This is an overlay, not a booking system. Your services, lengths and hours stay in Harkbell. The calendar only says when its owner is busy, and it receives a copy of each booking the agent confirms. Overviews: Google Calendar and Outlook and Microsoft 365.
- Sign in to Harkbell as the owner or an admin.
- Select Integrations, then the Calendars tab, and open Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar. The panel is called Calendar sync.
- Tick Availability only — read when they are busy, never write to their calendar if you want Harkbell to read free and busy time only.
- Select Connect Google Calendar or Connect Outlook and approve access on the provider's page.
- Back in Harkbell, find your columns under the heading for your trade's word for a column. For each, open Reads this calendar and choose a calendar.
- Leave Copy bookings onto this calendar ticked to have confirmed bookings copied across, or untick it to stop.
One account, many columns
You connect an account once. Every calendar in it can then be chosen for any column, so one login can cover a whole shop. Columns that share a calendar share one lookup. To add a second login, select Add another.
What the provider shows you
Google may show a screen saying Google has not verified the app, depending on its review status when you connect. That notice is most likely when you grant write access, because the permission to create events is the one Google treats as sensitive. Choosing availability only asks for less. On a Microsoft 365 work account, your administrator may need to approve the connection once.
On a Square, Calendly or Acuity column, the calendar is written to, not read
Those systems decide when their own columns are free, so Harkbell never checks the calendar for busy times there. It only receives copies of edits made in Harkbell. Appointments booked in that system are not copied. Turn on that system's own calendar sync for those.
What if the calendar stops answering?
On a column that reads a calendar, an unreachable calendar closes that column: its times stop being offered and the agent takes a message, instead of guessing it is free. Booking itself still goes ahead if the calendar answered a minute ago. The account shows Not answering or Needs reconnecting.
Can Harkbell see what my appointments are?
No. It asks only when you are busy, so it learns that two to four is taken and nothing about the event: no titles, attendees or descriptions.
My booking software is Fresha, Booksy, GlossGenius or Mindbody. Does this help?
Yes, if it syncs out to Google or Outlook: the agent will stop offering hours it has already sold. Those systems take nothing back, so a request you confirm is created in Harkbell and on the calendar, and you add it in your booking software yourself.