Troubleshooting support for getting buffer time to show up correctly in a service booking in Microsoft Bookings

Question

I have a service setup as a 1 hour duration with 15 minute buffers before and after to keep services from booking in back to back with no breather between. But it's not booking properly. Help!

1. In the Bookings Page, Availability shows up reflecting the 15-min buffer time before the meeting start (staff availability is set in 30 min increments) - see below...
2. Once booked, the calendar block only comes through for an hour - it should come through for 90 minutes (starting at 9:15 for 15-min buffer, then 1 hour call, followed by another 15-min buffer at the end). So the buffers plus meeting duration aren't coming through properly.

Answer 1

Hi there, I can see why this would be confusing. The reason the buffer time isn’t showing in the calendar block is because Microsoft Bookings only uses buffers to calculate availability, not to extend the actual event duration. So, while the start times reflect the buffer, the booked appointment itself remains at the service duration you set, which is one hour. A quick way to fix this is to increase the service duration to 90 minutes so the calendar blocks the full-time including buffers. Alternatively, you can keep the current setup if your main goal is just to prevent back-to-back bookings, or use Power Automate to automatically extend the event in Outlook after booking.

Answer 2

I hear you, what you’re describing is exactly how it behaves today, and it does feel off.

In Bookings, buffers only gate the start times customers can pick; they don’t expand the calendar event itself, so staff and coworkers can still drop meetings into those “buffer” minutes because they aren’t actually blocked on the calendar.

That’s why your 9:15 slot shows a 9:15–10:15 event, even though operationally you intend 9:30–10:30 with prep/cleanup.

If you need the buffer to truly reserve time, the practical fixes are: set the service duration to 90 minutes so the event blocks the whole window, or use Power Automate to catch new bookings and update the Outlook event to add 15 minutes before and after.