Appointment Google
The appointment slots feature in Google Calendar can deliver both of these things. It lets you nominate specific times in your schedule that other people (such as students or colleagues) can book. It lets you nominate specific times in your schedule that other people (such as students or colleagues) can book. Book Appointments Search for brands around the world and then book an appointment at your convenience to guarantee entry.
How “Reserve with Google” Can Streamline COVID-19 Vaccination Appointment Scheduling
We are facing a worldwide crisis in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine, with glitches and confusion nationwide.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, announced a $150 million effort to promote vaccine education and equitable access. He noted that searches for “vaccines near me” have increased 5x since the beginning of the year, and Google wants to provide locally relevant answers. So, in the coming weeks, COVID-19 vaccination locations will be available in Google Search and Maps, starting with Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, with more states and countries to come.
This is a great start. However, providing information about sites but only saying that “an appointment is required” is not enough. Google should use the power of their existing “Reserve with Google” solution to provide real appointment scheduling and not just information.
Google is uniquely suited to do this on a worldwide basis.
We’ve Got a Problem
In the U.S., the Phase 1 program began in December 2020 with individual hospitals, regions, counties, and states scrambling to provide vaccinations. In many cases, appointment websites and call centers have been overwhelmed.
- California’s 58 counties are a hodgepodge of different technical systems and varying vaccine eligibility requirements. Los Angeles and Orange counties authorized mass vaccination to give shots to those over 65, while San Francisco relies largely on hospital systems to vaccinate only patients 75 and older. Riverside County filled all 10,000 available time slots in 32 minutes, with other users getting “error screens.”
- In New York City, users complained that both websites available for booking vaccination appointments were “buggy” and one required too much information.
- Some locations have “paused” appointment scheduling altogether due to overloaded systems. Others have avoided offering appointments at all, and instead are opting to vaccinate people on a first come, first served basis. Seniors and health care workers have lined up in cars and on sidewalks in Los Angeles, Arizona, Washington D.C., Florida, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico.
- Leftover vaccines from no-show appointments have been provided ad-hoc to those who “happened to be in the right place at the right time” in stores, pharmacies and hospitals.
- Scheduling an appointment to receive the second required vaccination has been problematic. Some locations have taken to using 2nd doses as 1st doses to alleviate shortages.
Where appointment systems are being used, some have been re-purposed from other areas not intended for the vaccination use case. For example, Walgreens requires that a user have a “Walgreens Account” in order to get vaccinated. Requiring that a user “register for an account” with irrelevant questions is an unnecessary hurdle.
As we get to Phases 2 and 3 when tens of millions of people will require vaccinations a massively scaled effort will be needed. The vaccination program must be truly national in scope, easy to use, and provide access to the vaccine in a fair way. (Equitable access is critical for public trust – a subject of another blog article coming shortly.)
What Type of Appointment Scheduling do we Need?
Here are the requirements as I see them:
- The appointment system should be scalable, flexible, and powerful.
- It should not require pre-registration, or require a user to be a “member” of any particular health plan, local store or pharmacy chain.
- Any qualifying criteria (e.g., 65 or older) should be provided to users at the start of the process, and extraneous questions should be avoided.
- The appointment system should allow flexibility to each location with respect to logistics, staff availability, vaccine stock, and allow easily definable workflows and hours of service. The solution could also manage “population slicing” to avoid overloads, for example, rolling out to 90-year olds first and then lowering age ranges over time.
- On the front end, users should be able to easily schedule a “confirmed second appointment” if required.
- The system should include analytics providing a global view, allowing planning and forecasting, which could help with vaccine distribution strategies.
Reserve with Google is the Overarching Solution
The most important element of an appointment scheduling solution is making it easy for every U.S. resident to find a nearby vaccination location and schedule an appointment in a few clicks.
Given that the majority of people search “vaccines near me” on Google, we need a system that is already available. Google could offer appointments immediately by using the existing Reserve With Google capabilities.
- Reserve with Google has been around since 2017. It already has a mature interface for scheduling across a variety of industries. Google Reserve is not an appointment scheduling system in itself, but a “gateway” to over 140 vendors who have integrated their own solutions.
- The beauty of Reserve with Google is that it can handle all the work of showing nearby vaccination centers and available appointments, but still allow each center to customize the types of appointments available. For example, a location that only offers Healthcare Workers or First Responder appointments could show those appointment types.
