How to connect Google Calendar to SAS Flex

In order for SAS to work with your Google Calendar, you will need to connect your calendar to the web portal and set it up so that we are able to schedule appointments the way you would like. Configuring Google Calendar in the web portal is easy!

If you plan on using the Google Calendar mobile app to schedule appointments on your end, you'll want to ensure your app is updated to the latest version.

In this article we'll discuss:

Connect Your Calendar to the SAS Flex Google Calendar App
Configure Calendar Settings
Integrate Your Calendar

Connecting Your Calendar

Within SAS Flex, click on the Integrations button from the left navigation panel, and then click the Install button next to the Google Calendar app.

On the next screen, click the Connect button.

In the pop-up, you'll need to first select the account you wish to connect. Then, click Allow on the next window.

After you've successfully linked SAS to your Google Calendar, you will see the calendar(s) associated with your Google account.

To edit the calendar(s) for scheduling, either click directly on the name of the calendar layer, or click the 3-dot menu icon next to the associated layer and select Edit.

Configure Calendar Settings

Now that your calendar is connected, you'll need to tell the app how to book appointments for you by completing each section listed below:

Appointments Per Day, Frequency, and Earliest
Event Color
HIPAA Enabled (if applicable)
Canceling and Rescheduling (optional)
First Available
Business Hours and Appointment Availability
Appointment Notifications (optional)
Appointment Data Fields
Services (optional)
Appointment Email (optional)
Advanced (optional)

Appointments Per Day, Frequency, and Earliest

Under the General tab, you will need to adjust 3 different Settings for each calendar that you would like the operators to use:

Max Appointments Per Day: How many appointments we can schedule per day

Duration: The duration of each appointment

Earliest: When we can schedule your first appointment – Same Day, Next Day, After 2 Days, etc.

If you schedule appointments for yourself, keep in mind that if you overlap your appointment Duration, the next available time slot will be gone from the operators’ view. For example, if your appointment frequency is 30 minutes and you schedule an appointment at 1 pm for 45 minutes, the next available appointment the operators will see is 2 pm.

Event Color

If you would like, select an Event Color to color-code the appointments our operators schedule for you so that you can differentiate them from appointments you schedule on your own.

HIPAA Enabled

If your business is HIPAA compliant, you must select HIPAA Enabled. This prevents the operators from looking at the details of any appointments that have already been scheduled, including those that you schedule. Therefore, operators are not able to cancel or reschedule appointments for your patients, as this would give them access to patient information.

Canceling and Rescheduling

Cancel Appointments: If you would like to give operators the ability to cancel appointments, check Cancel Appointments. Keep in mind that once an appointment is canceled, it is deleted from the calendar, and there will be no record of it. Therefore, use this feature with caution.

Reschedule Appointments: If you would like to give operators the ability to reschedule existing appointments (and cancel the original appointment), check Reschedule Appointments.

First Available

Selecting this feature will include a button for the operators that, when clicked, will immediately go to the first available appointment.

Business Hours and Appointment Availability

Set your Business Hours. These are the hours that the operators will be able to schedule your appointments. First, you'll need to add your Business Hours.

IMPORTANT TIPS FOR ADJUSTING YOUR AVAILABILITY

If you need to block out certain dates and times on days when our operators would normally be able to schedule appointments, you'll need to log in to your Google or Gmail account, and block dates and times directly on your calendar(s).
Appointments blocked by someone with Shared access to your calendar will not appear as blocked to our operators. Dates and times must be blocked on the primary user's calendar(s).
Note that if you would like to block a full day, you will need to block the day by hour. For example, set an appointment that lasts from 8 AM to 5 PM. Do not use the box "All day," as the Google Calendar app does not recognize dates that have been blocked using this option.

Google Calendar Appointment Notifications

Would you like to receive reminders for appointments that our operators schedule? If so, you can opt to receive Notifications by email or pop-up a specific amount of time prior to the appointment. This feature will only be active when you're logged in to your Google or Gmail account.

Be sure to check the Settings in your actual Google Calendar to ensure that Notifications are turned on.

If you would like a reminder, go to the Notifications tab and click the Add Notification button.

Then, select a Notification Style along with the reminder time Value and Increment. You can choose Minutes, Hours, Days or Weeks. These reminders are controlled by Google and sent out from the Google Calendar system. If you are logged in to Google, you will receive an email in your Google Email, and a Pop-up will show an alert on-screen.

Adding Appointment Data Fields

Now, you'll need to tell the system which script variables to include in your appointments.

Within the Appointment Data tab, add the variables you want displayed in your appointments, including the Name, Location and Description. Each script path will have custom block labels and default collectors, such as {{first_name}}, {{main_phone_number}}, etc. Visit the call script builder to determine which script variables match the appointment scheduling path.

If you are manually typing in the fields, make sure you are using the correct format, as shown above. You can also use the Select Field drop down to find the fields you want pushed through. Once you select a field, it will automatically show up in the next box over, in the correct format. Simply copy and paste the "merge field" into the appointment data.

Services

Adding Services to your Google Calendar integration gives you the ability to list multiple services, each with a distinct duration, price and color. To get started, click the Services tab along the top navigation panel.

Use the Activate Services toggle, and then click Add to begin adding your services.

Each service requires a Name, Appointment Time (duration), and a Price. If you'd like, you can also assign each service its own color, which will display on your Google Calendar.

While there is no limit to the number of services you can add with this feature, keep in mind that the more you enter, the longer it will take for the operators to locate the correct service in their calendar view.

Appointment Emails

When we schedule, reschedule or cancel appointments for your callers, you have the option of sending them a confirmation email as long as we have asked for their email address in your call script. To get started, click on the Appointment Email tab along the top navigation panel.

Use the Activate Appointment Email toggle, and then click Add to begin adding your services.

Next choose your Sender Name and Sender Email by selecting an Outbound Mailbox. This is what the system will display in the recipient's email inbox.

Select when you want our agents to send a confirmation email to your callers. Then choose between a Custom or Default email template.

If you decide to create a custom template, use the Select Field and Copy Merge Field tools to help copy the applicable script variables into the template.

Advanced

For further instructions on how to configure advanced settings within your Google Calendar, check out this article.

After you've adjusted all of your calendar settings, click the blue Save button located in the bottom left corner of the page. Then, click the 3-dot menu icon next to the layer you've just edited, and select Enable.

Integrating Your Calendar

Now it’s time to integrate Google Calendar into your script.

In your Google Calendar script block, go to the Options tab. Then, from the Google Calendar Layer drop down, select your configuration.

3. When you are done, click Save in the upper right corner.

If you were simply editing a script block that was already added to a script, you’re all set! If not, you’ll need to create the rest of your script blocks (if applicable), your script sections, and your script. Check out these articles for instructions:

If you've disconnected and reconnected your configuration at any point, you'll need to re-integrate it into your script.