Setting Up Microsoft Bookings for Parent Appointments

Staff Guide: Setting Up Shared Bookings

This guide explains how to set up Shared Bookings for schools so parents/carers can book appointments without seeing individual staff email addresses. Shared Bookings are designed for team or school‑wide use and are the recommended approach for parent meetings and similar scenarios.

What is Shared Bookings?

Shared Bookings creates a single booking page for the school or department, rather than for an individual member of staff.

  • The page represents the school, not a teacher
  • Appointments still appear in teachers’ Outlook calendars
  • Parent replies go to a school contact email, not personal accounts

Before You Start

You will need:

  • A Microsoft 365 work/school account
  • Access to the Bookings app
  • Teachers’ names ready to add as staff

You do not need a shared mailbox.

Step 1: Open Microsoft Bookings

  1. Go to: https://outlook.office.com/bookings/homepage
  2. Sign in with your work or school account
  3. Under Shared bookings, select Create booking page

Step 2: Create the Shared Booking Page

  1. Choose Create from scratch
  2. Enter a Business name, for example:
    • Greenfield Primary School – Parent Appointments
  3. Set Business type to Education
  4. Select Create

This creates a shared booking page for your school.

Step 3: Set School Contact Details (Important)

Select Business information and check the following:

  • Send customer replies to:
    • Enter the school email address (e.g. schoolname.enquiries@ab-ed.org)
  • Add school phone number and website (optional)

✅ Parents will contact the school, not individual staff members.

Step 4: Add Staff (Teachers)

  1. Go to Staff
  2. Add teachers who will take appointments
  3. Set their role:
    • Administrator – can manage bookings
    • Viewer – can see appointments only
  4. Ensure “Events on Office calendar affect availability” is ticked

✅ Bookings checks teachers’ Outlook calendars ✅ Appointments are added automatically to staff calendars

Step 5: Create a Service (Appointments)

  1. Go to Services → Add new service
  2. Enter details such as:
    • Service name (e.g. Parent Consultation for XXXXX)
    • Duration (e.g. 10 minutes)
    • Staff members who can deliver the service

🚫 Untick: “Allow customers to choose a specific person for the booking”

This means:

  • Parents do not see teacher names
  • Confirmation emails do not name staff

Step 6: Booking Page Settings

Go to Booking page and check:

✅ Parents do not need a Microsoft account to book ✅ Disable search engine indexing is turned on ✅ Staff selection is disabled (recommended)

These settings help protect staff privacy and safeguarding.

Step 7: Publish the Booking Page

  1. Select Save and publish
  2. Copy the booking link
  3. Share the link via:
    • School website
    • Email or text to parents
    • Newsletter or learning platform

What Parents Will See

  • A booking page branded as the school
  • Available appointment times only
  • No staff email addresses
  • No requirement to log in to Microsoft

Common Questions

Will bookings still appear in my calendar?

Yes. Appointments are added automatically to your Outlook calendar.

Can parents email me directly?

No. Replies go to the school contact email set in Business Information.

Do I need a shared mailbox?

No. Shared Bookings does not use regular shared mailboxes.