Letting AI Book Appointments

Once your AI agent is active, you can connect it directly to your calendar so it can offer real open appointment times and book new patients without anyone at the front desk lifting a finger. This article walks you through linking your calendar, choosing which appointment types the AI can schedule, and testing the whole flow before it goes live.

Why Calendar Booking Matters for AI

Without a connected calendar, your AI agent can only collect a patient's name and phone number and promise that someone will call them back. That works, but it adds a step for your team and delays the patient. When you give the AI access to your calendar, it can check your real availability, offer specific times, and confirm the appointment on the spot. The patient hangs up or closes the chat with a confirmed visit on the books.

Step 1: Connect Your Calendar to the AI Agent

1. From your dashboard, click AI Agents in the main menu.
2. Select the agent you want to configure, either your voice agent or your text and chat agent.
3. Open the Booking tab inside the agent settings.
4. Under Calendar Connection, click Select a Calendar and choose the calendar you want the AI to book into. If you have multiple calendars set up, pick the one that handles new patient intake.
5. Click Save.

If you have not created a booking calendar yet, you will need to do that first. See Creating Your First Booking Calendar for a full walkthrough.

Step 2: Choose Which Appointment Types the AI Can Offer

You may not want the AI to offer every appointment type on your calendar. For example, you might want it to book new patient exams and cleanings, but leave implant consultations or complex restorative work for your team to schedule manually.

1. In the Booking tab, scroll to Appointment Types.
2. Toggle on the appointment types you want the AI to offer. Toggle off anything you want to keep off the table.
3. For each enabled type, confirm the duration shown matches what you have set in your calendar. The AI will block exactly that amount of time when it books.
4. Click Save.

Step 3: Set Booking Preferences

A few settings shape how the AI presents appointment times to patients.

• How far out to offer times. You can limit the AI to booking within the next few days, the next two weeks, or further out. Most practices start with two weeks so patients always find something soon.
• Minimum lead time. If you need at least a few hours notice before a new patient arrives, set a buffer here so the AI does not book a slot that starts in 30 minutes.
• Confirmation message. After booking, the AI sends the patient a confirmation. You can customize this message in the Confirmation Text field. Include the date, time, and your practice address at minimum.

Once you have reviewed these settings, click Save.

Step 4: Test the Booking Flow

Before the AI handles real patients, run a quick test yourself.

1. If you are testing the voice agent, call your practice number from a personal phone and go through the conversation as if you were a new patient asking to schedule.
2. If you are testing the text or chat agent, open the preview inside the agent settings and type a message like I'd like to come in for a cleaning.
3. Confirm the AI offers real times from your calendar (not placeholder text).
4. Complete the booking and verify that the appointment appears on your calendar immediately.
5. Check that the patient receives a confirmation message.

What Happens After a Patient Books

When the AI confirms an appointment, several things happen automatically. The appointment lands on your calendar with the patient's name and contact information. A new contact record is created (or updated, if the patient already exists) in your Contacts. Your practice's standard automated appointment reminders kick in just as they would for any manually booked appointment, so you do not need to set anything extra up.

Your team can view, reschedule, or cancel AI-booked appointments exactly like any other appointment. Nothing about how they appear or behave on the calendar is different.

Next Steps

With booking connected, your AI can handle the full intake conversation from first contact to confirmed appointment. To make sure the agent knows how to answer questions about your specific services, pricing, and policies along the way, read Adding FAQs and Knowledge. You may also want to configure Business Hours and Handing Off to Staff so the AI knows when to escalate a conversation to a real team member.