What are buffers?

Buffers are additional time that can be added before and after an appointment. This feature can be beneficial if you need extra time to prepare before a meeting, travel to an event, or wrap up after a presentation. Buffer settings are customized for each event type, allowing you to fine-tune and optimize them as needed.

How to set buffers

Here’s how to add buffers to your appointments:

• Choose the calendar to which you want to add buffers for appointments.
• If creating a new calendar, go to “Advanced Settings.” If you’re working with an existing calendar, click “Edit.”
• Navigate to the “Availability” section.
• Look for the “Pre buffer time” options and “Post buffer time.”
• Specify the duration you want for both the pre and post-buffers.
• Don’t forget to save your settings.

These buffers will ensure you have the extra time you need before and after your appointments.

How to turn off buffers

• Choose the calendar for which you would want to turn off the buffers and click on edit.
• Go to “Availability” and scroll down to the page where you see “Pre and Post buffer.”
• Make the values as “0”
• Don’t forget to save your settings

This will ensure that any appointment booked on that calendar will not have any buffers in the future.

Buffer Logic

Buffers only apply to events booked through the app, which means that they would only be applied to any appointment created within the app. Blocked slots or events synced from third-party calendars (Google, Outlook, iCloud) are not considered when applying buffers.

Buffer Duration Affecting Available Slots

Using the example above, if there’s a 30-minute event with 15-minute buffers before and after, someone else booking on the same day will see an available slot 30 minutes after the existing booking. 

It’s important to note that when using both pre- and post-buffers, there are instances where seemingly large free periods in the calendar cannot be booked. This is due to double buffering, where both before- and after-buffers are applied, resulting in the removal of significant time slots from the scheduling page.

To maximize bookable time slots on your scheduling page, consider your event types to use only a single buffer, either pre or post buffer

A new event cannot be scheduled if it does not match the buffer criteria for that appointment slot and the previously booked slot.

Note that if you set buffers for an individual schedule event, it will affect the user’s availability across other calendars where they are involved as well.

• In a round-robin calendar event, individual buffer settings on a user’s other calendars can result in an uneven distribution of appointments.
  
• In a collective calendar event, an individual’s buffer settings on their other calendars can block available slots that might otherwise appear free as the buffer time occupies them.

FAQ’s

Question: Do buffers impact events booked outside of the app?

Answer: Buffers apply solely to appointments booked through the app. However, there is an exception: if your two-way sync or smart sync feature is enabled (where the system converts third-party calendar events into appointments instead of treating them as blocked slots), buffers will be applied in such scenarios.

Question: How do buffers affect available time slots for scheduling appointments?

Answer: Buffers affect available time slots. For example, if a 30-minute event has 15-minute pre- and post-buffers, the next appointment will be scheduled 30 minutes after the existing booking. Double buffers can limit seemingly free periods in the calendar, removing significant time slots. To maximize bookable time slots, consider using a single buffer (either pre- or post-buffer).

Question: Can I remove or alter a buffer once it’s set for a booked appointment?

Answer: Once a buffer is set for a booked appointment, it can be removed or altered. Buffers are applied based on the latest settings.

Question: What happens if buffer settings differ on an individual’s other calendars in a round-robin calendar event?

Answer: In a round-robin calendar event, varying buffer settings on an individual’s other calendars can result in an uneven distribution of appointments among users.

Question: Can buffer settings on an individual’s other calendars affect the booking of appointments in a collective calendar event?

Answer: In a collective calendar event, buffer settings on an individual’s other calendars can block available slots that may otherwise appear free due to buffer time occupying those slots.

Question: What is a double buffer?

Answer: Double buffering refers to using pre-buffer and post-buffer times before and after an event or appointment. It means that extra time is added both before and after an event, effectively extending the duration of the buffer. This can result in time slots that appear to be accessible on the calendar but are unavailable for booking because the double buffering occupies those time slots. Double buffering reduces the number of bookable appointments within a given timeframe.