DocsSetting Availability
Define your team's weekly schedule for appointment booking
Setting Availability
Your weekly availability tells the AI agent when your team is free for property viewings. The agent uses this to suggest real, available time slots to qualified leads.
How It Works
Availability in Sift is template-based:
- Weekly template — You define recurring time windows for each day of the week
- Blocked dates — You mark specific dates as unavailable (holidays, vacations)
- Existing appointments — Already-booked slots are excluded
- Available slots = Template − Blocked dates − Existing appointments
The agent sees the next 3 days of available slots and offers them to leads who are ready to book.
Setting Your Weekly Schedule
In the dashboard sidebar, click Calendar.
Each day of the week has an on/off toggle. Enabled days show as available; disabled days are fully blocked.
A typical UK estate agency schedule:
- Monday–Friday: Available (core working week)
- Saturday: Available (viewings day — many agencies run Saturday mornings)
- Sunday: Off
Tip
For each enabled day, set one or more time windows:
- Start time — when you're available from (e.g., 9:00 AM)
- End time — when you're available until (e.g., 6:00 PM)
The calendar grid shows time from 7 AM to 9 PM. Available windows appear as diagonal lime-green stripes on the grid.
Click Save to apply your weekly template. The agent immediately starts using the new availability when suggesting appointment times.
Visual Indicators
The calendar grid uses a 3-layer rendering system:
| Layer | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Availability stripes | Diagonal lime-green lines | Time windows when you're available |
| Blocked dates | Red overlay | Days marked as unavailable |
| Appointments | Solid colored blocks | Booked viewings |
How the Agent Uses Availability
When a lead is qualified (warm or hot), the agent:
- Checks your availability for the next 3 days
- Subtracts any blocked dates and existing appointments
- Calculates available 1-hour slots
- Suggests 2–3 specific times to the lead
- If the lead picks a time, the agent books it automatically
Example agent message:
"I have some viewing times available. Would any of these work for you?
- Tomorrow (Monday) at 10:00 AM
- Tomorrow (Monday) at 2:00 PM
- Wednesday at 11:00 AM"
Tips
- Set realistic windows — only mark times when someone is genuinely available to show properties
- Use blocked dates for holidays and team off-days so the agent doesn't offer unavailable times
- Check your calendar regularly — the agent trusts your availability template, so keeping it accurate prevents double-bookings