Glossary
Service duration
The length in minutes a service occupies on the salon calendar, blocking overlapping bookings.
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Product, engineering and support at Appointly
The Appointly editorial team is made up of the people building, supporting and using Appointly every day. Articles are written by the team, then reviewed against the Product Capability Report before publishing so every claim maps to a real, shipped feature. Appointly is built and operated by Eide Systemhub (Org.nr 933597598).
- Category:
- Glossary
- Reading time:
- 3 min read
- Published:
- Reviewed for product accuracy:
Product claims on this page are checked against Appointly's internal Product Capability Report before publishing. See our editorial policy and features and limitations for scope.
Definition
Service duration is the time each service takes end to end — a 30-minute haircut, a 90-minute colour, a 120-minute bridal makeup. It controls how the calendar reserves time and which slots are shown as available to customers.
Why it matters
Wrong durations cause two failure modes: overrun (the next customer waits) and gaps (usable time isn't offered on the booking page). Correct durations keep the day flowing.
Common misconceptions
| Common claim | Reality |
|---|---|
| Durations only affect the calendar view. | They also determine which start times the booking page shows. A 90-minute service won't offer a slot that ends after closing time. |
How Appointly handles this
Each Appointly service has its own duration. The booking page only shows start times where the full service fits before closing.
Related terms
- Salon calendar
The shared view of every booked appointment, ordered by time, that runs the salon's day.
- Capacity booking
Booking rules that allow multiple appointments in the same time slot up to a set number of parallel customers.
- Business hours
The weekly recurring schedule that says which hours on which days the salon accepts bookings.
Related articles
FAQ
Can duration differ by staff member?
Not today. Duration is set per service, not per staff.
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