Appointment-Plus Announces Top Five Reasons Why Colleges, Universities Should Add Online Scheduling

Feb. 15, 2013 - PRLog -- Appointment-Plus, the worldwide leader in online academic scheduling software solutions and creators of the scheduling industry’s most flexible and feature-rich system, continues to experience a dramatic increase in the number of universities and colleges implementing its scheduling application to automate, streamline and improve a variety of scheduling processes. This includes scheduling academic advising sessions, financial aid appointments and student-professor meetings, as well as for booking study rooms, testing centers and other on-campus facilities.

Given the benefits this technology brings to institutes of higher education, Appointment-Plus has compiled a list of the top five reasons why universities, colleges, community colleges and technical schools should adopt online scheduling software.

The top five reasons are:

1.     It enables your staff to work more efficiently and productively. As students can schedule their appointments or book rooms online, faculty and staff spends less time manually scheduling students over the phone or in-person. This frees up a significant amount of time that can be utilized more effectively.  

2.      It’s accessible from any Internet-connected device. As a cloud-based technology, online scheduling software is not confined to an individual desktop computer or network. It’s accessible in the same manner as Facebook, Amazon and Gmail, which means faculty and staff can access their appointment schedules right from their laptop, smart phone or tablet anytime, anywhere. Additionally, schools that choose Appointment-Plus can download native mobile scheduling apps for Apple and Android devices, making it even easier to schedule and manage student appointments while on the go.

3     It offers recordkeeping, reporting and analytics functionality. Online scheduling software gives faculty and staff quick access to appointment data, without having to manually manage it in a spreadsheet or paper appointment book. Additionally, the software can instantly create reports and analysis of appointment and reservation activities.  

4.      It reduces “no-shows”. Online scheduling software can be configured to automatically send an e-mail or text message reminder to students prior to their scheduled appointment or reservation, thereby reducing the likelihood of a missed appointment.  

5.      Students love it! Today’s students are connected to the Internet 24 hours a  day and are accustomed to using their smart phone, laptop or tablet for just about anything, including scheduling an appointment. Online scheduling software enables students to book their appointments or reservations when it’s most convenient for them, not just during office or department hours.

About Appointment-Plus: Launched in 2001, Appointment-Plus was the industry pioneer in online scheduling software, utilizing the software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model since its inception. Today, Appointment-Plus is the worldwide leader in mobile and online appointment scheduling software with three million appointments booked every month and nearly a billion dollars in commerce conducted annually through its system.  Its Scheduling Cloud™ API also enables larger organizations to build custom applications on the powerful Appointment-Plus engine, while its integrated Marketplace allows businesses to easily interface with Microsoft Outlook Calendar, Google Calendar, Constant Contact, QuickBooks and other popular business tools to help businesses and organizations manage their operations more effectively, productively and successfully.