Calendars and Appointments — StudioM Platform Guide¶
Who this guide is for: Anyone managing appointment bookings, team schedules, or service calendars on the StudioM platform. Time to read: Approximately 12 minutes
What Is the Calendar System?¶
Your calendar system lets customers book appointments with you (or your team) directly — no back-and-forth emails needed. You set your availability, and customers choose from the open time slots. Confirmations and reminders can go out automatically.
If you have a team, appointments can be distributed automatically across team members so no one person gets overloaded.
How to Get There¶
Navigate to: Calendars (left sidebar)
To manage calendar settings: Settings → Calendars
Calendar Types¶
Your account may have one or more of the following calendar types, depending on what StudioM has set up for your business:
| Calendar Type | Best For |
|---|---|
| Individual | One team member's personal booking calendar |
| Round Robin | Multiple team members sharing bookings — appointments are automatically distributed among whoever is available |
| Group | Multiple team members share the same calendar; all see the same appointments |
| Service Menu | Customers choose from a list of services, each with its own availability and duration |
Need StudioM Support for This? If you'd like to add a new calendar type or change how your existing calendars are structured, contact StudioM Support.
Viewing Your Calendar¶
From the Calendars tab, you can: - See all upcoming appointments in a day, week, or month view - Click on any appointment to see its details - See which team member is assigned to each appointment
How Round Robin Calendars Work¶
If your account uses Round Robin scheduling, here's what happens when a customer tries to book:
- Customer visits your booking page and picks a time slot
- The system checks which team members are available at that time
- The first available team member is assigned the appointment
- If that person isn't available, the system tries the next one
- Only time slots where at least one team member is available are shown to the customer — they can't book a slot when nobody is free
This means your customers always get a confirmed booking, and your team's workload is balanced automatically.
Allowing Customers to Choose Their Team Member¶
If you'd prefer customers to pick a specific person rather than being automatically assigned, this can be enabled per calendar. Contact StudioM Support to turn this on.
Creating a New Calendar¶
Note: For most clients, StudioM will create and configure your calendars during onboarding. The steps below are for adding additional calendars yourself.
- Go to Settings → Calendars
- Click Create Calendar
- Select the calendar type (Individual, Round Robin, Group, or Service Menu)
- Fill in:
- Calendar Name — something descriptive customers may see (e.g., "Free Consultation")
- Description — clarify the purpose (optional but helpful)
- For Round Robin: Select the team members who should receive bookings from this calendar
- Set the booking URL — this is the web address customers use to book (auto-generated from the name, but you can customise it)
- Configure availability (see below)
- Optionally enable payments if you collect a deposit or full payment at booking
- Click Save
Availability Settings¶
Getting availability right is the most important part of calendar setup. Here's what each setting does:
Weekly Working Hours¶
Set your standard schedule — which days you're available and what times. For example: Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm.
Date-Specific Hours¶
Override your standard schedule for specific dates — add time off, holidays, or special event days when your hours differ.
Buffer Time¶
Add time between appointments so you're not booked back-to-back. For example, a 15-minute buffer after each 60-minute appointment gives you time to wrap up, make notes, or travel.
Appointment Duration¶
How long each booking lasts (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour). Choose a duration that reflects the actual service time.
Minimum Advance Notice¶
The minimum time before an appointment that a customer can book. For example, "4 hours" means customers can't book a slot starting in 2 hours — they need to give you more notice.
Booking Window¶
How far in advance customers can book. For example, a 60-day window means customers can only book appointments within the next 2 months.
Collecting Payments at Booking¶
If you require a deposit or full payment when customers book, you can enable this on your calendar.
- Toggle Accept Payments to on
- Set the price
- Customers will be taken through a payment step before their booking is confirmed
Need StudioM Support for This? Accepting payments requires your payment gateway (e.g., Stripe) to be connected to your account. If you haven't set this up yet, contact StudioM Support.
Syncing with External Calendars (Prevent Double Bookings)¶
If you also use Google Calendar or Outlook for personal or work appointments, you can sync them with your booking calendar to prevent double bookings.
