Can online scheduling services save time and money?

Why might a company use an online scheduling service for internal scheduling? For one thing, it gives employees the chance to create and view schedules even when they aren't in the office. This comes in handy for people who are on business trips or need to check resource availability from home.

Online scheduling services also can create centralized scheduling systems that span multiple divisions or departments. In some companies, different segments of the organization don't know what's going on with other parts of the business. A centralized system makes it easier for different departments to collaborate on projects together. It reduces the need to reconcile one department's schedule against another.

Companies use internal online scheduling systems in several ways, including:

While there are plenty of offline scheduling systems that can also complete these tasks, they normally lack the accessibility of online systems.

Online scheduling systems are particularly well suited for certain industries. One in particular is the nursing industry. Nurses tend to work long shifts. Their shifts can vary a great deal -- they might work a day shift on one day and a night shift later in the week. Often, individual nurses will want a specific shift more than another. As a result, many hospitals allow nurses to trade shifts with each other, or to pick up extra shifts.

As you can imagine, this becomes a scheduling nightmare. An administrator has to make sure that each shift has the proper coverage. If the administrator needs to fill a shift and can't get in touch with a nurse who wants it, he or she might have to hire a temporary nurse. Sometimes, that also means that someone has to train the temp so that he or she knows how to follow the proper procedures. Even if there are available nurses on staff, those nurses might not have the skill set necessary to qualify for certain shifts. Keeping the schedule organized and filled is time consuming and challenging.

A few hospitals have implemented online scheduling systems as a way to address this complicated issue. Nurses can log into the system from home to select shifts and contact each other to make trades or cover another nurse's shift. Because they no longer have to relay schedule changes through another human being, everyone can spend more time focusing on other job duties. Some hospitals report that they don't have to hire temp nurses to cover empty shifts as often. A few have customized systems that allow a nurse to cover a shift only if he or she meets specific qualifications.

The result means less paperwork for the nursing administrators and more freedom for the nurses. Some of the hospitals saw a rise in nurse morale and job satisfaction as a result. Also, because the hospitals saw a reduction in the need for temporary workers, they saved money [source: Incentive Magazine].

While the nursing industry is in many ways unique, other industries can also benefit from an online scheduling system. Companies need to educate employees on the system and make sure it fits the needs of their organizations before implementation. It's not realistic to think that just by installing an online scheduling system, everything will work out fine.

What about companies that use external online scheduling systems? How are they used, and why? Find out in the next section.

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Companies that use online scheduling with external customers usually do so as a supplement to traditional scheduling systems. For example, a car dealership might allow customers to schedule a service center appointment online. Customers wouldn't have to call in to the center and speak with a representative. Instead, they would first register an account on the dealership's Web site. Then, they'd open the schedule and choose a time slot. The system might ask them about the nature of the service. At that point, the system would either send an e-mail to the customer or a representative would call to confirm the appointment.

Many businesses can take advantage of systems like these. Here's just a small sample of companies that could use online scheduling systems:

One of the considerations companies must make when implementing such a system is how much time it takes to complete a given task. While an appointment might have a specific time limit, that doesn't necessarily mean the business can accommodate two appointments back to back. That's why most online scheduling systems allow businesses to create time buckets. The bucket acts like a buffer, giving the business a little spare time on either end of an appointment. Subsequent appointments can't overlap the buffer. This helps keep all appointments on time and decreases delays.

Online scheduling can also give business owners an idea about how close to capacity they'll operate on a day-to-day basis. Using this information, owners can rearrange employee schedules to maximize efficiency. When coupled with an internal scheduling system, owners can balance customer needs and employee satisfaction.

Most businesses don't abandon traditional scheduling systems completely for online ones. They don't want to neglect customers who are unable or unwilling to use the Web to make appointments. In that respect, they consider online scheduling to be a convenience feature rather than a pivotal business function.

Customers' adoption of online systems depends on several factors. Those include technical, regional, generational and cultural traits. It's entirely feasible for a company with offices in different cities to see dramatically different usage levels of online scheduling among customer bases. For example, a chain of restaurants might have a lot of customers who prefer to schedule reservations online for restaurants in big cities, but see very few online reservations for locations in rural areas.

Just as companies need to consider if an internal online scheduling system makes sense for their business, they need to take these factors into consideration for external systems. It's important to keep in mind that such systems are supplemental. While they might make it easier to stay organized and reduce customer calls, they won't entirely replace traditional scheduling.

To learn more about online scheduling and other topics, schedule some time with the links on the next page.