Can I use DropSlot consultations for PT or other training sessions?
We highly recommend against using the consultation functionality for training sessions. It is designed for person-to-person consultations, and is not have any of the extensive training-related functionality that a proper “session” does.
When someone starts to book an appointment several gaps vanish from the availability list. Why is this?
When the booking process is commenced, the selected timeslot is temporarily allocated to them for 20 minutes. If they complete the booking, it is permanently allocated to them. If they do not, the slot it released and becomes available once more.
In the circumstances of multiple slots disappering when one is selected, this will be because the time slot selected overlaps those other slots and/or the gap settings for the selected event type discount those slots from being available
If a user clicks on a session, but then goes back an clicks on a different one, the temporary hold on the original slot is released. If they close their browser, the temporary hold is dropped 20 minutes from the moment it was first leased to them.
Can I charge for an appointment?
DropSlot does not directly contain any charging functionality. However, you can easily workflow a QuikPay payment process that leads to the issuing of a DropSlot invitation – thus capturing payment in return for booking an appointment.
If the user is not yet a lead or member, you can extend the workflow further by prefixing it with a lead capture campaign. The sequence is then Lead Capture → QuikPay payment capture → Invitation issue → Booking process. Created correctly, these all link together to provide one seamless workflow journey.
How does a coach reschedule an appointment?
A staff member may reschedule an appointment within the GymOS admin portal, by opening the appointment booking and clicking “Reschedule”.
How does an attendee reschedule an appointment?
For an attendee to reschedule an appointment, they must first cancel their existing appointment. A short time after doing so, GymOS will issue the attendee with a new (“refunded”) invitation that they may use to book an alternate timeslot.
How can I see if a member isn’t booking check-ins?
The summary tab of the member record shows a summary of the invitation issued, the number booked, and the last appointment attended – broken down by event type.
Additionally, you can use the “Invitation Expired” trigger to trigger upon x concurrent non-bookings. So, for example, you could set it to trigger upon 3 consecutive invitation expiries, meaning that the member has not booked their last 3 check-ins.
When trying to book, GymOS says that there is a conflict with an existing record. What does that mean?
If an existing member or lead within your system tries to book an appointment, but enters a mix of matched and unmatched data (E.g. the mobile matches, but the email doesn’t), then GymOS prompts them to contact you to help resolve the issue. This is because GymOS is unable to reliably confirm the identity of the individual. This typically only happens when someone has changed their mobile or email, and has failed to update it in the GymOS system.
Why does GymOS send an OTP to people booking an appointment?
In most cases, the invitation link identifies the individual invited to make the booking. When the member or lead is logged into FitnessHub, GymOS is able to immediately verify that the invitation belongs to them. However, if the member or lead has just clicked on the invitation link, the link might have been passed on to anybody. So, to verify the identity of the person booking, GymOS sends a fast and simple one-time password.
Am I charged for the one-time password text messages?
Yes, GymOS is charged for sending these messages, and we pass the costs on. Each OTP is one single text block, so the minimal cost for sending an SMS message.
Why are attendees required to provide both email and mobile details?
This is to weed out bots and non-serious/frivolous appointment bookings. Any person serious about making a booking will have no problem providing these details. It also provides you a method of contacting them should you need to reschedule the appointment, or contact them about it.
Does GymOS integrate with Google Calendar, Outlook, etc.?
No, the assumption is that your business is entirely managed through GymOS and that GymOS is aware of your availability. If you have periods of non-availability that are not elsewhere in GymOS, you can add these as ad hoc periods of non-availability against your “DropSlot Availability record”.
Someone has shared the public link to my event. How do I reset it?
You can revoke the public link to an event and create a new one, by clicking the Revoke button in the links section of the event type configuration. Note: If you reset the links, all public links, mail merge links, and embed code for that event type will be reset and you will need to update them to get them working once more.
I have a member saying they don’t want to receive invitation notifications. How do I stop them?
Members can opt-out of invitation notifications by selecting the preferences on their profile in either the FitnessHub web portal or mobile app. Additionally, you can set the same on the Details tab of the member record. Leads and guests cannot opt out of invitation notifications, as they do not have access to functionality to otherwise receive these events.
Can I see my appointments in my calendar?
Consultation booking confirmations are sent with an iCal attachment, which you can add to your calendar.
Similarly, the GymOS member and staff session iCal feed contains DropSlot consultation appointments, as well as session bookings and allocations.
I want my members to complete a form when booking. How may I do that?
Option 1: Add simple text-based questions against the DropSlot event, which will be asked during the booking process.
Option 2: Add a trigger to the appointment booking (or the invitation), which issues a form for the member to complete alongside the appointment booking.
We do check-ins for the first 3 months of a member’s membership. How can I configure that?
The easiest way to do this is to set up a recurring monthly check-in schedule against the event type. Then set it to run a maximum of 3 times. Once the schedule has run 3 times (over 3 months) it will deallocate itself and the member will not receive any more invitations from that schedule allocation.
We check in with our members once a month. What is the best way to automate that?
