How to create your booking link
A booking link is a page of yours where the customer sees your open times and picks one on their own, without calling you or waiting for a reply. Google Calendar generates it for free in five minutes, and here is how.
What is it for inside Central de Mensajes?
When someone writes “do you have a slot on Thursday?”, the assistant sends them this link and the customer books straight into your calendar. You do nothing and the appointment shows up in your usual calendar. If you prefer that the assistant offers the times and books by itself, that works too: it is called assisted scheduling and it is turned on from Agenda → Configurar citas (the app is in Spanish). Explore smart scheduling.
Open Google Calendar on a computer
Go to calendar.google.com with your business Google account, the same one you will connect to Central de Mensajes.
The appointment schedule can only be created from a computer. Afterwards, bookings reach you on your phone just the same.
Create an “Appointment schedule”
Click the Create button, at the top left, and choose Appointment schedule.
Watch out: it is not “Event”. An event takes up your calendar; an appointment schedule is the public page where others book.
Set the name and how long each appointment lasts
The name is what the customer sees: “Consultation”, “Haircut”, “Initial assessment”. The duration sets how long the blocks are that Google will offer.
Mark the days and hours you are available
Google will only offer times within that window, and only those that are free on your calendar. If you already have something booked at that time, it does not show up.
If you close at midday, create two windows on the same day instead of one long one.
Adjust the notice and the gap between appointments
In the schedule settings you will find three things worth adjusting:
- Minimum notice: how long before the appointment it can be booked. Set it to at least 2 hours, or they will book you for ten minutes from now.
- Time between appointments: the breather to clean up, take notes or greet the next person.
- How many days ahead: 30 or 60 is usually fine.
Ask for the phone number when booking
In “Booking form” add the phone number as a required field.
This step matters more than it seems. The phone number is what lets us recognize the customer and send them the reminder and the confirmation on WhatsApp. Without it, the appointment still comes in but is linked to nobody and receives nothing.
Save and copy the link
Save the schedule, open it again and use Share → Copy link. You will end up with something like this:
https://calendar.app.google/XXXXXXXXXXXX
Test it in an incognito window before taking it as done: that way you see exactly what your customer sees.
Paste it into Central de Mensajes
Open Agenda (the app is in Spanish) and follow the setup assistant. In the first step there is a field for this link. From then on the assistant shares it when someone asks for an appointment.
Questions we get often
Do I need a paid Google account?
Can I do it from my phone?
What if I do not want a link?
Do I have to manage the link in addition to WhatsApp?
Stuck on
a step?
Message us on WhatsApp and we will do it together. It takes less than it seems.
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