This article is one step from our Master Help Guide: All About Calendars. We recommend starting with the visual walkthrough video and examples inside the Master Help Guide before diving into the technical breakdown below.
Each Master Help Guide acts as your project plan - teaching you the feature, laying out the steps in the right order, and linking to every resource you’ll need along the way.
This guide is perfect if you're looking to:
Understand the different types of calendars on Ivorey
Decide which calendars to use
Ivorey
has multiple calendar types available - each with its own unique features and settings. This guide will provide a high level summary and comparison of each calendar type, so you can choose which ones are right for you.
The following features come as standard across all Ivorey
calendars, no matter which type you choose:
Customise unique availability
Set a location (online or in-person)
Set pre and post buffer times
Limit the number of appointments each day
Automatically adjust for different time zones
Send automatic confirmations and reminder emails
Provide automated cancellation and rescheduling links
Prompt clients to give a reason when they select to cancel their appointment
Collect information via a form
Add appointments to Google, Outlook or iCal
Check other calendars for conflicts
Accept payments directly in the calendar
Offer coupon codes for appointments
Customise the calendar branding
Share the calendar via a link or embed it into a site
Book and manage appointments via the LeadConnector app from your phone
Meetings Calendars are ideal for calls, consultations, interviews, group sessions, and events. These calendars can be configured in different ways depending on how many hosts, attendees, or resources are involved. Below, we’ll walk through each type of Meetings Calendar so you can choose the best option for your scheduling needs.
Perfect for 1:1 appointments where only one team member and one attendee are required. For example, consultations, coaching calls, interviews or impromptu catch-ups with a friend.
Personal Booking Calendars can automatically generate a new Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams link and add it to the calendar event. This link will send out in your confirmation and reminder emails, as well as show up in the calendar if you/your attendee add the appointment onto Google Calendars, iCloud or Outlook.
Perfect when there are multiple team members who are available to take the appointment. For example, sales teams where there are multiple team members who can take the calls.
You can choose to assign team members based on any one of these options:
Preference - The system can ask the booker which team member they want to book with
Availability - The system will prioritise giving the booker the most options for availability, no matter which team member the appointment is with
Equal distribution - The system will ensure that appointments are equally distributed amongst all team members who are assigned to the calendar
Round Robin Calendars can automatically generate a new Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams link and add it to the calendar event. This link will send out in your confirmation and reminder emails, as well as show up in the calendar if you/your attendee add the appointment onto Google Calendars, iCal or Outlook.
Tip: You can still use Round Robin calendars even if there's just one team member taking calls at the moment. If you think you may want future team members on this calendar, it's a good idea to just start using it now, and avoid having to re-build your calendar in the future.
Used for one-to-many appointments. For example, a workshop, a seminar or a group interview where there is one team member (host) and multiple participants.
Note: While this calendar type does support static links for Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams, if you'd like the event to automatically generate a unique call link, we suggest opting for a Round Robin calendar instead.
Used for many-to-one appointments. For example, when two team members need to be on the call to onboard a new client. The collective calendar type will check the availability of all team members who need to be there, plus cross-check any settings of the calendar to find the available times. Please note, collective calendars currently do not support recurring bookings and should only be used for one-time events.
Collective Booking Calendars can automatically generate a new Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams link and add it to the calendar event. This link will send out in your confirmation and reminder emails, as well as show up in the calendar if you/your attendee add the appointment onto Google Calendars, iCal or Outlook.
Used for service-based businesses. These calendars are still meeting-based, but can book-out inventory and rooms which make them great for salons, studios and similar environments. If you have multiple different services available, you can add them to a Calendar Group so your contacts can just go to one main calendar and view all the different types of services available, in one place. Each service can have its own unique length, cost and availability.
Service Booking Calendars can automatically generate a new Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams link and add it to the calendar event. This link will send out in your confirmation and reminder emails, as well as show up in the calendar if you/your attendee add the appointment onto Google Calendars, iCal or Outlook.
Used for scheduling in-person events. This calendar type is great for organising things like conferences, retreats, or in-person events where you don't need to assign a 'host' or team member.
Note: Because Event calendars are not linked to any specific user, it's not possible to sync Event calendars to your external calendar (e.g. Google or iCal).
Services Calendars are perfect for service-based businesses with more complex booking needs. While Meetings Calendars work best for simpler one-on-one appointments, Services provides a full-featured system to manage multiple services, add-ons, payments, and resources in a single, streamlined booking flow.
Customers can select from a detailed menu of services, including variations (e.g. massage length) and book multiple services in a single flow.
Accept payments directly in the calendar, including coupon codes, staff-specific pricing, and prepayment options.
Note: one payment method must be selected for all services (e.g. online or in-person payment), even if prices vary by service.
Assign rooms, equipment, or other resources to bookings, automatically blocking availability when in use.
Creates a customisable booking page for multiple services, enabling clients to book several services at once.
Includes a specific "Service Booking" workflow trigger that works on the entire multi-service booking, rather than individual appointments. This ensures clients receive just one confirmation and one set of reminders for the overall booking, based on the start time of the first service.
Dynamic booking links (Zoom/Google Meet links) are not available for Services Calendars; however, a static link can be added if required.
Flexible location options, including allowing your clients to enter their own address during booking (ideal for mobile services, repairs, consultations or on-site appointments)
Use Services if your business has multiple service offerings, wants customers to book multiple services at once, and needs to handle payments, variations, and resource allocation (like rooms or equipment). Meetings Calendars remain the best choice for simpler scheduling, such as a single sales call, consultation, or one-on-one coaching session.
Community Event Calendars are used to display upcoming events within your Community Group. For example, you would use this calendar if you wanted to host a Live Masterclass or Live Coaching Calls inside your community.
When you create an event inside your community, you can choose to make it free or paid.
You can choose to only make the event visible to a private channel, if you happen to utilise that feature inside your community. For example, you may have a group coaching program, with one private channel for clients on a VIP tier. You could display exclusive calls and events for that channel only, without the rest of the community being able to access them.
You can add Zoom links or even a physical address to each event.
When you create an event, members will automatically get invited and also receive reminders when the event is about to start.
Your members can add events to their Google or iCal calendars with one click.
Yes, you can do this by creating an Events Calendar. When setting up your event, you can include the location URL (such as a Zoom or Google Meet link) directly within the calendar event as the "meeting location".
Once someone books, they’ll receive a confirmation with the option to add the event to their preferred calendar (e.g. Google, Apple, Outlook). The meeting link you added will automatically be included in the event details on their calendar. This makes it easy for attendees to save the event and access the link when it’s time to join.
Yes, many businesses run both Meetings and Services calendars side by side. These would be shared as 2 separate links. For example, you can share a calendar group link for all of your online appointments, and then a separate menu for all in-person services.
If you need them on the one calendar, you can explore if the Meetings > Service Booking calendar type is a better fit, as they can then be shared together in one Meetings calendar group.
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