Because months vary in length, we suggest you instead pick a fixed day period – perhaps 28 days, or 30 days. Create the event type schedule to run on a recurring basis every x days (as chosen). Set the default invitation expiry period to be the same number of days. Every x days, a new invitation is issued. If the previous invitation hasn’t been used, it will expire. This stops the member acquiring a stack of invitations that they haven’t used and that may just confuse them.
I have issued a schedule to members. How do I stop it once their membership ends?
Create a “membership ended” trigger that cancels the invitations/schedules for the allocated event types. When their membership ends, the trigger will run and will also cancel their allocations (as you configure in trigger).
Can I use the [[MEMBER]] and [[LEAD]] merge tags in consultation triggers?
No, because a consultation might have a member, lead or a guest as the attendee it is not practical to use the type-specific merge fields. Instead, use the [[ATTENDEE]] or [[INVITATION]] merge tags, depending on the context of the trigger.
How do I edit the email messages that are sent during the DropSlot process?
All of the system email messages sent by DropSlot are administrable in the System Templates area of GymOS, as per other system templates.
Can my members check themselves into appointments?
Yes, if your member is using the GymOS FitnessHub mobile app, and if you have enabled self check-ins for sessions, they will also be able to self check-in for appointments.
Does DropSlot take into account venue closures?
Yes, if you have created closure records in GymOS, DropSlot will not offer any slots for in-person appointments associated with those venues from that point onwards. Note: Because closures are allocated to venues, if your venue types are of type online or telephone, you should also add manual exclusion records to the hosts of those appointments during your period of closure.
Can I limit how many appointments someone can book?
Generally, for non-open invitations, bookings are self-limiting by the number of invitations issued. However, for open invitations or for where you have issued more invitations than you want booked any any one time, you can set a maximum concurrent number for future bookings against the event type.
Can I prevent people booking with no notice?
Yes, against the event type configuration, you can set a minimum notice period.
Can I specify gaps between my appointments?
Yes, against the event type configuration you can configure gaps between consultations. DropSlot shall also apply the same gaps between sessions. Where consultations of different gaps are adjacent to each other, the largest configured gap time will prevail.
Does GymOS use [xyz] scheduler?
No. DropSlot is entirely native to GymOS and does not use any third-party product behind-the-scenes.
I have a feature request…
Great. We love feedback from our clients. Please raise it as a support ticket and we shall add your comments to our feedback log for consideration. Typically if enough clients request the same thing, this elevates a request up the priority list. We will only ever implement features and requests that benefit the majority of our users, and do not implement niche or client-specific requests.
Can I change the times on which slots are offered?
DropSlot will offer available timeslots on the hour, quarter hour, or half hour. We have fixed this in our system and it cannot be changed. The reason for this decision is that, psychologically, people typically get confused or anxious about appointments that don’t start on a quarter hour. Also, practically, it controls the length of the timeslot list and makes it something management for people when booking. If slots were available, say, every 5 minutes, the timeslot list might comprise hundreds of options within a 24hr period.
I am using the iCal calendar feed, but my appointment isn’t showing yet.
The GymOS iCal feed is always 100% up-to-date. However, calendar apps don’t query the feed every time they display their diary. Some will query a maximum of every 15 minutes, others might be several hours before they requery the GymOS feed. If you need the appointment in your diary immediately, add it using the iCal attachment from the booking confirmation, or using the “add to my calendar” option in the GymOS FitnessHub app.
Which merge tags can I use in a consultation reminder email?
The [[EVENTTYPE]], [[EVENTSLOT]] and [[ATTENDEE]] DropSlot merge fields are available for use in reminder emails configured against the event.
When are scheduled invitations issued?
Scheduled invitations are processed once a day in an overnight process.
If the schedule is set to issue an invitation immediately upon assignment, this will be issued regardless of the time of day. Subsequent issues will take place overnight.
For multiple attendee sessions, can I limit the number of attendees?
No. Presently the options for event types are a single attendee, or multipe (unlimited) attendees.
I wish to book a guest on to an appointment. How do I do this?
To book a guest (i.e. non-member and non-lead) onto an appointment, simply cut-and-paste the event public/open invitation URL into a browser and go through the booking process as if you are the guest.
What is “round robin” host allocation?
Round-robin host allocation comes into effect when an event type has multiple hosts assigned and the host type selected is “round-robin.”
GymOS will always seek to offer the attendee as many slot options as possible. If the same slot is available across multiple hosts, the “round robin” allocation will come into play. This will balance out host selection when multiple hosts are available for the same time slot.
Round robin allocation does not mean that each host is allocated a session in turn, as there are many factors that affect a host that is booked, including the selection made by the attendees themselves. It does, however, make the allocations more even.
My members are not seeing any available slots for appointments where the host is their mentor?
Firstly, check that the member has a mentor assigned. Secondly, ensure that the member is following a personalised link sent to them as this is used to identify who they are and, in turn, who their mentor is.
If they are using a public link, DropSlot does not know who they are, and thus who their mentor is. Without knowing the host, it cannot offer any slots. If the member only has the public link, they can follow the login link on FitnessHub to log in, and then re-click the public link. At this point, FitnessHub will know who they are, and can then determine their mentor and offer slots.
As best practice, always send personalised links to members or leads, in favour of public links.