Some services have time in the middle where your customer waits and you're free, like a colour developing or a mask setting. Give the service processing time and you can book someone else into that time.
Setting it on a service
Open the service (Services & products → Services, then ⋮ → Edit details) and switch on Processing time, under Duration. Then set:
- Initial. The time before it, while you're with the customer.
- Processing. The time you're free.
- Final. The time after it, back with the customer.
The duration becomes the three together, up to 8 hours. Each one is at least 5 minutes.
On your calendar
The service's card shows its processing time left open inside it, with when it runs (Processing 1:30pm – 2:15pm). A booking made in that time sits beside it, in the open part, so you can see both at a glance.
Booking into it yourself
From your calendar, New booking and Edit booking, you can always book into processing time, and nothing warns you. A booking that runs past it into the final part shows the usual overlap warning.
Online bookings
While Customers can book online during processing is ticked (it is to begin with), customers can book into processing time from your booking page too. They're only offered a time that fits inside it, cleanup included. Untick it to keep the time for bookings you make yourself. The box counts for bookings already made, as well as new ones.
Changing it on one booking
In New booking and Edit booking, a service with processing time shows its Initial, Processing and Final under Order and times, the service's to begin with. Change them for that booking alone, and its end moves with them. Pick No processing to keep the booking's times with nothing free in the middle.
Changing the service later leaves the bookings already made as they are.
What customers see
Customers are told the whole service, start to finish, as always. Nothing about processing time reaches them.
Rooms and reports
A room or piece of equipment the service needs stays booked for the whole service, processing time included: your customer is still in it.
In Reports, processing time counts as free time for the person. By staff counts the time they worked, and a booking made during processing time counts its own time.
In the app
In the BeNotely app, switch on Processing time on the service, under Duration (More → Services & products → Services). The calendar shows the processing time open inside the card, with any booking made in it beside it, and booking into it doesn't warn. New booking and Edit booking show the service's Initial, Processing and Final under Order and times, with No processing.