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Appointment Booking Use Case

Learn how to use Fanfare to manage appointment scheduling with fair access to limited time slots.

Overview

When appointment slots are scarce (medical specialists, consultations, exclusive services), Fanfare helps manage demand fairly. Use queues for high-demand scheduling or timed releases for coordinated slot openings. What you’ll learn:
  • Setting up appointment-based experiences
  • Managing time slot inventory
  • Building the booking interface
  • Handling confirmations and reminders
  • Managing cancellations and waitlists
Complexity: Intermediate Time to complete: 40 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Fanfare account with queue or timed release enabled
  • Appointment scheduling system or calendar
  • Understanding of your service capacity
  • Customer communication system (email/SMS)

When to Use Fanfare for Appointments

Step 1: Define Appointment Structure

Configuration Model

Step 2: Create Booking Experience

Queue-Based Booking (High Demand)

Timed Release for Weekly Slots

Step 3: Build the Booking Interface

Appointment Booking Page

Booking Experience Component

Time Slot Picker Component

Step 4: Booking Management

Server-Side Slot Reservation

Cancellation and Waitlist

Step 5: Notifications and Reminders

Notification Service

Best Practices

1. Clear Booking Rules

2. Handle No-Shows

3. Mobile-Optimized Interface

Troubleshooting

Double Bookings

  1. Always use database transactions with row locks
  2. Verify slot availability immediately before booking
  3. Implement idempotency keys for payment processing

Slot Not Showing Available

  1. Check slot capacity vs. booked count
  2. Verify date is within booking window
  3. Ensure customer hasn’t exceeded booking limit

Reminders Not Sending

  1. Verify scheduled job is running
  2. Check email/SMS service status
  3. Review reminder sent flags in database

What’s Next