Why is this important?
Without an assigned availability schedule, the meeting topic will not be available for booking.
The availability schedule is one of the most important settings in Zencal. It determines when meetings can be scheduled.
That’s why, when setting up your account, it’s a good idea to start by creating an availability schedule and only then move on to creating meeting topics.
The same rule applies to teamwork. If you’re adding a new team member, first set up their availability schedule, and only then assign them as an organizer to meeting topics.
What is an availability schedule?
An availability schedule specifies your availability as shown to clients. These are the time slots during which you want clients to schedule meetings with you. You can manage it on the fly: add exceptions, changes, or additional open hours.
How do I add an availability schedule?
To add an availability schedule:
- Go to the Schedules panel.
- Click the "Create Schedule" button.
- Name the schedule.
Tip: If you use the same availability hours for all meeting topics, simply create one schedule and assign it to each one.
If individual meeting topics have different availability hours, create separate schedules and give them clear names. This will make it easy to assign the correct schedule to the appropriate meeting topic later.
Example: If you host both online and in-person meetings, and each type of meeting takes place at different times, create two separate schedules, such as “Online Meetings” and “In-Person Meetings.”
4. Select the person whose availability will be determined by this schedule. If you’re using Zencal on your own, only your username will be available. If you’re working in a team, you can assign the schedule to any team member.
How do I add a break to a schedule?
You can add a break in the schedule’s basic information as “Break between meetings.”
💡 Good to know:
If you’re available from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., meetings last 60 minutes, and a 10-minute break is set after each meeting, then the last possible meeting will start at 2:50 p.m.
Example:
- Meeting: 2:50 PM–3:50 PM
- Break: 3:50 PM–4:00 PM
Since Zencal always accounts for the set break, both the meeting and the break must fit within your declared availability hours. Therefore, a 3:00 PM slot would not be available, because there would be no room for a 10-minute break after it ends.
Advanced schedule settings—why should you set them up?
1. Minimum advance notice
This specifies the minimum lead time someone must have to sign up for a meeting.
- Use: This protects you from unexpected “last-minute” appointments. If you set it to, say, 60 minutes, no one will be able to book an appointment that starts in half an hour.
2. Booking window
Defines how far into the future the calendar should be open to clients
- Purpose: Prevents bookings made too far in advance (e.g., a year from now). If you set it to, say, 4 weeks, users will only see available slots for the coming month.
3. Appointment Frequency
Specifies how often, in minutes, the system should generate and display potential meeting start times (e.g., every 15, 30, or 60 minutes).
💡 Good to know: Leaving this field blank will cause the system to calculate these intervals automatically based on the meeting duration and break time.
4. Daily Limit
- Description: The maximum number of meetings you can hold in a single day.
Leaving this field blank means there are no limits (you’ll be available as long as you have free time in your calendar). 💡 Good to know: The meeting limit is tied to the schedule; that is, if you have a single schedule for all your meeting topics and set the limit to 3, then regardless of which meeting topics are booked, you can have a maximum of 3 meetings per day.
5. Schedule is valid (From / To)
This allows you to specify a specific time frame (start and end dates) during which these booking rules will apply.
Leaving these fields blank means the schedule is valid indefinitely, with no date restrictions.
At the very bottom, there is a green “Save” button that confirms the changes you’ve made.
Why is it important to set up your schedule properly?
- It keeps the number of bookings realistic—customers only see the dates you actually want to make available.
- It reduces the number of “problematic” meetings—thanks to the minimum advance notice, booking window, break, and daily limits.
- It saves time on setup—once the rules are set, you can apply them to multiple meeting topics.
- It facilitates teamwork—each team member has their own availability rules, and you can easily assign organizers to topics without any chaos.
In practice: the schedule is the foundation upon which meeting topic availability, team organization, and calendar predictability are built.