Online booking on your site, with Telegram alerts

A client wants to book at ten in the evening, when you have stopped answering the phone. With online booking on your site they pick a service and a free time themselves, and you hear about it at once, without opening the panel. Below is how to set it up on FastSite, step by step, and what it changes for the business.

1. Switch on the Booking module

In your site’s panel, open “Modules” and switch on “Booking”. A bookings section appears in the menu, and the page builder gets a booking block.

2. Add your services and opening hours

For each service, give a name, a duration and, if you like, a price and a short description. The duration matters: free times are offered in steps of exactly that length. A 45-minute haircut gives slots at 10:00, 10:45 and 11:30, with no gaps too short to book.

Then set the opening hours for each day of the week. Add holidays, time off or a short day as special dates: on such a day only they apply, not the usual hours.

3. Put the booking block on a page

In the builder, add the “Booking” block to a page. It shows your services, a calendar of the days that still have free time, and the hours on the chosen day. Write a sentence or two above the form: how you confirm a booking and how to cancel one.

The client leaves a name and an email; a phone number and a note are optional. A taken time disappears from the choice, so two people cannot book the same hour.

4. Connect Telegram notifications

Open “Profile” and, under “Telegram notifications”, press “Connect Telegram”. Our bot opens: press Start, and the bot confirms the chat is connected.

From then on, every new booking reaches you in Telegram: the service, the date and time, and a link to your bookings. The client’s name, email and phone are in the email and in the panel. New form enquiries, reviews and job applications from all your sites arrive in the same chat. The same notifications also go to your email and to the bell in the panel. You can disconnect Telegram in the profile, in the same place.

5. Confirm or decline bookings

A new booking is “Awaiting confirmation”. In the bookings section, press “Confirm” or “Decline”. The client gets an email with your answer, so there is no need to call everyone.

6. Reminders for clients

Every morning the system emails a reminder to each client whose confirmed booking falls within the next day. Each client gets one reminder per booking. That means fewer missed visits, with no calls on your side.

Online payment, if you need it

If you want a prepayment, connect a payment account under “Integrations” and switch on online payment in the Booking module’s settings. After choosing a time, the client goes on to pay, and the time is held for them while they do. An unpaid booking releases the slot for others after a while. Without online payment the booking is simply taken, and you agree on the money with the client yourself.

What it gives the business

• Booking around the clock. Clients book when it suits them, not when you can pick up the phone.
• No double bookings. Free time is worked out from the service’s length and the bookings already made.
• You know at once. A booking reaches your Telegram within seconds, so you can confirm it before the client goes elsewhere.
• Fewer missed visits. The client gets a confirmation email and a reminder before the visit.
• Everything on your own site. Services, prices, hours and bookings in one panel, with no separate booking service and its links.
• Prices in plain sight. The client sees the cost and the length before booking, and you get fewer of the same questions in chat.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to connect Telegram?

No. Without it, bookings still reach your email and the panel. Telegram is simply the fastest way to hear about one.

How do I close booking for a holiday or time off?

Add those days as special dates in the service’s hours and mark them closed. Clients will see no free time on them.

What if the client leaves no phone number?

The phone is optional and the email is required: confirmations and reminders go there. If you need to call, ask for a number in the text above the form.

How much does online booking cost?

Whether the Booking module is available depends on the site’s plan. What each plan includes is on the pricing page.

Where to start

Pick a template for a barbershop, a beauty salon, a clinic or a fitness studio, switch on Booking and put the booking block on a page: it takes a few minutes. What else belongs on the site is in the article on a barbershop or salon website.