Feature Updates

A waitlist that's more automatic? It's arrived...

Soooo...we've made it even easier for you to fill newly available spots with a waitlist that even more advanced than the one before!

What's that you say? You want to minimise those empty spots? Well, here it is!

What is the automatic waitlist?

The Waitlist is a list that customers can add themselves to, if their preferred appointment time is not available.

Now, if the status of an appointment is switched to ‘Available’, you have some new options for manual and automatic notifications.

But wait...there's more!

You can set it up so that you have 2 more options now when a slot becomes available.

Manually notify a customer: When you are notified, you can choose to manually notify the customer on the waitlist.

Automatically notify a customer: When the slot becomes available, an automatic notification email is sent to the customer asking them to book in an appointment!

How can you use this feature to fill appointments?

Filling newly available appointments the moment they become available is crucial to reducing loss of revenue. By customising our new automatic wait list to suit your business style, you can keep a constant flow of appointments coming.

For more information on how to set this up, visit the Help Guide HERE.

Automated forms...say bye-bye to manual sending!

Automation, we just love it! Doing grunt work without us even having to lift a finger. Well, we've taken it one step further and rolled out a new feature...Automated Forms!

What is it?

Now you can automatically send out a form to a customer and set the rules around when they receive it. This makes it easy for you to receive a booking and ensure that a form is sent and returned prior to your customer arriving for their appointment.

For example:

• By automatically emailing a form request to the customer at the time the appointment is booked.
• By scheduling a time for the form request to be emailed to the customer.
• By creating an internal prompt when viewing the appointment.

What happens if they haven't filled in their forms?

Well, this is one of the best parts...If the form has not been completed at the time of the reminder email, a form request reminder will also be sent!

Meaning that all you have to do when they come in for an appointment is open their customer file, view the form and BOOM, you're ready to get stuck into the appointment. 

Less admin, more client time.

Need more info?

You can see all the details on how to automate you forms HERE.

Oh, and BTW, some of our customers say they're saving 20 minutes per customer with our forms...

A little extra buffer to help your appointment scheduling

A little extra time added to either the end or before an appointment can be super helpful when clean up, prep, travel time or small tasks need to be done. That's why, due to popular demand...we've released buffer times for appointments!

What is it?

Buffer Time allows you to add 'padding' time to your appointments, for events such as travel or cleaning.

They will be automatically set into the appointment once you've set it up.

What types of buffer times can you set?

The beauty of this feature is that you can set up multiple different buffer time arrangements. From Pre-Service (time needed before an appointment) to Post-Service (time needed after an appointment). And the feature will even work across multi-service appointments!

This allows you to tailor the buffer to exactly what works for your scheduling setup!

How do you set it up?

It's suuuuper simple. We've set up a complete guide for you HERE.

Cancellation reasons...you can now collect information on why customers cancel!

It's always frustrating to see that notification appear saying a customer has cancelled. It can often leave us wondering why...so now, you can collect information on why a reservation has been cancelled!

Understanding why customers are cancelling allows you to make informed decisions to minimise future cancellations.

What is it?

Cancellation Reasons allow you to collect customised information when cancelling Reservations. They can appear as options when a Reservation is cancelled internally by a team member, and online by a Customer.

What will the customer see?

Whenever a customer cancels a reservation, they will be asked to provide a reason for their cancellation. It is a simple drop-down and text box, which is included in your alerts and reporting.

How do I set it up?

We've created a comprehensive Help Guide on how to set it up and get it live. You can do it HERE!

Remove unwanted gaps with this savvy new feature!

Online booking is an incredibly powerful feature, but it can result in awkwardly sized, unwanted gaps in between appointments. We've spoken with many of you about this, and have come up with a handful of nifty options to help minimise these pesky gaps!

Introducing our new Minimise Gaps feature!

