In early 2025, Standard Information created and was the first platform to support Ping Post for Appointments also known as Real Time Appointments.
Real Time Appointments works for both inbound and outbound calls and can utilize live agents or AI powered virtual agents.
This breakthrough in appointment setting technology allows an agent on the line with a live caller the ability to use information that the consumer provides to serve up the correct calendar booking link for the consumer and also book with the consumer on the same call.
This allows several major new opportunities. First appointment setters can “ping” multiple potential buyers of that appointment and run a real-time auction for that potential appointment. The appointment setter can then book the consumer on the calendar of choice.
This technology also allows organizations to determine in real time and while on the phone with a consumer which calendar to book and the availability. This is particularly useful when an organization might have multiple internal or external calendars to choose from or when a company wishes to set or sell appointments to different clients. Using Standard Information’s platform, an organization can use simple or very sophisticated rule sets in place to determine which calendar is booked on and when.
Real Time Appointments brings ping post technology that has been in place for decades for leads and calls to the appointment setting world. Simply put, Real Time Appointments is ping post for appointments and unlocks a number of significant business opportunities and use cases that were previously unavailable.
Previously when talking with a consumer who might want to book an appointment, the person talking with the consumer would either need to know the calendar they want to book on before the call or would only be able to manage a few booking options already available to them.
With Real Time Appointments and using ping post for appointment technology, the person talking with the consumer can “ping” Standard Information’s platform and an unlimited number of calendars can be considered with the top calendar booking link or links being returned to the person on the phone instantly.
This allows a whole range of opportunities and use cases. Small companies can use Real Time Appointments to ensure consumers get booked on the correct sales agent’s calendar that matches the geographic location confirmed on the call. Large companies and call centers can now manage bookings for hundreds or even thousands of different calendars for different clients.
Industries
Real Time Appointments is an absolute game changer for companies that have appointments as a key part of their sales. This is especially true for verticals such as residential solar, home improvement verticals like a new roof or window replacement and industries such as the legal and financial industries where a consultation or appointment with a specialist is key to the sales and qualification process. Real Time Appointments can also be used for companies that have to manage complex calendar bookings internally or externally such as franchises, law offices, large organizations or sales organizations.
Appointment Buyers
Real Time Appointments is a major new tool in the toolbelt of companies that buy appointments or work with outside companies to set up appointments for them. Real Time Appointments now allow appointment buyers the ability to put in their desired calendar link, price they are willing to pay for the appointments and criteria for eligibility. With that information, appointment buyers can bid on live appointments and will have appointments coming in directly on their calendar.
Appointment Setters
Real Time Appointments is a massive new sales channel for appointment setters. With ping post for appointments, appointment setters can now easily manage setting appointments for an unlimited number of appointment buyers even if they have overlapping geos, requirements and criteria. Appointment setters can put in fixed prices for appointments and they can solicit bids for a live appointment. This allows appointment setters to run real time auctions for the appointment both maximizing revenue per appointment and ensuring that no potential customer is lost to not having an appointment buyer.
Appointment setters can also work now with large organizations who have multiple end buyers or clients. Using Real Time Appointments, networks with multiple buyers can pass back the client’s calendar booking link they would like to book on without needing further integration.
Real Time Appointments for Lead and Call Vendors
Real Time Appointments is an extremely valuable new sales channel for companies that currently sell real time leads or calls. With very minimal effort, companies selling leads and calls to their clients can now offer their clients Real Time Appointments. Offering an appointment at a fixed price is a very appealing product with potentially higher margins for sellers and higher customer satisfaction and ease of use than traditional lead and call products.
Real Time Appointments for Lead and Call Brokers
Lead and call brokers are likely very familiar and already using ping post technology for real time leads and real time bidding for calls. Ping post for appointments is an easy add on that offers higher price points than leads and calls and a product that is more appealing for clients. Suppliers that are already selling leads may be already selling appointments or can be easily converted to sell appointments opening a whole new product type for brokers.
At a high level, ping post for appointments works very similar to ping post for leads. The major difference is that the consumer is on the phone with an agent rather than filling out an online form.
The process for Real Time Appointments and ping post for appointments works by providing back to the agent on the phone with a caller the appropriate calendar link for the consumer based on consumer’s request.
Breakdown of Steps
Step 1: The agent connects with the consumer on the phone.
Step 2: The agent confirms some basic details (e.g., location, service requested).
Step 3: Once the information is confirmed, the information is “pinged” to potential appointment buyers or appointment options to check availability, price and if the basic details are a fit (this can all be handled by Standard Information’s platform).
Step 4: The calendar booking link of the chosen appointment buyer is returned in real time to the agent on the phone with the consumer.
Step 5: The agent finishes booking the consumer on the returned appointment calendar link and posts a recording of the conversation to the platform along with a copy of the appointment details.
The setup for appointment buyers is very simple. All appointment buyers need to do is set up an online calendar booking link. To use Real Time Appointments, appointment buyers will either need to use Standard Information or another platform that allows for ping post for appointments. Alternatively, companies can use Real Time Appointments if they are a client of a company using Standard Information who can set up their campaign on their behalf.
In either case, a campaign will be created for the appointment buyer. This will include the requirements that need to be verified on the call, the calendar booking link for that campaign, and a price per booked appointment.
Appointment setters can use the Standard Information platform or any platform that supports ping post for appointments. Appointment setters will first simply confirm the required information on the call with the consumer, then appointment setters will ping via Standard Information or its online ping tool the confirmed details of the caller and then will immediately receive back the calendar booking link of the chosen appointment buyer. Standard Information can also return a price or multiple calendar links if the appointment setter would like to sort by price or set multiple appointments with the caller.
Lead brokers and agencies already using ping post for real time leads or calls will simply need to set up a new vertical for appointments. In Standard Information, the templates are already created. Brokers and agencies will then put in the requirements of their clients (e.g. price, geography, etc.), the calendar booking link and how much the client is willing to pay per appointment. Brokers can also accept dynamic prices and meeting booking links from buyers if they are selling to networks.
Companies working with appointments can also use Real Time Appointments completely internally to organize and route their appointment setting. Companies using Real Time Appointments can set rules, load in an unlimited number of calendar links and completely automate their appointment booking logic and tracking.
With live agents, Real Time Appointments will allow an agent to confirm on the phone with the caller key details and then will be instantly returned a calendar booking link they can fill out. This process works both with inbound calls and outbound calls.
Real Time Appointments can also be run fully with AI agents. The AI agent will confirm the key details on the phone with the caller and will use the API endpoint to get the correct calendar link for the caller. The AI agent will then book the caller's desired appointment slot allowing for a completely automated and human free process for the company.