Advanced Direct Booking Controls
Direct Booking includes flexible scheduling controls that help your clinic shape how online availability appears to clients.
This article covers newer scheduling and safety options that can help you fine-tune the booking experience.
Scheduling Controls
Hide provider selection
If enabled, clients will not choose a specific provider during booking.
This can be helpful if your clinic:
- Rotates appointments between doctors
- Wants to reduce uneven self-selection
Uses internal scheduling rules to determine provider assignment
Visible duration vs. actual scheduled duration
Direct Booking can show one appointment length to clients while reserving a different amount of time on your internal calendar.
Example:
- Client sees: 40-minute appointment
- Schedule holds: 30 minutes
Custom start times by provider and appointment type
Our support team can configure appointment start times more precisely based on:
- The provider
- The appointment type
This gives you more control over how availability is offered online and can help align bookings with your real scheduling patterns. Reach out to our Support with the specifics you need and we'll be happy to help.
Customizable booking window
By default, the booking calendar shows the next three months of availability. Clinics can narrow this — for example, allow bookings only within the next two weeks, or only on specific days of the week.
This is useful for practices that want to keep online availability close to real-time staffing decisions, or that prefer to handle longer-lead-time appointments by phone.
Bulk exclusionary time slots
When configuring time slots to be excluded from online booking (lunch hours, surgery blocks, training time, etc.), a single time range can be applied across multiple days of the week at once, rather than adding it day by day. This makes recurring blocks much faster to set up.
Client Experience Updates
Existing clients can add a new pet
Returning clients can now add a new pet during the booking process instead of needing staff assistance first.
This can help reduce incomplete bookings and save time for your front desk team.
Calendar can begin on Sunday
If preferred, the booking calendar can display with Sunday as the first day of the week.
Safety & Security Features
Optional verification for returning clients
Your clinic may choose to require an additional verification step during booking for added account security.
Urgent concern alert
If a client enters a concern that may indicate a more serious or urgent issue, Direct Booking can show a message recommending they call your clinic. This helps direct clients toward faster communication when appropriate while still allowing them to continue booking.
You can customize exactly what clients will see and the keywords that will trigger this alert under Settings> Appointments > Direct Booking > Urgent Keywords.
There are two modes available:
- Warning mode (default) When a flagged keyword is detected, an alert is displayed recommending the client contact the clinic directly. The client can acknowledge the alert, confirm it is not an emergency, and continue booking.
- Block mode When block mode is enabled, clients cannot submit the appointment at all if a flagged keyword is detected — there is no option to bypass the alert.
- The booking button is disabled immediately when a flagged keyword is entered
- Your urgent warning message is displayed as an error alert
- The block lifts in real time if the client removes or changes the flagged text
- Clinics that do not enable block mode are unaffected — warning mode continues to work exactly as before
To enable block mode:
- Go to Settings → Appointment Settings → Direct Booking → Urgent Keywords
- Confirm that the Urgent Keywords feature is already turned on (block mode is only available when it is)
- Toggle on "Block appointment booking when a keyword is detected"
Important: Only admins can set the Urgent Keywords and the block mode.
Need Help?
If you’d like assistance reviewing or updating your Direct Booking settings, contact Otto Support.