Offer online meetings on your booking page without confusing anyone
Decide which formats you offer, set each up as its own event type, attach the right video or phone details and tell clients exactly what they need before the call.
Adding online meetings to a booking page sounds like a technical job: connect a video tool, tick a box, done. In practice the harder decisions come first. Do you offer online sessions alongside in-person ones, or instead of them? Should clients choose the format, or should you? Do online and face-to-face sessions run on the same hours, at the same price and for the same length? Get those answers wrong and you end up with clients turning up at the office for a video call, or waiting on Zoom for someone who expected you at their kitchen table.
This guide works through the format decision, how to structure event types around it, how links and phone details get onto bookings and what clients need to know before they join. The mechanics of each link type, automatic, fixed or phone, are covered in our guide to adding video meeting links to appointments; this page is about designing the booking page around them.
Planning online meetings on your booking page
Start with the client's choice, not the software. A booking page that offers online meetings well makes the format obvious before anyone picks a time, and makes sure the confirmation carries the right details for that format.
Choose your format model
- Online only: the simplest set-up. Every booking gets a video link or phone details, and you can open hours that suit clients in other cities or countries.
- In person only, with online as an exception: useful when the work genuinely needs a room, such as a hands-on assessment. Offer an online option only for follow-ups or by arrangement.
- Client chooses: the most flexible model and the one most likely to cause mix-ups. It works well if each format is clearly labelled and has its own hours.
Use a separate event type per format
The clearest way to let clients choose is to create one event type for each format, for example 'Initial consultation (video)' and 'Initial consultation (in person at our Braddon clinic)'. Each event type then carries its own location, availability, buffers, booking questions and confirmation wording. In Calenix, the Free plan includes one event type, so it suits a single format. The Individual plan includes unlimited event types, which is what you need to offer the same service in two or three formats side by side.
Attach the meeting details
Zoom and Microsoft Teams: where these integrations are enabled, connect your account once and choose it as the location on the online event type. Each booking then receives its own joining link in the confirmation. Our step-by-step guides cover syncing Zoom with your booking page and syncing Microsoft Teams.
Google Meet: Calenix does not create a separate Meet link for each booking. If you prefer Meet, put a fixed Meet link in the event type's location or details. It works, but every client uses the same room, so keep the lobby or host controls on and leave buffers between calls.
Phone calls: add a required booking question asking for the best number, and say in the confirmation who calls whom. Phone is a sensible fallback for clients who dislike video.
Different hours and buffers for each format
Online sessions do not need travel time or room changeovers, so they can often sit closer together or run into early evening. In-person sessions may only be possible on the days you are at a particular location. Separate event types let you set availability rules and buffers for each without compromise.
Time zones
Online meetings widen your catchment, sometimes across borders. Set your own time zone correctly in Calenix, state the time zone in every confirmation and check how times display for visitors elsewhere by booking a test from a different device setting. Our guide on scheduling meetings across time zones covers the common traps, such as daylight saving changes in different months.
Why the format decision deserves more thought than the link
Clients judge an online meeting by the first two minutes. If the link is easy to find, works first time and the host is there, the session starts well. If they search three emails for the right link, or arrive at the wrong place, the meeting starts with an apology. Most of those problems trace back to the booking page, not the video tool.
Offering online meetings also changes who can book you. A practitioner who only sees people in person draws from a commuting radius. Add online sessions and you can serve regional clients, people with mobility or childcare constraints, and clients who have moved away. That is a real growth lever, but only if the booking page explains the options clearly enough that people pick the right one without asking.
Pricing and length deserve a deliberate decision too. Some services translate directly online; others are shorter or need a different structure. Separate event types let you price and describe each honestly rather than pretending an online session is identical when it is not.
Finally, there is privacy and professionalism. A confirmation that tells the client to find a quiet, private space, check their camera and microphone and have documents ready makes the session more useful for both of you. If you are choosing a video platform from scratch, our comparison of Google Meet and Zoom for business is a fair place to start.
What a well-planned online option gives you
Wider reach: clients outside your local area can book without travelling.
Fewer mix-ups: separate event types make the format clear before a time is chosen.
Right details every time: Zoom or Teams links, where enabled, arrive in each confirmation automatically.
