Nail salons: scheduling several nail technicians online

A nail salon with several technicians can take every booking on one Book page. Clients who always see the same technician book that person's services, such as "Gel extensions with Mia"; clients who just want a quick manicure book a shared service whose slots have one place per free table. Size each service to the real time it takes, book infills on their regular rhythm before the client leaves, and move bookings to a colleague when someone is off. The salon pays €5/month in total.

Book gives one booking page per business. Each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on the page, and each slot belongs to one service, sits within one day and has its own number of places. There's no staff field, so the technician's name goes in the service name when it matters. Slots of different services can run at the same time, which is what lets three technicians work three tables at once.

Durations, places and prices are examples: set your own.

Extensions and nail art depend on the technician's style and on knowing the client's nails, so give those services the technician's name. Quick services, such as a classic manicure or a polish change, can sit in a shared service: set each slot's places to the number of tables free at that hour, and decide in the salon who takes which client. Keep named services to the treatments where the choice matters, so the page stays short on a phone.

A full set of extensions, an infill, a removal and a simple manicure don't take the same time, and nail art adds more. Create a service per treatment with a slot that covers the real time, including removal of the old product. Say in the description whether removal is included, and ask clients to note in the booking what they have on now and the design they want.

Infills come round every few weeks. Book the next one before the client leaves, with the same technician, from the calendar. First and last name are required, email and phone optional; with an email, the client gets a confirmation with a calendar file. Book sends no reminders, so that calendar entry is what brings them back on time. Slots repeat weekly only, so for a three-week rhythm, book each date yourself.

Book doesn't know how many tables or lamps you have, and slots of different services can overlap, so it won't stop four clients being booked onto three tables. Give each technician a table on their working days, and only open shared places for tables that are really free at that hour.

Slots repeat each week on the weekdays you choose until an end date, so each technician's named services and the salon's shared services become their own series. On days with fewer technicians in, lower the places on shared slots. When the rota changes, delete the remaining slots of the old series and create a new one.

If you take walk-ins for polish and quick manicures, keep one table off the page on busy days and say in the description that walk-ins are welcome when a table is free. When the walk-in queue is empty, the desk can book a caller onto that table from the calendar.

Clients can't move or cancel online; the salon does it from the bookings list. Rescheduling works across services, so Mia's infills can move into Léna's free slots if the client agrees, or to Mia's return. Book doesn't email clients about changes, so message each one, then delete the absent technician's free slots. Every booking syncs with the salon's Google, iPhone or Mac calendar. Book doesn't take payments; clients pay at the table. Book costs €5/month for the salon, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.