Booking a sign language interpreter for an appointment

Let clients book you online for a specific appointment, with a slot that covers the appointment itself plus a buffer for waiting time and overruns, and ask at booking for the information you need to prepare: the type of appointment, the address, who else will be there, and the sign language used. Deaf clients and the organisations they deal with can see your free times and book directly, you get the preparation details in writing, and nobody spends days exchanging messages to fix a one-hour appointment.

An interpreter for a medical, legal, administrative or work appointment can be booked by the deaf person, by a relative, or by the organisation holding the appointment: a clinic, a town hall, an employer, a bank. Say clearly in your service description who can book and who you'll contact if something changes. When an organisation books, ask for the name of the deaf person, so you can check they agree to your presence and know who you are.

For sensitive appointments, the client can keep the detail short in the note and tell you more by email or phone. You bring a professional duty of confidentiality to every assignment: say so in your description, which can reassure clients booking for the first time.

Appointments at a clinic or an office don't always start on time and can run over. If your slot covers only the booked hour, you risk leaving mid-conversation or arriving late at your next assignment. Build the buffer into the slot: arrive before the start to meet the client, and keep time after in case it runs long. Include travel between assignments too.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. You open slots for each service at the length it takes, one place per slot. Clients pick a service, then a free slot.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. Slots can overlap, so you can open both a short and a longer option at the same start time; once one is booked, block the other by deleting it or booking it yourself.

The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note you read in your new-booking email. Ask for the appointment time, the address, the type of appointment, the deaf client's name if someone else is booking, and the sign language. The note can't be edited once the booking exists, so put the questions in the service description. The client's confirmation email includes a calendar file with the note, so the details stay together.

Appointments get moved by the clinic or the office, not always with much notice. Clients can't move bookings online: they contact you, and you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list, then let them know, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. For a series, such as weekly therapy sessions or a training course, create the slots on the right weekday, repeated each week until a date, and book the client in straight away from your calendar: first and last name are required, email and phone optional.

Book doesn't take payments or issue invoices; it handles appointments. With calendar sync (Google, iPhone, Mac), all assignments sit in one calendar. It costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.