Time Blocks
Each visit that is scheduled must be assigned both a Time Block and a Base Service, which are managed from the Petcare > Services & Times page. The Time Blocks are windows of time in which the visit should occur (eg. "Midday" between 11:00am and 2:00pm or "Evening" between 4:00pm and 7:00pm). Think of them as the answer to the "When?" question if a client called to request service. Time Blocks need to be added first, then they can be assigned to services.
- Go to Petcare > Services & Times > Time Blocks
- Click on the New Time Block button
- In the Name box, type the name for the time block that will be what your clients and staff see on their schedule. Make sure to name the Time Blocks something that makes sense to everyone. NOTE: don't add client names here or name multiple Time Blocks exactly the same as it may cause confusion
- Choose a Start and End Time.
- Click the SAVE button
- When your Time Blocks have been created you can reorder them however you want, but you'll want them in an order that makes sense. You and clients will choose from these time frames, so its best to have them in chronological order. To change the order, you can click on the SETTINGS ICON and then change the order by change the numbers in the boxes with 1 being first.
Base Services
Once your times have been configured you can setup your Base Services. In the Base Services tab you’ll set up all of your service types. For example “30 Minute Visit”, “Puppy Play Date” or “Short Visit”. Think of them as the answer to the "What?" question if a client called to request service.
- Go to Petcare > Services & Times > Base Services
- Click on the New Service button
- Type a Name for your service, which will appear on the Master Schedule and your staff's My Schedule pages
- Type a Service Name (all Clients view). If you leave this blank clients will not see this service type, and not be able to select it. This is helpful if you need to set in-house schedule items or if certain services should not be available for clients to request.
- Now chose the Time Blocks this service should be associated with. Do you see the connection? A “30 minute visit” service type might fall into multiple time blocks, but some service types, like “morning pack run” might only be available certain times of the day. Choose any, or all or none according to what you need for each service.
- Use the Days of the Week to prevent services from being requested specific weekdays
- Use the Animals to block clients without matching animal types from requesting the service (this will not limit adding visits to the Master Schedule)
- Set a Client Default Price for the service (Clients can have custom prices setup in their Client Profile)
- Set a Default Sitter Pay for the service (Sitters can have custom rates setup for their User account). This can be set as a set amount or as a percent. If using percentages enter whole numbers (50% would be 50, not .50)
- If you want you can add Frequency and Combination Service Discounts (click for info) that will take into account the types or number of visits to decide the final price for each visit for a client.
- Set the Additional Pet Pricing, which allows you to have the system automatically charge more for extra pets. Note that 1+ (one or more) is applied to the first pet. If you want to charge extra starting with a second pet use 2+
- If you make changes to an existing Base Service, use the Effective Date for Changes to apply the new pricing starting on a specific date. NOTE: this is a one-time setting and only affects visits already in the system that moment (new visits added/requested will always use the new pricing regardless of date)
- Set the Visit Expected Lengths and Overbooking (click for info)
- Finally, write a Description of the service if you want. This will be available for clients to see when they schedule and may help provide clarity to your services should they have questions.
- Don’t forget to click SAVE.
Getting Started #3: Adding Client & Pet Profiles >