This feature allows you to set useful parameters around how appointment times are presented to your customers online. For example, you can choose to display only appointment times which line up with existing appointment, or only the first or last appointment of the day, or select the minimum allowable gap time. Choose one, or a combination of options to help achieve the right outcome for your business.

Why use this feature?

We want online booking to help you boost revenue while reducing admin time. Options to minimise gaps between appointments help you fit more appointments into one day without having to spend additional admin time moving things around. As always, we endeavour to add features which make your work easier for you!

Want more information?

We've created a comprehensive Help Guide for you HERE.

New customer segments! Set online booking rules for your customers

We know you've been asking for the ability to set different online booking rules for different types of customers. Well, now you can!

What is it?

A Customer Segment allows you to create a group of customers and apply certain online booking criteria to those customers only.

What rules can you create?

For example, create a segment of customers that are not eligible for online booking, or one that requires a higher deposit than others, or another that doesn't require a deposit at all, but does require credit card capture. 

This neat little feature allows you to have even more control over how your customers book online. 

Where can I find out more about setting it up?

It's simple! We've created a complete Help Guide to get you set up and rolling! You can see it HERE.

New Zoom integration for easy video meetings

Adapting very quickly to a new way of doing things has suddenly become the new normal for business all around the world!

We had an overwhelming amount of requests asking for a simple way to integrate video meetings into appointments as an alternative for face-to-face time.

What is the new Zoom integration?

If you're unable to see customers face-to-face, you may want to use video meetings as an alternative! The new Zoom integration allows you to set up a Zoom meeting with your appointments.

Once you connect your Zoom account to Ovatu, you can quickly create a Zoom meeting for any appointment and email your customers the details of how and when to join.

When set up, every appointment includes the option to generate a Zoom Meeting, as well as a Zoom Join URL and a Zoom Password (if enabled).

The Zoom Meeting ID will automatically attach to the customer reminder email that gets sent out to your customers so that they can simply click to join once the meeting starts. They can also access this information via your mini-site customer login section.

Why did we create this feature?

As we learn to adapt the way we operate in response to Covid-19, we wanted to make it easier for businesses to maintain face-to-face interactions with their customers.

How do I set this up

For a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to set up your new Zoom integration with your account, visit our Help Guide HERE.

NEW DESIGN: Customer email templates

Yep! That's right, another new feature rolled out to you!

What is it?

Introducing your NEW customer email templates! These are customer email templates that look just like your new Mini-Site. These little cheeky designs will make you look even slicker to your customers. 

How does the design work?
Well, the amazing thing about these emails is that they mirror your new mini-site. Meaning that almost every time your customers interact with your brand, they will be seeing your unique style and branding!

How do I enable the new Customer Email Templates?

If you are new to book.app, these fantastic new templates will be automatically enabled when you enable your mini-site. However, if you are already using a book.app mini-site and would like to also enable the new templates, please log into your Web App and click Online Booking > Book.app > Customise Site and then ‘Enable book.app email template’.

Important

If you have edited your Master Email Template and you're not using the system default template, then you'll need to revert to the original template and then override it again.

Want more info?

Need a little more information on how to set it all up? Visit our Help Guide HERE!

You’ve been waiting patiently…Your new Mini-Site is here!

We’ve found a smarter, quicker and more intelligent way for your customers to book with your business. And it’s now live on your account!  

What is it?  

We’ve completely rebuilt your mini-site to be a more user friendly, slicker design and packed it with loads of new features to make it even easier for your customers to book with you.  

What are the new features?  

• Mini-site upgrade: We’ve completely redesigned the Mini-Sites so that customers can more quickly, smoothly and easily make bookings with your business.  Your new Mini-Site can be completely customised to your brand and colours and will make your online booking more appealing to customers.

• Your very own book.app domain: Simply insert your Business name in and get a personalised book.app domain that makes it sooo much easier for your clients to find you.
• A Booking Bot that works for you: What if we told you that you could have your own little Booking Bot on your website turning visitors into customers? Well…you can right now! We’ve released an icon that sits on your website and makes it easy for customers to make an appointment, no matter which page they’re on.

