Glossary of online booking terms

Booking software vendors use terms they rarely define, and several of them mean slightly different things from product to product. This glossary defines each in one sentence, grouped by where you run into it.

Calendar and availability

Availability. The set of slots the system can offer a customer after accounting for working hours, existing appointments, absences, service duration and room occupancy.

Buffer time. Protected time before or after an appointment for preparation, cleaning or note-taking. Invisible to the customer but it reduces availability.

Slot interval. The step at which appointment start times are offered, for example every 15 or 30 minutes. A shorter interval means more choice and more gaps in the day.

Minimum notice. How close to the start time a customer may still book. It prevents bookings arriving while you are already working.

Booking window. How far into the future the calendar is open. Too far ahead means more rescheduling.

Double booking. Two appointments at the same time for the same person or room. With correct availability logic it cannot be created through the public link.

Group appointment. An appointment with several attendees and a capacity limit, such as a class or workshop.

Recurring appointment. An appointment created automatically on a fixed rhythm, for example every second Tuesday.

Waitlist. A list of customers who want a slot if one frees up. Useful at high occupancy.

Booking source. Where the booking came from: the public link, phone, walk-in, or a social profile.

Customer messaging

Confirmation. The message sent immediately after booking, confirming the appointment and its details. Part of delivering the service.

Reminder. A message before the appointment that reduces the chance of a no-show. Most commonly 24 hours ahead.

No-show. An appointment the customer neither attended nor cancelled. How to reduce them is covered in the article on reducing no-shows.

Reschedule link. A link in the message that lets the customer move or cancel the appointment without calling and without logging in.

Cancellation deadline. The point before the appointment up to which cancelling carries no consequence.

Transactional message. A message about a booking that already exists. It does not require marketing consent.

Marketing message. A message attempting to create a new booking, such as a promotion or an invitation. It requires consent.

SMS sender ID. The name or number a customer sees as the sender. It affects whether they recognise the message.

Payments and invoices

Deposit. A partial payment up front by which the customer commits to the booking. Usually a percentage of the price.

Payment on site. Payment at the time of service, in cash or by card.

Transaction fee. The share of the amount retained by the online payment provider.

Visit package. A pre-paid number of visits counted down at each appointment.

Gift voucher. A pre-paid value redeemed by someone other than the purchaser.

Fiscal verification. The procedure by which an invoice paid in cash is transmitted to the tax authority on issue and receives an identifier. Covered in the article on fiscal verification.

Cash payment. Under Slovenian legislation a broader concept than the everyday term, covering payment cards and cheques as well as banknotes.

Issuer's protective mark. A mark calculated by the invoice issuer, which allows an invoice to be issued even without connectivity.

Bound invoice book. A pre-certified book of printed invoices, useful as a fallback during a connectivity outage.

Clients and data

Client record. Everything held about one client: contact details, appointment history, notes and issued invoices.

Client note. An internal entry the client does not see. Health data is subject to a stricter regime.

Segment. A group of clients defined by a criterion, for example date of last visit.

Data export. The ability to take your clients, appointments and invoices out of the product in an open format. The criterion that determines how expensive switching will be later.

Controller. The business deciding the purposes of processing personal data, which is you.

Processor. The vendor processing data on your instructions, which is the software provider.

Subprocessor. A provider used by your processor, such as hosting or an SMS gateway.

Data processing agreement. The contract between controller and processor, mandatory where personal data is processed. What it must cover is explained in the article on GDPR for service businesses.

Retention period. The period after which a given category of data is deleted.

Software and connections

Public booking link. The address at which a customer books without logging in.

Calendar sync. Two-way transfer of appointments between the product and a personal calendar such as Google Calendar.

Integration. A connection to another tool, for example for video calls or accounting. What is available is listed on the Integrations page.

Video appointment. An appointment delivered remotely, with the meeting link created automatically. See the Zoom integration.

User. A person with their own access to the system. It affects price; see the article on what booking software costs.

If a term you were looking for is missing, tell us through the contact form and we will add it.