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Create and customize a Meeting Type

Joel Alexander
  • Updated


Meeting types are a powerful feature of CalendarHero because they let you easily pre-configure your meeting settings, and then reuse these settings for faster meeting scheduling. 

While CalendarHero includes a number of pre-configured meeting types out of the box, users in Professional and Team plans can also now easily add their own unlimited custom Meeting Types. This makes it easy to configure each different meeting according to your personal needs. For example you can customize your "discovery" calls with specific settings like a 30min duration, Zoom video conferencing and 11am-7pm availability, and then customize your on-site interviews with the office location, a 2 hour duration and a 10-5pm availability to ensure your hiring managers can also attend.

Custom meeting types are also a great way to create customized Personal Scheduling links (a public URL that you can share with anyone to easily book a meeting with you). 

To manage or customize your Meeting types and settings head over to https://app.calendarhero.com/settings/meeting. Learn more below on managing these settings.

NOTE: Basic Plan users can use out-of-the-box meeting types; such as "Meeting (Default)", "Call" but cannot create or apply custom meeting types. To create a new custom meeting type please upgrade to Professional or Team plans. 

Applying a Meeting Type


This section covers how to apply an existing meeting type via web or chat. Scroll down to learn how to create a new meeting type or customize your current ones.

Personal Scheduling Links

Each meeting type has its own scheduling link, allowing the meeting type settings to automatically apply when invitees self book a meeting with you. To use your personal scheduling link simply copy and share the custom scheduling link with your invitees. Learn More


On the Web

To use your pre-configured meeting type when scheduling via the web, simply select it from the "Meeting Type" dropdown menu under the Details tab. This will pre-configure all the settings based on those currently associated with that meeting type. For example you will see the duration and availability update, and any other settings like location or lead time will be set. If your Meeting Type has a shared availability setting then a label will be visible as a reminder - e.g. "collective".

In-Chat

To use your meeting type when scheduling via your favourite chat platform like Slack, you can reference it by saying the type name, followed by the word "Meeting". For example if your meeting type name is "logistics" you would tell you assistant "Book a logistics Meeting with..." This will pre-configure all the settings based on those currently associated with that meeting type. 

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Managing your Meeting Types


To manage your Meeting Types go to: https://app.calendarhero.com/settings/meeting

All of your meeting types will be listed to offer an easy overview. From this page you can also quickly:

  • Edit: Click "Edit" next to each type to customize the meeting settings
  • Open PSL: Click the link to open your (PSL) personal scheduling link for any meeting type by clicking on the link

From the "..." menu you can perform these actions:

  • Schedule: Launch the web scheduler to schedule a meeting using this meeting type
  • Copy Link: Copy your (PSL) personal scheduling link for any meeting type. This is the public link you will share so others can access your associated scheduling page. 
  • Add to Website: Quickly grab an embed code to add your self scheduling page to your website. Learn More
  • Duplicate: Easily create a copy of an existing meeting type and then further customize as needed.
  • Delete: Delete your meeting type. Note: This cannot be undone
  • Pin / Un-Pin: Pin up to three (3) meeting types to the top of the meeting type list and to the Dashboard (https://app.calendarhero.com/meetings) for easy access. 

Editing

The "edit" view will allow you to edit any of the pre-configured options. These options are grouped into six (6) main sections; Name & Link, Availability, Location & Conferencing, Invitee Experience, Add to my Website, and Collect Payments.

See "Adding a Custom Meeting Type" below for more information on each setting available.

 

 

Add a New Custom Meeting Type


All Professional and Team plan users can create unlimited custom meeting types!

  1. To create a new custom meeting type go to Settings Meeting Types
  2. Click the "+ New Meeting Type" button and select the Type:
    1. Meeting: Calendar availability is used for scheduling. Invite invitees to a meeting, or allow invitees to self-schedule a meeting based on my (or my teams / shared) availability. Use this style for scheduling both 1:1 or group meetings.
    2. Group Class: Allow multiple attendees to sign up for the same group class or event. Requires class time(s) to be pre-selected. Use this style for webinars or group classes. Learn More
  3. To save your new meeting type you will first need to give your meeting type a label. This label cannot be edited once created. 
  4. Once you have entered a custom label for your meeting type you will be able to customize the settings for your new meeting type. See the next section for an overview of all settings.


You can also duplicate an existing meeting type  by selecting "Duplicate" from the "..." menu in your Meeting Types List. Duplicating allows you to easily create a copy of an existing meeting type and then further customize as needed.

Tip! If you are a Calendly user you can quickly get started by importing your existing event types - learn more.


