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Take bookings on WhatsApp

Customers book appointments by chatting with your WhatsApp number. A booking chatbot asks for the service, the day and the time, checks real availability, and saves the booking. At the end you will have a live flow that fills your Appointments page on its own.

Before you start

Steps

Add the booking chatbot from the library

  1. Open WhatsApp in the left rail, then select Flows.
  2. Click Start from library. The template gallery opens.
  3. Under Chatbot templates, find a booking flow:
    • Appointment Booking — for any service business. Starts on the keywords book, appointment, booking, slot.
    • Salon Booking — for salons and spas.
    • Clinic Appointment — for clinics and doctors.
  4. Click Preview to see the conversation, then click Use template. A copy of the flow opens in the builder.
  5. Review the messages. Change the wording to suit your business.
  6. Save and publish the flow, as in Create a WhatsApp chatbot flow.

What the customer sees

  1. The customer sends a keyword, for example book.
  2. The bot lists your active services. The customer picks one.
  3. The bot lists the next days with free times, then the free times on the chosen day.
  4. The bot books the time and replies with one of these outcomes:
Outcome When it happens Where it shows in Ohanvi
Booked The time is free and your rule is Automatic confirmation. Appointments with the status Confirmed.
Request received Your rule is Manual approval, or the time is outside working hours and you allow manual approval. Appointments with the status Requested.
Time taken Someone else booked the same time a moment earlier. Nothing is saved. The customer is asked to pick again.

Build your own booking flow

If you build a flow from scratch, add these blocks in this order: Pick a service, Pick a date, Pick a time slot, then Book appointment. Find the three pick blocks under All steps → Advanced, and Book appointment under All steps → Store actions. Book appointment has 4 outcomes you can route: confirmed, requested, slot_taken and rejected_show_slots.

Video walkthrough

[VIDEO]

Troubleshooting

Issue Cause Fix
The bot lists no services No service is Active. Turn Active on for at least 1 service on Appts → Services.
The bot offers no days or times No active provider performs the service, the working hours are Closed, or the booking limits leave no free time. Check Providers, Working Hours, and Minimum booking notice (minutes) and Maximum advance booking (days).
Bookings arrive as Requested, not Confirmed A confirmation rule is set to Manual approval. Approve them on the Appointments page, or switch to Automatic confirmation.
The flow does not start The flow is not published, or the customer's message does not contain a trigger keyword. Publish the flow and check its keywords.
The confirmation message tells customers to reply CANCEL The library text mentions it, but the ready-made flows do not handle a cancel reply. Edit the message, or cancel on the customer's behalf. See Manage appointments.