Do you book appointments over the phone?

[Swetha29]

Hi all, 

I was wondering if you all have a way for customers to contact you over the phone to book or cancel appointments? Or do you primary expect your users to contact you through your website? Do you have any suggestions for such phone services? 

[ReneeParis]

All of my booking/canceling is done through my online square appointment site however, I do have a phone for the salon for those potential clients who want to ask questions.

At first I had a VOIP system that is essentially a service that uses the internet and sends calls and texts to the number you assign it to for $45 a month. I had all calls/texts forwarded to my personal cell phone. It was a separate number and had a separate ap on my phone they would come to me though. I found there was alot of lag and delay with the calls from the rings to the audio and limiting texting capabilities such as sending photos so I ended up just adding a line to my current Verizon account, ported my existing salon number, got a killer deal on a new iPhone and still only pay $45 a month.

[Swetha29]

Thank you for your response @ReneeParis . Do you use the Verizon number that you ported over like a separate business phone number with a separate device? Do you usually answer the phone to help out customers or do you have other team members who respond to customers on the phone?

[GreatVibes]

Hey @Swetha29! You can certainly take and manage appointments over the phone for your clients, even payments but using your own phone. There is square messages and that services provides you with a dedicated phone number but you'd need your own phone.. But I think your your question might be a bit too broad as there are many ways I could answer this. If you could be a bit more specific as to what you're trying to do, I or someone else may be able to provide a more specific answer and help you better.  

[Swetha29]

Thank you for you response @GreatVibes . Let me clarify. Assuming we have a phone to answer business calls, is there a way we can figure out who is calling or just allow them to do little things like confirm or cancel appointments on the phone?  Since all that information is on Square. Wondering if anyone else has experienced it. 

[essentialnails]

We still take a lot of phone calls and texts even though we use Square for online booking! We get lots of questions about services and booking inquiries so definitely helpful to have. We have a specific phone for business calls/texts. If I don’t know who is calling , I often ask clients their name or phone number on file to find our appointment history etc.

We still expect clients to cancel/reschedule using the website but they can call/text if they have specific requests.

[christiema]

My clients mainly book via online but I do have a few new clients that like to call to book or even call with questions prior to booking. I use Google Voice since it gave me a phone number therefore I don’t have to use my own cell phone number on the website or Google page. It’s also free and the app is pretty easy to navigate and you can tell when a call comes in from there as opposed to your regular phone number.