Out of office closes a provider's calendar for a time: a vacation, a sick day, a conference. It shows as "Out of office" on the schedule, online booking skips it, and nothing can be dropped into it.
Mark a provider out of office
- Click New appointment and choose the Out of office tab. Or right-click empty calendar space: a day in Month view or a day's heading in Week view offers Out of office all day, and a time slot offers Out of office.
- Pick the provider (required) and the Date.
- Tick All day, or pick a start time and an end time (in 15-minute steps).
- For more than one day, turn on Recurring: Every 1 day, Ends after the number of days (the editor calls them visits). Each day becomes its own block. Weekly or monthly repeats work too, for a standing day off.
- Add Notes if you like. There's no name to type: the block is labelled Out of office.
- Click Block time. The message reads "Time blocked", or "5 blocks added" for a repeating one.
The provider has to work at this location (or not be set to any location yet). An Out of office also keeps online booking and the AI from offering that provider at your other locations for that time.
Cancel the appointments during it
Turn on Cancel appointments during this time to cancel the provider's visits that overlap the block, on every day it covers.
- Notify clients (ticked): each client is told about the cancellation by text, or by email when they can't be texted, the same way as Let the client know.
- Notify contacts (ticked): also tells guardians and contacts who get the client's reminders.
Before you save, the preview checks the calendar ("Checking the calendar…") and then says what will happen:
- "No appointments during this time."
- "3 appointments will be cancelled. No late-cancel fee is charged."
- "1 synced from your EHR stays booked; cancel it there."
It lists the first five by client, day and time (with "(another location)" for a visit booked at another of your locations), then "and N more". If the check fails it says "Couldn't check the calendar." with Try again; you can't save the cancellation until it has worked.
After saving, the message says how many were cancelled and how many clients and contacts were told, for example "Time blocked. 3 appointments cancelled. 3 clients notified." Your team gets a notification too ("Cancelled: 3 appointments"). The cancelled visits:
- carry the reason "Provider out of office" and no late-cancel fee
- aren't offered to your waitlist, because the provider is away
- include the provider's visits at your other locations that you can manage
Visits synced from an EHR are left booked: cancel them in the EHR. One save cancels at most 500 visits; any more stay booked and FrontDesk says to cancel them from the calendar.
Email clients who message while you're out
Under the cancel options, the Out of office email switch turns on an automatic email for this location. It starts off.
When it's on, a client who sends a secure message while their provider is out gets one email saying so. Their provider is their primary provider, or else the provider of their latest visit. Each client gets it once per absence: back-to-back all-day blocks are one absence, however they were entered; a part-day block is its own; a weekly repeating block is one absence each week.
It isn't sent to clients marked do not contact, clients who turned email off, or clients with no email address. It comes from your practice email, which must be verified: until it is, the dialog shows "These emails won't go out until your practice's sending email is verified." with a Verify it link to Settings → Email.
Manage email content opens Settings → Client Notifications → Out of office reply (under Calls & messages), where you can:
- switch it on or off (Email clients when their provider is out)
- edit the Email subject and Email message
- use the fill-ins {{clientFirstName}}, {{providerName}}, {{outUntil}}, {{practiceName}} and {{practicePhone}}. {{outUntil}} reads like "until 3:00 PM today" or "through Friday, October 9".
The standard email thanks the client, says the provider is out of the office and that the team will get back to them, and gives your phone number for anything urgent (and 911 for an emergency). The reply only answers secure messages in the client portal, so the portal's messaging must be on.
Out of office or time off?
| Out of office | Time off | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | The calendar: New appointment → Out of office | Settings → Providers: click the provider's hours, then the Time Off tab |
| Stops new bookings online and by the AI | Yes, at every location | Yes, at every location |
| Shows on the calendar | As an Out of office block | As shaded time off in the provider's column on the Day view |
| Can cancel booked visits and tell clients | Yes | No |
| Out of office email | Yes | No |
| Repeats | With Recurring | With Repeats (every week, 2 weeks or month) |
Use Out of office when the provider is away and booked visits need handling. Use time off for a standing gap that never has visits in it. See Add providers and doctors. For the whole office closing, use holiday closures.
Change or remove it
A block has no form to edit: click it on the calendar and FrontDesk offers to delete it (Delete block). A repeating block asks This and following (removes the later days; a block already under way stays) or Just this block (use it to free today). To change the times, delete it and add a new one. Deleting a block opens that time for booking again; visits it cancelled stay cancelled.
Good to know
- The reply is per location. Turning on the Out of office email at one location doesn't turn it on at the others.
- A repeating Out of office previews and cancels visits on every day it covers.
- The AI and online booking treat an Out of office like any other busy time: no times are offered in it.