What will your new domain be?

Want to know how to set it all up and get it looking amazing? You can do it HERE.

Fortnightly roster gives you more rostering flexibility!

We’ve had lots of requests from customers to create a way to roster in alternate weeks for employees. 

So guess what… You can now set your employee roster to be on a weekly or fortnightly cycle!  

What does this mean?

Your Normal Hours screen will now display two entries for individual employees and show the rostered hours for both ‘A’ week and ‘B’ week. Giving you more flexibility to tailor your roster long term! 

Meaning you can truly now set, forget and focus on other tasks in your business.

 

How does it work?

You will see an A/B toggle in the top right hand side of the hours window. Use this toggle to switch between the two weeks and set working days, hours and breaks.

You can now tailor the employees hours to be rostered however works best for both your business and your employees.  

  

When is it live?

Right now! You can learn how to set it up HERE!

Go forth and roster like a guru!

ALL PROCEEDS FROM JANUARY SIGN UPS GO TO WILDLIFE RESCUE SOUTH COAST

As you may be aware, Ovatu is located on the NSW South Coast in the Shoalhaven region.

Our beautiful local community and surroundings have recently been devastated by the ongoing bushfire crisis. Our hometown is lucky enough to have remained safe, however, an overwhelming number of nearby homes, farms, businesses, livestock and native wildlife have been lost.

It’s difficult to put our feelings about these devastating events into words, and even harder to know how to help in a meaningful way.

To try and do our humble part in helping our community on the long road to recovery, we will be donating all proceeds from Ovatu sign-ups in January to the Wildlife Rescue South Coast to help rescue and care for the local wildlife which have fallen victim to the bushfires and drought.

You can read more about Wildlife Rescue South Coast here: https://www.wildlife-rescue.org.au/

What is it?
We’re releasing some huuuuge new features that are going to revolutionise the way your customers book appointments with you! 

Mini- Site upgrade
We’ve completely redesigned the Mini-Sites so that customers can more quickly, smoothly and easily make bookings with your business. 

Your new Mini-Site can be completely customised to your brand and colours and will make your online booking more appealing to customers.

We think they make online booking beautiful.

Your very own book.app domain
Simply insert your Businessname in and get a personalised book.app domain that makes it sooo much easier for your clients to find you.

What will your new domain be?

A Booking Bot that works for you!
What if we told you that you could have your own little Booking Bot on your website turning visitors into customers?

Well…you can soon!

We’ll be releasing a widget that sits on your website and makes it easy for customers to make an appointment, no matter which page they’re on!

When will all this be available?
We’re nearly finished phase 1 of rollout and expect it to be live in the coming weeks!

App Updated:

Web App 

What does it do:

The global online booking deposit is applied to all appointments made online. Previously, the deposit amount could be set only as a percentage of the total price. We've now extended this to allow for a fixed global deposit amount also.

What you need to know:

This setting is found in your Web App in the Online Booking Settings. The fixed deposit is applied per service. Where a service price is lower than the fixed deposit amount, the lower value will be applied.

Why is this good:

More flexibility to set up your online deposit payments just how you like them!! 💵

What does it look like:

Find out more:

How do I take deposits and payments online?

It's time for a little treat!

Do you have a friend who could kick some serious scheduling butt with a little help from Ovatu?

We would love to give you a US$30 Amazon Gift Card (or equivalent) for every friend you successfully refer to Ovatu!!

It’s really simple, just visit your Refer your Friends Dashboard in your Web App, and enter in the details of a pal (or pals!!) who you think could get a ton of value out of taking their business online with Ovatu.

You’ll be able to use your dashboard to track your friends progress, you’ll see when they sign up for their free trial, and when they select a paid subscription. 

As soon as your bestie signs up we will notify you. When they're successful, one of our team will get in touch with you to deliver our Thank You gift.