- As importantly, Reserve with Google accommodates existing appointment scheduling systems via its Application Programming Interface (API), which is relatively easy to implement. Appointment vendors can publish their appointments both to Reserve with Google and still keep their existing interface (for example, to be used within a call center).
We can still promote a national website URL and provide an 800-number, which is especially important for non-computer users. But when it comes to serving a large number of people, Reserve with Google can play a critical role.
The TASBIA™ Bottom Line
We need a combination of public policy that balances public health goals and solutions which are accessible, easy to use, and fair. We are only at the beginning of providing the COVID-19 vaccine to our entire population, with more than 95% of people still needing vaccinations. The federal government has prioritized production and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, but supply and distribution are only part of the solution.
Google Appointment App
The good news, there is technology today that can handle tens of millions of appointments. And, with Reserve with Google as the umbrella solution, these systems can be made available easily through Google Search and Maps. I’m hopeful that Google and our COVID-19 Task Force will work together to quickly enable a universal solution.
—Cimarron Buser, TASBIA™ CEO
Sources:
- How we’re helping get vaccines to more people Blog from Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet Jan 25, 2021 (https://blog.google/technology/health/vaccines-how-were-helping)
- California COVID-19 vaccine rollout marred by issues; Riverside County quickly fills 10K new appointments Desert Sun Jan 23, 2021 (https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/health/2021/01/23/scheduling-riverside-county-covid-19-vaccine-appointments-opens-noon-saturday/6686409002/)
- Ohio to pause vaccine appointment scheduling Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer Jan 20, 2021 (https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news/oh-to-pause-vaccine-appointment-scheduling/article_6c99ad25-ecdd-5635-b0c6-2cb301f027c6.html)
- Long Lines and Tech Issues as Orange County Opens Vaccine Access To Those 65 And Older Southern California Public Radio. Jan 13, 2021 (https://laist.com/latest/post/20210113/long-lines-tech-issues-orange-county-vaccine-access-65-and-over)
- Long lines at State Farm Stadium COVID-19 vaccination site Fox10 Phoenix Jan 13, 2021 (https://www.fox10phoenix.com/video/889632)
- Random People Are Lining Up to Get Vaccinated in D.C. Grocery Stores The Atlantic Jan 13, 2021 (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/01/covid-19-vaccine-giveaways-are-getting-out-control/617669/)
The Department has resumed all in-office driver license (DL) and identification (ID) card services by appointment only. These services include renewal transactions. Please review the following information before scheduling your appointment below.
NOTE: The waiver on expiration dates for DL and ID cards ends on April 14, 2021. DPS encourages customers who need to renew to schedule an appointment at their local driver license office online.
If your driver license has expired, and your scheduled appointment is on or after April 15, 2021, you may request a temporary license to operate a motor vehicle until your appointment date*. In order for your request to be processed, your request will need to be submitted through our Contact Us page. When submitting your request, please complete all of the requested fields and include the following information in the Questions section of the form:
- Date of your appointment
- State that you are requesting a Temporary License (requests that do not reference this will not be processed)
*If you have an appointment scheduled on or before April 14, 2021 you are not eligible to obtain a temporary license.
The waiver, granted by the Governor’s office in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, applied to DLs, commercial DLs, commercial learner permits, ID cards and election identification certificates that expired on or after March 13, 2020.
If your driver license is currently expired, you may download a copy of the Verification of Driver License Expiration Extension (PDF) notice to use until April 14th, 2021 or the date your driver license is renewed, whichever occurs first. All local and state law enforcement officials have been notified of this expiration waiver.
The Department encourages all eligible customers to conduct their driver license services online. For more information, please visit our webpage on Driver License Services, Extensions, Waivers, and Covid-19 Information.
To assist customers needing DL services, designated offices will be offering expanded hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Fridays, beginning January 4, 2021.
To ensure the safety of all customers, as well as our driver license office personnel, you will be required to comply with the following for your appointment:
- Services are by scheduled appointment only. Walk-in appointments will be available on a limited basis at all driver license office locations.
- If you are having difficulty scheduling an appointment on a preferred day, please know all DL offices do have a limited number of same-day appointments available on a first-come, first served basis, that fill up quickly. Customers who book these appointments at the office can then leave and return at their designated appointment time. Individuals without an appointment will receive instruction and assistance in setting an appointment for a future date and time.
