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  Public Ticket #3067741
Indicating a service as virtual instead of location based
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  •  8
    Zaid started the conversation

    I offer life coaching sessions in person and via video session. But the booking form doesn't allow for a location value of 'Virtual'. If I create a manual entry for location as 'via Video Call', then it doesn't allow me to assign an employee to more than one location. Which means that I can't book a session for the same employee to be a virtual session, or an in person session. This is a problem. 

    Please let me know if there is a way to configure this to avoid this issue. Ideally, if a client selects 'Virtual' as the format of their appointment, it should override the location parameter. And I should also be able to configure an employee to be available for both options, and not just one or the other. 

  •  1,127
    Uroš replied

    Hello Zaid,

    Thank you for reaching out to us.

    Unfortunately, it is not possible to add more locations to one employee. There is a workaround where you can make three same employees with different emails (you can use the same email by adding numbers for example if your client's email address is [email protected] you can make more employees with the same email by adding numbers like [email protected],[email protected]...). This is possible for Gmail and Outlook accounts.

    And then you can use ameliabooking shortcode and on the front-end, you can hide with CSS  dropdown with Employees and it will be shown just Location dropdown as you requested.

    You can use this CSS rule on the page between style tags where you will hide the Employee dropdown:

    <style>
    .am-select-employee-option {    display: none;
    }
    </style>

    Hope this helps you.

    Please reach out to us if you have any other questions.


    Kind Regards, 

    Uros Jovanovic
    [email protected]

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  •  8
    Zaid replied

    With the massive increase in virtual services due to Covid, why does Amelia not allow for an appointment to be flagged as a Virtual appointment when the client books it? Why does it have to have a location as mandatory? This is a very basic requirement. 

    I'm starting to doubt my decision to use Amelia as my preferred booking system on my website. 

  •  1,127
    Uroš replied

    Hello Zaid,

    When you create the location, you do not need to actually enter the address and thus you could name the location as "Online" and as we have integrations with Zoom, Google Meet, and Lessonspace, the appointments/events can take place online.

    Hope this helps you.

    Please reach out to us if you have any other questions.


    Kind Regards, 

    Uros Jovanovic
    [email protected]

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  •  8
    Zaid replied

    Hi,

    I think you are misunderstanding the problem that I am raising. I know how to create multiple location identifiers to use as an indicator for a virtual session, versus on site session. However, I cannot allocate one employee to more than one location. Therefore, if I use your recommended solution, I cannot make virtual sessions and in person sessions available to the same employee without duplicating the employee record. 

    This is impractical. I should simply be able to flag a booking as a virtual appointment so that if my client is not using one of the preferred virtual meeting integrations, I can still book the session as a virtual session. In this case, they prefer WhatsApp video calls, which means that it doesn't have any integration with your plugin. 

  •  1,127
    Uroš replied

    Hello Zaid,

    You can choose diffferent locations per working time period for the employee and there you can specify which location you want for each day/working time period.

    7539493807.png

    We have a plan to add option of integrating Amelia with WhatsApp, but there is no ETA at the moment.

    Hope this helps you.

    Please reach out to us if you have any other questions.


    Kind Regards, 

    Uros Jovanovic
    [email protected]

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  •  2
    Steve replied

    I've been trying to figure this out too, and your suggestions don't really address the issue Uros, but maybe the use case isn't clear. 

    I *think* my use case is the same as Zaid, so jumping in here rather than create a duplicate. Let's assume a Client wants to book a service for 2pm Wednesday. They could come to the physical location, or opt instead to meet on Zoom. As the Employee, I'd still be in the same Location - but Client would need to be sent different information.

    The workaround proposed (edit working hours at a location) would limit when we are available for in-person or virtual calls (for example, only allow in-person calls some days and online only other days), whereas in reality we are available for BOTH at the same time depending on Client preference.

    From the code workflow it may be that this 'virtual meeting' option needs to be something new that is added, rather than treating it as a location as such, or a change that allows Employees to be available at different locations simultaneously (the latter would also support a scenario where a meeting might take place in different rooms in the same building, for example).

  •  8
    Zaid replied

    I totally agree with Steve's input. The fact that we have to explain such a simple industry dynamic in such detail is a concern. 

  •  2,496
    Aleksandar replied

    Hey Steve and Zaid.

    If you want an employee to work on a location and on Zoom at the same time, you need to simply create a Zoom service (where Zoom will be enabled in the service's settings) and regular service.

    For example "Coaching" would be the service offered for on-site appointments, and "Coaching Online" would be a service for Zoom appointments. There was a misunderstanding here since the ticket revolved around "location" which doesn't exist as an "Online" entity, but this having a service at 2PM on a Wednesday being offered both as an online meeting and as a physical meeting is definitely possible in the way I just explained.

    If there's anything else you need help with, please let me know.

    Kind Regards, 

    Aleksandar Vuković
    [email protected]

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