When connected, the system checks your external calendar for existing events and blocks those times automatically — customers won't be able to book you when you already have something on.
Need StudioM Support for This? Setting up calendar sync requires connecting your Google or Outlook account. Contact StudioM Support and we'll help you get this connected.
Embedding Your Booking Calendar on a Website¶
Your booking calendar can be embedded directly into a webpage so customers can book without leaving your site.
Need StudioM Support for This? Calendar embedding requires placing a code snippet on your website. Contact StudioM Support and we'll install it for you.
Zoom Integration¶
If you run virtual appointments, your calendar can automatically create a Zoom meeting link for each booking and include it in the confirmation email.
Need StudioM Support for This? Zoom integration setup is handled by StudioM. Contact us to get this connected.
Viewing and Managing Appointments¶
Viewing an Appointment¶
Click on any appointment in your calendar view to see: - Contact name, phone, and email - Service/calendar type - Date, time, and duration - Assigned team member - Any notes or custom field data collected at booking
Rescheduling an Appointment¶
Open the appointment and look for the reschedule option. You can move it to a new time slot directly from the appointment detail view.
Cancelling an Appointment¶
Open the appointment and select Cancel. Depending on your settings, the customer may automatically receive a cancellation notification.
Booking an Appointment Manually¶
You can create an appointment directly from the calendar (without going through the booking page): 1. Click on a time slot in the calendar view 2. Fill in the contact details and appointment type 3. Save — the appointment is created and the contact is notified
Appointment Confirmations and Reminders¶
Confirmation emails and reminder sequences are typically set up by StudioM as part of your account configuration. When a customer books, they automatically receive:
- A booking confirmation (immediately after booking)
- Reminder(s) before the appointment (e.g., 24 hours and 1 hour before)
Need StudioM Support for This? To update the content of confirmation emails, add or remove reminders, or change the timing, contact StudioM Support.
Troubleshooting¶
| Issue | What to Check |
|---|---|
| No available time slots showing | Check your weekly hours and date-specific overrides; confirm at least one team member is assigned |
| Double bookings occurring | External calendar sync may not be set up — contact StudioM Support |
| Customer can't find a booking slot far enough in advance | Check your Booking Window setting — it may be set too short |
| Payments not working at booking | Payment gateway may need to be reconnected — contact StudioM Support |
| Confirmation emails not being received | Check spam/junk folder first; if still not arriving, contact StudioM Support |
Built-in troubleshooting tool: Available in calendar settings. It can identify common configuration issues and suggest fixes.
Best Practices¶
- Test your booking page before sharing it with customers — book a test appointment yourself to confirm the flow works end-to-end
- Set realistic buffer times — back-to-back appointments without any breathing room leads to running late
- Update your availability for holidays — use Date-Specific Hours to block time off in advance
- Keep appointment durations accurate — if a service typically takes 45 minutes, set it to 45, not 30
- Name your calendar clearly — the calendar name often appears on the booking page, so make it customer-friendly (e.g., "Free 30-Minute Consultation" not "Cal_001")
Common Questions¶
Q: What happens if no team members are available when a customer tries to book? The unavailable time slots simply won't show up on the booking page. Customers can only see and select times when someone is actually available.
Q: Can customers reschedule themselves? Yes, if it's enabled on your calendar. Customers receive a confirmation link after booking, and there's a reschedule option in that link.
Q: Can I manually assign an appointment to a specific team member instead of letting Round Robin decide? Yes. When creating an appointment manually, you can choose which team member to assign. You can also override an existing assignment by editing the appointment.
Q: Can I charge for appointments? Yes — enable Accept Payments on the calendar to require payment at booking. See the payments setup note above.
Q: Can I offer different services at different prices with different durations? Yes — this is what the Service Menu calendar type is for. Contact StudioM Support to get a Service Menu set up.
Need Help?¶
Contact StudioM Support any time.
- Email: support@makoa.us (update with your actual support email)
- Live Chat: Available inside the platform
Related guides: Contacts and CRM · Payments and Invoicing · Workflows (Automations)