Customers book where they already talk to you. With Appointments enabled and an AI agent on the inbox, a WhatsApp message like "Can I come Tuesday afternoon?" becomes a confirmed booking without your team touching the calendar.
- The customer messages your WhatsApp number (or Instagram, Messenger, Live Chat: the same agent works on every channel it is assigned to).
- The AI agent asks which service they want and, if needed, which resource, using the AI description you wrote for each service.
- It offers real free times from the calendar, respecting your weekly hours, closures, buffers and minimum notice.
- The customer picks a time and confirms. The agent creates the booking and replies with the details.
- If your Confirmation mode is Manual confirmation, the booking waits as Booked until your team confirms it; with Automatic confirmation it is confirmed at once.
The booking appears on the Appointments calendar with the source "AI", and your team is notified.
Screenshot: a WhatsApp chat where the agent offers times and confirms a booking, next to the calendar showing the new entry
- Complete the setup in "How do I set up services, availability and the calendar for Appointments?": native booking on, services, resources, availability.
- On each resource, use Assign AI agents to allow the booking agent (or leave empty for all agents).
- In AI Agents, open the agent that serves the WhatsApp inbox. Choose the Booking type, or add booking to the Instructions of an existing agent ("Offer to book an appointment when the customer asks about a service").
- Make sure the agent has the inbox ticked under Inboxes, then Publish.
- Test from Test Agent: "Book a consultation with Dr. Sarah next week."
¶ Rescheduling and cancelling in chat
Customers can write "move my appointment to Thursday" or "cancel my booking". The agent finds the booking by the customer's phone number, applies the Cancellation notice rule, and updates the calendar. Your team sees the change in the status history.
- If the customer asks for a person, or a request cannot be satisfied (no free times in the range, a service not in the catalog), the agent hands off to your team with the full conversation. See "When does the AI hand a conversation to a human, and how do I control it?".
- A team member can always create or change the booking from the calendar while chatting in the Team Inbox.
- Write clear AI descriptions on services, including who they are for and anything the customer must bring.
- Put booking rules (deposits, cancellation fees, what to bring) in a knowledge source with Policy authority so the agent states them consistently.
- Keep the confirmation short and include the date, time and location.
- Prepare a reminder template so the booking is followed by a reminder (see "How do appointment reminders work and how do I reduce no-shows?").
Exact options may differ by plan.