How to Configure Calendar Availability and Buffers

    CategoryCalendars and Bookings
    Article typeDocumentation
    Estimated reading time 6 min read
    Last reviewedRecently reviewed
    Applies toGEVADE CRM accounts where the feature is enabled
    Access requiredAccess may depend on your user permissions
    Plan/configuration noteFeature availability may depend on your selected plan and account configuration

    Summary

    Calendar availability and buffer settings control when customers can book appointments and how much time is reserved between sessions. These settings are configured per calendar in Calendar Settings and may affect what slots are visible to customers.

    Who this article is for

    This article is for business owners, administrators, and team members responsible for managing their own or their team's booking calendar availability.

    Overview

    Availability settings define your bookable hours, while buffer settings protect your schedule by adding time between appointments. Getting these settings right prevents double-booking, back-to-back fatigue, and scheduling errors. This guide explains how to configure working hours, buffer times, minimum booking notice, and maximum advance booking windows in GEVADE CRM. Settings and behaviour may vary depending on your account configuration and whether external calendars are connected.

    Before you begin

    • Confirm your timezone is set correctly in your business profile before adjusting availability.
    • Decide which days and hours you want to accept bookings.
    • Determine the buffer time needed between appointments.
    • Set a minimum booking notice to avoid last-minute appointments.

    Step 1: Open Calendar Settings

    Navigate to Calendars in your GEVADE CRM workspace. Select the calendar you want to configure and open its settings. Locate the Availability or Schedule section. If you are configuring a team calendar, individual team member availability may be set separately and may override the calendar-level settings depending on your account configuration.

    Step 2: Set working days and hours

    Enable or disable each day of the week that you want to accept bookings. For each enabled day, set the start and end time for your bookable hours. These hours define the window within which customers can book slots. Slots are generated based on your appointment duration within this window.

    Step 3: Configure buffer time before and after appointments

    Buffer time adds a gap before or after each booked appointment. This prevents back-to-back scheduling and gives you time to prepare or wrap up between sessions. Set buffer time in minutes. For example, a 15-minute buffer after each appointment means no new booking can start until 15 minutes after the previous one ends.

    Step 4: Set the minimum booking notice

    The minimum booking notice sets how far in advance a customer must book. For example, a 24-hour notice means customers cannot book a slot that starts within the next 24 hours. This prevents last-minute bookings that may not give you enough preparation time. Set this value in hours or days depending on your service requirements.

    Step 5: Set the maximum advance booking window

    The maximum advance booking window limits how far into the future a customer can book. For example, a 30-day window means customers can only see and book slots within the next 30 days. This is useful for services that cannot commit to bookings too far in advance. Set this value in days where available in your account.

    Step 6: Configure date-specific overrides where available

    Some accounts may support date-specific availability overrides, allowing you to block specific dates or set custom hours for individual days, such as public holidays or events. This option may vary depending on your account configuration. Contact support if this option is not visible.

    Step 7: Save and test your availability

    Save your settings and open the booking link to verify your available slots appear as expected. Book a test appointment to confirm the slot is correctly blocked and buffer time is applied. If you have a connected external calendar, verify that the slot also appears as busy in that calendar. Do not rely on the availability settings for live bookings until you have tested the complete booking flow.

    Configuration note

    Calendar availability is determined by the combination of your configured working hours, buffer settings, external calendar conflicts, and any date-specific overrides. If your external calendar shows all-day events or recurring busy blocks, these may reduce the number of visible booking slots. We do not guarantee that external calendar conflict checking is accurate in all configurations. Always test after connecting an external calendar. Availability behaviour may also be affected by team member settings in round-robin calendars.

    Important clarification

    A common mistake is setting the minimum booking notice to zero, which allows customers to book with no advance warning. This often leads to appointments appearing immediately with no time to prepare. Another frequent issue is not accounting for timezone differences when setting availability, which can cause slots to appear at unexpected times for customers in different regions.

    Resolution guidance

    No available slots are visible on the booking page

    Check that your working hours are enabled for at least one day and that your minimum booking notice and advance booking window settings are not blocking all visible slots. If an external calendar is connected, check for all-day busy events that may be blocking your availability. Results may depend on your setup, permissions, and active configuration.

    Slots are appearing at unexpected times

    Verify your timezone setting in your business profile. If your availability is configured in one timezone but the customer is viewing slots in another, times may appear differently. Contact support if timezone behaviour does not match your expected configuration.

    Buffer time does not appear to be working

    Confirm the buffer time is saved correctly and test the booking flow by booking two consecutive slots. If back-to-back bookings are still possible, verify the buffer direction setting, as some accounts distinguish between pre-appointment and post-appointment buffers. Contact support if this option is not visible.

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