Booking Availability

Lodgestory CRM › Settings → Booking availability

Publish when you're free, what people can book, and how they're reminded — then share one link and let customers book themselves.

TL;DR

• What it is — where you set up a bookable calendar: your working hours, how long a slot is, whether people book an online meeting or an in-person visit, your branding, your reminders, and the public link customers use to book.
• Who it's for — Account Owners and Admins set up calendars (including shared team calendars); any team member can set up their own.
• Top outcome — a single shareable link that always shows your true availability, assigns the right person, and sends its own reminders.

At a glance

How to find it

Direct URL: https://app.lodgestory.com/crm/settings/availability-slots

In the app: Settings → Booking availability.

[SCREENSHOT: availability-settings.png — the booking-availability editor with the Availability / Booking page / Reminders / Sharing tabs and the live preview]

What is Booking Availability?

The problem it solves

A booking link is only as good as the availability behind it. If it offers times you're not actually free, you get double-bookings and awkward cancellations. If it can't tell a video call from a site visit, your field team ends up with no address. And if reminders are manual, people forget.

Booking Availability is where you define all of that once. You set the hours you take meetings, how long each slot is, buffers between them, how much notice you need, and how far ahead people can book. You choose whether customers book an online meeting, an in-person visit, or get to pick. You brand the page, write the confirmation message, and set the reminders. Then you publish a link — and it stays accurate on its own, because it subtracts everything already on the assigned person's calendar.

What you get

• Weekly working hours with multiple windows per day (e.g., mornings and afternoons with a lunch gap), plus holidays.
• Slot length, buffers, minimum notice, and how far ahead people can book.
• Online, in-person, or both — with a Google Meet link for online meetings and an address field for visits.
• A branded booking page — business name, logo, accent colour, a welcome message, and a custom confirmation message.
• Reminders before each booking, by WhatsApp (approved template) or email.
• Team calendars that pull from a team's current members and assign whoever's free.
• A live preview of the customer-facing page as you edit.

How it's different

• Availability is calculated, not declared. The link never offers a time the assigned person is already busy — across every calendar they're on.
• Team calendars stay current automatically. Add or remove someone from the team and the booking pool updates — no re-configuring.
• One place for the whole experience — hours, meeting type, branding, reminders, and the link — not four separate settings screens.

Core concepts

• Bookable calendar — a set of availability you can publish. Personal (just you) or team (a pool).
• Working hours — the weekly windows you accept bookings in, in your chosen timezone, with holidays.
• Slot length — how long each bookable block is (e.g., 30 minutes).
• Buffer — padding before and/or after a booking so slots aren't back-to-back.
• Minimum notice — how soon before a slot someone can still book it.
• Advance window — how far into the future the link shows availability (default 30 days).
• What can people book — online meeting, in-person visit, or both.
• Reminder rule — "this long before the booking, send via WhatsApp or email."
• Public link — the shareable URL customers book from.

Quick Start — publish a bookable calendar

Step 1 — Open Booking availability

Settings → Booking availability.

Step 2 — Set your hours

On the Availability tab, set your timezone and weekly hours, slot length, buffers, minimum notice, and how far ahead people can book.

[SCREENSHOT: availability-hours.png — weekly hours editor]

Step 3 — Choose what people can book

Under What can people book?, turn on Online meeting, In-person visit, or both. For online, keep Add a Google Meet link on to attach a video link.

Step 4 — Brand the page

On the Booking page tab, add your business name, logo, accent colour, a welcome message, and a confirmation message. The live preview shows exactly what customers see.

[SCREENSHOT: booking-page-branding.png — branding tab with the live preview]

Step 5 — Add reminders

On the Reminders tab, add one or more reminders (e.g., 1 day before by email, 1 hour before by WhatsApp).

Step 6 — Connect Google Calendar

Connect a Google account so every booking creates a calendar event and (for online meetings) a Google Meet link. See Connecting Google Calendar below.

Step 7 — Share the link

On the Sharing tab, make the calendar public and copy the link. Drop it in chats, your email signature, or your website.

How it works

Your link shows open times by taking your working hours and slot length, then subtracting everything already booked for the assigned person — on this calendar and any other they're part of — plus your buffers, notice, and advance window. For a team calendar it offers a time if any current team member is free then, and assigns one automatically at booking, rotating fairly. Because availability is calculated live, the link is always accurate without you touching it.

Features in depth

Weekly hours and holidays

Set the days and time windows you accept bookings, in your chosen timezone. A day can have several windows (to model a lunch break). Mark holidays to close specific dates.

Slot length, buffers, notice, and advance window

• Slot length — how long each booking is.
• Buffer before / after — padding so meetings aren't back-to-back.
• Minimum notice — block last-minute bookings.
• Bookable up to (days) — how far ahead the link offers times.

What can people book?

Turn on Online meeting, In-person visit, or both. With both on, the customer chooses on the booking page. Add a Google Meet link attaches a video link to online meetings; in-person visits collect an address instead.

Booking page branding and messages

Set the business name, logo, and accent colour shown to customers, a welcome message on the page, and the confirmation message shown after booking. A live preview updates as you type.

Reminders

Add reminder rules that send before each booking:

• Email — a subject and body you write, with placeholders for the customer name, date/time, host, location, and video link.
• WhatsApp — an approved template sent from a connected WhatsApp number, with the template's variables mapped to booking details.

Lodgestory sends each reminder once, at the right time, on its own.

[SCREENSHOT: reminders-editor.png — the reminders list with an email and a WhatsApp rule]

Team calendars

A team calendar publishes the combined availability of a team. It always uses the team's current members, so adding or removing someone updates the booking pool automatically. When a customer books, an available member is assigned, rotating fairly, and their calendar is blocked so they can't be double-booked.

Connecting Google Calendar

Connect one Google account (an admin action) and every booking creates a real calendar event:

• Online meetings get a Google Meet link.
• In-person visits carry the address.
• The customer and the assigned member are invited and get Google's native updates if anything changes.

When you connect, keep the Google Calendar permission ticked — if it's skipped, Lodgestory will tell you the connection isn't complete and prompt you to reconnect, because without it no events can be created.

[SCREENSHOT: google-calendar-connect.png — the connect screen, connected state]

Sharing the link

Make the calendar public to get its link. Anyone with the link can book; nobody can see your internal data or member list.

Roles and permissions

Connections

• Teams — a team calendar draws from a team's members and keeps in step as the team changes.
• WhatsApp Templates — WhatsApp reminders use your approved templates.
• Bookings — everything booked through these calendars appears on the Bookings page.
• Email channel — confirmations and email reminders send through your connected email.

Limits a user will run into

• One public link per calendar.
• Advance window up to 365 days.
• Google Calendar is one connected account for the workspace; it organises every event.
• WhatsApp reminders need an approved template and a connected WhatsApp number.

Errors & FAQ

"Calendar access wasn't granted." When connecting Google, the Calendar permission was skipped. Reconnect and keep it ticked — otherwise bookings save but no events or video links are created.

My reminders aren't sending. Check the reminder is active, that the channel it uses is connected (email channel or WhatsApp number), and that the booking is in the future and not cancelled.

Frequently asked

• Do I need Google Calendar? Bookings work without it, but you won't get calendar invites or Google Meet links until it's connected.
• Can different calendars have different hours and branding? Yes — each calendar is independent.
• What if both online and in-person are on? The customer picks on the booking page; visits collect an address, online meetings get a video link.

Related modules & next steps

• Bookings — view and manage everything booked.
• Teams — set up the team a team calendar draws from.
• WhatsApp Templates — approve the templates your reminders use.