More and more service providers offering time based services are recognizing the importance of allowing partners and even end customers make appointments online. Bookina is our web-based appointment scheduling and resource management system. Use BookinaFlash to build up a network of agencies and customers, who can book your services dirctly without acclamation by phone.

 

Characteristics of BookinaFlash:

  • web-based, straightforward, flexible and convenient
  • collects customer data e.g. name, email address, type of consultation or appointment and more at will
  • supports reporting, data integration and analysis for long term customer service purposes
  • provides appointment confirmation via PDF or email and reminder notification via SMS or email
  • can be used with mobile devices and PDAs
  • easy integration into webspace of the service provider
  • can be adapted to the workflows of the service provider
  • configurable for complex bookings with resource allocation and follow-up appointments
  • compatible to common systems e.g. Microsoft Outlook
  • approved with 100.000 bookings in ophthalmology and radiology

 

Overview

Bookina provides powerful tools to allow you easily and safely manage the availability and access to your bookable services. Without going into too technical detail, the following sections will give you an idea of how the system works. More technical details can be found in the administrator hand book which can be downloaded here.

 

Bookable resources

At the heart of Bookina stands a bookable resource e.g. a doctor, a room, a machine, etc. Each resource can be used in one or more ways or for different purposes e.g. an Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) machine can be used to do various imagining, head, shoulder, knee etc. These different purposes often have specific attributes, have various durations etc. Bookina manages all these parameters and gives you exact control on which data is mandatory and how many free slot proposals are generated. Bookina provides optimizing strategies to reduce configuration and waiting times.

 

Purposes

Bookina defines how a resource can be used by supporting one or more purposes. The purpose availability can be configured on a resource and user group level. Thus certain purposes can only be booked by certain users. Purpose can require certain input data e.g. which eye should be examined e.g. left, right or both. A purpose defines a min, max and standard duration, and these can vary throughout a day.

 

Calendars

Bookina provides powerful calendar rules that can be used to control the exact availability of a resource. Calendar rules can specify time intervals e.g. 10:00-13:00; 14:45-17:15, days e.g. Mondays and Fridays, how often the rule repeats e.g. every 2nd week, rule validity e.g. 01.05.2011 until 31.12.2011. Validities can be used to change the schedule of a resource over time.

 

User Groups, Roles and Data protection

A user group defines the access a user has to a bookable resource and what purposes they can view, book, cancel etc. A user also has a defined role and further defines how the user interacts with the system. Bookina currently provides the following roles:

  1. Administrator – can change the configuration e.g. create bookable resource, change calendars etc.

  2. Manager – usually internal staff that can make appointments for others, see appointments made by others

  3. Agent – can make appointments for their clientele e.g. a referring doctor would be an agent

  4. DefaultUser – can only make appointments for themselves

 

Security and encryption

Bookina uses the latest encryption technologies to ensure that data stays safe and secure. All sensitive data is encrypted in the database and all communication between the browser and sever is only through https. In addition, usernames and password must fulfill a high levels of security e.g. passwords receive a score based on length, complexity (lower case, upper case, letters, numbers and special characters). If the password does not get a high enough score then it will not be accepted. To prevent brute force, an account is locked if a password is entered 3 times incorrectly in sucession.

 

 

Confirmation PDF, Messaging and reminder services

Logos, location maps can be uploaded to Bookina and used to provide a confirmation PDF that you are free to design. Bookina can send confirmation e-mails and reminders of upcoming appointments using e-mail and or SMS.