Configure and Troubleshoot Microsoft Bookings

Overview

Microsoft Bookings is a Microsoft 365 scheduling application that allows students, faculty, staff, and other visitors to schedule appointments online.

With Shared Bookings, departments can create a booking page, define appointment services, assign staff members, and manage availability.

This article explains how to configure a shared booking page, create appointment services, publish your scheduling page, and troubleshoot services or appointment times that are not appearing.

Note: These instructions apply to Shared Bookings, not Personal Bookings (Bookings with me).

Step 1 – Access Microsoft Bookings

  1. Open a web browser and go to Microsoft Bookings.
  2. Sign in using your Cedar Crest College email address and password.
  3. Complete multifactor authentication (MFA) if prompted.
  4. Under Shared booking pages, select an existing booking page or choose Create booking page.

If creating a new page, follow the prompts to enter your department's information, add staff, and configure an initial service.

Note: Access to Bookings and the ability to create shared booking pages depend on your assigned Microsoft 365 license and College settings.

Step 2 – Configure Your Booking Page

The Booking Page controls how visitors access your appointment services and schedule appointments.

  1. Open your shared booking page.
  2. Select Booking page from the navigation menu.
  3. Review the available settings.

Booking Page Settings

Setting Description
Publish booking page Makes your booking page available to visitors
Require a Microsoft 365 account from my organization to book Restricts booking access to Cedar Crest College accounts
Disable direct search engine indexing Requests that search engines not index the booking page
Scheduling policy Controls booking intervals, lead time, and advance scheduling
Time zone Determines the time zone used for the booking page
Business information Displays your department's name and contact information
Page customization Allows available branding and appearance changes

Recommendation: For services intended only for Cedar Crest College students or employees, enable the option requiring a Microsoft 365 account from your organization.

Disabling search engine indexing does not make a booking page private. Use the appropriate access restrictions when authentication is required.

Set Your Scheduling Policy

Depending on your booking page configuration, you can adjust:

  • Time increments: How frequently appointment start times are offered.
  • Minimum lead time: How far in advance someone must schedule.
  • Maximum lead time: How far into the future appointments can be booked.
  • Availability: When appointments may be offered.

Individual services can also have their own scheduling policies.

Step 3 – Add and Configure Staff

Before offering appointments, make sure the appropriate staff members are available.

  1. Open your shared booking page.
  2. Select Staff.
  3. Click Add new staff.
  4. Search for and select the employee.
  5. Assign the appropriate role.
  6. Configure the staff member's working hours and availability.
  7. Save your changes.

Staff Availability

Review the following settings for each staff member:

  • Events on calendar affect availability: When enabled, busy events on the staff member's Outlook calendar can prevent conflicting appointments.
  • Use business hours: Uses the configured business hours for availability.
  • Custom working hours: Allows you to specify when the staff member can accept appointments.
  • Staff approval: Some configurations require staff members to approve sharing their availability.

Important: Staff members must be assigned to the appropriate services before they can be offered as appointment providers.

Step 4 – Create an Appointment Service

A service defines the type of appointment visitors can schedule.

For example, a department might offer 15-minute advising appointments, 30-minute consultations, or one-hour training sessions.

  1. Open your shared booking page.
  2. Select Services.
  3. Click Add new service.
  4. Enter the service information.
  5. Configure availability, staff assignments, and scheduling settings.
  6. Save the service.

Basic Service Settings

Setting Description
Service name Name displayed to people scheduling appointments
Description Explains the purpose of the appointment
Location Identifies where the appointment takes place
Online meeting Creates a Microsoft Teams meeting when enabled
Duration Length of each appointment
Buffer time Adds time before or after an appointment
Staff Determines which employees can provide the service
Availability Controls when the service can be scheduled

Configure Service Availability

Each service can use the booking page's default scheduling policy or have its own availability settings.

  1. Open Services.
  2. Select the service you want to modify.
  3. Locate the Availability or scheduling settings.
  4. Choose whether to use the default scheduling policy or custom availability.
  5. If using custom availability, configure the applicable days, dates, and times.
  6. Save your changes.

Tip: Use custom availability when a service is offered only during specific days or periods, such as orientation, advising, or scheduled training sessions.

Assign Staff to the Service

  1. Open the service.
  2. Locate the Assign staff section.
  3. Select the staff members who can provide the service.
  4. Review whether visitors may choose a specific staff member.
  5. Save your changes.

If no staff members are available during the service's configured hours, visitors may not see any available appointment times.

