Appointment Booking software for Bank Branch Transformations

Appointment Booking software for Bank Branch Transformations

Physiotherapist appointments, car servicing, fitness classes, tax returns, And, more recently, booking bank branch visits.

As consumers manage more of their lives online, banks, slowly but surely, are updating their websites to make banking fit in with a digital lifestyle. In one new trend, they're letting customers schedule in-branch appointments online using mobile device, tablets and PC’s.

Bookitlive's online appointment booking software is currently being used for a banking trial for booking appointments at Bank branches. The online software lets people pick the branch location, service expert and schedule a confirmed appointment time. This will help branch personnel avoid missed business connections and consumers escape long lobby wait times. The software will eventually affect the way the bank staffs personnel communicate with their customers regarding scheduling appointments.

Small businesses have been leading the charge into online appointments with health based businesses taking online appointment booking since 2008. Most financial institutions, however, have yet to integrate such software into their business model.

That will change.

Banks are being pressured to rethink their channel delivery strategy as branches continue to lose volume and customers move online to interact with the bank — and whether they abandon the a bank's site to apply for a mortgage or loan at a competitor .

The appointment booking software not only helps managers determine the right level of staffing but also creates an opportunity for the employee to prepare for the customer who gets his needs met at a convenient time.

The appointment booking software opens a number of possibilities for bankers in how they serve customers and when to do so. The software could eventually show Bank branches when it needs to staff up specific specialists at a certain time of day so that a mortgage expert is not just waiting to see if someone shows up.  It allows them to know when customers want to be in branches.

The online appointment booking software will also smooth phone-based interactions. "Nobody wants to go through the IVR hold and then find someone who can't help you.

And ideally, a bank's varied channels would work in harmony so that if a person calls up the bank, the agent could book the appointment on behalf of the customer, should he wish.

Bookitlive makes the appointment booking capability available online by integrating the booking software into the Banks website.

If you're interested in testing out bookitlive contact us via our website or book an appointment online.

By David Godbold - Online Booking Specialist  at bookitlive

 UPDATE:

I thought I would add an update of my recent experience in making an appointment booking to see my local branch Personnel Banker to highlight the inefficiencies with their existing processes.

Here is the scenario: I had recently paid off a loan and wanted to talk with a Personnel Banker about my options to refinance.

I searched the banks website to find the contact details for my local branch. The only way to contact them was by email.

I sent an email to the address asking for an appointment time to see a personnel banker.

A few hours later I received an email asking what time could I come in.

I responded with two times of two different days.

I did not get any response for a week. Both days I had asked for had passed.

I send another email asking if I could come in tomorrow at 10:30am.

I received a response saying that was OK.

On arrival I asked to to see the person who responded to my email and was told I needed to see someone else as they were busy.

That Banker was already serving someone else so I had to wait 20 minutes for her to finish. 

How would you rate the customer service? 

bookitlive's new online availability calendar interface

August , 2014

bookitlive's new online availability calendar interface 

Melbourne, Australia — bookitlive's new online availability booking interface makes booking appointments online even easier, the goal was to improve the public online booking interface to make booking doctors, attorneys, therapists, stylists and everyone in between simple easy and convenient. A clean and accessible appointment booking software with 24/7 booking capability and automated appointment notification reminders.

bookitlive aims to be anywhere service providers schedule appointments with clients, whether large enterprise or small businesses.

bookitlive is everything clients need to grow their business online, as the appointment booking software allows them to get organised, save time and book more appointments without increasing operational costs. It allows customers 24/7 access to their business, enabling them to make bookings and appointments.

While most service providers have already some kind of appointment scheduling software installed most of them aren’t optimized and cannot be updated in real time, resulting in wasted money and resources. Specifically addressing the health and beauty industry, but also doctors, personal trainers, car servicing, tour operators, driving schools and any other business that takes appointments and bookings over the phone, bookitlive wants to be the main platform for all online bookings on the internet.

Clients who want to try out bookitlive can sign up for the fully working 30-day trial version, free of charge.

For more information about bookitlive please visit the official website at https://bookitlive.net

About bookitlive International:

Learn how bookitlive online booking software can work for your business. Visit http://bookitlive.net

About bookitlive: bookitlive provides easy and efficient online appointment booking software for small medium  and enterprise businesses. book, booking, booked.

 

What to look for when reviewing online appointment booking software?

What to look for when reviewing online appointment booking software?

Here are 10 features to consider when reviewing online appointment booking software for your business:

1. Real-time scheduling. Clients don't want to wait to find out if their booking request went through they want instant confirmation. Does the software confirm the appointment as soon as it's made?

2. Mobile apps. Can you access the appointment booking software from your smartphone or tablet?

3. Calendar synchronisation. Can you feed the appointment booking details into other calendars you use, such as iCal, Google Calendar or Outlook?

4. Automatic appointment reminders. Will the online appointment booking software automatically remind clients they have a booking? Does it support e-mail and SMS text messages?

