Question 1

How long does setup take in practice?

Accepted Answer

A focused admin can connect a site crawl, one calendar, and the chat widget in a short sitting - often around 10-20 minutes if the website is clean and providers already know their hours. Voice numbers, WhatsApp Business, and multi-location schedules take longer because phone and WhatsApp approvals aren’t instant. Budget an afternoon if you’re wiring phone plus messaging the same day.

Question 2

Do you offer a free trial, and is a card required?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can create an account from the pricing page and train an agent before you pay. Current trials don’t ask for a card up front; plan limits and trial length are shown at signup because they change with promotions. If a trial field looks different than this FAQ, trust the signup screen - that’s the live offer.

Question 3

What kinds of businesses get value from AptaBook?

Accepted Answer

We built it for appointment-driven teams: law firms doing intake, real estate agents chasing portal leads, advisors booking discovery calls, insurance agencies handling quote requests, clinics, and similar multi-provider shops. If your pain is missed calls, slow WhatsApp replies, or calendar ping-pong, you’re in the sweet spot. Pure e-commerce checkout flows aren’t the focus.

Question 4

Which regions and languages work today?

Accepted Answer

Production customers run in the United States, Canada, and India. English is the default. WhatsApp voice and some messaging paths can follow the caller’s language when voice language support is enabled for that channel. Phone numbers and WhatsApp still depend on your plan and what your market allows - so India setups lean harder on chat and WhatsApp than on US-style local phone numbers.

Question 5

How is the chat agent different from the voice agent?

Accepted Answer

Chat is the website widget - typed conversations, quick links, easy to embed. Voice answers a business phone number with speech, the same knowledge base, and the same booking tools. Most teams run both: chat for the site, voice for the published phone line. They share documents and calendars, so you don’t train two products.

Question 6

Can we use WhatsApp chat and voice notes?

Accepted Answer

On plans that include WhatsApp, you connect a WhatsApp Business account through the dashboard wizard. Text works first. Where voice notes or WhatsApp calling are enabled for your market, the agent can transcribe audio, reply, and still offer open calendar slots. WhatsApp template and quality rules still apply - spammy blasts will get you throttled, not us.

Question 7

Does AptaBook handle email inboxes?

Accepted Answer

AI Mails can watch a connected Google or Microsoft 365 mailbox (plan-dependent), pull threads, and draft or send replies using your trained content. It isn’t a full email-marketing tool - think front-door enquiry mail, not newsletters. Polling frequency and mailbox permissions live under AI Mails settings.

Question 8

What does Call Me Now do on the website?

Accepted Answer

It’s a small callback widget. A visitor types a number; we place an outbound call and connect them to your voice agent. Useful on pricing or contact pages when someone won’t fill a form but will take a call. You need voice configured first - otherwise the button has nowhere useful to send the call.

Question 9

What if the agent is stuck or the caller wants a person?

Accepted Answer

Prompts tell the agent not to invent policies. When confidence is low it should capture contact details, offer a callback, or transfer based on your handoff rules. Voice transfers and dashboard transcripts keep context for the human who picks up. Review Call history and Text chats weekly for the first month; that’s where bad knowledge shows up.

Question 10

How deep does website training go?

Accepted Answer

From one starting URL we crawl up to 200 reachable pages and index the text for retrieval. Password walls, infinite calendars, and thin landing pages waste crawl budget - point us at the public site customers already use. After the first crawl, skim the indexed pages; outdated fee tables on the site become outdated answers in the agent.

Question 11

Can we upload files or pull from Drive / Dropbox / OneDrive?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Upload PDFs or Word docs in Knowledge → Documents. For cloud files, paste a share link that allows anonymous download; we fetch, extract text, and store it like an upload. If Microsoft or Google still shows a login wall, the import fails - fix sharing to “anyone with the link” or download and upload manually.

Question 12

We changed services - what should we update?

Accepted Answer

Update the source of truth (website or document), re-run training, and double-check provider ↔ service mappings plus weekly hours. Agent tone settings won’t fix a wrong price buried in an old PDF. After big catalog changes, place one test booking on chat and one on the public booking link before you announce anything externally.

Question 13

Which calendars sync today?