For instructions on how to use the Ovatu Referral Program, please see How can I refer a friend to Ovatu?

*** The Ovatu Referral Program is subject to Terms & Conditions available on your Refer Your Friend Dashboard***

Another super popular feature request, just in time for Christmas!!! 🎁

App(s) Updated:

Web App (but availability reflected across all platforms)

What does it do:

It is now possible to limit the days of the week on which a specific service, with a specific employee is offered. For example Massages with Heidi are only available on Mondays and Tuesdays.

What you need to know:

This function can be accessed from two areas (both achieving the same outcome):

1. When editing an employee - Click Manage > Employees > List, then Edit, and then the Services tab. Click Limit Days against a specific service, and select which days of the week that employee is available to perform that service
2. When editing a service - Click Manage > Services > List, then Edit, and then the Employees tab. Click Limit Days against the specific employee, and select on which day of the week that service is available with that employee

Why is this good:

It's now super simple and neat to restrict services to specific days! No more mucking around with assigning resources to achieve this 😉 

What does it look like:

Find out more:

How do I override the settings for a specific Employee/Service combination?

Oh boy do we have some last minute Christmas treats for you!!! 🎄🎁🎅

Did someone say more options? We’ve got some exciting news that’s going to make taking payments on the go even easier with Ovatu! 

Your iOS app can now take payments with Sum Up! (Sum Up integration for Android is still in development and will be available soon 😀)

You now have more flexibility and more options to take payments from anywhere at any time. Simply connect your iOS device by following these steps and start taking payments. Please ensure you update your iOS App to the latest version (6.0)

For a full list of supported Hardware, click here.

It's been busy here at Ovatu! We've been hard at work behind the scenes developing a series of short, simple & bite sized tutorial videos designed to help Ovatu customers get the most out of their account!

#ScaleUp!

We've started with the super duper basics, which you can check out on our Video Tutorials page. But, this is just the beginning, we'll be updating this page with heaps of new tutorial content as we continue to power ahead adding new videos about the full range of Ovatu features.

Want a sneak peak at one of the videos? Here's a quick look at How to create a reservation:

App(s) Updated:

Web App, iOS& Android 

What does it do:

When creating a reservation via any of our apps, you have the option specify a 'Request Type' for the customer from the below options (this is not new, this selection has always been available):

• None - No selection
• Existing Request - This an existing Customer has specifically requested this Employee 
• New Any - This is a new Customer who has not requested a specific Employee 
• New Request - This is a new Customer has specifically requested this Employee 
• Existing Any - This is an existing Customer who has not requested a specific Employee

However, now a tag is added to your reservation, based on your selection, so you quickly and easily view this information.

What does it look like:

Find out more:

How do I create a new Reservation?

App(s) Updated:

Web App 

What does it do:

You asked for it, and here it is!! Our SQUARE integration now supports online payments!! Yippee!!

What you need to know:

To take advantage of this new feature now, log into your Web App and click Integration > Apps, locate the Square tile, and click Connect. You'll also need to ensure that you have online payments enabled. 

Why is this good:

This feature gives you more choice for online booking payment and card capture options and allows you to use the one system for in-store and online payments!

What does it look like:

Find out more:

How do I connect my Square account?

How do I take deposits and payments online?

App(s) Updated:

Web App, iOS (Version 5.4.3) & Android

What does it do:

You can now drag and drop employee breaks around the Bookings page! 

What you need to know:

Just click (or tap on iOS or Android) and hold, then drag the break to a new spot. Click/tap Move  when the pop-up appears.

Breaks also can be opened or deleted now just by clicking on them.

The Web App also allows you to change the duration of a break by clicking and dragging the start or finish (on iOS & Android, this is done by tapping on the break and changing the duration time in the pop-up window)

Why is this good:

It's easier & faster! No need to open the roster to modify them anymore!

Find out more:

How do I move a Break?