Better use of the day: online sessions can fill gaps and early evenings that in-person work cannot.
Honest pricing and length: each format can have its own duration, price and description.
Calmer starts: clients who have done a tech check and found the link join on time.
Adding online meetings to your booking page, step by step
Decide which services work online — Go through each service and mark it online, in person or either. Be honest about what loses quality on a screen.
Pick your format model — Choose online only, in person with online by exception, or client chooses, and write one sentence explaining it for your booking page.
Create one event type per format — Name each event type so the format is obvious, for example 'Review (video, 30 min)', and set its own hours, buffers and price.
Connect your video tool — Connect Zoom or Microsoft Teams where enabled and set it as the location, or add a fixed Google Meet link or phone instructions instead.
Write the joining instructions — Add a short paragraph to the online event type's confirmation covering the link, a tech check, a quiet space and what to have ready.
Check time zone settings — Confirm your own time zone is right and that confirmations show it clearly, especially if you expect interstate or overseas clients.
Book a test of every format — Book each event type as a client would, join the online one from a phone, and confirm the in-person one shows the right address.
Online only, in person only or client chooses
| Feature | Online only | In person, online by exception | Client chooses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event types needed | One per service | One per service, plus an online follow-up type | One per service per format |
| Calenix plan to start | Free for a single service | Individual for more than one type | Individual |
| Meeting details | Zoom, Teams, fixed Meet link or phone | Address, with a link only on the online type | Address on one type, link on the other |
| Availability | Can run wider hours | Tied to your location days | Set separately for each format |
| Risk of mix-ups | Low | Low to medium | Medium unless labels are clear |
| Best for | Coaching, advice, remote consulting | Hands-on assessments and treatments | Services that work well either way |
Good practice for online meetings on a booking page
Put the format in the event type name, not only in the description.
Ask for a phone number on online event types so you have a fallback if the link fails.
Keep joining instructions to five lines; long technical notes go unread.
Use lobby or waiting-room settings when every client shares a fixed meeting link.
Add a buffer after online calls for notes, even though there is no travel.
Mention the time zone in the confirmation, not just on the booking page.
Re-test after any change to your video account or calendar connection.
Common mistakes when adding online meetings
Offering one event type for both formats and hoping clients mention which they want.
Leaving the office address on an online event type, or a video link on an in-person one.
Pasting a personal meeting room link that is left open between clients.
Promising Google Meet links per booking when your tool only connects to Zoom or Teams.
Charging the same for a shorter online session without explaining the difference.
Forgetting that clients in other time zones see your evening as their morning.
Example: a dietitian in Canberra adds video consultations
Take a fictional dietitian in Canberra who sees clients in person at a shared clinic in Braddon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Regional clients from the NSW South Coast and the Snowy Mountains often asked for online appointments, and she wanted to run them on Mondays and two evenings a week.
She moved from Calenix's Free plan to Individual so she could run several event types. Her booking page now offers:
- Initial assessment (in person, Braddon, 60 min): Tuesdays and Thursdays only, with the clinic address and parking notes in the confirmation.
- Initial assessment (video, 60 min): Mondays and Wednesday evenings, using her connected Zoom account so each booking gets its own link.
- Review (video or phone, 30 min): a booking question asks for a mobile number and whether the client prefers video or a phone call.
Her video confirmation reads: 'Your Zoom link is below. Please join from a quiet, private space, check your camera and microphone five minutes before, and have your food diary and any recent blood test results to hand. If the link fails, I will call you on the number you gave.' Times are shown in Canberra time, with a note for clients in other states during daylight saving.
On Wednesday 21 October she runs three evening video reviews back to back, with ten-minute buffers for notes, something her clinic hours could never have fitted.
The illustrative maths: if online sessions add five extra reviews a week at A$90 each across 44 working weeks, that is A$19,800 a year in appointments that previously would not have happened. She shares the booking link through her mobile-friendly booking page and on GP referral letters.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Meet clients anywhere
Offer online and in-person meetings from one booking page
Start free with one event type and Google Calendar or Outlook sync. Add more event types, Zoom or Teams locations where enabled and your own branding on the Individual plan. No card needed.