Client "Check In" feature on square appointments

[villagewaxshack]

It would be super convenient to add a "check-in" feature to let the service providers know their client has arrived without physically telling them. It would change the color of the client on the schedule to let the service provider know they have arrived. It also might help business owners to audit the time allowances for their employees.

Another cool feature spinning off of the "check in" feature could be to make a "client view of the schedule". Limiting what the person viewing the schedule can see or change. For example, if you wanted to operate without a receptionist, you could have an ipad or touch screen computer to allow the client to check themself in when they arrive for their appointment, but still have privacy to other clients names and what services they're receiving. Maybe allow the client to search their appointment and check in when they arrive.

Many beauty service proivders are operating without reception/admin staff these days. I would imagine for a fee to add the feature, many would be interested to facilatate the streamlining of that process. These are suggestions to help convert prospective beauty professionals to transition to the square appointment booking system. 

[#2]

*Feature Request*
I hope I’m posting in the right place! 
I own a barbershop and use Square appointments, as well as Square for POS and payroll. I like Square because it integrates easily with other applications and has an easy to use interface. However, for my industry, Square is lacking feature wise. One feature that we would love to see, a client check in. For example, a client arrives for a scheduled appointment and they can either self check in (notifying staff they have arrived), or they can check in at our front desk and our admin clicks a button that shows client is checked in and notifies the Barber (via text or email) that the client has arrived. Additionally, it would be great if this could also work in reverse, allowing the Barber or front desk to notify the client they are ready with the click of a button. Often times we are very busy and lose track- clients walk in and the barbers have no idea they have arrived, or we have to go searching for either the barber or the client. This feature would be great for other industries as well 😉

[tyeastbl]

So this feature doesn't currently exist I've been looking for it too

[Helen]

I see how helpful a self-check in feature would be @tyeastbl and I'll share your interest in this with the Appointments team.

We're always looking for ways to improve based on our seller and prospective sellers' feedback, so thank you for letting us know you're looking for this! 😀

[RMS-MV]

My salon needs this feature too.  Showing the client as checked-in is a standard feature of the competing salon POS app we used to use. Lack of this feature has complicated and slowed down our checkin process.

Also, when a client no-shows and we mark them as a no-show the appointment just disappears. We need the appointment to stay there and turn red or some other visual identifier that it was a no-show. We need to be able to report on this on a weekly basis too. 

[laurennicolina]

YES this booking system NEEDS a check in feature, it is the only way to verify if they have arrived without asking everyone around. It can be chaotic at times. I have not had to mark anyone as a no-show appointment yet but I wasnt aware that it disappears. I agree it needs to be marked as a different color or have some kind of indicator while keeping in on the schedule where the original appointment was. 

Hoping new features will be updated accordingly very soon. I was surprised to see a scheduling software release with no "check-in" feature.. very odd

[Helen]

Thank you for your post @laurennicolina. I'll pass this feedback to our Appointments team and we'll share any updates in this thread to keep you informed! 

[AuraBrushed]

As a small beauty business owner a checkin in feature for clients would be great and even more so if it collected emails from clients who do not have one on file. I do agree about the current no show feature. Having the appointment remain on the schedule but in a different color would be great.

Is there a way to mass text clients? I havent easily seen this feature and have yet to search for it. I know we can mass email but a lot of people enjoy texts and check those more. (searching for mass text after this post.) 

Thanks.

[Tom]

Welcome to the seller community, @AuraBrushed, and thanks for your post! At this time, the ability to mass text clients isn't an option with Customer Engagement, but you can share promotions via digital receipts.

In addition, the option to self-check in isn't available, but you may be interested in our email collection feature set. For more details, have a look here: Get Started With Email Collection Tools.

Hope these features help get you closer to where you need to be. Please keep in touch for updates.

[RMS-MV]

Hi Tom,

The check in feature of common salon packages like ShortCuts or Millenium allows the receptionist to update the appointment with "checked in" once the client shows up.  This is used to kick off the "client arrived" process in which the receptionist notifies the stylist that the client has arrived, or the "call late client" process to phone the client and find out if they are still coming. This is very important when you have ten stylists working at once and have to figure out at what point in the service path each client is.

Happy to provide more info on this if needed.

Thanks.

/mjp

[Helen]

Thanks for this insight @AuraBrushed! I'll share your post with the Appointments team who work closely with sellers to understand what you need to be able to manage your clients and staff efficiently. Thanks again! 

[chirotennis]

Yes!  This ability to see who is cancelled is vital, I can’t believe that simple feature isn’t available.  Same for the check in, these are basic things that are a part of every schedule I’ve ever used.