- All customers will be screened prior to entering the building. Screening will include having your temperature taken, and you will be asked if you or any person you have been in contact with for the previous 14 days has had any of the following symptoms:
- Cough
- Shortness of Breath
- Fever/Chills
- Body Aches
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- All customers visiting the driver license office will be required to wear a face mask or facial covering
- Social distancing must be followed (6 feet apart)
- Only customers will be allowed into the building, with the following exceptions:
- ADA accommodations
- Customers with small children
- Elderly persons
- Business needs (parental authorization, residency/address change, etc.)
- Credit cards are the preferred payment. Money orders, cashier's and personal checks will be accepted (for the correct amount)
- Cash will not be accepted
If these requirements are not met, you may be required to reschedule your appointment at a later date.
For additional information, see the Frequently Asked Questions provided below.
Schedule a driver license appointment
1. How do I schedule an appointment at a driver license office?
To schedule an appointment please visit our website at https://public.txdpsscheduler.com.
2. If I don’t have an appointment will I still be able to go into a driver license office and be served?
If you arrive at a driver license office without an appointment, you will be able to use a self-service kiosk in the driver license office to schedule an appointment if one is available that day, or schedule an appointment for another day or different location.
3. When I go online to schedule an appointment, I don’t see my local office; why is that?
If your local office is not listed, there are currently no available appointments. Please select the next closest office to review eligible appointment dates.
If you are having difficulty scheduling an appointment on a preferred day, please know all DL offices do have a limited number of same-day appointments available on a first-come, first served basis, that fill up quickly. Customers who book these appointments at the office can then leave and return at their designated appointment time.
4. What kind of appointment can I schedule (i.e. obtain permit, ID card, duplicate, change address, new DL, CDL, renewals….etc?)
All driver license and identification card services are available for you to schedule. In addition to this, the appointment scheduler will also advise you if you are eligible to complete the service online at https://texas.gov/ without visiting a driver license office.
5. I am moving to Texas from another state/country. Do I have to have an established Texas driver license or identification card to schedule an appointment?
No. The appointment scheduler will ask you a series of questions to determine if you have previously established a driver license or identification card in Texas. The scheduler will allow appointments for new and existing Texas customers.
6. Can I schedule an appointment for another person?
Yes, provided you have all of the required information; however, this is not recommended.
7. What do I do if there are no appointments available at my local driver license office?
If there are no appointments available at your local driver license office, you will need to schedule your appointment at another location or you can check back at a later time to see if there is a cancellation. Walk-in appointments will be available on a limited basis at all driver license office locations.
8. What should I do if I can’t schedule an appointment before my driver license or identification card expires?
Please check to see if you are eligible to renew your driver license or identification card online at https://texas.gov/. If you are not eligible for online renewal, you will need to schedule your appointment as soon as possible at a driver license office. Texas allows customers to renew driver licenses and identification cards up to two years in advance of the expiration date.
9. What if I don’t see the service I need to schedule my appointment?
If the service you need is not listed in the service types provided to you, please select “Service Not Listed” to schedule your appointment.
Please note – REAL ID and Texas law only permits a person to hold a driver license or identification card, but not both (Texas Transportation Code Section 521.183). Customers in possession of either of these will not be offered the option to schedule an appointment for the other. Customers needing to make this type of appointment will need to use the “Service Not Listed” option when scheduling the appointment, and be prepared to surrender the existing DL or ID.
10. How far in advance may I schedule an appointment?
Appointments may be scheduled up to six months in advance.
11. How late can I be before my appointment is cancelled?
Appointments are cancelled after 30 minutes.
12. How early do I need to arrive at the driver license for my appointment?
Please arrive no earlier than 30 minutes prior to your appointment.
13. How do I change my appointment?
Google Appointment Booking
Please visit the appointment scheduler to reschedule. Your existing appointment will be automatically cancelled upon your confirmation of a new appointment.
14. How can I confirm my appointment?
Confirmation information is provided at the time the appointment is made, and can be obtained at anytime by logging back in to the appointment scheduler.
15. Will I get a reminder of the upcoming appointment?
You will have the option to receive reminders by way of email or text message when you make your appointment.
16. Can I get reminder by email or text message on my phone?
When you make your appointment, you will have the option to receive an email or text message reminder.
17. Can I still go online and renew my DL/ID, change my address, order a duplicate?
Yes. You can check your eligibility and complete these transactions by visiting https://texas.gov/.
18. If I cancel my appointment how long do I have to wait before I can reschedule the new appointment?
You may reschedule immediately after cancelling an appointment.