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Your AI receptionist can book appointments for you while you’re on another job, at lunch, or asleep. It checks your availability, offers times that work, confirms the booking, and sends SMS confirmations — all during a single phone call.

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The booking flow

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During the Call

Here’s what happens when a customer wants to book:
1

Customer asks to book

The caller says something like “Can I book a time?” or “When are you free this week?” The AI recognises this as a booking request.
2

AI checks your availability

The AI looks at your calendar (if connected) or your configured business hours to find open time slots. It will never double-book you.
3

AI offers available times

“I’ve got Tuesday at 10am or Wednesday at 2pm — which works better for you?” The AI always offers choices, not just one slot.
4

Customer picks a time

The caller chooses their preferred slot. The AI confirms the details back to them: “Perfect — I’ve booked you in for Tuesday the 15th at 10am for a boiler service.”
5

AI reads back all details

Before ending the call, the AI reads back the full booking — date, time, service, and any notes — and asks “Is there anything else I can help with?”
The AI will never say “I’ve booked you in” without actually creating the appointment. If something goes wrong with the booking, it will tell the caller honestly and suggest they call back.

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After the Call

Once the appointment is confirmed, several things happen automatically:

SMS confirmation

The customer receives an SMS from your business number confirming the date, time, and service booked.

Calendar sync

If you’ve connected Google Calendar or Outlook, the appointment appears there immediately.

Owner notification

You get an SMS and/or email telling you about the new booking, so you’re never caught off guard.

Reminder set

An automatic reminder SMS is sent to the customer 1 hour before the appointment. They can confirm or cancel directly from the text.
The confirmation SMS is sent from your AI business number — the same one the customer called. So when they reply, it comes back to your Conversations page.

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Connecting Your Calendar

Calendar integration means the AI checks your real schedule before offering times. Without it, the AI uses your configured business hours only.

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Google Calendar

1

Go to Integrations

Navigate to Integrations from the sidebar menu.
2

Click Connect on Google Calendar

Find the Google Calendar card and click Connect.
3

Sign in to Google

You’ll be redirected to Google. Sign in with the account that has your business calendar.
4

Grant permission

Click Allow to let CloseTheCall read and create events on your calendar.
5

Done

You’ll be redirected back to the dashboard. The card will show Connected with a green badge.

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Outlook Calendar

The process is identical — click Connect on the Outlook Calendar card, sign in with your Microsoft account, and grant permission.
You can connect both Google and Outlook calendars at the same time. The AI will check both for conflicts before offering times.

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Creating Manual Appointments

Not every booking comes through a phone call. You can create appointments by hand for walk-ins, website enquiries, or jobs you’ve arranged in person.
1

Go to Appointments

Click Appointments in the sidebar.
2

Click + New Appointment

Click the button at the top right of the page.
3

Fill in the details

Enter the customer name, phone number, service, date, time, and any notes.
4

Save

Click Create Appointment. It will appear on your dashboard and sync to your connected calendar.

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Confirming and Declining from Email/SMS

When the appointment reminder goes out 1 hour before, the customer receives a text with two links:
  • Confirm — Marks the appointment as confirmed. You’ll see the status update on your dashboard.
  • Cancel — Cancels the appointment and frees up the slot. You’ll get a notification so you know the slot is open again.

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Appointment Statuses

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Frequently asked questions

Yes. If a customer calls back and says “I need to move my appointment,” the AI will cancel the existing booking and create a new one at the time they choose. It will not create duplicates — the old appointment is cancelled before the new one is booked.
The AI checks your calendar in real time before offering any time slot. If a slot is already taken (by an AI booking, a manual booking, or a personal calendar event), the AI will not offer it. This check happens during the call, so even if two callers are on the line simultaneously, the second caller will see the first booking reflected.
No. Booking works without any calendar integration. Without a calendar connected, the AI uses your configured business hours to determine availability. Connecting Google Calendar or Outlook adds real-time schedule awareness so the AI also avoids times when you have personal or other appointments.
Yes. The reminder SMS sent 1 hour before the appointment includes a cancel link. When the customer clicks it, the appointment is automatically cancelled, the slot is freed up, and you receive a notification. Customers can also call back and ask the AI to cancel for them.

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Troubleshooting

This happens when your calendar isn’t connected or the busy event is on a different calendar. Go to Integrations and check that the correct calendar is connected. The AI can only see calendars you’ve given it access to.
Check that SMS is enabled for your account (you need a phone number provisioned). Go to Phone in the sidebar — if you see your AI number displayed, SMS is working. If not, provision a number first.
Disconnect and reconnect Google Calendar from the Integrations page. Google OAuth tokens expire after a while, and reconnecting refreshes them.

View your appointments

Open the Appointments page to see upcoming bookings, create new ones, or manage existing ones.