Are appointment slots reserved for patients when they book online?
🚨 Important: Reserving appointments during online booking ensures that the patient's chosen slot stays free while they finish - reducing the chance of double booking, and accommodating patients who may book more slowly or be interrupted.
When a patient starts booking an appointment through Dentally Portal, their chosen slot will be reserved in your practice's calendar, displaying as a 'Pending' appointment.
This slot will be held until the patient completes the booking, or until their reservation expires. The length of time it is held for varies, but it will be no longer than 30 minutes (for appointments not requiring a deposit), or 60 minutes (for appointments requiring a deposit).
You can hover over the slot to see the details of the patient, as well as how long the slot will be reserved for.
It is not possible for other patients to book over this slot while it is reserved.
If the reservation expires without the patient completing the booking, the slot will be released, and the time in your calendar will go back to being empty - meaning other patients can now book in then.
💡 Top tip: Hover over any held appointment slot in the calendar to see what time the booking was started and when it is expected to expire - this allows you to plan around the slot, and identify any issues with stuck reservations.
How long are appointment slots reserved for when a patient books online?
All reserved appointment slots will be held for at least 5 minutes for returning patients, or 10 minutes for new patients. This allows patients time if they need to check their details or get interrupted.
If the patient becomes inactive and is no longer continuing with the booking, the reservation will expire after the point.
If the patient continues to be active within the booking process (eg. ), the expiry time will be extended only if they remain active in the booking flow - up to a maximum of 30 minutes (inclusive of the initial 5-10 minutes). After 30 minutes, the reservation will expire regardless of activity. This accommodates patients who may take longer to book due other circumstances such as mobility/dexterity issues, cognitive difficulties or external factors such as intermittent wifi.
🚨 Important: If the appointment in question requires a deposit, Stripe have their own policies for expiries on payment screens, which is a minimum of 30 minutes. This means that appointments requiring a deposit may be held for up to 60 minutes. This additional 30 minutes is outside of Dentally's control.
No reservation will ever be held for longer than 60 minutes - if you notice an appointment slot which has been reserved for longer than 60 minutes, please get in touch via Support Chat.