• Service Name: Name your service (e.g., Initial Consult).
• Description: Basic description of the service provided.
• Default Location: This should be the same as the Business Address that was previously entered, unless the appointment will be at another location.
• Adding an online meeting: Enabling this option allows for the use of an Online TEAMS meeting. Zoom or Google Meets are incompatible through Microsoft Bookings.
• Default Duration: This should be entered as the duration of the appointment time.
• Buffer Time: Enter buffer time allowed between appointments.
• Maximum Number of Attendees: Can be set to allow for 1 or more individuals per appointment.
• Default Price: Do not set unless your services have a cost involved.
• Notes: This is an optional field and used for internal department purposes.
• Custom Fields: Clicking modify allows you to add customized fields your customers will be presented with when booking an appointment. You can also Add Additional Questions here for what is not included by default.
• Reminders and Confirmations: Can be edited so customers receive appointment reminders and confirmations.
• Add an Email Reminder: Here you can add additional information to the reminder your customers receive. You may want to include a link, helpful hints on what to bring or anything else pertinent to their appointment with you.
• Enable Text Message Notifications: This feature has not been tested and is currently not recommended to use.
• Scheduling Options/Default Policy: Enabled by default.
• Email Notifications: Enables the option to add the appointment to a user’s Office 365 calendar.
• Staff: If enabled, this will allow the customer to choose a specific staff member from your pre-designated list to meet with.
• Availability: Customizable if your staff will be out of the office and no one will be available to see customers.
  
  

Figure 3:

STAFF: In the Staff tab, you can add users and assign various roles to them (See Figures 4 & 5).

• In the new window that opens after clicking Add Staff, you can customize the added staff member by adding basic information, a role and their availability.
• After making changes, be sure to click the Save option at the top of the page to save your changes.
• Checking the radial button next to ‘Events on Office Calendar Affect Availability’ will consider the meetings/events you already have scheduled in your Outlook calendar for the day the appointment is being made.
  
  

Figure 4:

Figure 5:

CUSTOMERS: The Customers tab allows you to enter information about your customers and store data. This section is optional (See Figure 6).

Figure 6:

BOOKINGS PAGE: The Bookings Page tab is where you will customize the way your page looks, save and publish it and choose whether to receive an embedding code in case the calendar owner wishes to embed the bookings page into ReggieNet or another site that accepts embedded codes (See Figures 7 & 8).

• Save and Publish: Clicking this option will Save and Publish your newly created Bookings Calendar. This will provide a direct link to your bookings page and also provide an embed code option in case the bookings page will be added to a site (i.e., ReggieNet).
• Bookings Page Access Control: Clicking the radial button will require users to have an Microsoft (Office) 365 account within our University in order to create an appointment. Leave this option un-checked if you are allowing 3rd party emails to book appointments.
• Disable Direct Search Engine: Leave this option as is. It is currently being tested.
• Customer Data Usage: Not recommended to use at this time.
• Scheduling Policy: Choose the duration of appointments (i.e., 30 mins = 8:00am – 8:30am).
• Minimum/Maximum Lead Time: Set time to allow for cancellations.
• Email Notifications: Choose whether the customer receives email notifications.
• Staff: Allows the customer to choose a specific staff member as opposed to being automatically assigned one.
• Availability: Can be customized based on staff availability (i.e., Winter Break).
  
  

Figure 7:

Figure 8:

CALENDAR: The calendar tab shows a calendar that displays all added staff’s availability and appointments. Staff appointments from their Office 365 calendars will only show up on the Daily View, while appointments made through the Bookings Page, will show up in any view. If for some reason an appointment is not assigned to a staff member for whatever reason, it will show up in the ‘! No Staff’ section and will need re-assigned to an available staff member (See Figure 9).

• ! No Staff: For appointments that are unassigned, a user with the Admin Role can click on the appointment and then click Edit. A list of staff members will then be accessible to choose from.
  
  

Figure 9:

Once the calendar has been modified to your liking, you can choose to Save and Publish the calendar from the Bookings Page tab as described above. See Figure 10 for an example of what the customer sees when opening your Bookings link, or viewing the embedded calendar.

Figure 10:

Getting Help

For Technical Assistance, you can Submit a Help Ticket, or contact the Technology Support Center at (309) 438-4357 or by email at SupportCenter@IllinoisState.edu

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