Step 5 – Publish Your Booking Page and Services

After configuring your services:

  1. Open Booking page.
  2. Locate the publishing controls.
  3. Publish the booking page if it is not already published.
  4. Copy the booking page link.
  5. Open the link in a separate browser window to test it.

Make Sure Your Services Are Visible

Services can be configured to appear or remain hidden on the booking page.

  1. Open Services.
  2. Select the service you want to review.
  3. Locate Publishing options.
  4. Make sure the service is enabled for publishing.
  5. Save your changes.
  6. Return to the public booking page and confirm that the service appears.

Note: Hiding a service does not delete the service or cancel existing appointments.

Share a Specific Service

You can also provide a direct link to an individual appointment service.

  1. Open Services.
  2. Select the appropriate service.
  3. Locate the Service booking page link.
  4. Copy and share the link.

This is useful when you want to direct visitors to a particular appointment type instead of displaying every service on the booking page.

Step 6 – Test Your Booking Page

Before sharing your booking page with others:

  1. Open the published booking page.
  2. Confirm that the correct services appear.
  3. Select a service.
  4. Verify that appointment dates and times are available.
  5. Confirm that the correct staff and location information appear.
  6. Complete a test booking if appropriate.
  7. Verify that confirmation messages and calendar invitations are received.

Cancel the test appointment afterward so it does not occupy an available time slot.

Troubleshooting Microsoft Bookings

My Booking Page Does Not Show Any Services

If the booking page opens but no appointment services are listed:

  1. Open Bookings and select the correct shared booking page.
  2. Select Services.
  3. Confirm that at least one service exists.
  4. Open each service and verify that its publishing option is enabled.
  5. Confirm that the booking page itself is published.
  6. Save any changes and reload the booking page.

If you are sharing a direct service link, verify that the link points to the correct service.

My Service Appears, but No Appointment Times Are Available

This is usually related to staff availability, service availability, or scheduling restrictions.

Check the following:

  1. Staff assignment: Confirm that at least one staff member is assigned to the service.
  2. Staff working hours: Verify that the assigned staff member is available during the intended appointment times.
  3. Outlook calendar: Check whether existing calendar events are blocking availability.
  4. Service availability: Confirm that the service is offered during the selected dates and times.
  5. Business hours: Make sure the booking page's hours do not conflict with the service configuration.
  6. Minimum lead time: Confirm that the requested appointment is not too soon.
  7. Maximum lead time: Confirm that the requested date is within the permitted booking window.
  8. Appointment duration: Make sure enough uninterrupted time is available for the appointment, including buffer time.

After making changes, save the service and refresh the booking page.

Bookings Is Not Recognizing Available Staff

  1. Open Staff.
  2. Select the affected employee.
  3. Confirm that their working hours are correct.
  4. Review Events on calendar affect availability.
  5. Check whether their Outlook calendar contains busy events during the expected appointment times.
  6. Verify that the staff member has completed any required availability approval.
  7. Confirm that the staff member is assigned to the service.

Note: When Outlook calendar availability is used, events marked as Busy can prevent Bookings from offering those time slots.

A Service Is Only Available on Certain Dates

  1. Open Services.
  2. Select the affected service.
  3. Review its availability settings.
  4. Check for custom date ranges or restricted hours.
  5. Review the booking page's scheduling policy.
  6. Save any corrections.

Custom availability can override default scheduling settings.

The Booking Page Shows the Wrong Time Zone

  1. Open the shared booking page.
  2. Select Booking page.
  3. Review the region and time zone settings.
  4. Set the appropriate time zone for Cedar Crest College: Eastern Time (US & Canada).
  5. Save your changes.

Microsoft Bookings may automatically display appointment times in the visitor's local time zone.

People Outside Cedar Crest College Cannot Book

  1. Open Booking page.
  2. Review the booking page access settings.
  3. Check whether Require a Microsoft 365 account from my organization to book is enabled.
  4. If external appointments are appropriate, review whether your booking page permits external access.

External booking availability may also be restricted by College-wide Microsoft 365 settings.

Changes Are Not Appearing Immediately

  1. Save your changes.
  2. Refresh the Bookings management page.
  3. Open the published booking page in a new browser window.
  4. Allow several minutes for changes to become available.

Some Bookings settings may take additional time to update.

Additional Resources

Need Additional Assistance?

If you are unable to configure your booking page, publish a service, or display available appointment times, submit an IT Support Request.

Include the name of your booking page, the affected service, a description of the issue, and any error messages. Do not include passwords or verification codes.

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