BASIC (FREE) PLAN LIMITATIONS

Basic users cannot create new custom meeting types. To create a custom meeting type please upgrade to a Professional or Team plan. 
  • Users who are downgraded to Basic (either automatically or manually) will loose access to custom meeting types.
  • Basic users can view and edit their previously created meeting types, but will not be able to use them until they upgrade. 
  • Personal scheduling links on the Basic plan are limited to one (1).


Customizing a Meeting Type


Each custom Meeting type has powerful configuration options grouped within six (6) main sections. Simply click a section to customize. 

Name & Link

Below is an overview of the main meeting type details including name and scheduling link:

  • Meeting Type Name - Give your meeting type a name. Once saved this can't be edited so please choose wisely. 
  • Default Meeting Title - Enter a default title to automatically use for any associated.  This title will also appear on the meeting invites, scheduling page and calendar once the meeting is scheduled. Custom variables can be added for conditional information. Learn More
  • Personal Scheduling link - Your Personal Scheduling link is a public URL that you can share with anyone to easily book a meeting with you! Add this self scheduling option to an email, share it via SMS or chat, or integrate it with your web lead forms. 
  • Information on how to reference the meeting type from chat - Follow these instructions if you are scheduling meetings using a chat platform such as Slack or MSTeams. 


Availability

Below is an overview of the availability settings for each "Meeting" type. Since CalendarHero always syncs with your real-time calendar availability these settings are always layered on top of your real-time free availability. NOTE: Group Class meeting types use a pre-selected time so have "Booking Details" instead. 

  • My Booking Calendar - Customize your booking calendar per meeting type - to automatically book meetings in a preferred calendar. Learn More
  • Duration - How long will this meeting type last? For example if your sales demos are typically 30 mins you can set it here for easy automation. 
  • Start Time - Customize the display of available start times offered to your invitees. Start time determines how often the time slots appear on the Meeting Acceptance page (which is where your invitees select a time to meet with you). Learn More
  • Availability Window - The Availability Window is a powerful feature that gives you control over the days and times / time ranges each meeting type can be scheduled. Learn More
  • Date Range - Limit the default date range offered to your invitees. For example if "3 weeks" is set, invitees will only be shown the next 3 weeks of your calendar availability - and will not be able to book a time past that date range. Learn More
  • Lead Time - Ensure that you are never caught off guard with a last minute meeting! Lead time is the minimum amount of time before a meeting can be scheduled. Learn More
  • Priority - Allow associated meetings to be scheduled over existing internal meetings. This feature is purposely designed to consider internal meetings as free time. Useful for prioritizing meetings with customers. Learn More
  • Prevent Holiday Scheduling - Automatically prevent meetings from being scheduled on statutory holidays. Learn More
  • Buffer Times - Specify buffer time to automatically ensure there is free time available before and/or after the scheduled meeting. Learn More
  • Shared Availability - Shared Availability settings allow users to customize their availability settings for even greater flexibility and control when working with colleagues or collaborators. Learn More

    • Off: When Shared availability is set to off then only the meeting creators availability will be used on the Meeting acceptance page (where your invitees select time). This is the default for all Professional and Basic users. 
    • External On-Behalf - easily substitute the availability of another invitee, who is NOT a member in your organization. For example an external recruiter scheduling on-behalf of a hiring manager who is not using CalendarHero. Learn More
    • On-Behalf - easily substitute another member's availability instead of yours. When the meeting is booked, the meeting ownership is transferred to that member and added only to their calendar. Learn More
    • Collective Availability - uses the overlapping availability of all internal CalendarHero users invited to the group meeting. External attendees will only be able to select from times that all internal invitees are mutually available. Learn More
    • Round Robin - allows you to distribute meetings between members in your organization. Meeting invitees will be able to select a time with any available team member. Learn More

Booking Details 

Below is an overview of the Booking Detail settings for each "Group Class" Meeting type. This section will only appear for Group Class. 

  • My Booking Calendar - Customize your booking calendar per meeting type - to automatically book meetings in a preferred calendar. Learn More
  • Duration - How long will this meeting type last? For example if your sales demos are typically 30 mins you can set it here for easy automation. 
  • Max Attendees - Limit the number of attendees that can join this event. Once the limit has been reached new attendees will be prevented from signing up. Learn More

Location & Conferencing

Below is an overview of the location related settings for each meeting type:

