All of us have a love-hate relationship with meetings. Even if the actual meeting is for only 15 minutes, we find ourselves having spent hours trying to schedule it. And as we progress in the career ladder, the number of meetings only increase. Imagine spending hours everyday to get meetings scheduled. Or the number of emails sent back and forth to get your colleague/guest/anyone to agree on a time or venue. Here comes the most frustrating part- when a meeting has to be rescheduled and you have to go through back and forth emailing all over again. Alas! We are all Sisyphuses when the scheduling rock rolls down the hill.
So, how do we make peace with the mundane task of scheduling?
Well, well, well. Technology has answers. There are umpteen scheduling tools available at your fingertips that you can use to schedule your meetings. But, there are so many in the market that you may spend all your time trying to figure out which one is the best. Here’s where we are trying to help you: we will discuss the major scheduling tools so that you can make a decision by the end of the article.
We have tried to showcase the best of all tools listed. If we have missed out anything, please understand that it was not intentional
Appoint.ly
Set up an account on appoint.ly, where you enter your availability. When you want to schedule a meeting with someone, you can send them a personalized link, but on appoint.ly domain. Your guests can pick a convenient time from these predefined set of time slots. You can manually alter the time slots later. In real life terms, this works like an appointment book from where outsiders can book a slot to meet with you. Appoint.ly helps you in finalizing a time slot, but you are in charge of coordinating the meeting.
Pros: Easy to provide available slots to colleagues, guests, and customers
Cons:You have to take care of rescheduling hassles.
My Ally
Our solution to the scheduling chaos is an AI powered assistant, Alex. Why would you waste your precious hours if someone else, best equipped, can do it for you? Alex is designed like a real life assistant for any business on whom you can assign the task to schedule meetings and interviews for you. You can set your preferred meeting hours on Alex and you are done with setting up. CC Alex in your communication with the participant to schedule a meeting or an interview. Believe us, it is as easy as asking the assistant across the desk to arrange a meeting for you.
Alex will take on from that point, deals with finding a time that’s convenient to you and the participant, bears the brunt of rescheduling if required, sends an invite when the meeting is confirmed, and reminds you before the event. You can make Alex completely a part of your team under your domain, and even a new name, if you wish. Alex can store details such as conference room availability, which makes it even more easier to schedule a meeting. Alex’s human-like conversations and social etiquette, thanks to NLP, make it adorable and trustworthy to handle situations professionally. No worries if you are scheduling a meeting with someone living in a different timezone, Alex picks it up like a pro.
Pros: AI powered assistant with massive scalability
Cons: Higher price for companies with less than 20 people
Pick
Pick is a step ahead of appoint.ly, in the sense that it automatically scans calendars to find a mutually convenient time and notifies the participants. This requires that your entire team is on Pick. If you are organizing a meeting with a guest, who is not on Pick, you will be required to send a link with availability. The link will be carry your name on pick’s domain. However, Pick is limited to Gmail calendars alone.
Pros: Convenient for team meetings at work
Cons: Works only with Gmail calendars
x.ai
With Amy and Andrew Ingram, x.ai aims to solve the problem of scheduling with artificial intelligence. Amy/Andrew jumps in as soon as they are CC-d in the email to schedule a meeting. Amy and Andrew are powered by NLP and their conversation skills match a human. You can make Amy part of your team under your domain, but ‘Amy’ remains. Although Amy/Andrew help with your scheduling requirement easily, there are constraints with conference room booking capabilities and limited dashboard analytics.
Pros: AI assistant to schedule meetings; can be used for personal as well as professional uses
Cons: Limited options on branding.
Calendly
After setting up your preferences on Calendly, you can share the personalized link (on Calendly domain) with your guests. When a guest chooses a time slot, Calendly adds it to your calendar. A relief to team meetings and in-person meetings, Calendly works with your Google, Office 365, or iCloud calendars. But, you are in charge of coordination and if rescheduling occurs, get ready to sweat.
Pros: Easy scheduling of in-person and team meetings by providing convenient slots
Cons: Since rest of the coordination is on your shoulders, you have to take care of rescheduling.
Clara
Yet another AI assistant to manage scheduling. Clara can be called in to schedule a meeting by CC-ing it in an email. Clara processes requests to schedule and reschedule, and sends an invite once a meeting is finalized. Clara is also powered by NLP to process conversations and proceed. But, you cannot add Clara to your domain. However, Clara is limited in access to conference room booking.
Pros: AI assistant to help schedule meetings for you. Suited for personal as well as business teams.
Cons: Limited options on branding.
We hope we have helped you reach a decision about your scheduling tool/assistant. Got any queries? Let us know. Drop a mail at connect@myally.ai
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