Booker Software

Avantages

I love that they have created many updates for this software over the last few months. It has been really nice not experiencing any lag or issues with the booking features like we were having just a few months ago. I love that you can choose how far in advance the confirmation emails are sent out and I really love that the clients can confirm the appointment through the email. Another AMAZING tool is that you can now see when a client is booking an appointment online that way you are not trying to compete with anyone online trying to book. I hated in the past where I would be booking a client at the desk and right when I went to book, it said that I was not able to. Come to find out when I refreshed the page it was because someone else had booked it online. It truly makes a huge difference with these little improvements that they made.

Inconvénients

One thing at the moment that I am not liking about the software is that sometimes the confirmation emails do not send even when the emails box is checked, this also happens when I book re-occurring appointments for an entire year where these clients of all clients should receive all the emails. Another thing that gets frustrating from time to time is that the clients future appointments is not showing up on their account under the appropriate tab therefore some clients have not showed up for their appointment and we can't charge if they can prove they didn't see it online. I try to see if they have duplicate accounts as well but they do not. And lastly, every now and again Booker will give us booking issues while trying to book for any of our services, it will state that the appointment cannot book because no equipment is available however, I know that is not the case. That is frustrating because we have to then just create a block out on the schedule with the client's service along with their information but they don't receive any emails through the system when it is booked that way.

Avantages

I love the way Booker works directly with my web page. My clients and potential clients can book right from my web site, purchase gift certificates from the comfort of their homes or offices, and print them or email them right from their computer without having to come to my office. I am often in service with a client and don't have a lot of time to answer or return calls during my work day let alone meet people to hand deliver gift certificates. I don't have a receptionist or assistant to assist in these matters. I love the fact that I have my very own App to give to my clients so they can save ME to their phones and book on line any time of the day or night, without having to try to find me first. I'm just a click away. The best part is that after you set up your booker to work with your website, it just makes scheduling my clients appts soooo much easier. They get an email notification with Appt details and directions. Then an appt reminder 24 hrs before their Appt so they can click the confirm button, so I don't have to make confirmation calls the day before, then a text reminder notification 3 hours before their Appt which cuts down on no shows, and late cancellations. I love it!!

Inconvénients

I have 2 locations and Booker does not have a place to differentiate either location. So when my clients book on line, there is no way of telling them which days I am at one location and which days I am at the other. So when they are looking at my open appts, they don't know which location they are booking for. This kind of takes my 5 star Status and brings it down to a 3 because this causes my clients much confusion when trying to book, and me soooo much stress, because what good is it if I always have to call them anyway when they are trying to schedule on line?? This defeats the whole purpose of online scheduling. This needs to be fixed and upgraded. Another thing. The mobile app is limited to its back of the house functionality. It's very easy to schedule appts, but looking up Gift Certificate numbers and entering them for payment after a client redeems them is time consuming and not user friendly. I also wish I had Email/ text Marketing built in so I could send my clients daily, weekly and monthly specials. There are days that I would love to send out a quick text telling my clients what time slots I have available. This would be soooooo easy since all of their contact info is already in the system. I would also like to see yearly reports and just imagine how great it would be if the accounting software was built right in! All in one place! Now that would make Booker the leader in the industry!

Avantages

Integration of scheduling, merchant services, marketing, reporting. Everything I need in one place to run the business. I don't have to import or export information to run reports or go through multiple programs to send out reminder texts, ring up a client to check out, and check hours worked by employees.

Inconvénients

There are a few things that the system just doesn't do intelligently where I have to override certain scheduling rules (Example: if an appointment was scheduled in room 2 with one girl, and i want to change it to another girl, it will not automatically switch it to room one. It will just say it isn't available.) So I have to go through round-about ways to override it to get it done, but those are just nit-picking.

Avantages

The "all in one nature" of the platform but also the ability to have an online store that links to our actual inventory and pricing levels in real time. The confirmation email for appointments are a great asset to in terms of revenue loss prevention and saves time for our staff, not to mention our clients love the convenience. The pre-authorization of credit cards is a great function again for loss prevention.

Inconvénients

1, There have been times recently were the downtime or stability (slowness) of the platform has not been acceptable.
2, The ip lock function only works with v4 ip addresses (most ISP's are now using v6's rendering the function useless unless you pay extra for static IP's.

Avantages

Salesmen are very attentive, attempt to find questions to any answers and are quick to return calls. Software is very clean and easy to use as long as you stay within their realm of "basics".

Inconvénients

Unfortunately, if you have any type of development background this software will not allow you to utilize it unless you upgrade to the API. Prior to purchase we were told we would have Full Access to all features and everything was 100% customize-able. However, there are areas of customization you still need to have a "Super User" (call in to tech support + talk to a manager) to change. Example: Accepting cash in office.

The second issue I had is their merchant processing. They don't have syncing with Amazon Pay (primary issue we were told could be done with this software), PayPal or Square. You are charged additionally to use their merchant processing (and with companies my accounting had never heard of/didn't want to use). Again, while promised we would be able to find a work around, eventually it was found even with upgrading to a higher tier with API access, there was an extremely slim chance that different integration methods was possible.

Third: The price. Please understand if you desire to let one company manage everything then this software is helpful. However, if you don't then per month charge is rather high when other simple services are free or offer nearly every feature Booker does for 1/5th the price. So, do your research and speak with both Sales force and Tech support before making a decision.