Feature

In-Chat Appointment Booking for WhatsApp, Instagram & Telegram

Customers select a service, pick a time, and confirm — all inside the chat. No website. No app. No phone calls. Fiko's booking system runs on a strict 9-step state machine so every booking ends cleanly.

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The problem

Phone calls and DMs eat 3+ hours of your day

If you take appointments, you know the pattern: every time someone messages, you stop what you're doing to reply, ask for date and time, check your calendar, send confirmation, and a day later you remind them — only for some to no-show anyway.

3+ hours/day

Average time service businesses spend on appointment DMs and calls.

15–20% no-shows

Average no-show rate without reminders or deposit policy.

Missed bookings

Customers messaging at midnight don't wait — they go to the next salon on Instagram.

Inconsistent answers

Different staff give different answers about prices, services, and availability.

How Fiko Booking works

The 9-step booking state machine

Every Fiko booking goes through the same predictable flow. Customers can't skip steps, and the system never loses track of where the conversation is.

Customer messages your business

Anywhere the customer is — Instagram DM, WhatsApp, Telegram, or Website Chat. The AI greets them.

Customer asks to book

Either by saying it directly ("I want to book") or by clicking a button you placed in your AI prompt. A workflow trigger starts the booking flow.

Service selection

Fiko lists available services with prices and durations. Services come from your Products & Services catalog.

Resource selection (optional)

If the service requires choosing staff, a room, or equipment, the customer picks. Each resource has its own availability.

Date selection

Customer picks a date. Only dates with available slots are offered — closed days and full days are hidden automatically.

Time selection

Available time slots for that day are shown, respecting buffer times, service duration, and other bookings.

Confirmation

Customer reviews the booking summary and confirms. A unique confirmation code (like ABC123) is generated.

Google Calendar event created

If Google Calendar is connected, the booking appears in your staff member's calendar instantly.

Reminders sent automatically

24 hours before and 1 hour before, automatic reminders go out on the same channel the customer booked on.

Use cases

Built for service businesses that take appointments

Beauty, barbers, clinics, real estate, restaurants, fitness — anywhere customers book a time slot.

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Beauty Clinics

Customer DMs on Instagram → AI shares price list → booking flow starts → reminder 24h before → no-show prevention with deposit.

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Barbershops

WhatsApp booking with barber selection. Each barber has their own schedule and availability — customers pick who and when.

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Medical Clinics

Patient inquiries on any channel route to AI for FAQ, then booking flow with doctor + consultation type selection.

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Real Estate

Lead qualification on Instagram, then booking flow for property viewings with the agent who owns that listing.

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No-show prevention

Reliability scores + deposit policy

Every customer gets a reliability score between 0.00 and 1.00 based on their booking history. For unreliable customers, you can require a deposit before confirming.

Auto reminders

24h before, 1h before — sent on the original channel. Reduces no-shows by 60–80% in practice.

No-show tracking

Mark no-shows manually or let Fiko auto-mark after the appointment window passes. Score updates automatically.

Deposit policy

Set a reliability threshold (e.g., 0.7). Below that, the system requires a deposit before confirming.

Integrations

Works with the tools you already use

Google Calendar

Each booking creates a calendar event. Cancellations update in real-time.

WhatsApp Cloud API

Templates for confirmations and reminders inside the 24-hour window.

Products catalog

Services come from your Products & Services catalog with prices and durations.

Custom fields

Collect booking-specific info (preferences, notes) into customer profile.

Fiko Booking vs Calendly vs SimplyBook vs Manual

Honest comparison. Calendly is great for office meetings; Fiko is built for service businesses on messaging channels.

Feature	Fiko	Calendly	SimplyBook.me	Manual
Booking inside WhatsApp
Booking inside Instagram DM
Booking inside Telegram
AI chatbot during booking flow
No-show tracking + reliability score
Multiple staff/resources
Google Calendar sync
Custom availability rules
Customer self-service web booking
Deposit / pre-payment for unreliable customers		Limited
Starting price	$15/mo	$8/mo	$0/mo	—

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Fiko Booking

Yes. The full booking flow — service selection, date and time picking, and confirmation — happens inside the chat. Customers never have to leave WhatsApp, Instagram, or Telegram. They don't need to install an app or visit a separate website.

Yes. Fiko uses a resource model — each staff member, room, or piece of equipment is a bookable resource. Each resource has its own weekly availability schedule, buffer times before and after appointments, and exception dates (closed days, custom hours).

Fiko tracks no-shows automatically and calculates a customer reliability score between 0.00 and 1.00. For customers with low scores, you can enable a deposit policy that requires payment before confirming the booking.

Yes. Fiko sends scheduled reminders before each appointment (you choose the timing — typically 24 hours and 1 hour before). Reminders go out on the same channel the customer booked through, so WhatsApp bookings get WhatsApp reminders.

Yes. Each confirmed booking automatically creates a Google Calendar event in your staff member's calendar. Cancellations and reschedules update the calendar event in real-time.

Each booking gets a unique confirmation code (like ABC123). Customers can cancel by replying 'cancel ABC123' in the chat. Rescheduling restarts the booking flow at the date and time step.

Beauty clinics, barbershops, medical clinics, real estate (property viewings), restaurants (table reservations), fitness studios, and pet groomers see the strongest adoption. Any business that takes appointments by time slot benefits.

A simple setup (one service, one staff member, weekly availability) takes under 15 minutes. A complex setup (multiple services, multiple staff, custom rules, deposits) takes 1–2 hours.

Yes. If a customer asks a question mid-booking ('how long does the service take?', 'what's the price?'), the AI chatbot answers using your knowledge base, then returns the customer to the booking flow.

Yes. You can configure multiple branches as separate resources or use location-aware availability rules. Each branch can have its own staff, services, and hours.

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