How to Set Buffers Between Appointments

Buffers are the gap your booking page protects between one appointment and the next. Without them, a client can book 2:00 to 2:45 and another can book 2:45 to 3:30, leaving you no time for notes, a glass of water or the drive across town. Viralyze applies appointment buffers together with your Google Calendar busy events, so the slots a client sees already have breathing room built in. Here is how to choose the right buffer and set it.

What is a buffer and how is it different from session length?

Session length is the time the client pays for; the buffer is unpaid time the page keeps free around it. A 45-minute session with a 15-minute buffer occupies one hour on the calendar but is billed as 45.

Buffers are invisible to the client. They simply see fewer, better-spaced slots.

How long should a buffer be?

Long enough to cover what actually happens between clients, and no longer. Here are starting points we see work.

• Online consultations: 10 to 15 minutes, for notes and a reset.
• Salon or clinic in person: 5 to 10 minutes, for cleaning and turnover.
• Home visits or in-person sessions at different locations: 30 to 60 minutes for travel.
• Deep work like therapy or tutoring: 15 minutes, so a session that runs five minutes over does not eat the next one.

A home physiotherapist in Pune, for example, offers 45-minute sessions with a 45-minute buffer so the page never offers two addresses 20 minutes apart.

How do you set the buffer?

Buffers are part of the booking settings alongside days off and partial-day availability.

1. Open the Viralyze booking settings. 2. Set the buffer length that should be kept free around each booking. 3. Check your service durations, because the buffer is added on top of them. 4. Run a quick test: open your own booking link and confirm the slot spacing matches what you expect.

Combine buffers with add-ons carefully. If an add-on extends a session by 30 minutes, the buffer still sits after the extended slot, which is what you want.

Do buffers work with Google Calendar busy events?

Yes. Viralyze reads busy events from the calendars you chose and keeps the buffer around bookings; both constraints apply at the same time. If you have a 1 PM lunch block in Google Calendar and a 15-minute buffer, a 45-minute session cannot be booked at 12:30.

Two-way sync means if you move a booking in Google Calendar, the buffer moves with it and the booking page updates its free slots.

Can buffers help with no-shows and overruns?

They help with overruns directly and with no-shows indirectly. A client who arrives late or a session that runs long has somewhere to go without delaying everyone after.

For no-shows, upfront payment and WhatsApp reminders do more work. Viralyze takes the fee at booking time by UPI or card and reminds the client on WhatsApp, so buffers can stay short rather than padding for people who might not turn up.

Frequently asked questions

**Can I set different buffers for different services?** Set your buffer to suit your most location-sensitive service and, if some services need less, keep them on days reserved for that format using partial-day availability.

**Does the buffer apply before the first booking of the day?** Buffers protect the gap between bookings and your busy events; your opening time is set by your availability, not by a buffer.

**Will clients see why a slot is missing?** No. They only see the slots that are free; the buffer is applied quietly.

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