Among the many software packages and apps that have become popular of late are appointment booking and scheduling packages. With many people setting up work-from-home businesses in the wake of the pandemic, these tools have become a must-have for any business that takes online appointments or bookings.
You may be an online tutor, for example, and require your clients to book slots on a regular basis. The same applies to personal trainers, and to professionals such as accountants, lawyers, and anyone who holds face-to-face sessions with their clients.
The advantage of a booking app is that it does away with the need to use a phone and a traditional diary. Instead, you have it all online, and it’s done in a semi-automated manner with a few clicks. There are different takes on the theme, so we’ve looked at five of the best available right now for you, so let’s get started.
Missed.Com
This popular booking appointment app comes in a free version but there are paid options to expand which also includes a white label version. Missed is a comprehensive app that while primarily a booking tool, also comes with handy additional features such as a built-in video conferencing tool.
The booking app itself is a clever one. It works via a cloud-based calendar – so does not use up space – and puts the onus on the client to make a booking. They simply log in, choose the convenient slot, and press the button. It’s that simple, and each party gets a notification.
It removes the chance of no-shows or double bookings and makes life a lot easier for both client and the business owner. Missed is worth checking out for various other features that will also be attractive to small businesses that are seeking growth.
Jobber
If you are running an online tutoring service then a tool such as Jobber may be the one you should look at. This is a popular booking app that regularly gets great reviews and is one that comes with an easy-to-use calendar option as well as a sensibly designed dashboard.
Jobber is popular as it is easy to set up and get used to. It comes with features including appointment scheduling which can be automated to a degree. This is a time and cost-saving feature that we like a lot. It also offers employee scheduling for businesses of more than one employee, as well as various resource and facility scheduling tools.
Jobber comes highly recommended and is certainly one for the shortlist.
Wrike
Like most of these booking apps, Wrike would suit businesses such as a personal trainer or other who needs to take frequent appointments. These apps are also being used more frequently by health workers such as clinics that take regular bookings, and beauty parlors.
Wrike has many good features including automated scheduling and is designed to be easy to use and install. It’s simple to get used to and has employee scheduling ability too. If you are a sole trader and think such a feature is not important, consider the future when your business may begin to grow, and you can scale up.
Having a tool that is ready for when you do take on further employees is not a bad idea, and Wrike is sensibly priced for a comprehensive and usable booking an scheduling tool.
UKG Ready
Many of these tools are very similar in style and approach which we should naturally expect given they all aim to perform a similar task. UKG Ready is a good scheduling tool that offers all the features you would expect from one that has been developed, tried, and tested such as this.
With appointment scheduling that can be automated, employee scheduling, and many other features we can see why UKG Ready gets five start reviews often. It’s easy to use and simple to install and set up, and the dashboard and navigation is as you would expect from a good quality product.
UKG Ready will appeal to businesses offering legal services online, for example, or those in the financial arena that hold virtual interviews with potential clients. A decent tool at a sensible price that deserves its place on our list.
Work in Sync
Our final choice is Work in Sync which is another good scheduling tool with the features required by those who will use it. This one will appeal to businesses with more than one employee as it is aimed at employee and resource scheduling more than at appointments.
Restaurants and food outlets, bars, and pubs are the sort of businesses that Work in Sync will come in useful to.
As such, this one would be lowest on our list of recommended appointment booking apps for the likes of tutors, personal trainers, counsellors, and other face-to-face professionals. Still, it’s a useful app with interesting features that are easy to use.
Conclusion
That’s our list of the five best appointment booking apps on the market right now and be aware there are many more scheduling service software Which would we choose? That depends on the business. For those who require clients to choose regular slots for video meetings or classes, Missed.com does a great job, as do Jobber and UKG Ready. The final choice is up to you, so check each one for trial runs and see how you find them, and you’ll see how useful these affordable tools can be.