Accepted Answer

Google Calendar and Microsoft 365 / Outlook. Connect under Integrations, map the calendar to the right provider, and confirm busy events appear before you advertise after-hours booking. Google Meet and Microsoft Teams links can attach to virtual appointments when those integrations are enabled.

Question 14

How do you stop double-booking?

Accepted Answer

Open slots come from one engine: weekly schedules, AptaBook appointments, unavailable blocks, and busy times synced from connected calendars. Chat, voice, WhatsApp, and the public booking page all read that same set. If someone still double-books, it’s usually a provider without a connected calendar or hours that don’t match how the team actually works.

Question 15

Is there a customer-facing booking page?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each org gets a stable booking URL (tokenized) you can put on the site or in email signatures. Visitors pick location, provider, and time without chatting. Keep it - even if you love the AI - because some people refuse widgets and just want a calendar.

Question 16

We have several offices and providers. Supported?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Model locations (including virtual), attach providers, map services, and set hours per provider or location. The agent asks where the customer wants to be seen when that choice matters. Messy org charts are fine; messy hours are not - clean those first.

Question 17

Can customers reschedule or cancel with the AI?

Accepted Answer

When the channel is live, yes - the agent can move or cancel appointments and write the change back to AptaBook and connected calendars. Exact policies (cutoffs, fees) should live in your knowledge docs so the agent doesn’t promise same-day cancellations your front desk won’t honor.

Question 18

Can booked visits include video meeting links?

Accepted Answer

For virtual services, enable Google Meet or Microsoft Teams meeting generation in settings. Links show up on the appointment once the meeting integration is authorized. Purely in-person services shouldn’t request a Meet link - map service types carefully.

Question 19

Which follow-up automations can we turn on?

Accepted Answer

Reminders before a visit. A nudge when someone chats or calls and never books. A quieter ping for leads that went silent. A short note after the appointment. Channels depend on the plan - email, WhatsApp. Turn reminders on first and watch Conversations for a few days; flipping every recipe overnight is how people mute you.

Question 20

Can AptaBook talk to HubSpot, Zoho, or our own CRM?

Accepted Answer

HubSpot and Zoho use OAuth on plans that include them. Homegrown CRMs usually take outbound webhooks on appointment events, or an HTTP tool the agent can call for quotes or ticket status. Check signatures on your server. Staging first.

Question 21

How do we put chat on the website?

Accepted Answer

Open AI Agent → Chat, copy the snippet, paste it before (or load it from your tag manager). No rebuild needed for the normal widget. Missing bubble? Look at CSP and ad blockers before you rewrite the greeting.

Question 22

Where do conversations and bookings live?

Accepted Answer

Inside your AptaBook organization, so staff can review transcripts and appointments in the dashboard. Transport uses TLS; sensitive fields are protected with our application encryption practices. Read the Privacy Policy for processing details, and ask us about region / residency options if you have contractual constraints.

Question 23

Will the AI give legal, medical, or financial advice?

Accepted Answer

No - and you should train it not to try. The agent explains your services, hours, and booking rules from content you supply. Regulated advice stays with licensed humans. Law-firm customers usually add conflict and “we can’t advise” language in knowledge docs; do the equivalent for your profession.

Question 24

Are you “HIPAA compliant” out of the box?

Accepted Answer

We support healthcare-style deployments with encryption, access controls, and a Business Associate Agreement when your use case needs one. Saying a SaaS is “HIPAA certified” is marketing shorthand - compliance is a shared responsibility. Contact support@aptabook.com before you put PHI on the line so we can confirm BAA scope and configuration.

Question 25

How does pricing work?

Accepted Answer

Plans bundle channels and caps - chat, voice minutes, WhatsApp, seats, connectors. Compare live numbers on /signup; this FAQ won’t hard-code prices because they change. For high-volume or internal/unlimited arrangements, email support with your call volume and channel mix.

Question 26

How do we get help after signup?

Accepted Answer

Use this FAQ and the Knowledge Base for how-tos. For account issues, email support@aptabook.com from your registered domain and include the org name. Screenshots of the failing settings page beat vague “chat doesn’t work” reports every time.

Frequently asked questions