Event buffers are time spaces that can be appended before and/or after an event. This is helpful in scheduling your availability such that you have time to prepare for a meeting, take breather between two meetings/events or to accommodate travel time in case of events on a physical location.
You can customize buffer time for each event so that you can accommodate the needs of that specific event type to further optimize your event type setup.
The before event buffer time allows the space of time of chosen length before the events being booked on Cal based on your availability. The after event buffer time allows the space of time of chosen length after the events being booked on Cal based on your availability. Hidden events are flexible; they can be whatever you need them to be. Whether you want to use hidden events to facilitate sponsorship meetings, organize a fundraising drive, or offer one-on-one mentoring sessions, this feature can help you make the most of your meetings while keeping them out of the public eye.
Event buffers are a great way to maintain a breathing space between multiple events in a day. Buffers are taken into consideration while booking a Cal event, if that Cal event has a buffer time selected. This simply means that buffers cannot overlap Cal events and thus a Cal event with buffer time can only be booked respecting the buffer time (before event, after event or both).
An example
Given the availability from 9am to 5pm (09:00-17:00) and a 60-minute event with a 30-minute buffer before and a 30-minute buffer after, the total calendar time required for an event is indeed 120 minutes. But the buffer is applied around busy times and not to the start or end of the working day.
So, in this scenario (considering you didn't modify the Custom time-slot intervals in this example):
- The first available time slot starts at 9am. The buffer before doesn't push this since there's no preceding busy time.
- The event itself is for 60 minutes.
- There's a 30-minute buffer before & 30-minute buffer after the event. But again, if there's no following busy time immediately after, this buffer doesn't push the next available slot.
Thus, the sequence is:
9:00-10:00am: First available slot
a. 10:00-11:00am: If Slot 1 is booked, this slot will be blocked as buffer (after) to allow the buffer period relative to the 9-10am slot.
b. 10:00-11:00am: If Slot 1 is free, this slot will be free
c. 10:00-11:00am: If Slot 2 (10:00-11:00) is booked, since booking slot 1 (9:00-10:00) would imply that there will not be an after buffer (as 10-11 is already booked). Hence, slot 1 will not remain bookable anymore.
You can take a look at our guide to learn How to set buffer time.