Interesting uses for the Virtual Appointments App in Microsoft Teams

[Guest MarkLitwin]

Virtual appointments have become increasingly popular, and with the rise of the hybrid workplace, they have become an essential tool for every organization. In this post, we will explore some unique and interesting ways to use the Virtual Appointments app in Microsoft Teams that you may not have considered before. There are endless possibilities for how Virtual Appointments can modernize your organization, limited only by your imagination.

 

 

 

Interactive Sessions with your Service Desk

 

 

Calling into a service desk is often a frustrating experience for users. Some would rather live with a broken system and hope it eventually fixes itself rather than trying to get help. With On-Demand Virtual Appointments, you can transform the experience of a user calling faceless person in a queue to a rich interactive session with easy video and screen sharing to expedite the resolution of almost any issue.

 

 

 

To set this up, create a new appointments page. Also create a new appointment type and select “on-demand” then enter a title.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set the business hours to manage when people can join the virtual queue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then publish the appointment page to your internal users

 

 

 

 

 

 

The booking page will now allow employees to easily join the queue for an on-demand session.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When someone joins the on-demand session, staff will receive a notification and they can join the session from the Virtual Appointments Queue.

 

 

 

 

On-Demand queue requires a Teams Premium license for anyone fielding the calls.

 

 

 

Virtual Office Hours / 1:1s

 

 

One of the changes with hybrid work is how we stay connected. Gone are the days of having an impromptu hallway or lunchroom conversation with leadership and executives.

 

 

 

Virtual appointments in Teams can help solve this problem by providing a way for everyone to stay connected without employees feeling intimidated by sending calendar invites to executives or working through an administrative assistant.

 

 

 

To facilitate these types of meetings, simply set up a Virtual Appointment calendar for the executive to host their virtual office hours.

 

 

 

Scope the calendar to the specific day and time they would like to host the meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When an employee opens the booking site to request a meeting, they will automatically be directed to the next available time slot.

 

 

 

 

Recruiting

 

 

Virtual Appointments in Teams can help streamline the recruitment process in an organization. As part of the initial screening process, recruiters can set up a Book with Me page to easily allow candidates to schedule an initial screening call.

 

 

 

As a candidates moves through interview process, the scheduling team can create a Virtual Appointments calendar for everyone in the hiring team. This will allow the scheduler to quickly see the availability of the interviewers and schedule interviews with minimal hassle. Candidates will receive an email with the meeting details and SMS reminders are available with Teams Premium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

 

The possibilities for using the Virtual Appointments app in Teams are endless. Whether you are looking to streamline communication and scheduling across your organization or simply want to make it easier for employees to connect with one another, Virtual Appointments can help. With its flexible scheduling options and easy-to-use interface, Virtual Appointments is a powerful tool that can help you achieve your goals and stay connected with your team.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

Mark Litwin LinkedIn

 

 

 

 

References

 

• Use the Virtual Appointments app in Microsoft Teams
  
• Microsoft BookwithMe (Bookings)
  

 

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