Using the Update Appointment Status Workflow Action
Overview
The Update Appointment Status action allows you to automatically change the status of an appointment for a contact directly from a workflow. This is useful for keeping your calendar and client records in sync based on events like confirmations, cancellations, or attendance.
How the Action Works
This action locates the relevant appointment for the contact in the workflow and applies a new status to it. The specific appointment it updates depends on how the workflow was started:
- If the workflow was triggered by an appointment-related event (such as an appointment being booked or modified), the action will update the status of that specific triggering appointment.
- If the workflow was triggered by another type of event, the action will update the status of the contact's most recent appointment.
Configuring the Action
When adding this step to your workflow, you will need to configure the following details:
Action Name
Give the action a descriptive name for your reference within the workflow builder, such as "Mark Appointment as Cancelled."
Status
This is the required field that determines the new state of the appointment. Select one of the following options from the dropdown menu:
- New
- Confirmed
- Cancelled
- Showed
- No-show
- Invalid
Example Use Case
Imagine you have a workflow triggered when a contact submits a cancellation request via a form. You can use this action to automatically change the status of their upcoming appointment to Cancelled. Conversely, after a successful appointment, a workflow triggered by a form submission from your staff could use this action to mark the appointment as Showed.
Important Notes
For the most predictable results, it is best to use this action in workflows that are triggered by appointment events, ensuring you are updating the correct appointment.
Note on External Calendars: If your appointments are synced with an external calendar service (like Google Calendar, Outlook, or iCloud), changing an appointment status to Showed or No-show will not send an update event to the external calendar. This prevents attendees from receiving unnecessary "event updated" notifications for these status changes.