Appointment booking directly in the conversation: The calendar integration of Safina AI

Safina as Your Fully Automatic Appointment Planner

Do you know that feeling? A call, a request for an appointment – and the juggling begins. Open the calendar, check the times, write a confirmation, hope that the client also enters the appointment in their calendar. This process takes time and is prone to errors.

So far, Safina AI has made this work easier for you by sending a booking link via SMS. Now we are taking a decisive step further.

Alternative Method: Would you like to give callers the freedom to choose in your external booking tool (e.g. Calendly)? In our article How to Link Your Appointment Booking Link in Safina, you will learn all about this method.

With the new direct calendar integration, your Safina assistant becomes a fully automatic appointment planner. It checks your availability in real-time, books appointments directly in your calendar, and even ensures that your caller receives an official calendar invitation. No manual entries, no media breaks, no hassle – just pure efficiency.

In this guide, we will show you how to set up this feature.

Requirements: What You Need for Direct Appointment Booking

Before you start, make sure you meet the following requirements.

Support for additional calendar providers is planned for the future.

How to Set Up Direct Appointment Booking

The configuration takes just a few minutes. Our guide will walk you through the menus, which you can also see in the screenshots.

Step 1: Find Appointment Booking and Select Method

First, you need to find the right setting in the app.

1. Open the Safina App and navigate to the Safina AI tab.

   

   
   

2. Under "Advanced Organization," you will find the menu item Appointment Booking.

   

   
   

3. At the top, toggle the switch "Enable Appointment Booking".

4. Now select the option "Book Appointment Directly in Conversation" under "Booking Method."

Step 2: Connect and Synchronize Calendar

Now we will connect Safina with your calendar so that it can check your availability.

1. Tap on "Add Calendar" in the setup menu.

   

   
   

2. On the "Synchronize Calendar" page, you will initially see an empty list. Tap the Plus Symbol (+) to add a new calendar.

   

   
   
   

3. Select your provider (Google or Microsoft) and follow the authentication process.

   

Important Privacy Notice: As also displayed in the app, it is always true: "To protect your privacy, Safina only knows your availability and no appointment details." Safina only sees "free" or "booked" time slots, but never what is in your appointments.

Step 3: Set Availability and Appointment Duration

To let Safina know when and how long it can book appointments, you will now set the parameters.

• Availability: Tap on this menu item and specify the general time windows when you are available for appointments (e.g. Monday – Friday, 09:00 – 17:00).

• Appointment Duration: Set a standard duration for an appointment booked by Safina (e.g. 30 or 60 minutes).

Step 4 (Optional): Set the Target Calendar

This step is only relevant if you have more than one calendar connected to Safina.

• Case 1: You have only one calendar connected. Perfect, Safina will automatically use this as the target for new bookings. You don't need to do anything else.

  

  
  

• Case 2: You have multiple calendars connected. You need to inform Safina in which calendar it should enter new appointments. To do so, tap on the menu item "Target Calendar for Bookings" and select the desired calendar from the list. Safina will continue to check all connected calendars for available times but will create the new appointment exclusively in this target calendar.

The Appointment Booking from the Caller’s Perspective: From Request to Calendar Entry

Once set up, the feature works in the background to make the entire booking process as smooth as possible for your callers. The process for the caller consists of three phases.

How does it actually work?
If you'd like to dive deeper into how our AI recognizes an appointment request, we recommend our article: How Does Safina Recognize an Appointment Request in Conversation?

Step 1: The Interactive Appointment Finding in Conversation

Safina conducts a natural dialogue to find a suitable appointment. Instead of suggesting just one slot, it can respond to requests and intelligently offer available times.

Caller: "Good day, I would like to schedule a consultation appointment."
Safina: "Certainly. Do you already have a specific day in mind?"
Caller: "Yes, preferably next Tuesday."
Safina: (Checks availability for Tuesday in the background) "I have available slots on Tuesday at 10:00 AM, 11:30 AM, or in the afternoon at 3:00 PM. Which would work best for you?"
Caller: "3:00 PM is perfect."
Safina: "Excellent. I have just booked your appointment for next Tuesday at 3:00 PM. I will now send you a confirmation via SMS."

Step 2: Sending the Confirmation SMS

To deliver the confirmation, Safina checks the provided phone number and specifically asks:

• For recognized mobile numbers: "Shall I send the confirmation to the number you are calling from?"

• For landline or withheld numbers: "What mobile number may I send an SMS with the confirmation link to?"

After the response, the SMS is sent.

Step 3: The Guided Process to Calendar Entry

The caller is guided through a simple, browser-based process to finalize the appointment:

1. A click on the link in the SMS opens a webpage.

2. This page summarizes the appointment details (reason, date, time) clearly.

3. The caller enters their email address in the designated field and clicks on "Receive Calendar Invitation".

4. They then receive a standardized calendar invitation via email. They can accept it as usual, thereby having the appointment firmly saved in their own calendar.

Conclusion

The direct calendar integration transforms Safina AI from an intelligent assistant into a proactive team member. You save valuable time, eliminate organizational effort, and provide your callers with impressively professional and seamless service.