What is Appointment Management Software and What are the Benefits?

Customers are used to the on-demand economy. They expect service appointments to work around their schedule. But confirming, cancelling, and rescheduling appointments by telephone adds friction for customers and wastes contact center resources. 

Self-service appointment management software helps automate the rescheduling process while empowering the customer. The ideal solution allows customers to confirm, reschedule, or cancel their appointments all within a browser-based customer portal. 

By offering appointment management with a few clicks, you put customers in control of their day. Moreover, contact center staff have more time for customers who really need a human conversation. 

• Reduced call center traffic, reduced costs and increased call center efficiency.  
• Fewer missed appointments, as customers can choose a convenient time for them. 
• Increased first-time access, as customers can confirm that they’ll be on-site. 
• Empowered customers with increased certainty and control over their day. 
• Better customer experience as there’s no need to wait around on a phone call. 

As an appointment approaches, the customer receives SMS or email notifications prompting them to confirm their attendance. Notifications include a link to a web-based portal that allows customers to manage appointments conveniently from any device.    

Within a web-based portal, you can allow customers to: 

• Confirm their availability. 
• Reschedule to a more convenient time based on your business parameters. 
• Cancel their appointment and provide a reason. 

To ensure that operations run smoothly, your business can provide different options depending on whether the appointment is far out, soon, or imminent. For example: 

• When the appointment is booked, give customers the option to reschedule or cancel. Don’t give a ‘confirm’ option if the appointment is too far in the future. 
• As the appointment gets closer, remind customers to confirm that the time still works for them, while still allowing them to reschedule or cancel. 
• When the appointment is imminent, provide the option to confirm that the time still works. If it’s too late to easily cancel or reschedule, remove these options and provide contact details instead. 

A self-service appointment management portal is an ideal complement to customer engagement tools such as order notifications and real-time tracking.  

Businesses can provide customers with important information throughout their order lifecycle and empower them to act on that information for a more convenient experience.