Booking glossary
Plain-language definitions of online booking and scheduling terms.
- AI booking assistant
- An AI booking assistant is software that chats with customers in natural language and books appointments automatically. It answers questions, shows real-time availability, and schedules the appointment without a human, often across channels like Instagram, WhatsApp, and a web booking page. TEKA is an example built for service businesses.
- Online booking
- Online booking is the ability for customers to schedule an appointment over the internet — through a website, app, or messaging channel — instead of calling. It shows live availability and confirms instantly, 24/7.
- No-show
- A no-show is a customer who books an appointment but doesn't arrive and doesn't cancel in time. No-shows waste staff time and revenue. Automatic reminders and easy self-rescheduling typically reduce no-shows by 30–50%.
- Booking management system
- A booking management system is software that handles appointments, staff schedules, services, and customer records in one place. It prevents double-bookings, syncs calendars, and often automates reminders and confirmations.
- Appointment reminder
- An appointment reminder is an automatic message (push notification, SMS, or chat) sent before a scheduled appointment to reduce no-shows. Good systems let customers confirm, cancel, or reschedule directly from the reminder.
- Pay-as-you-go pricing
- Pay-as-you-go pricing charges based on actual usage rather than a fixed subscription. For booking software, it usually means a small percentage or fee per completed booking, so costs scale with revenue. TEKA offers 2% per finished booking as an alternative to a flat monthly plan.
- Booking marketplace
- A booking marketplace is a platform where customers discover and book many businesses in one app (for example, Booksy or Fresha). It can bring exposure but places you next to competitors and often charges marketplace fees. An own-brand AI assistant like TEKA books customers directly through your own channels instead.
- Conversational booking
- Conversational booking is scheduling an appointment through a chat conversation rather than filling out a form. The customer messages naturally ("Can I get a haircut Friday afternoon?") and an AI assistant proposes times and confirms the booking.
