Jicoo has a feature to set a buffer before and after appointments. By using this feature, you can automatically secure time for preparation or travel before and after a booked appointment. This prevents back-to-back meetings and allows for schedule management with more breathing room.
What is the buffer feature?
It is a function that automatically filters your booking page's available slots based on the specified time "before" or "after" an appointment, ensuring new bookings do not overlap with your existing schedule.
This prevents back-to-back meetings and allows for schedule management with more breathing room.
⚠️ Please Note The buffer feature does not extend or change the actual duration of the event saved on your connected calendar (e.g., Google Calendar). Instead, it acts as a filter on Jicoo to calculate whether a newly displayed booking slot has enough free space around it. You can also register the buffer time as separate appointments, as described below.
Note that when a candidate slot (including its buffer) merely touches an existing appointment, it is not treated as an overlap. For example, if an existing appointment ends at 11:00 AM, a buffer starting at 11:00 AM is not considered overlapping.
Example: On a booking page with a 60-minute duration and a 15-minute time interval, with a 15-minute buffer set both before and after appointments If you already have an appointment from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, the earliest time the next booking slot can appear is 11:15 AM.
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM slot: This slot will NOT be displayed because its required "before" buffer (10:45 AM – 11:00 AM) overlaps with your 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM appointment.
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM slot: This slot will be displayed because its required "before" buffer (11:00 AM – 11:15 AM) only touches your existing appointment and does not overlap with it.
The times you can select follow the "time interval" setting and are laid out starting from the beginning of your availability window. The example above assumes a 15-minute time interval.
How to Set It Up
Buffer time is set for each booking page.
In the booking page editor, go to Availability > Buffer time before and after bookings.
Configuration options:
Before appointment: Set the time you want to secure before the booking time. (e.g., for travel time, final review of meeting materials).
After appointment: Set the time you want to secure after the booking time. (e.g., for creating meeting minutes, traveling to the next appointment).
Registering buffer time as appointments on your calendar
If you turn on “Register the time taken as a buffer before and after the booking as an appointment” in Edit Booking Page > Availability, the buffer time before and after each booking is registered as a separate appointment on the assigned host’s calendar. The default appointment name is “Travel Time”, and you can change it with “The name of the time schedule to take as a buffer before and after the booking”.
If you do not use this setting, the buffer time is used only to decide which slots to show, and no appointment is registered on your calendar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is the buffer time visible to the person booking?
A. No, it is not visible to them. On their booking screen, the buffer time is simply included in the time slots shown as "unavailable for booking."
Q. I want to ensure there is always a break between appointments.
A. By setting a buffer "Before appointment," you can ensure a consistent break between the end of one appointment and the beginning of the next.
For example, on a 30-minute booking page with a 15-minute buffer set "Before appointment": If you have an existing booking from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM, the next available slot will start at 10:45 AM, successfully securing a 15-minute gap (10:30 AM – 10:45 AM) after your first meeting.
(Note: If you set the buffer to "After appointment," a slot starting at 10:30 AM would still be available as long as the time after that slot is free, meaning back-to-back meetings could occur right after 10:30 AM. Therefore, "Before appointment" is recommended for ensuring a break).
Q. Is the buffer feature effective for booking pages used by a team?
A. Yes, it is. If you set a buffer on a team booking page, the buffer time will be secured before and after the appointment on the individual calendar of the team member to whom the booking is assigned.
Q. I received an email saying “Canceled: Travel Time” even though I did not cancel the booking.
A. The booking has not been canceled. “Travel Time” is the default name of the buffer-time appointment, and the email is sent for booking pages that register the buffer time before and after the booking as appointments.
When you edit and save a booking, the buffer appointments registered before and after it are deleted and then created again. If you use Outlook, this deletion and creation may reach the host’s email address as “Canceled: Travel Time” and “Travel Time” notifications. Guests are not notified.
As long as the booking status in the booking list is not “Canceled”, the booking is still valid and you do not need to do anything about the email.