Integrating Business Tools with SimplyBook.me

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We all have our favourite business management tools. We all have things that work best for us. Part of our decision-making process when deciding on a new product is how well it will integrate with our existing products. We don’t want to shake up our entire system to make one new product work for us, so we go for another that will work with our current set-up. Integrating business tools to your own specifications is crucial, no matter what your business.

Sometimes, it can be good to rework our organisation to make things work more smoothly. However, on the whole, business tools are there to make life easier and business more organised. They aren’t there to create more work for us.

SimplyBook.me is one of those business tools. Part of our vision here is to make SimplyBook.me the best scheduling and business management system available to you AND to make it work in tandem with your other business tools.

Why Integrate External Business Tools?

As hard as any software company works to be everything to their clients, everyone has different needs, preferences and requirements. It will never happen. 

To effectively manage your business, you need the best tools to work with your scheduling system.

So how can we make it easier to integrate SimplyBook.me with your other favourites? 

There are two ways that SimplyBook.me can integrate with some of the most popular business software tools, direct native integration and third-party integration.

Direct and Native Integration Tools

Our direct integrations are with some of the most globally popular software solutions, such as the most prominent social media giants, video calling software, website builders and much more. There is a reason these names are so well-known and loved; it’s because they do an excellent job, and people love them.

Google (so much than search and ads)

Another big name that has a significant integration position in our partnerships is Google. More than just a search engine, Google is an email platform, advertiser, analyser, tag manager, and more.

Google is part of the Calendar Synchronisation feature on SimplyBook.me, but there is also the option to create GoogleMeet appointments with it.

The Google Business and Reserve functions(in qualifying countries) are crucial for getting businesses seen on search results pages. The Google Tag Manager (GTM) also facilitates analytics and tracking, including the Facebook Pixel for retargeting and Facebook Messenger on your booking page for easy contact with clients.

And we can’t forget integration with Google Adwords and Analytics to ensure your marketing game is in tiptop shape. 

Facebook (& Instagram)

Social media is one of the most important business marketing tools. So the biggest social media giant in the world had to have a place in our native integrations. Combining it with Instagram and visual engagement makes for an excellent integration of two massive social media channels.

SimplyBook.me integration with Facebook and Instagram is more than linking your booking system with social channels. However, that is a significant benefit.

Both Facebook and Instagram benefit from the placement of direct “book now” CTA buttons on both profile pages and posts, making it easy for clients to see an ad and go straight to the booking site. Additionally, linkage with Facebook enables you to allow clients to log in with their Facebook profiles. Moreover, you can also use the Facebook tracking Pixel to analyse visitors to your website and FB pages.

Instagram makes it easy to share your memorable moments on your public business profile and automatically share them with a gallery on your SimplyBook.me website. Time saved by not having to upload images to two separate systems.

Microsoft

Everyone knows Microsoft, and as one of the biggest names in computer technology, our integrations wouldn’t be complete without it. 

Our initial integration with MS was merely a part of the Calendar Sync feature and synchronising with Outlook web calendars. However, in the last year, we have implemented integration with both MS Azure and MS Teams.

MS Azure allow you to set up a Single Sign-On (SSO) process for you as the system admin and your account users enabling login to SimplyBook.me system. On the first login, you can create users in MS Azure with the desired access levels and add the corresponding user types in your SimplyBook.me system.

MS Teams integration with SimplyBook.me has enabled numerous companies to implement video meetings and conferencing directly from the booking page. 

WordPress & Joomla for Websites

Website integration for SimplyBook.me is a crucial business integration for many established companies implementing online self-booking. One of the most prominent website builders is WordPress. There’s native integration available for WordPress and Joomla, enabling you to integrate your booking pages with your existing website. 

However, even if you don’t have either of those types of sites, there are widget integrations for GoDaddy, SITE123, Wix and more.

PayPal, Stripe (& dozens more payment providers)

When you have a booking system and business that requires the processing of payments, you need to know that you have a stable integration with your preferred payment processors. It’s practically impossible for us to have integration with every single payment processor in the world; we are proud of the breadth of payment processors that cater to countries all over the world. 

Our list of integrated payment gateways continues to expand as we develop in different markets where a specific payment processor is preferred. If the one that works best for you isn’t on our list, please get in touch with us, you might not be the only company requesting it, and it might even be in development.

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Third-Party Integration (one-way communication)

Every software developer can’t have native integration with every other popular business tool. It just wouldn’t work. However, third-party companies such as Zapier have come a long way in facilitating communication between business tools. Leading to better functioning of their organisations.

Now, most people have heard of Zapier, but other options include Integrately, IFTTT, and Outfunnel. You can find a pretty good overview of the best Zapier alternatives here.

These third-party facilitators make finding compatible software much easier. Moreover, you don’t have to ensure there is native integration before implementing a new tool. However, it’s always a good idea to ensure the software combinations you choose also have the right triggers and actions before making a definitive choice.

For our clients, using Zapier or an alternative for integrating business tools to their SimplyBook.me system means they have the freedom to explore some of the most prominent and best software options on the market. And that’s without waiting for a defined collaboration or partnership.

In some cases, such as customer relationship management and email service providers, there are too many options. In these cases, it would be impossible for a company to include custom integration code for every single one. 

Video Calling

Since so many companies adopted either an entirely online or hybrid business model, video calling and conferencing has become essential. It used to be that people made an appointment for a physical visit. However, it is nearly as common now to make a dedicated appointment for a virtual meeting. 

We have the MS Teams integration mentioned above that is native. It is possible to integrate Google Meet appointment booking through the Calendar Sync integrations with Google. Then you can use Zapier to integrate with Zoom.

Alternatively, there is also Gruveo, which is neither natively integrated nor connected via Zapier. If you sign up for a Gruveo account and link it to SimplyBook.me, you can create one-time call rooms for each appointment. You can read more about that here.

Confidently Integrating Business Tools

One that is important to us as SimplyBook.me is always your data security – we do tend to go on about it. It is so vital that you can always rely on the reliability and integrity of the data from your SimplyBook.me system.

When we integrate with a new partner, we always have this key factor in our thoughts. 

One of the reasons we only enable one-way integrations via third-party apps is to protect your SimplyBook.me data integrity.

With this in mind, you can always trust that we have done as much as possible to ensure your information and data stay secure, even when we’re sharing it with your other accounts.