Enhancing Microsoft Bookings with Power Platform: Streamlining Scheduling and Automation

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1. Introduction
2. Bookings – 30000 Foot Overview
3. Our Solution
4. Building Bookings Site
   1. Step 1 – Bookings Homepage
   2. Step 2 – Create Shared Bookings Page
   3. Step 3 – Add a new service
   4. Service configuration
5. Creating Appointment Spreadsheet
   1. Step 1: Launch OneDrive
   2. Step 2: Create Excel Workbook
   3. Step 3: Establish a formatted field using Data Validation to generate a dropdown menu
6. Creating Power Automate Flow
   1. Step 1: Select Flow Type
   2. Step 2: Configure Flow
7. Conclusion

Introduction

I remember my second IT leader always emphasizing the importance of leveraging out-of-the-box solutions. That initially clashed with how I envisioned my tech career. I imagined myself as a coder, creating innovative, never-before-seen applications. However, over time, I realized the true value lies in making the most of the tools and features already available on our platforms. While it’s possible to build an API for nearly anything, we have to consider that others will maintain what we create. I’ve learned that just because we can build something, doesn’t mean we should. The focus should always be on delivering value without overcomplicating the solution.

One of the questions I often ask myself as a consultant is why a business customer would purchase Microsoft 365 Business Licensing and not fully utilize its features. Is it due to a lack of knowledge? Are users simply sticking to familiar tools like Word, Outlook, and Excel? Whatever the reason, I believe we should aim to maximize the value of our existing licensing and platform(s) before seeking external services that could be recreated in-house or eliminating redundant software to save costs.

It is not my intent to talk anyone out of purchasing a platform that they are familiar with. However, I want customers to know what they already have available with their Microsoft 365 subscription. In some cases, newer customers to the Microsoft 365 ecosystem aren’t fully aware of all the services and tools they’re paying for. For example, I have found that customers are unaware of their access to Power Apps and Power Automate—tools that can unlock tremendous potential for customization and automation.

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Bookings – 30000 Foot Overview

When you hear “Microsoft Bookings,” what comes to mind? Or do you even think about Microsoft Bookings at all? If not, you’re not alone. I like to think of Bookings as a web-based interface for Outlook because it essentially builds on Outlook’s scheduling capabilities, like creating Teams meetings. In some ways, Bookings is similar to Calendly, though it lacks support for multiple backend calendars.

If you’re reading this, you likely already have, or are considering, a Microsoft 365 license. Thanks to the Power Platform’s flexibility, integrating with external services like Calendly is quite simple, especially with its available API connector. However, the focus of this article is on maximizing extensibility without incurring extra costs beyond your standard business licensing. As of this writing, the Calendly connector is classified as a premium feature, which means additional charges for using it in automation or apps—approximately $15 per month for Power Automate and $20 per user per month for Power Apps.

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Our Solution

We want to provide our clients with the ability to book appointments with us. After the booking is confirmed, we will send an email to the client containing details on how to remit payment before the upcoming appointment. Using Power Automate, we’ll automatically log the booking details into a spreadsheet. This will include the client’s name, meeting description, meeting notes, meeting date, and a boolean field to track whether payment has been received before the scheduled appointment.

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Building Bookings Site

Step 1 – Bookings Homepage

To get started, navigate to Bookings – Admin – Outlook (office.com). Once you arrive at the site you will see the homepage (pictured below).

Step 2 – Create Shared Bookings Page

Next we’re going to create our booking page. There are two ways to create a booking page.

1. Create from scratch
2. Clone an existing booking page

During this demo, we will create our page from scratch. To begin, select “Create from scratch,” which will launch a creation wizard with the following options:

• Name – Name of Booking Page
• Logo – Company logo. I would use a vector graphic of some sort just so image does not get distorted
• Business type
  • Healthcare
  • Recruiting
  • IT Support
  • Education
  • Financial Services
  • Sales
  • Other

Step 3 – Add a new service

Once our Bookings page has been created, the next step is to add services that will be displayed to users. When creating a service, there are several categories with configurable options, including:

• Basic Details
• Availability Options
• Assign Staff
• Custom Fields
• Notifications

These settings allow us to tailor the meeting scheduling experience to fit both our availability and the needs of our clients.

Service configuration

As we configure the basic settings for our new service, you’ll learn how the booking system works. Feel free to explore and configure additional options for your service during this demo.

The options we are going to configure can be found under the Basic details tab.

• Name
• Description
• Location
• Duration
• Buffer Time
• Cost
• Maximum number of attendees

We will also include a custom field to capture how customers discovered our company.

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Creating Appointment Spreadsheet

Let’s focus on our outputs; we will utilize a spreadsheet to monitor whether a customer has paid for their appointment. We will store our spreadsheet on OneDrive.

Step 1: Launch OneDrive

1. To access OneDrive navigate to office.com
2. From our app launcher Select the OneDrive logo to launch OneDrive

Step 2: Create Excel Workbook

1. Click the Plus (+) sign.
2. Choose ‘Excel Workbook’.
3. Enter the following column headers for the workbook: Client Name, Meeting Description, Meeting Notes, Meeting Date, Paid.
4. Highlight the first row, then go to the ‘Styles’ tab and choose ‘Format as Table’.
5. Tick the box that says “My table has headers”.
6. Click ‘OK’.

Step 3: Establish a formatted field using Data Validation to generate a dropdown menu

1. Select the “Paid” field.
2. Choose the Data tab from the ribbon.
3. Click on Data Validation.
4. From the Allow dropdown, choose List.
5. Enter a comma-separated list with the values true, false.
6. Click Apply.

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Creating Power Automate Flow

Step 1: Select Flow Type

1. To create our automation to process newly created appointments navigate to make.powerautomate.com
2. Select Create
3. Select Automated cloud flow as flow type
4. Name flow
5. Select Bookings Trigger “When a appointment is Created”
6. Select Create

Step 2: Configure Flow

1. Sign in to the Bookings calendar using the same credentials you used to create the Bookings page.
2. Add the Excel action “Add a row into a table.”
3. Fill in the required details for the action, including file location, document library, file name, table name, and any other necessary fields.

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Conclusion

While it’s easy to turn to familiar tools or third-party platforms, the true value lies in unlocking the full potential of your existing Microsoft 365 subscription. By harnessing the power of the platform—specifically tools like Power Apps and Power Automate—you gain a comprehensive solution that can streamline processes, drive productivity, and reduce unnecessary costs.

Microsoft 365 isn’t just a collection of isolated applications; it’s a fully integrated platform designed to help you build solutions that fit your unique business needs. Whether you’re automating workflows or creating custom apps, the flexibility and extensibility of Power Platform allow you to create tailored solutions without the complexity of building from scratch or relying on external services.

By investing in this platform as a solution, you’re empowering your business to do more with less—maximizing the value of what you already have while ensuring that any custom developments are truly meaningful and efficient. With the right approach, complex problems can be solved in simpler, more effective ways, giving you the agility to grow and adapt without over complicating your tech stack. Businesses can not only streamline processes and enhance productivity but also avoid unnecessary costs. The goal should always be to maximize the value of the tools at hand, ensuring that any custom development or external service is truly adding value. After all, the power of the platform is in its flexibility and extensibility, often making complex solutions easier than we might initially imagine.