External agents play a crucial role in many organizations, acting as partners who do not directly use VanillaSoft but have appointments booked on their behalf by VanillaSoft users. Understanding how to add, modify, and delete external agents, as well as managing their calendar integrations, is essential for efficient appointment setting.
How to Add an External Agent
To include a new external agent in your project:
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Navigate to External Agents Management: From the Admin homepage, open the Workflow/Routing menu, hover over the Appointment Setting sub-menu, and select Manage External Agents.
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Enter Agent Details: In the Add External Agent section, fill in the agent's information in the applicable fields.
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Add the Agent: Click Add. This action will include the agent in your External Agents list.
How to Modify an External Agent
To update details for an existing external agent:
- Navigate to External Agents Management: From the Admin homepage, open the Workflow/Routing menu, hover over the Appointment Setting sub-menu, and select Manage External Agents.
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Select the Agent: Scroll through the list to find and select the desired agent.
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Update Information: Make necessary changes in the fields provided.
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Save Changes: Click Save, then close the confirmation message by clicking Close.
How to Delete an External Agent
If you need to remove an external agent from the system:
- Navigate to External Agents Management: From the Admin homepage, open the Workflow/Routing menu, hover over the Appointment Setting sub-menu, and select Manage External Agents.
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Select the Agent: Scroll through the list to find and select the desired agent.
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Delete the Agent: Click Delete, confirm the deletion in the popup window, and then close the confirmation message by clicking Close.
Additional Settings and Integrations
User Calendar Color
- Customize Calendar Color: To set a specific color for an external agent on the appointment calendar, change the User Calendar Color setting from Automatic to Custom, select a preferred color, and save your settings.
Calendar Integration
- Setup Calendar Sync: To synchronize an external agent’s Google or Outlook calendar with VanillaSoft:
- Select the type of calendar (Google or Outlook) and click Send Instructions. The external agent will receive an email with steps to authorize the integration. This ensures that appointments in VanillaSoft and the external calendar do not conflict, displaying only the time blocks in VanillaSoft.
By effectively managing external agents and their settings in VanillaSoft, you ensure a smooth operation of scheduling and managing appointments, maintaining visibility, and avoiding scheduling conflicts across different platforms.