The link
Something you can read down the phone
Not an id nobody can say out loud. It goes on the van, in the invoice footer, in the email signature, in the Google listing.
And claiming a handle never breaks the link you already had. Anything already printed keeps working permanently — the readable version is an addition, not a replacement. Nobody should have to reprint a van.
Your handle
/book/boiler-and-heating-care
Already on 400 invoices
/book/7f2c41ab-7e6d-05c8-b39a
still works, permanently
A stranger in your diary
How much are you actually agreeing to?
Most booking software treats that as a toggle. Here it's three settings that stack, an override per service, and one rule that overrides all of them.
Off
No online booking
The link doesn't take bookings. Some firms want the phone, and that's a legitimate answer.
Request
They ask, you decide
You see it first and say yes or no. Nothing enters the diary until you've agreed to it.
Instant
Straight into the diary
And a real confirmation immediately — not “we'll be in touch”, which is the same as a missed call.
Then an override per service
“Gas safety checks are routine, book those straight in; anything else, ask me first” is exactly how a real firm thinks — and so is the reverse.
One rule that overrides everything
A tenant is never booked in automatically.
Whatever the settings say. Somebody arranging access to a property they don't own isn't making the same decision as the person who pays the bill — and the person who owns that relationship should see it before it's agreed. That's a judgement about how the trade works, not a limitation.
What the customer never learns
The booking page never tells them which engineer a slot belongs to. It can't — the reference their browser holds is opaque, and the engineer travels inside it, sealed.
Your diary is not the customer's business. Without this, anyone holding a booking link could sit and map out exactly who in your firm is free, and when.
It's sealed rather than merely hidden so the browser can't quietly swap the engineer for a different one. Booking an unavailable slot was never possible — availability is re-checked from scratch at the moment of confirming — but “the customer silently chooses who turns up” isn't a behaviour worth leaving lying around.
What their browser actually holds
slot=eyJhbGciOiJz9.dGltZTA5MzA
.c8b39a1f4e82d7c6039b5ae1d84
Five states
States that don't lie to anyone
Both sides see the same one. Two of the distinctions carry the whole thing.
- requested
The customer asked. Nobody has said yes yet.
- confirmed
You agreed, and put someone on it.
- declined
You said no.
- cancelled
It was agreed, then called off.
- completed
It happened.
Requested is not confirmed
A customer who has asked must never be shown “Scheduled”. Telling someone they're booked in when nobody has agreed is how a person takes a morning off work for an engineer who was never coming.
Declined is not cancelled
Nothing was ever agreed, so the customer is invited to try again — a different day, a different service — rather than treated as though something fell through.
Moving it themselves
Self-service that stops where it should
A customer can reschedule or cancel their own appointment. Five rules run in order, and each one is a different kind of “no”.
The trade-off is real either way: too strict and they ring you, which is the entire friction self-booking exists to remove. Too loose and somebody cancels the job an engineer is halfway to.
- 01
It has to be theirs.
- 02
Not one that's already been done — a completed visit, or one whose report has been shared, happened.
- 03
Not one already cancelled.
- 04
Not in the past. Yesterday can't be moved.
- 05
Enough notice left. Inside your cutoff the answer is “give us a ring” — by then the day is planned, and quite possibly already being driven.
The times it offers
Nothing appears that you can't honour
Working patterns, the ticket the job requires, your service area, your notice period, how many jobs a day, and the buffers between them — all applied before a single slot reaches the page.
And the times that do appear are ordered by what the job would add to that engineer's driving, so a customer picking the first convenient slot is usually picking the one that keeps the round tight. How that works.
Setting up what you offer
Per service, because the answer differs by job
Plus a booking link you can send to one specific customer rather than publishing to the world — useful for the landlord you're happy to give the diary to and nobody else.
Confirmations and reminders go by email — see reminders — and everything the customer can see afterwards lives in the portal.
Straight answers
On what you're agreeing to.
01Can customers book me online?
Yes, from a link OnPoint hosts — no login and no app for them, nothing to install on your side. It's a link you share rather than a widget you embed in your own website.
02Do I have to accept bookings automatically?
No. Three settings: off, by request — where you see it and say yes or no before anything enters the diary — or instant, where it goes straight in and the customer gets a real confirmation.
03Can I make some jobs instant and others by request?
Yes — each service can override the general setting. Routine gas safety checks straight in, breakdowns by request, installations off until you've quoted.
04Will a tenant be booked in without me seeing it?
No, never — that rule overrides every other setting. Somebody arranging access to a property they don't own isn't making the same decision as the person who pays the bill, so it always comes to you first.
05Can customers see which engineer they're getting?
No. The reference their browser holds is opaque and the engineer travels sealed inside it — so it can't be read, and the browser can't quietly swap it for a different engineer either.
06Can they see when my engineers are free?
No — only times they can have. Your diary isn't the customer's business, and without that anyone holding a booking link could map out exactly who in your firm is free and when.
07Can customers reschedule themselves?
Yes, within limits: it has to be theirs, not already completed or shared, not already cancelled, not in the past, and with enough notice left against your cutoff.
08Can I stop them cancelling at the last minute?
Yes — you set the notice cutoff. Inside it, the answer is to give you a ring, because by then the day is planned and possibly already being driven.
09Can I have a booking link with my business name in it?
Yes — a readable handle like /book/boiler-and-heating-care, rather than an id nobody can say down the phone.
10Do my old booking links still work?
Yes, permanently. Claiming a handle adds a readable address rather than replacing the one you had, so anything already printed keeps working. Nobody should have to reprint a van.
11Can I send a booking link to one customer only?
Yes — a link for one specific customer rather than one published to the world. Nothing is collected at booking, incidentally: deposits belong to quotes, not to the booking page.
12What does it cost?
£19 for the first seat and £9 for each seat after. Online booking is on every plan — there's no higher tier. See pricing.
Set it to request and see what comes in.
14 days free, no card. Claim your handle, put one service on by request, and nothing reaches your diary until you've said yes.