Services and sessions

The service catalog names the work offered by the studio and records its duration, capacity, price and active state. A session turns one of those services into a scheduled opportunity with a start, an end, an instructor and its own capacity. This lets the Booking Coordinator offer a real time window rather than describing an unassigned service. The Instructor sees the work they are expected to deliver.

For example, a long coat grooming service may need a longer window than a short wash. Set the service’s duration and price, then create a session with an instructor whose day can accommodate it. The session has its own capacity; the booking confirmation command uses that session capacity when it reserves places. Keep the service catalog and session schedule aligned so a customer is quoted for the service that will actually happen.

• Service terms. Name the work and set its duration, capacity, price and active state before staff schedule it.
• Session assignment. Choose the service, start and end times, capacity and instructor for the planned visit.
• Availability. Use the session state to distinguish planned, open, full, completed and cancelled time.

The Studio Manager should decide who publishes session availability, how the studio measures places and when a session moves from Planned to Open. Assign the Instructor through a People record linked to a user; that relationship matters when the team checks who can record the finished work. Agree whether a session represents one pet visit or a shared time block before setting capacity above one.

The start and end dates also need a common timezone and a practical buffer between services. The schedule stores the booked window, while the service catalog stores intended duration. Train coordinators to compare both when a service’s duration changes. Review cancelled sessions before offering alternatives, and treat Completed as the record of a finished time block rather than an open booking slot.

Create an active service, schedule it with a named instructor and mark the session Open. Ask a Booking Coordinator to find the time in Sessions Calendar and Open Sessions. Check that both screens show the same service, instructor and start and end. Confirm places until the session reaches its capacity; the booking command should reject another reservation. Cancel a separate session and make sure staff do not offer it as open time.

• Sessions Calendar — Review the service, instructor and visit window across planned and open work.
• Open Sessions — Offer only sessions currently available for booking.

See session planning before booking confirmation.