Appointment Scheduling

With Appointment Scheduling enabled, the AI Assistant can check your availability and book appointments during the conversation — no manual hand-off. You can also use the free-form Open Schedule option, which lets the AI talk about timing in conversation without actually connecting to a calendar.

Getting here

In Auto-Respond, go to Sources → select a source → Messaging Settings → Conversation Setup tab → click AI Assistant at the top → expand the Appointment Scheduling panel.

Options

Enable scheduling

• Label: “Enable scheduling” (toggle)
• Default: off
• When on: the scheduling service dropdown and its fields appear. The AI can discuss availability and (for calendar integrations) book on your behalf.
• When off: the AI will not bring up scheduling or attempt to book.
• Use this when: you want the AI to carry the conversation through to an actual booking, rather than handing off once the lead is qualified.

Scheduling service

• Label: “Scheduling service” (dropdown)
• Default: (none — you must pick one when enabling)
• Options:
  • Built-in Booking — use a Calendar configured in Auto-Respond and create a scheduled CRM Job.
  • Open Schedule — no calendar connection. Free-form.
  • Cal.com
  • FieldPulse
  • GoHighLevel
  • HousecallPro

Each option and its required fields are detailed below.

Built-in Booking

Built-in Booking is Auto-Respond’s own scheduling system. Set up a CRM Calendar, then select Built-in Booking as a standalone booking option without connecting an external provider.

• Required field: Calendar.
• What happens: the AI checks the Calendar’s working hours and existing active Jobs, offers open slots, collects the fields configured on the Calendar, and creates a scheduled Job after the customer confirms.
• Use this when: you want booking and Job tracking to stay inside Auto-Respond.

If the business has no Calendar yet, click Create Calendar in the scheduling panel or go to CRM → Calendars. See Calendars for the full setup.

Open Schedule (no calendar connection)

Open Schedule is the lightweight option. There’s no actual calendar booking — you write plain-language instructions for how the AI should talk about scheduling, and it follows them in the conversation.

• Required field: a free-text instructions field describing how you handle scheduling.
• What happens: when a lead asks to book, the AI uses the instructions you provided to reply. Nothing is placed on a calendar — you’ll confirm the exact slot with the lead yourself later.
• Cost: free to use; no external account required.
• Use this when: you don’t use an online calendar, your scheduling is too custom for a calendar tool, or you just want the AI to set expectations about timing without committing to a slot.

Example instructions:

We're open Mon–Fri 8–5. Once a lead wants to book, collect their preferred
day and a 2-hour window, then tell them we'll text to confirm the exact
slot within a few hours.

Cal.com

• Required fields:
  • API Key
  • Event Type ID
  • Timezone
• What happens: the AI checks live availability for the event type you connect, proposes open slots to the lead, and creates the booking on your Cal.com calendar once the lead confirms.
• Use this when: you already use Cal.com and want the AI to book directly against a specific event type (consultation, site visit, etc.).

FieldPulse

• Required fields:
  • API Key
  • Company ID
  • Timezone
• What happens: the AI checks availability in FieldPulse and creates the appointment there.
• Use this when: you run your jobs out of FieldPulse and want new leads booked into the same system your crew already works from.

GoHighLevel

• Required fields:
  • API Key
  • Calendar ID
  • Location ID
• What happens: the AI checks availability on the specified GHL calendar under the specified location and creates the appointment there.
• Use this when: GoHighLevel is your CRM and you want new bookings on an existing GHL calendar.

HousecallPro

• Required fields:
  • API Key
  • Timezone
• What happens: the AI checks HousecallPro availability and creates the appointment in HousecallPro.
• Use this when: you dispatch jobs through HousecallPro and want new appointments on the same schedule.

Validate Connection

• Label: “Validate Connection” button (appears below the fields for any calendar integration)
• What it does: tests your credentials against the selected service. On success, confirms the connection is working. On failure, it shows the exact error returned so you can fix it.
• Use this when: always run this once after entering or changing credentials. Don’t assume saved credentials are still valid — keys expire, IDs get deleted.

Built-in Booking does not use external credentials, so there is no connection to validate for that option.

Error log

• Below the Validate Connection button, the most recent validation error is shown inline with a timestamp.
• Use this when: scheduling stops working mid-campaign. The error log is the fastest way to spot an expired key, a deleted calendar, or a revoked API token.

Which option should I pick?

• Keep appointments and Jobs inside Auto-Respond: Built-in Booking.
• No online calendar / handled manually: Open Schedule.
• Already using Cal.com for bookings: Cal.com.
• Field-service business running on FieldPulse or HousecallPro: match your existing dispatch tool.
• GoHighLevel is your CRM: GoHighLevel.

If you use a different calendar system, stick with Open Schedule — the AI will still handle the timing conversation gracefully even without a real calendar connection.

How it behaves

• Credentials are per source. Different sources can connect to different calendars if needed.
• Built-in CRM: Built-in Booking creates a Job linked to the original Lead and places it on the selected CRM Calendar.
• Confirmation to the lead: the AI reads back the chosen time once booked, so the lead knows the appointment is locked in.
• Cancellations / reschedules: the AI can handle these mid-conversation for calendar integrations that support them — it will check availability again and update the booking.

Troubleshooting

• No Calendar is available for Built-in Booking: create one under CRM → Calendars for the same business as the source.
• A Built-in Booking slot disappeared: another active Job may have reserved it, or the time may now be in the past. Choose another open slot.
• “Validate Connection” fails: check the exact error in the log. Common causes: wrong API key (typo, expired, or from the wrong environment), wrong Event Type / Calendar / Location / Company ID, or the calendar was deleted.
• AI books into the wrong calendar: confirm the IDs (Event Type ID, Calendar ID, Location ID) match the target calendar. IDs are the most common source of misdirected bookings.
• AI never offers to book: confirm the Enable scheduling toggle is on and that AI Conversation Mode is Short or Long (the AI needs more than one message to collect scheduling info).
• Wrong timezone on the booking: the Timezone field must match the calendar’s own timezone settings. Mismatched timezones cause “booked at 3 PM, shows on calendar at 11 AM” type bugs.

Questions? Email support@auto-respond.com.