5. Connection to social media. Can clients make bookings  from your Facebook page ?

6. Instant promotions. If you've identified a period or service that's under-booked, can you send out an email of SMS text message promotion or limited-time deal from within the appointment booking software?

7. Multiple log-in: Can several staff members log in to view and manage appointments at the same time? Can you limit access by role, so that, for example, a Driving Instructor can see his appointments only but not see other instructors appointments?

8. Database. Can it export client contact details and booking history?

9. Portability: Does the service let you export all the data to load into other applications such as  email marketing mailchimp program or accounting software Zero ?

10. Ease of use. It's no fun to struggle with a counter-intuitive interface. Does the booking interface make it easy to find the next availability and make an appointment booking?

Buyer's Guide for Patient Appointment Management Software

Buyer's Guide for Patient appointment management software

 

 The patient appointment management software market is surprisingly complex for such a straightforward application. Most software providers offer some degree of medical appointment management functionality, resulting in a fragmented market with hundreds of options for just about every medical specialty and size of organisation. This guide helps buyers understand the medical appointment management software market and know where to begin their research.

What is Patient appointment management Software?

Electronic patient appointment management systems are designed to help alleviate the burden of no-shows and last-minute calls to reschedule appointments. These systems help practices manage the process of setting patient appointment bookings and follow-ups. At the individual level, systems help practice managers and receptionists record patient contact information and demographics, appointment times, reasons for visits and notes, and billing or insurance information. The primary goals are to help practices automate the appointment booking process, minimise no-shows and cancellations and maximise the number of patient visits.

More advanced Patient appointment management systems will provide automated email and SMS text message reminders to patients, and allow patients to book a confirmed appointment times and complete forms online.

Implementation Strategies

Medical appointment management software buyers will have the option to purchase a standalone system or a full suite of integrated appointment management and billing modules. The right deployment option will depend on the buyers' requirements and budget. In general, most companies that offer medical appointment management software require buyers to purchase multiple modules in a suite.

However, standalone medical appointment management software can be more affordable than complete suites.

Another viable option for buyers looking for an affordable deployment option is to consider software as a service (SaaS), or online Patient appointment management Software. In addition to being a cost-effective way to get a Patient appointment management system up and running, web-based solutions can be easier to host and maintain because the system is installed off-premise and supported by the vendor rather than internal IT staff.

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Before you can evaluate appointment management systems, you’ll want to know what buyer category you belong to. We believe 90%+ of buyers fall into one of these categories:

 Standalone buyers. These buyers are looking for a straightforward solution without lots of bells and whistles, but something robust enough to support their primary needs.

 Complete suite buyers. These buyers work for practices that are looking for appointment functionality integrated with billing modules.

Cost-conscious buyers. These buyers have the most basic needs and are typically looking for an affordable option. They may be open to a online software, but due to their budget they will likely implement an on-premise system.

 Multi-location buyers. These buyers work for practices that need to access appointment data from multiple locations, including satellite offices, hospitals, or home. They often prefer online deployment due to ease of implementation and sharing of data. 

The Patient appointment management Software Markets

These market trends should be considered as you select a system.

SaaS. SaaS solutions have become very popular and comprise a large portion of appointment booking implementations. Web-based deployment makes it easy for smaller practices to implement a system without IT staff, and it also helps large practices share data across multiple locations.  

Patient portal. More and more vendors are offering patient portals that allow patients to request appointment times online. These portals are typically integrated with systems that offer electronic medical records and/or billing. 

Online services.  Online appointment management software is a combination of both a SaaS solution and a Patient portal and allows patients to make their own confirmed appointments online and automates the appointment reminders.

Appointment management software should benefit the providers, front reception staff and the Patient.

Buyers should expect to realise the following benefits when implementing online Appointment booking systems:

Organisation and efficiency. Reception staff should be able to see quickly when providers are available. They should be able to gather patient information and finish the call quickly, allowing them to focus on providing quality service to their patients

Improved provider-patient communication. By receiving automated appointment reminders via SMS text message and email, patients are much more likely to confirm and show up for their scheduled appointment times.

Improved patient experience. By streamlining the appointment booking process, patients face fewer of the annoyances they can face when calling to book an appointments - long hold times, back-and-forth determination of suitable appointments, and lengthy explanations of chief complaints and contact information.

Reduced no-shows. One of the biggest challenges for outpatient health care providers is reducing the number of patients that simply fail to show up for their appointments. This results in wasted time and money. Online appointment management software can help staff track and analyse no-show trends within their practice. In addition, the system can assist in determining the most effective method for managing and sending appointment reminders.

Walk up appointments. Online appointment management software could also permit doctors to offer walk up appointments. While this would require additional staff support to continuously monitor and evaluate appointments, no-shows, and waitlisted patients, it could lead to greater patient satisfaction and revenue.

For more information about online patient appointment management software features.