  • Location / Phone Number - Enter the on-site location where the meeting will occur, or phone number where you want to connect. 
    • You can select whether you allow your invitees to customize this.
  • Allow invitee to add / edit location - Select this option if you want to allow your invitees to enter a different location. For example if your setting up interviews and want the candidate to enter their phone number so you can call them, or if you are setting up a coffee meeting with a colleague and want them to suggest their favourite local coffee shop. You can even include an initial location, but allow your invitee to override it. This option is off by default. 
  • Room - A meeting room with the required capacity will be automatically booked when the meeting is scheduled. This option will only appear for users on the Team plan who have added a room provider. Learn More
  • Video Conference Provider  - Connect your favourite video conference provider such as CalendarHero or Webex for seamless scheduling of video conferences. Learn More

 


Invitee Experience

Below is an overview of the Invitee Experience settings for each meeting type:

  • Invitee Language - The meeting acceptance page (which is where your invitees select a time) is currently available in six (6) supported languages. To force a specific language for a meeting type select it from the dropdown list. To automatically use each invitees preferred language (as set in their web browser) select "Respect Browser Language. Learn More
  • Invitee Guests - Allow any invitee to easily invite guests to a meeting. This will enable an 'Add Guests' option on the scheduling link landing page. Learn More
  • Meeting Instructions - Easily add meeting instructions to your Meeting Selection page and the Personal Scheduling link form. This is useful for adding a brief bio or to clarify the purpose of the meeting. Meeting instructions now includes a rich-text editor for adding styling options such as bold, italic or bullets. Learn More
  • Confirmation UX: By default, CalendarHero displays a confirmation message after your invitee schedules a 1:1 event. Select "Redirect to Custom URL" to automatically redirect invitees to an external website - such as your own thank-you page. Learn More
  • Invitee Questions - Quickly and easily collect additional information from invitees when scheduling a meeting. Learn More
  • Google Analytics Tracking - Add Google Analytics tracking to your invitee scheduling flow to track events and measure conversions. Learn More

 

Collect Payments

Easily collect credit card payments using Stripe when an invitee self-schedules time with you using your personal scheduling link or self-scheduling embed. Payment is fully secure and powered by Stripe. Learn more about Payment Collection

  • Off / On: Enable payment collection from the "Collect Payments" section of any Meeting Type by selecting "On - Collect payments with Stripe". If at anytime you want to stop collecting payments for this meeting type simply toggle the setting to "Off".
  • Amount to Collect: Enter the amount you want to collect for the meeting and select the currency of your choice. Your currency options will automatically be populated based on your Stripe account settings. 
  • Automatic Refunds: Select this option if you would like to automatically initiate a refund when the meeting is cancelled by the meeting creator. Refunds are ONLY automatically issued when the meeting creator cancels the meeting by clicking "Cancel" on the related Task card. When a refund is issued CalendarHero will let the meeting creator know via a notification on their preferred channel. Refund information will also appear on the Task card for the meeting. Learn More
  • Payment Terms: Enter optional payment term text that will display for your customers / invitees. The rich text editors makes it easy to style and add links to external information. 

Save all your changes!

Don't forget - Once you're done any updates click SAVE to apply your changes!


Out-of-the Box Meeting Types 


The following meetings are currently available out of the box - meaning they are pre-set up for all CalendarHero users. You can customize any out-of-the box meeting types to personalize your scheduling automation - see "Customizing a Meeting Type" below. Custom Types can also be added for Professional or Team plan users. If you are currently on Basic, we highly recommend you upgrade in order to create your own custom meeting types and unlock the power of CalendarHero. 

Note: Legacy users may also have  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Drinks. New users registering after April 20, 2020 however will not see these types, and only those listed below

  • Default Meeting 
    • This is the default meeting type if a different one is not selected during meeting creation
  • Call
    • Easily customize this meeting type for all your call based meetings. 
  • Video
    • Customize this meeting type for your frequent video conference based meetings. 
    • CalendarHero attempts to automatically add a video provider for you based on the authorization you provided (Google or MS O365). You can easily add your favourite video provider as well. 
    • This meeting type is not available to Basic users. 
  • Coffee
    • Customize this for those informal meetings; such as coffee meetings (or virtual coffee meetings) with your co-workers!

What does "learned" mean? (hint... it's A.I. :)

For the out-of-the box meeting types "Learned" appears as an option under availability settings. "Learned" means that your assistant will use your data to learn your preferences. This is part of the AI component of your automated assistant.  For example if you like your coffee meetings to be limited to 30min, occur between 2:00-4:00pm at your favourite corner coffee shop, your assistant will learn your habits and update your meeting settings accordingly. You can also easily pre-configure these settings so your assistant can set up your meetings in a snap!

  • The defaults for your meeting types are based on what your assistant has learned from your calendar, to change these at any time click here https://app.calendarhero.com/settings/meeting.
  • If you would like to change what the assistant learns, all you need to do is uncheck the "learned" box and manually teach your assistant what your preference is.

 

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