How do I Import Appointments from an Excel File?

LobbyCentral Appointments contains a basic import function that allows you to create appointments from a comma delimited file (CSV). Some minor prep-work is required to put your data into the correct format so that it can be read by the import process.

Import Process Steps

Create your import file using the File Layout Specifications table and ID report.
Save file as a CSV (comma separated value) file.
Upload the file using LobbyCentral Appointments (https://schedule.lobbycentral.com)

File Layout Specifications

Your file must be organized in a specific format which is shown below. The required fields are in Red. You must pass an empty string in any of the optional fields. Do not omit fields from the layout! Please pay special attention the Field Type and format requirements.

The first line of your file must be the Header row. A sample spreadsheet is attached. Do not add or remove columns from the sheet.

Field Name	Field Type and Format	Comments
queueID	Integer	The ID of the queue for the appointment
serviceID	Integer	The ID of the service description. Use -1 for "other service" and supply the description in the otherService column.
otherService	String - max length 255	Required when serviceID is -1. Describes the appointment service.
firstName	String - max length 25	Customer's first name
lastName	String - max length 20	Customer's last name
phone	String - max length 15	Customer's phone number. Include area code with no dashes or parenthesis. i.e. 6143471798
email	String - max length 255	Customer's email address
comments	String - max length 255	Comment added to the appointment which is viewable on the request.
requestedUserID	Integer	The ID of the user assigned to the appointment. Use 0 to assign the appointment to First Available.
scheduledDate	String - format mm/dd/yyyy	Date of the appointment. Must follow exact formatting, do not shorten the year. i.e. 06/12/2017
scheduledTime	String - format HH:MM TT	Time for the appointment. Must follow exact formatting. Do not use 24 hour format. Supply AM or PM. i.e. 09:30 AM

How to find Queue ID, Service ID, and Requested User ID

Log into the main LobbyCentral Portal.
In the top menu, click Reports, Report Manager.
Run the report User and Service Assignment by Queue

Use the ID from the report to assign the queue, service description, and requested user fields in your import file.

You must use the correct queue - service and queue - user combination in your file. For example, you can not use a service ID that belongs to another queue. Invalid ID and combinations will be rejected by the Import program.

Saving Excel Spreadsheet to CSV Format

The import program cannot read an Excel spreadsheet file. You must save it to a Comma Delimited format.

Open your spreadsheet in Excel.
Verify that the only columns in the spreadsheet match the File Layout Specifications table.
Verify that the first row contains the field names for each column. DO NOT ADD EXTRA COLUMNS.
Click File, Save As.
Change the File Type to CSV (comma separated value).
Select a location to save the file to.
Click Save.
Visually inspect the resulting file to verify the columns and data are separated on each line and with commas. Remove any empty lines.

Importing the Appointments File

Sign in to your LobbyCentral Appointments account at https://schedule.lobbycentral.com
In the menu, click Import Appointments.
Click the Browse button and select your import file.
Click Upload File
The Preview window will show the first 10 rows of your file.
Click Import File.

Your import will be queued for processing and a completion email will be sent to you containing the number of records that were imported and rejected. Rejected records can be viewed in the RejectRecords.txt file that will be attached to the email. If there are no rejects, a file is not attached.

To verify if the appointments have been created, sign into the LobbyCentral Portal and click Appointments and search on the date range.