By Julie Bays, OBA Management Assistance Program Director

If you’ve ever gone back and forth three or four times trying to find a meeting time that works, you already know how much time can be wasted on scheduling.

Most lawyers I talk to have solved this problem by using tools like Calendly. And I get it. Calendly is polished, easy to use and offers strong integrations and branding options.

But here’s the question I always ask during consultations: Are you already paying for Microsoft 365?

If the answer is yes, then you may already have a scheduling tool sitting right inside your existing subscription. It’s called Microsoft Bookings, and it has come a long way.

Microsoft Bookings allows you to create a simple scheduling page where clients (or potential clients) can pick a time on your calendar without the back-and-forth emails. It syncs directly with Outlook, so it only shows times when you are actually available.

You can set different types of appointments, like a 15-minute consult or a one-hour meeting, and even control when those appointments are offered.

For lawyers, this is particularly useful for intake and initial consultations. Some attorneys include their booking link right on their website or in their email signature to make it easy for clients to take the next step.

And if you work with staff or have a small firm, you can even create shared booking pages so clients can schedule with the right person without calling the office.

Before you add another tool (and another expense), take a fresh look at Microsoft Bookings. You might find that it does exactly what you need without adding one more thing to manage.

If you want a deeper dive into how it works and how to set it up, Ben Schorr goes into much more detail in this article: Make a Date With Microsoft Bookings for Lawyers