Overview
VetlinkPRO’s cloud-based online booking system has been developed to operate with “live” integration to the VetlinkPRO in-clinic Diary system. Clients can instantly search for free appointment slots and book in their appointment any time of the day or night. A smart work-flow within VetlinkPRO means that staff are able to see each incoming appointment and then either “accept” them into the “booked” slot, or call the client to move the appointment to a more appropriate time. For example, a client may book an appointment several days in advance but the case may be more urgent based on the information provided. VetlinkPRO’s work-flow allow these to be caught, thereby mitigating such issues that plague many online booking systems.
Open for bookings 24/7
With an online booking system, clients and prospects are able to book at a time when it’s convenient for them. Many will read your Reminder email or letters in the evening and it is important they can book immediately. New clients to the area will no doubt search for the nearest Vet and will want to book an appointment that evening. Not having such a facility may mean they go to your opposition where they are able to get an appointment to fit their busy lifestyle.
Analytics
Data is collated to provide useful analytics as follows, with more to come in future.
- Total Bookings - Displays detailed reports on total number of bookings weekly / monthly.
- Week Day Bookings - Gives you analytics on popular days of the week - best time of the week to send reminders.
- Booking Success - Displays how many people searched for a time slot, how many found the needed time slot and how many people made the appointment.
- Popular Times - Similar to Week Day Bookings Report, this tells you which time of the day/evening people are active in your area.
Instigating online booking
Driving clients to online booking can be done either by your website and newsletters or you may embed a link into a correspondence such as a Reminder for direct access. You may promote this in many other ways, including a message on your receipts, and so on.
Login not required
An online booking system has to be simple and easy to use. Few remember their passwords and so it has been made optional. Clients simply enter their basic details and book in their appointment. VetlinkPRO’s work-flow will allow the receptionist to link it to the right client if a unique login was not initiated.
Client Instruction
Appointment Reason displayed to clients can be different to your Internal Reason wording. A message can now be associated with a Reason – called “Client Instruction” – this will show on the screen in red to draw attention to the client to adhere to any requirements or any marketing messages. An example for a reason such as Ear Issues could be "If your pet is on medication, please do not dose on day of appointment".
Responsive Design
Responsive design means it will automatically adjust to fit the device it is being used on, especially tablets and mobile phones.
Reminder Feedback
If a client logs in with their username and password, all future Reminders and Appointments will be displayed after a booking has been made. This approach may mean that the client could see another Pet due soon and decide to book them as well, even before a reminder is sent. Future appointments shown may mitigate duplicated appointments.
Smart reminders
The latest version of VetlinkPRO lets you insert a new mail-merge variable in your email and SMS reminders and it logs the client straight in, making it even easier for clients to book with only one-click as soon as they receive their reminders.
Modify & Cancel
If logged in, a client may cancel or modify their appointment. VetlinkPRO’s workflow will show both “movements” to the receptionist for acceptance so a full visual audit takes place.
Education / Advertising
Where else would you get a more attentive audience? A changing “advert” image can be uploaded to the booking portal. Once an appointment has been made the “advert” or “Educational” image can be seen by the client. Automatic seasonal advert or Business Intelligence based advert presentation will come in future versions.
Set up Options
There are various setup and configuration options by the Practice. These are some of the common ones:
- Branch Configuration
- Configurable Appointment Reasons
- Reasons presented based on Staff Ability /Qualification
- Set Block-Out times for each day of the week
- Block-out times for individual Staff Members
- Allow or disallow Staff selection
- Set calendar rules: e.g. Bookings are allowed after 1 day
- Configurable Message on successful booking of an appointment
- Configurable Message on an unsuccessful attempt
Block-out times
In order to align Staff availability with their rosters, it is possible to prevent online booking for specific parts of any day, and for any particular staff member. One can set multiple block-out times for any staff member, for each day of the week.
Detailed logs
Detailed logs record events that occurred on the Online Booking portal. One can filter log file entries based on a date range and on events. For example, one can set conditions to view how many people canceled their appointment today, who logged in, whose login failed, etc.
Security
We take security seriously. There are several security measures including, but not limited to:
- Limitation attempts via an IP address
- Data is encrypted between the portal and VetlinkPRO
- Site hosted on a secure https portal
- Captcha requirement on booking pages
Testimonials
“A bit of feedback on the online booking - I am loving it. We are getting over 100 bookings a month online, and I feel that we are scoring a lot of new clients because of this facility. As we are the only local clinic offering online booking at the moment it is proving to be a great product!”
Dr Braden Collins BSc BVMS CMACA
Veterinary Surgeon
Bunbury & Eaton Vet Clinics
www.bunburyvets.com.au
Book My Vet App
Book My Vet App is specifically designed to support our Online Booking Module. To see the benefits of how they work together, please visit the
Book My Vet page.
* This is an Add-On feature
Telemedicine Booking
Your clients can also access Telemedicine bookings via this platform if activated. Read more on
Telemedicine bookings.
* This is an Add-On feature
To find out how our online booking system can transform your vet practice