How come bookings can books appointments outside business hours?

Hi Jane,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I understand you're experiencing an issue where Microsoft Bookings allows appointments outside your defined business hours, even though time zones are set correctly. Here are some key areas to check and adjust to prevent bookings at unexpected times:

1. Verify Global Business Hours (Business Information)

• In Microsoft Bookings, go to Business Information in the left navigation pane.
• Scroll down to "Business hours."
• Ensure your exact working hours (8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday-Friday) are correctly set here, and that all other days (weekends) are explicitly marked as "Closed" or unchecked.
• Crucially, confirm that the time zone displayed here is also accurate for your business location.

2. Check Individual Staff Working Hours

Each staff member can have their own availability settings, which may override the global business hours.

• In Microsoft Bookings, go to Staff in the left navigation pane.
• Click on each staff member you have listed.
• Under "Working hours," ensure one of the following:
  • The "Use business hours" checkbox is checked if you want them to strictly follow the hours set in "Business Information."
  • OR, if "Use business hours" is unchecked, make sure their custom hours for each day (Monday-Friday) are explicitly set to 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM and all other days are marked as "off."
• Verify the time zone for each staff member's individual Outlook calendar. Bookings pulls availability directly from their Outlook calendar.
  • Have each staff member go to Outlook on the Web (outlook.office.com).
  • Click the Settings gear icon in the top right.
  • Go to Calendar > Work hours and location. Ensure these are correctly set and the time zone matches your business's time zone.
  • Also, check General > Language and time zone in Outlook settings.

For reference on staff hours: Employee working hours - Microsoft Bookings | Microsoft Learn

3. Review Service-Specific Availability (Very Common Cause)

Each service can have its own availability settings that override both the general business hours and staff working hours.

• In Microsoft Bookings, go to Services in the left navigation pane.
• Click on each service you offer.
• Scroll down to the "Availability" section.
• Most Recommended Setting: Choose "Bookable when staff are free." This option ensures the service's availability strictly adheres to the staff members' working hours and their Outlook calendar free/busy times.
• Avoid "Custom hours" for the service itself, unless you specifically need that service to be available only during a different set of hours. If "Custom hours" is selected, double-check that those custom hours are precisely 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM (or whatever specific hours you intend for that service).
• Also, review "Time increments" to ensure they match your desired appointment durations.

4. Check Booking Page Scheduling Policy

• In Microsoft Bookings, go to Booking page in the left navigation pane.
• Expand "Default scheduling policy."
• "Always show time slots in business time zone": Under the "Region and time zone settings" section, make sure this option is checked. If unchecked, customers will see times in their local time zone, which can lead to confusion if they then book a time that translates to an outside-of-hours slot in your time zone.
• You might also want to set "Minimum lead time" (e.g., 12 or 24 hours) to prevent very last-minute bookings.

5. Staff Availability Conflicts in Outlook Calendars

Bookings relies on staff members' free/busy status in their personal Outlook calendars.

• Ensure staff are correctly marking "Out of Office," "Busy," or "Away" for any personal appointments, holidays, or non-working hours directly in their Outlook calendars. If a staff member has an event marked as "Free" during what should be unavailable hours (like 4 AM), Bookings might see that as availability.

Additional Check:

Sometimes, toggling a setting can help refresh the system. If you have a service with custom availability:

• Go to Services > Edit Service.
• Find the "Availability" section.
• Try changing the setting to "Bookable when staff are free" (save), then if you really need custom hours, change it back to "Custom hours" and re-enter your exact hours (save again). This can sometimes resync the settings.

After making any changes, always click "Save" on the respective pages and then test the booking page from an incognito browser window (as if you were a customer) to confirm the issue is resolved.

If none of the above solutions work, let me know for further investigation. Please note that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.
Kind regards,

Kai-L - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi Jane,

Just following up to see if the previous suggestions helped resolve the issue. Let us know how things are going, your update would be greatly appreciated!