Version 2 of the GoBook mobile app is now available for Android and iOS devices. Click on the relevant badge on the Log In page for more info and to optionally install the app.

Enhancements include:

• New look-and-feel.
• When making a booking, you now have the option to see the name of the person that has already booked a slot.
• When viewing bookings, you now have the option to view past bookings in addition to upcoming bookings.
• A Financials tab has been added enabling viewing of your account balances and transactions and your online payments history. You can also make an online payment via a browser window in the app.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated - email me at support@gobook.co.za

The existing 10 year old GoBook website has been re-written to make it more mobile-responsive, i.e. page layout adapts to size of screen.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated - email me at support@gobook.co.za

The GoBook mobile app is now available for Android and iOS devices. Click on the relevant badge on the Log In page for more info and to optionally install the app. If you are already registered on the GoBook website, it is not necessary to re-register on the app - just use your same User Name and Password to log into the app.

Since this is the first release of the app, any feedback would be greatly appreciated - email me at support@gobook.co.za

The Make Booking page has been enhanced by the addition of "previous day" and "next day" buttons which facilitate the viewing of the previous and next day's booking schedules, respectively, without having to change the date and then click on the "search" button as before.

The My Bookings page has been enhanced by the addition of an "export to calendar" button which will download your GoBook bookings in a calendar format file (.ics format). The downloaded file can then be imported into most calendaring applications (e.g. Outlook and Google Calendar) so that your GoBook bookings will appear as appointments within your calendar.

Previously providers had the option to allow or disallow booking reminders - this affected both SMS and email reminders. The setting has now been changed to be applicable to reminders sent via SMS only. As a result, if you have selected to receive booking reminders via email, you will always receive such. If you have selected to receive booking reminders via SMS, these will only be sent to you if the relevant provider has allowed such.

GoBook now has an account on Twitter, namely @gobookza. We will initially be tweeting just service announcements, such as online availability of providers, on a regular basis. To follow GoBook on Twitter, just click on the link on the Log In page.

The website has been updated with additional functionality for registered providers and their consultants.

Registered providers can now do the following:

• A file import option has been added to My Client Logins, so that the login credentials for a provider's clients can now be loaded from a flat file.
• Anonymous bookings (i.e. no client) can now be made. This will be useful when the provider needs to reserve certain booking slots or when the provider maintains another booking system (typically a manual booking system) and needs to quickly ensure that the website and other bookings are kept in sync.
• Changes made on the My Customisations page now need to first be authorised by the website administrator before they are made live. A "request authorisation" button has been added for this purpose.

Registered consultants can now do the following:

• Log in to the mobile site. New clients can be added and details for existing clients can be edited. Bookings (either anonymous or for a selected client) can be made and existing bookings can be viewed, accepted and rejected.
• Anonymous bookings (i.e. no client) can now be made. This will be useful when the consultant needs to reserve certain booking slots or when the consultant maintains another booking system (typically a manual booking system) and needs to quickly ensure that the website and other bookings are kept in sync.

The website has been updated with additional functionality for registered clients and providers alike.

Registered clients can now do the following:-

• Notification options can now be set for booking reminders in addition to booking confirmations.
• GPS coordinates for the address specified in the client's contact details can now be supplied by the client. This will facilitate future searching for providers based on the client's current position.
• The client's current balance amounts for his/her accounts with a selected provider will be displayed when he/she makes a booking for that provider.
• Clients can now remove their profile from the GoBook site, provided they do not have any current or future-dated pending or accepted bookings.

Registered providers can now do the following:-

• Providers now have 2 subscription options when they register:- full access to the website (as currently) or a business listing service only.
• A check can now be made when a client adds a provider to his/her profile to ensure that the login credentials supplied by the client are correct for the provider.
• Parent providers can now be specified. This will facilitate future grouping of providers thereby enabling multi-location providers, etc.
• GPS coordinates for the address specified in the provider's contact details can now be supplied by the provider. This will facilitate future searching for providers based on a client's current position.
• Contact details can now be assigned to a provider's consultants and they can also be assigned logins so that they now form an additional category of users of the website.
• The maximum number of bookings at one time can now be assigned when setting up a schedule. This will facilitate booking slots that, in future, can accommodate one or more clients.
• Notification options can now be set for booking reminders in addition to booking confirmations for a provider's clients and GPS coordinates for the address specified in the client's contact details can now be entered by the provider.
• The list of clients for a provider can now be restricted to just those clients that have previously booked with the supplier.
• The provider can now maintain a list of client login credentials that are used to access the provider's back-end system. This facilitates the check that is done when a client adds a provider to his/her profile to ensure that the login credentials supplied by the client are correct for the provider.
• Providers can now set up custom fields for bookings made by clients for their services. What this means is that these custom fields will appear on the form that the client fills in when he/she makes a booking and the data that the client enters for these custom fields will be available for viewing by the provider when he/she looks at the details for a booking.

A scaled-down version of this site is now available for browsing using mobile phones. The URL is mobi.gobook.co.za

Create a bookmark to this URL in your mobile phone now. You may even add your user name and password to the bookmarked URL so that you can go to the site and log in with a single button press! Just add the following to the URL:-
?u=yourusername&p=yourpassword

New bookings can be made (using shortcuts if desired), existing bookings can be viewed/cancelled and account balances can be checked.