December Newsletter & Annual Round-up – Saying Thank you and Goodbye 2020

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Phew! We made it to the end of the year!

If you can join us in this sigh of utter relief, then well done! 2020 has been a strange, challenging, and enlightening year of terrible losses, technological developments, and unbelievable strength. Much as we like the positives that emerged from this bizarre year, many of us are ready to say “so long and Goodbye 2020!”

Before I get to round up the significant developments of 2020, let’s have a look at what December and SimplyBook.me brought you, just in time for Christmas and the upcoming and hopeful renewal of 2021.

Hot Stuff for December

Firstly, because it’s December: 

“Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!”

Along with our major release this month (you know I’m talking about the client app), we also have some updates to the gift cards feature, the Enterprise system, and some enhancements that will improve the way you experience the scheduling software.

So, have you heard about our new Client Mobile App?

Yes, our latest development and release is a mobile device app for your clients. Without any of the fuss that would usually go into creating an app for your clients, you can have one in just a few clicks on your dashboard. We’ve done all the complicated stuff!

In support of the client app and the push notifications you can send within it, we also have a notification report that you can monitor to see who is receiving, reading and clicking them. In much the same way as you would monitor emails sent. Every account has 300 push notifications as standard, but there is the option to purchase extras in bundles of 100 and 500.

If you want to know more, we have videos and articles that we released earlier this week—all the information you need to implement your dedicated business app and videos to help your app-using clients.

Gift Card Designs & Added Features

Just in time for the holidays and what some would call the “primary gifting period”, we updated our gift card designs and added them to the list of options available when you want to issue them. Additionally, the designs are also available business card sizes, so you can hand them out at promotional events or keep them handy for your customers.

System & Feature Enhancements

This month has seen bug fixes and feature improvements for the better experience of you and your clients.

The Group Booking feature has seen an improvement to the method of cancelling and rescheduling the whole booking. Rather than individually cancelling the bookings one by one, you can alter the booking in its entirety.

Recurring Bookings had had a small bug fixed in that when someone reschedules the booking, it is now also possible to maintain the recurrence schedule.

Buffer Time Users will now find that the system no longer classifies this as working or service time. This makes things easier to calculate working time while also maintaining adequate buffers between appointments.

Additional support features for PayPal Plus users in Mexico and Brazil have enhanced their online payment system options.

And the Ticketing Feature has been the recipient of an upgrade too. Now, you can add extra information fields to your tickets. It is also possible to create a custom code that allows for different ticket information with the same code.

Before we say Goodbye 2020…

Before we say Goodbye 2020, and all of the awfulness you brought with you, it is nice to look back on the great things we achieved. While has been a horrible year for many, we have maintained a growth outlook, and made great strides in creating tools and solutions for businesses wanting to keep working through the lockdowns and increased safety measures. More than anyone, the medical profession has needed a way to test, treat, and diagnose patients safely throughout the year. A robust and customisable scheduling system had been essential.

Here are some of our most significant releases and updates from 2020

Launching & Growing the Enterprise Solution

In August we released the Enterprise Cluster solution for large and growing businesses. Since then, we have had many users transferring their businesses to the cluster solution for several reasons. The main reasons are so they can have their servers based locally and ease multiple location management. But we didn’t settle for launching the new system; we also made some significant updates and additions to the enterprise solution. 

Coming soon is developing the API interface specifically for the cluster solution to enhance reporting and integration with existing internal systems.

Mobile Admin App

Our Mobile Admin App’s release was a huge hit with our users because it made getting regular updates easier. Managing bookings and clients lists from a mobile app made regular access to a computer unnecessary, which is essential when you are on the go all day. Moreover, each staff member could have access to the mobile app with their assigned user access. It enables admin and staff members to manage their business schedules and booking time easily and with a minimum of fuss.

Related Resources

There was always the option to manage the limitations of bookings with the Limit Bookings feature. However, the Related Resources feature has allowed our clients to forego manual set up of specific restrictions and lets the system allocate available bookings by a predefined number of available resources – not merely whether there was a service provider free.

Issuing Tickets

Ideal for any multi-attendance event, class or service, the ticketing system was already in development when the pandemic crisis began. Managing the number of people who safely attend an event through capacity restrictions, and validating a ticket at the doorway, is made easy when you can use the Mobile Admin app to scan ticket codes and mobile phone screens.

Our ticketing feature was almost ready for release when it became necessary to restrict contact and access to places that didn’t need it before. Consequently, shopping and retail businesses found the ticket system most useful. 

Client Fields

You don’t always want to ask the same questions repeatedly when you ask your clients to complete information on confirming their booking, so we introduced Client Fields. Client fields work in a similar way to intake forms. However, instead of reiterating for each appointment, client fields stay attached to the client information, which you can reference at any time when your client books with you.

Line Pay Integration

For the Asian markets, line messenger is a massive part of business communication, and integration with Line was just right for you and us. While we already had integration with Line Messenger, Line Pay integration made so much sense, when so many people in the region use it. It is also possible to pay through our Line bot (similar to the FB Messenger bot).

Online Meetings Expansion

We already had Gruveo, but this year brought the online video meeting option with MS Teams. The beauty to the MS teams integration with our scheduling system was that users could access the video call directly from your booking page without acquiring a separate video calling software. 

So long, Farewell, and Good Riddance! 

It is with extreme glee and satisfaction that we celebrate and say goodbye 2020! Moreover, we look forward to what 2021 has in store for us, for you, and SimplyBook.me – we have exciting plans.

However, much as 2020 has been a dreadful time to live through, there have been upsides and benefits. Some people have discovered new business models, while others have embraced whole new directions for their company. 

Many people have learned how underrated kindness to others and ourselves have been, and in some cases, 2020 provided the means to rediscover it.

I wouldn’t want to do it again, but there is always a touch of hope and a chance to make things work even in the tough times. And sometimes, the challenging part just shows you the way forward. 

Good Luck for 2021…and stay in touch for the exciting plans we have into the next 12 months.

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