Online
Scheduling / Calendar Tools
Several years ago we found an "open source" (translate = free) online
calendar that is easy to use and has several different uses for Piano
Technicians.
The # 1 benefit of an online calendar is that more than one person can schedule
appointments from different locations. So, if you have an assistant or relative
helping you schedule, you can use the online calendar and neither party can
double book an appointment. This originally started by helping an injured
Tech and we were both scheduling appointments (his and mine) online, and
had no worries about double booking. It works like a charm if you have someone
that helps you schedule appointments.
Lately, we have been in the process of enhancing this online calendar environment
with conversion tools so that Techs can easily port their Outlook Calendars
to an online calendar that can be available as both "Editable by the Tech
or Helper" and also "View Only" if the Tech wants it available for clients
to pick an open time slot for tuning. There are multiple scenarios of how
this could be setup depending on how Techs do their scheduling so we are
not quite ready with the Outlook Tools as of 07/24/09.
A sample of an "Editable" Online Calendar can be found by
clicking here.
A sample of an "View Only" Online Calendar can be found by
clicking here.
There are no additional annual charges for the calendar environment but a
setup charge of $40.00 may apply depending on your particular needs.
There are also 3rd party online schedulars available for a cost of about
$10.00 - $20.00 per month that will work reasonably well. It is our hope
that we can do as well for $0.00 extra per month but are not quite there
yet. (07/24/09)
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