Manage staff, rooms and live service appointments in NHY

The operating problem

When a salon or clinic takes bookings by phone or WhatsApp, two problems appear quickly. First, the owner cannot see at a glance which stylist or treatment room is free. Second, double-bookings happen when two people confirm the same time. NHY’s appointment calendar solves both by showing live availability and locking a slot the moment a customer books it.

A realistic example: Anita runs a three-chair salon. She adds herself and two stylists with their working hours, then adds the three chairs as resources. She turns on appointments for “Haircut – 45 min” and lists start times of 10:00, 11:00 and 14:00. A customer opens the service in the NHY menu, picks tomorrow at 11:00, chooses Anita and Chair 2, and books. The slot disappears for everyone else until Anita marks it complete or no-show.

Illustration of the owner calendar view. Booked slots lock the chosen staff member and room; free slots remain open for the next customer.

How owners set it up

In the NHY app open the Appointment Calendar. Add each service staff member and, optionally, their working hours in the form Mon=09:00-17:00;Tue=09:00-17:00.
Add rooms, chairs or other service stations as resources.
In the Menu Builder, open a service item. Turn on “Allow appointment requests”, enter the service duration in five-minute steps (for example 45), and list the start times customers may choose (09:00, 10:30, 14:00).
Customers who open that service see only the live free slots for the chosen day. They pick a time, optional staff and resource, enter their name and phone, and book. No payment is taken at booking.
Back in the calendar the new appointment appears as Pending. Tap Confirm. When the service is finished tap Complete, or mark No-show if the customer does not arrive. Either action frees the slot.

Customers can also cancel or reschedule up to two hours before the start time using the management code they received. After that they must contact the store.

What customers see

On the service detail screen the customer chooses a date, sees only available start times, and can select from the staff and rooms that are free for that slot. The booking is confirmed instantly and the same slot disappears for every other customer.

Benefits and limits

Owners stop double-booking because the system locks the staff member and the resource for every five-minute block the service occupies. The calendar shows the next 31 days so planning is visible without opening spreadsheets. The same feature is available on every plan; there is no separate monthly appointment quota.

Duration must be between 5 and 480 minutes and a multiple of five.
Start times must fall on a five-minute boundary and match the times published on the service.
Staff hours, if set, are checked before a booking is accepted.
Only owners and managers can add staff, resources or change status. Customers manage their own bookings with the code they received.
The feature is included on Free, Basic, Professional, Enterprise and Enterprise Plus. Staff and resource counts are limited only by practical store setup; no plan-specific appointment limit is enforced in the product.

Plan	Service appointments
Free	Included; no monthly booking quota
Basic	Included; no monthly booking quota
Professional	Included; no monthly booking quota
Enterprise	Included; no monthly booking quota
Enterprise Plus	Included; no monthly booking quota

Questions owners ask

Does the customer pay when they book?

No. Booking only reserves the slot. Payment is taken at the store or through the normal NHY order flow after the service.

Can I still take phone bookings?

Yes. Owners can add or adjust appointments from the calendar or through the WhatsApp assistant. Phone bookings simply occupy the same locked slots.

What if two customers try the same time?

The second booking receives a clear “slot just booked” message and is asked to choose another available time. The first booking keeps the slot.

Open NHY and set up your appointment calendar