Virtual appointments are becoming increasingly popular. They offer a convenient way to connect with colleagues, customers, and partners regardless of location or time zone. It gives you the ability to set up and manage meetings, collaborate in real-time, and share multimedia files such as documents, images, and videos.
The new Virtual Appointments features in Microsoft Teams streamlines your experience without the need for a separate online appointment app.
What are Virtual Appointments in Teams?
Microsoft Teams Virtual Appointments is an all-in-one meeting platform for customer engagement that allows users to book, manage, and join virtual appointments with other users. It is a secure, virtual meeting space to connect with people, collaborate, and discuss. Anyone can join the virtual appointment, even without a Teams account.
Microsoft’s scheduling app, Bookings, connects to Teams. This enables Virtual Appointments to function seamlessly.
Teams Virtual Appointments Features
- Manage Appointments - Appointments can be viewed in a single view. You can manage cancellations and changes easily
- Custom Confirmations & Reminders - You can send personalised messages via SMS or email. If you have many people to reach out to, you can use automation to send messages. Appointment reminders can also be sent out automatically.
- Customised Waiting Room - Add a personal touch to your virtual engagements with customised Teams waiting room. Use themes and logos in your waiting room. Chat with attendees while in the waiting room.
- Meeting Follow-Ups - Send meeting follow-ups after the virtual appointment. Meeting info can also be kept in a single place to easily retrieve discussion details.
- Organisations & Department Analytics - Get visibility of your virtual appointments with the in-built tracking system. This premium analytics feature gives you insights into your virtual appointments across departments.
Getting Started with Team's Virtual Appointments
To get started, an administrator must set up Bookings to allow users to access the settings. Once that is done, follow the below steps:
#1 Create a Calendar
In the Virtual Appointments app, choose “Create a calendar” in the home tab. Different calendars can be created for different departments.
#2 Add Staff
You can add up to 100 staff for each calendar. Assign a role for each of the staff. You can view the availability of each member of staff in both Teams and Outlook.
#3 Create Appointment Types
You will need to set up appointment types.
- Schedule : You can schedule the time and date. The system adds this information to the email confirmation.
- On-demand (Teams Premium) : Customers can choose when to meet from your booking calendar
#4 Set up SMS Notification
SMS notification is an optional step so that you can send confirmations and reminders easily. SMS currently only works for US, Canadian, or UK phone numbers.
#5 Link Forms
If you would like your attendees to fill out any forms, you can link to them in the appointments. The forms must be created in Microsoft Forms.
#6 Publish a Booking Page
If you want to give customers the ability to book on-demand appointments, you will need to publish the booking page. Go to the “Manage” tab, select the “Booking” page, and turn on “Publish booking page”.
Use Your Microsoft 365 Tools More Effectively
Microsoft 365 is a platform with many possibilities and features. Most of the time, companies are not using the platform to its maximum abilities. As a result, you may be paying for apps that you do not use or need. If you are interested in supercharging your Microsoft 365 experience, give us a call for a no-obligation discussion.
