Adding buffer time to your events
Buffer times are “blocked” periods on your calendar that guests cannot book. They act as a protective layer around your meetings.Why use event buffers?
- Avoid exhaustion: Prevent back-to-back calls that leave you no time to even grab water.
- Prep and wrap-up: Use “Before” buffers to prepare for a call and “After” buffers to finish your meeting notes.
- Travel time: If you meet in person, buffers provide the time needed to get from one location to another.
How to set up buffers
1
Go to Event Types
Click on Event Types in the left sidebar.
2
Select an event
Click on the event you want to edit (e.g., “Introductory Call”).
3
Navigate to Limits
Click on the Limits tab in the top menu bar of the event editor.
4
Set your buffers
- After Event: Enter the number of minutes you want free after every booking.
- Before Event: Enter the number of minutes you want free before every booking.
5
Save
Click the Save button at the top right.
How it works with availability
- Invisible to guests: Guests don’t see your buffer times; they simply see those slots as “Unavailable” on your booking page.
- Automatic calculation: If you have a 30-minute meeting with a 15-minute “After” buffer, Cal ID will block a total of 45 minutes on your calendar to ensure you stay protected.
- Multiple durations: If you use Multiple Durations, the buffer applies to whichever length the guest chooses.
An example
Given the availability from 9am to 5pm (09:00-17:00) and a 60-minute event with a 30-minute buffer before and a 30-minute buffer after, the total calendar time required for an event is indeed 120 minutes. But the buffer is applied around busy times and not to the start or end of the working day. So, in this scenario (considering you didn’t modify the Custom time-slot intervals in this example):- The first available time slot starts at 9am. The buffer before doesn’t push this since there’s no preceding busy time.
- The event itself is for 60 minutes.
- There’s a 30-minute buffer before and 30-minute buffer after the event. But again, if there’s no following busy time immediately after, this buffer doesn’t push the next available slot.
- 9:00-10:00am: First available slot
- a. 10:00-11:00am: If Slot 1 is booked, this slot will be blocked as buffer (after) to allow the buffer period relative to the 9-10am slot.
- b. 10:00-11:00am: If Slot 1 is free, this slot will be free.
- c. 10:00-11:00am: If Slot 2 (10:00-11:00) is booked, since booking slot 1 (9:00-10:00) would imply that there will not be an after buffer (as 10-11 is already booked). Hence, slot 1 will not remain bookable anymore.