I found some very nice solutions that filled her requirements and were surprisingly easy on the budget.
AppointmentQuest starts at $6.95/mo (without credit card processing). Adding the advanced features, including credit card processing, starts at $46/mo. At that level, however, users are allow up to 10 schedules, 5 users and 5 locations. This means that 5 people could join together to share the cost, but still have all functionality.
However, the time my client saves by not needing to field phone calls and schedule appointments herself, is worth much more than $46/mo. If only 1 hour per week is spent scheduling (and rescheduling) appointments, phoning reminders, and processing payments, she would save $100 a week.
As with all the applications, users are allowed to mark the times they want to accept appointments. Services are setup with appointment lead-in, lead-out, duration and interval variables and you can choose whether or not the client can reschedule. A plus feature is the ability to run specials during certain days, times where the special price is applied automatically.
The client interface for AppointmentQuest is very easy to use. The client chooses the service they want and the provider (if there are more than one). A calendar show available days, and when a day is clicked on, available times are shown as easy-click buttons.
AppointmentQuest has extensive demos for a hair salon, automotive repair shop and piano instructor.
http:www.ibookpal.com
Posted by: Anonymous | December 28, 2007 5:52 AM | Permalink to Comment