Appointment Booking Logic with Google Calendar

This guide explains how AI SDR uses your Availability settings and Google Calendar together to find open time slots and prevent double-bookings when scheduling appointments with leads.

How AI SDR Finds Available Times

AI SDR uses a two-step process to determine when you're available for meetings:

First, it checks your Availability settings. In Settings > Availability, you define your weekly schedule—which days you're available and what times on those days you want to take meetings. This creates your baseline availability window.

Then, it checks your Google Calendar for conflicts. Within those availability windows, AI SDR looks at your Google Calendar to find times when you don't already have events scheduled. Only slots that are both within your set availability AND free on your calendar are offered to leads.

This combination ensures leads only see times when you're actually free and willing to meet.

Setting Up Your Availability

Before AI SDR can suggest meeting times, you need to configure both your availability schedule and connect your Google Calendar.

Configure Your Availability Settings

1. Go to Settings > Availability

2. Select your timezone from the dropdown

3. For each day of the week, toggle it on if you want to be available for meetings that day

4. Set your time ranges using the start and end time dropdowns (for example, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)

5. Add multiple time blocks per day if needed using the + button

6. Use the copy icon to apply the same times to multiple days at once

7. Click Save when you're done

Connect Your Google Calendar

1. Go to Settings > Email & Calendar

2. Click Connect Google Calendar

3. Sign in with your Google account and allow calendar access

4. Select which calendar you want to use for checking conflicts

Once both are set up, AI SDR will only suggest times that fall within your availability hours AND don't conflict with existing events on your Google Calendar.

How Conflicts are Prevented

When a lead selects a time to book, AI SDR checks your Google Calendar one final time in real-time to make sure the slot is still open. If you've added an event since the lead started the booking process, they'll be notified that the time is no longer available and can choose a different option.

This double-check happens every time someone books, ensuring you never get scheduled for two things at once.

How Different Types of Events Affect Availability

Regular events – Any meeting or appointment on your calendar blocks that time from being booked.

Recurring events – If you have weekly meetings or daily blocks, AI SDR recognizes all future occurrences and treats them as unavailable.

All-day events – These block your entire day from being scheduled.

Events marked as "Free" – If you set an event to show you as "Free" in Google Calendar (instead of "Busy"), AI SDR may not treat it as a conflict. To be safe, mark events as "Busy" if you don't want meetings scheduled during that time.

How Leads Experience Booking

When AI SDR engages with a lead and detects interest in scheduling a meeting, it automatically generates available time slots based on your availability settings and Google Calendar.

Leads see messages like "Here are times I'm available:" followed by a list of 3-5 open slots over the next 7-14 days. These slots are shown in the lead's timezone for their convenience.

When a lead selects a time, AI SDR validates it one final time against your Google Calendar. If it's still free, the appointment is created and both you and the lead receive confirmation. The event appears on your Google Calendar just like any other meeting.

Common Issues and How to Fix Them

No available slots showing

Problem: AI SDR isn't suggesting any times to leads, or your availability appears empty.

Solution:

• Check Settings > Availability to make sure you've toggled on at least one day and set time ranges

• Verify your Google Calendar is connected in Settings > Email & Calendar

• Look at your Google Calendar—if it's fully booked during your availability windows, there won't be any open slots to offer

• Make sure your availability times are in the future (past times won't be suggested)

Wrong times being suggested

Problem: AI SDR is suggesting times outside your preferred hours or when you're not actually available.

Solution:

• Double-check your Settings > Availability to ensure your time ranges are correct

• Verify your timezone is set correctly in Settings > Availability

• Make sure the Google Calendar you've connected includes all your events (if you use multiple calendars, connect the one that has everything)

• Test how your availability looks by having someone try to book with you

Calendar not connecting or syncing

Problem: You see error messages, or your calendar doesn't seem connected properly.

Solution:

• Go to Settings > Email & Calendar and click Reconnect if you see that option

• Disconnect your Google account and then connect it again

• Make sure you're using the Google account that has the calendar you want to check

• Verify you granted calendar permissions during the connection process

Overlapping or invalid time ranges

Problem: You see an error message like "Times overlap with another set of times" or "End time should be after start time."

Solution:

• Make sure your end time is later than your start time for each block

• Check that time blocks on the same day don't overlap (for example, don't set both 9:00-5:00 and 2:00-6:00)

• Delete overlapping blocks using the trash icon and recreate them correctly

What You Need to Get Started

To use Google Calendar with AI SDR, you need:

• Admin or owner access to your organization

• A Pro or higher plan (Basic plans may have limited booking features)

• A Google account with an active calendar

• Configured availability in Settings > Availability