The Book Appointment Page on the Portal

Anthology Reach provides the following two appointment booking options on the portal:

Option 1: Search by Advisor (Old Book Appointment Page)
- It is the legacy experience and is not recommended for new implementations of the Staff Calendar functionality.
- It allows students to search for and book appointments with a specific advisor or staff member.
- It requires selection of a staff member as part of the filter criteria.
Option 2: Search Available Slot (New Book Appointment Page)
- It is the updated page compatible with TPC version 6.1 and supports the new Staff Calendar framework.
- It offers enhanced capabilities, which include:
  - Anonymous Booking Options: Portal administrators can configure the page to hide the Staff Member field, allowing the system to auto-assign a staff member without requiring the student to select a staff member. For details, see Customizing the Portal.
  - Distributed Calendar: Students can leave the Staff Member and Department fields blank. After selecting the Delivery Mode and Appointment Type, they can click Show Availability to view available slots for all advisors based on the selected criteria.

Search by Advisor (Old Book Appointment Page )

The following table describes the Search by Advisor - Book Appointment page.

Item	Description
	The filter criteria work in combination with each other. This means that values will clear, will be narrowed down or will be set in other fields when you change selections in one or more fields. Overall, the criteria help to quickly narrow down on viewing the required appointment slots. Notes: If the Delivery Mode is Virtual, the Location field will not be displayed. Click Clear filter to clear values from the Advisor, Department and Location fields. Click Show Availability to view the advisor's appointments in the right pane. For more information about filter criteria, see The Schedule Appointment Page of Anthology Reach.
	These details are displayed based on whether the delivery mode is In-person or Virtual. In-person: The time zone and address of the location selected in the left pane will be displayed. Virtual: The advisor's time zone will be displayed. As the location field will not be displayed in virtual meetings, the Location Address field is also cleared.
	On the left: The student can click the calendar control to choose a different date, month or year. On the right: The student can view appointments for the day or month. By default, the Day toggle is clicked. Click Month to view appointment dates in the current month.
	The count of appointment slots available on a selected date is displayed.

Note: When students click Show availability, the Book Appointment button will be cleared if appointments in the user’s primary Google calendar / Microsoft Outlook calendar coincide with slots at the same time. For information about this behavior, see The Schedule Appointment Page in Reach of Anthology Reach.

Search Available Slot (New Book Appointment Page)

Note: To use this feature, the TPC portal must be on version 6.1 or later.

The Search Available Slot book appointment page, enables the portal users to view all available slots for the entire week with just one click, making the process quicker and more efficient.

On the Search Available Slot book appointment page, portal users have the option to leave the Staff Member and Department fields blank. By choosing only the Delivery Mode and Appointment Type fields and then clicking on the Show Availability button, users can view the availability of staff members within certain departments and/or locations, streamlining the process of finding the right advisor.

The following table describes the Search Available Slot - Book Appointment page.

Item	Description
	Filter criteria work in combination with each other. This means that values will clear, will be narrowed down or will be set in other fields when you change selections in one or more fields. Overall, the criteria help to quickly narrow down on viewing the required appointment slots. Notes: If the Delivery Mode is Virtual, the Location field will not be displayed. Click Clear filter to clear values from the Staff Member, Department and Location fields. Click Show Availability to view the available slots for booking an appointment on the right pane. Click My Appointments to view the My Appointments page. System automatically converts and displays the available slots based on the type of Office Hours configured in Reach: For In Person Office Hours - The selected location’s time zone is displayed. For Virtual Office Hours - The logged-in portal user's time zone is displayed. This ensures that students can view and book appointments on the portal conveniently. Portal administrator can configure the page to hide the Staff Member field. For more information, see Customizing the Portal. For more information about filter criteria, see The Schedule Appointment Page of Anthology Reach.
	When a value is selected in the Staff Member field, the staff member picture is displayed if it is configured in Anthology Reach. Portal user can navigate between the dates on the calendar view using the date navigation buttons and also select a date by clicking the calendar icon.
	The available appointment slots for a week displayed in 15-minutes intervals. However, the actual duration for an Appointment depends on the selected Appointment Type, which is indicated in the Appointment Duration field. When a portal user selects booking, the system reserves slots in 15-minute increments to match the specified duration. This provides users with additional flexibility in choosing a suitable time.

Item

Description

Filter criteria work in combination with each other. This means that values will clear, will be narrowed down or will be set in other fields when you change selections in one or more fields. Overall, the criteria help to quickly narrow down on viewing the required appointment slots.

Notes:

If the Delivery Mode is Virtual, the Location field will not be displayed.
Click Clear filter to clear values from the Staff Member, Department and Location fields.
Click Show Availability to view the available slots for booking an appointment on the right pane.
Click My Appointments to view the My Appointments page.
System automatically converts and displays the available slots based on the type of Office Hours configured in Reach:
- For In Person Office Hours - The selected location’s time zone is displayed.
- For Virtual Office Hours - The logged-in portal user's time zone is displayed.
This ensures that students can view and book appointments on the portal conveniently.
Portal administrator can configure the page to hide the Staff Member field. For more information, see Customizing the Portal.
For more information about filter criteria, see The Schedule Appointment Page of Anthology Reach.

When a value is selected in the Staff Member field, the staff member picture is displayed if it is configured in Anthology Reach.
Portal user can navigate between the dates on the calendar view using the date navigation buttons and also select a date by clicking the calendar icon.

The available appointment slots for a week displayed in 15-minutes intervals.

However, the actual duration for an Appointment depends on the selected Appointment Type, which is indicated in the Appointment Duration field. When a portal user selects booking, the system reserves slots in 15-minute increments to match the specified duration. This provides users with additional flexibility in choosing a suitable time.