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Med-e-Forms specializes in PDF-based document solutions for health care providers, but it also offers a range of free Excel workbooks, including Free Excel Contact Appointment Scheduler. This free spreadsheet template for Microsoft Excel automatically schedules appointments based on your contacts list and office hours. It keeps track of contact data, referrals, and the date, time, and length of appointments. It's optimized for physicians or health care providers in small, private practices, but lots of businesses can use it, too, and even customize it to their own needs.
Opening this workbook in Excel didn't exactly dazzle us--more like daze--but that's not the workbook's fault so much as it is the nature of using Excel's cell-based structure to record the data. Once you develop an eye for scanning Excel's cells for the data they contain, it not only makes perfect sense but is extremely efficient, which may be why the business world relies upon it. But this workbook isn't exactly a thing of beauty, even as Excel templates go. It opened with an Instructions sheet that described how to configure the Contacts sheet. Moving to the Contacts sheet, we saw several familiar names like "Fudd, Elmer" provided as examples of contacts and referrals. The data extends through four quarterly Schedule sheets, and the template tracks appointments by the minute. The instructions describe which fields are fixed and which can be customized, and of course the usual Excel features apply. We started by naming and saving our schedule and customizing it with our personal data. With templates that offer sample entries, you need to make sure that you remove or change any sample data that doesn't apply to your schedule or, worse, your billing. We entered and changed data as needed, and the template automatically updated the appropriate cells.
Of course, Free Excel Contact Appointment Scheduler won't call or e-mail your patients or clients; for that, you'll probably still need a patient, pleasant receptionist, or at least some expensive software. But if you already have Excel, here's a useful option that's a lot easier on the bottom line.
Publisher's Description
From Excel 4 Business:
Free Excel Contact Scheduler with Appointment Reminders is a simple yet powerful contact scheduler, based on Microsoft Excel, allows any type of business to create a list of contacts, then schedule those contacts and automatically send appointment reminder emails. This schedule is fully customizable, allowing you to specify an exact Year, Start and End Times, and optional Schedule Intervals of 15, 30 minutes or one hour. A simple check box allows you to select the exact days of the week you want to appear in your schedule as well an option to add up to three waiting lists rows for days when your schedule is full. Appointments can be set for as little as 15 min, up to four hours at a time. Simply select the duration, and then start typing in your contact name, and their entire name will auto-fill into the cell. You may also select their name from the drop down list, and the time slot will be blocked out. Additional contact information such as Phone and e-mail can be automatically displayed in a pop-up comment each time a contact is scheduled.
No more missed or late appointments, with our new Reminder E-mails option, emails can be customized and set up to send daily, automatic reminder emails to all scheduled Contacts. Up to 16 holidays can also be added, blocking out entire days, so avoiding scheduling conflicts is now easier than ever. The current day is always displayed in orange on all scheduling screens, so you can easily see today's date.
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All versions:
5.0 starsout of 6 votes
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Results 1-6 of 6
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"Fantastic Product,very Professional Service"
Version: Free Excel Contact Scheduler with Appointment Reminders 4.0
Pros
customized to my exact business requirements.
Easy to use.
Prompt service and support.Cons
None so far
Summary
Would recommend this product to anybody.
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"Awesome product, Awesome customer service and support"
Version: Free Excel Contact Scheduler with Appointment Reminders 7.0
Pros
Quickly schedule an appointment
Cons
There is no calendar to schedule ahead
Summary
This is a great scheduler, I just cant wait till the next version comes out. Keep Up the good work
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"Amazing Product!"
Version: Free Excel Contact Scheduler with Appointment Reminders 7.0
Pros
Easy to use.
Quick response from developer.
Continues to add upgrades.Cons
None. This product is great!
Summary
Just download it! You will eventually get the Enterprise version!
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"Creator very responsive, fully customized to my needs."
Version: Free Excel Contact Scheduler with Appointment Reminders 6.0
Pros
Free version allowed me to try out all the features of the program. US$20 for the Enterprise version is seriously cheap.And I paid a bit more to customize the software to my receptionist's liking. When she is happy, EVERYONE in my center is happy!
Cons
No Cons at all but If I had to nitpick, I would have to say that my receptionist would prefer different colors for different days of the week (but I prefer the current more professional looking neutral color).
Summary
The online schedulers (genbook, bookfresh,etc...) were too expensive and too much of an overkill for me. Also, I had to be crazy to put my client data online waiting for a potential lawsuit. I needed a simple offline scheduler and this was it! The US$20 Enterprise version was enough for my needs but just by emailing the software developer, I customized the scheduler to my receptionist desires and now she loves it. She is organizing a "schedule book-burning" BBQ to celebrate my entry into the 21st Century. She says she is less stressed about scheduling errors and it shows through her smiles. Overall, I have to say that this software has made my business more efficient and I am now even thinking about expanding!
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"Very useful/creator very helpful/custom work very fast"
Version: Free Excel Contact Scheduler with Appointment Reminders 4.0
Pros
Can be made to your specifications/good for someone who doesn't know all the ins and outs of excel/you can make your own custom changes/helped organize our appointments on the computer
Cons
Personally did not find any cons - fully customizable.
Summary
Would be a useful tool for any office, and is a very reasonably priced spreadsheet. Creator very amiable to work with, really knows what he is doing, and communicates well. If your office needs an affordable appointment calendar for the computer, I would highly recoommend this. :)
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"Very simple, useful, free scheduler."
Version: Free Excel Contact Scheduler with Appointment Reminders 4.0
Pros
this program was readily accessible. The developer was very accessible as well.
Cons
I don't think it can shared b/w computers
Summary
I like the product because it is very easy to use. Its self explanatory really. You can input new clients at anytime and save and update. This program was just right on time.
