Doodle is great when you need to coordinate dates among a group and don't want to send a bunch of group emails or texts. It allows a number of dates to be proposed and the group can easily see those dates that are most preferred. If you need to do something more complex than that it may not be your tool.
I've tried some of the other online booking services and while there were good, they didn't have all of the features that Zoho Bookings does and since I'm already a Zoho One subscriber, it doesn't cost me anything more. I think virtually any type of business can use Bookings as it's not geared to a specific industry but can be customized for use in any type of industry. I would love to see salons use it as I think it can be truly a way for them to better book clients than using a paper calendar which I see many using. I also think massage therapists would also benefit but using Bookings. If you are a solopreneur or have a sales team, there's no way you can't benefit by using Bookings for your phone appointments, Zoom/Video meetings, or in-person meetings. There is also a resource function which allows you to block out conference rooms and other resources.
Doodle allows you to view multiple meeting times simultaneously. I may never have 100% of my team available, but I can see that I have three other options with 90% availability.
Doodle is a free resource that doesn't require users to create an account or exist in a network. I simply send the link and see the responses.
Doodle notifies you as people respond, making the scheduling process quick and easy. Also, you can confirm a time through the software!
I wish that it offered more options in backgrounds, characters and props without having an additional cost, but that is to be expected.
I would like an easier way to add my own fonts, characters , props etc, because I am a new learner this may not be an issue as I get more familiar with the software.
I don't like all the sales emails I received trying to upgrade or add to my purchase.
It still needs more robust features and customization, like workflows and such. I'm confident they'll continue improving it, but some particular customization settings aren't available, in terms of triggers, content, look and feel, but it is mostly very detailed and particular. If you're ok with adapting to it, it is an excellent tool.
Some of the integrations and features are harder to set up. Once everything is set up its fairly straightforward, but if like ATI you have multiple branches or departments utilizing Bookings, you would need to set up separate booking sites for each office/salesperson
Doodle has customer service support available as needed, but honestly, it is so easy to use that I have rarely had to seek support. They are always a click away and responsive to resolving any need or to clarify the next best step to using Doodle to meet my needs.
A lot of things are not great as this is a new tool, but they fix it relatively quickly. They don't have a direct phone number, but Zoho support has good service overall
For the same reasons noted previously, Doodle allows for the organizer to ultimately select/accept the time that works for them. Many competitors only allow you to show available times and the appointment goes directly into the organizer's calendar. I typically prefer to have a bit more control over that. Also, visually Doodle is more intuitive in how you schedule appointments than Calendly. I think Calendly tries to get a bit too cute with their interface instead of sticking to a more standard, familiar calendar interface when setting an appointment.
I found the integration with the two above is great if you're a Google Calendar user which we are not. While with Zoho Calendar we can have two way integration with Google Calendar there wasn't a need to do so. With Zoho Bookings which also integrates with Google Calendar we didn't have to worry about that as the integration with our Zoho Calendar was virtually automatic. There was also the cost consideration as the two above have a free version it was limited and didn't have all the bells and whistles we needed. Zoho Bookings provide us with everything from a single sign-on web browser and mobile app
Improved efficiency by avoiding the slow and inefficient process of emailing back and forth to set meeting dates and times.
Allows for more informed decisions regarding meetings or making decisions, as all options can be laid out visually in a way that isn't possible in an email.
