Need Help Scheduling Groups of People? Try Doodle
I recently received an email from one of the colleges I attended asking me if I would like to sit in on a class to help rate some of the teacher candidates they were considering for a position. I liked this approach of giving alumni an opportunity to get involved and have a say in the quality of the school. They sent a link in the email to a website at www.doodle.com and asked us to take a poll as the days and times we were available to attend a class. The days and times were in a spreadsheet format and we had to put a check mark next to all days and times we were free. By looking at the spreadsheet-I could see all the other participants in the poll along the left hand side of the spreadsheet, as well as the days and times they were available. I thought that this type of program was a great idea for helping groups of people to set up meetings, trainings, or other gatherings and wanted to tell you about it.
If you are looking for a software program or App that can help a group of people to find the most convenient date and time for all then you have to check out Doodle. Doodle is an online scheduling service that takes the hassle out of finding the right date and time for a group of people to meet, and makes scheduling effortless. The basic service is available for free on www.doodle.com, and the good thing is that you do not need to register or install any software to use the service.
Doodle makes it simple to set up events like work meetings, retreats, team or board meetings, parties, reunions, dinner with friends, trips, or anything else.
Doodle allows a meeting organizer to send out meeting polls which could include as many options as the organizer likes of possible dates and times for the event. The software creates an online schedule (spreadsheet) which outlines the days and times that the organizer wants to meet, as well as the responders preference for days/times, so everyone who responds can visually get an idea as to the best day and time for all.
The Premium(paid ) version gives you an ad free professional doodle for individuals (Solo plan) as well as a plan for companies and organizations (Business or Enterprise plan). The premium subscriptions start at $39/year(Solo plan) and offer more premium features. All plans, including the free plan provide you the option to accept payment for services. So, if you have multiple employees, the Business (paid) plan, at $479/year has these features:
- Branding
- Ad-Free
- Efficiency features
- Mobile support
- Calendar Connection
- Unlimited transactions
- Continuous SSL encryption
- Company URL
- User Management
Doodle has some other services that add some additional functionality such as their “BookMe” service that allows business owners to accept customer appointments online. This service is mainly geared for service providers, such as therapists, counselors beauty salons, massage therapists, hypnotherapists, who are looking for an easy way to get clients to both sign up for appointments and pay for their services online.
A related feature is the “Meet-Me Page,” which they describe as your personal scheduling profile, or your central point of contact for the coordination of appointments. It shows people when you are busy and most likely free.
These tools, found at Doodle.com can make your life much easier, and can save the time and aggravation of coordinating schedules, booking appointments, and accepting payment, so it may be worth taking a look at the service and seeing if it’s right for you.