There is no doubt that with an M365 subscription that you procure, there are a lot of cool features that come with it.  One of the new features is “Microsoft Bookings” which can be used to book meetings with other people.

What Is Microsoft Bookings?

Microsoft defines it as follows:

“Microsoft Bookings makes scheduling and managing appointments a breeze. It helps you schedule and manage appointments with your customers, clients, or colleagues. Whether you need to book time to meet people or set aside time for different meetings, Bookings makes it easy and convenient for both you and your attendees.”

(SOURCE:  1).

Some of the functionalities of it include:

  • A web-based interface so that you can access it from anywhere, provided you have a good network connection.
  • It integrates easily with Outlook. With this, your coworkers, customers, and prospects can see your schedule, which allows for the “booking” of meetings.
  • Through this platform, you can send both email and SMS messages on an automatic basis to remind them of an upcoming meeting.

The Different Kinds Of Bookings

There are two ways in which you can use Microsoft Bookings:

1. Personal Bookings:

You can use this to book appointments and meetings that are of a personal nature, as the name implies.  For example, if you want to attend a sporting event that your child will be competing in, you can set up an appointment reminder specifically just for that.  Or, if you want to meet a friend at a local café at a later time, you can set you a calendar invite and share that with him or her in just a matter of seconds.

2. Shared Bookings:

This is designed more for business use.  Through this method, you can set up meetings with your coworkers or even a Project Management team that you could be leading.  A distinct advantage of this is that you can even keep track of the progress of the work assignments that are being made.  There are two distinct components to this, which are as follows:

  • A dedicated booking page. Through this, your coworkers, prospects, and customers can easily see your schedule, and from there, set up a meeting or appointment at a time that you are available.  What is nice about this is that they do not have to contact you directly in order to do this.
  • The web application. With this, you are given various options as to the kind of meeting you want to set up.  For example, if it is a sales call, meeting with a prospect over lunch, or having a group huddle about an upcoming project, all of these categories are available, and even more.  You can even take an existing template and customize it for your own needs.  If you are a business owner, you can even set up work schedules for your employees far ahead of time.

The Security Standards

Another great advantage of Microsoft Bookings is that all of the safeguards and controls are already implemented for you, so you do not have to waste time with that.  Further, when it comes to compliance, you will be automatically following the very strict standards that Microsoft has established.  You will also be compliant with all of the major data privacy laws, such as the GDPR, the CCPA, HIPAA, etc.

The Licensing Requirements

Microsoft Bookings is available through the following M365 licenses:

  • A3
  • A5
  • E1
  • E3
  • E5
  • F1
  • F3
  • Business Basic
  • Business Standard
  • Business Premium
  • Teams Essentials
  • Teams Premium.

Conclusions

To view different use cases of Microsoft Bookings, click on the link on the link below:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business/scheduling-and-booking-app

If you have any questions, or need help in deploying it for your business, contact us today.

Sources

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/bookings/bookings-overview?view=o365-worldwide