Best Open Scheduling Software for Employees: Scheduling Made Easy

Starting a business and sustaining it is an expensive endeavour, especially if you’re new to the world of business.

As an owner of a small firms or start-up, you may find it more challenging to sustain the ever-so-dynamic business scenario. Thus, it is imperative that small businesses choose the right scheduling software to conduct their business smoothly and ensure seamless workflows.

Free and open source planning and scheduling software for your business ensures optimized productivity and ease of employee management.

It allows you to attain goals, keep your costs low and ensures smooth management and reliable scheduling of production activities.

For the sake of convenience, it also eases out processes related to their payrolls, attendance and time tracking.

List of 7 Best Open Source Scheduling Software for Employees

• mHelpDesk – Best Field Service Scheduling Software
• Setster – Enterprise Appointment Scheduling Software
• TimeForge – Scheduling System for Employee Scheduling & Rostering
• Meetin.gs – Calendar Software for Meeting Scheduling
• Plantune – Best Production Scheduling System
• Google Calendar App for Mac
• Microsoft Outlook Calendar App for Windows

Let’s read further to look at some of the best open source scheduling software for your business.

• mHelpDesk Field Service Scheduling Software

This powerful field service software can instantly increase the pace of your slow and repetitive management processes so that you can focus your energies on the business activities that truly matter. It helps you get free from messy paperwork by effectively managing your time spent on tasks such as creating new jobs, making estimates and quotes.

The scheduling facility allows you to check your as well as your team’s schedule. This helps you manage your appointments and create new job requirements. For enhanced efficiency, you can simply sync this scheduling software with Google Calendar.

You can easily work online as well as offline with this open source scheduling software. This innovative offline mode allows you to work even without Wi-Fi or mobile signal. To facilitate ease of use and smooth management, this cloud-based software can be accessed on mobile devices with internet access.

With this software, you can receive payments almost instantly against invoices you send. It’s important for you to know that you can conveniently view and even email these invoices directly from your mobile phones.

Key features of mHelpDesk:

• Lead Management

Conduct effective lead management campaigns by automating customer’s communication and sharing notes between the service and the sales team.

• Estimates and quotes

Use built-in templates for creating quick estimates or writing quotes with logos/terms and conditions attached.

• Online booking

Set up automatic reminders for fixing appointment and increasing the rate of online bookings with mHelpDesk scheduling software.

• Manage workflows

Ensure streamlined workflow management by automating and mirroring them for customisation purposes.

• Scheduling and dispatch

mHelpDesk’s scheduling system helps in automating assignment notifications aside from setting up quick schedules for field technicians.

• Drag and drop calendar

Use this function for assigning jobs and sending text or email notifications to your employees about due dates and task status.

• Inventory tracking

Inventory tracking technicality helps generate notifications every time the level of inventory stock goes low. Besides you can record points, automatically deduct used parts and import items with this employee scheduling software.

• Staff communication

mHelpDesk employee scheduling software can be used for sending job updates, customising text templates and creating appointment push alerts.

• Setster Enterprise Appointment Scheduling Software

Be it a small business or industry leader, Setster open source appointment scheduling software and API manages risks and tasks for them efficiently. The software finds an effective way to manage crises and ensure that scheduling becomes important in problem solving.

This software alone handles all tasks right from syncing calendars and making these accessible via mobile devices to creating advance notice for appointments. Not only this, the software manages buffer time for scheduling, confirmations and reminders along with several other features.

With this software your data remains secure and backed up on dedicated virtual servers. It is great when it comes to convert site visitors into loyal clients. Additionally, the software ensures a smooth and effective customer communication that helps retain customers.

Setster is not a free appointment scheduling software but it offers free trail to users.

Key features of Setster Scheduling Software:

• Defined availability

Control the availability of your team members by blocking time offs as well as adding all holidays.

• Advance notice

Based on booking rules, you can generate advanced notices prior to all appointments through Setster scheduling software.

• Types of appointments

Fix appointments based on department, person or available conference rooms with this booking room meeting software.

• Multiple locations

Irrespective of the location, stay connected with other team members and keep them in loop regarding details of all appointments available.

• Padding time for preparation

Add buffers between appointments to eliminate stressful back to back appointments.

• TimeForge Scheduling System for Employee Scheduling and Rostering

This open source employee scheduling software is ideal for single or multiple locations, for franchise groups, as well as for corporate locations. The software helps in human capital management and takes good care of your employees. It helps in managing employee scheduling, vacation requests, payroll, and more from a single portal.

Not only this, TimeForge helps track good candidates and makes the hiring process fast and easy. With this shift management software, you can track the attendance and pay your employees on time. This software integrates with POS system to transfer data related to employee scheduling and time and attendance tracking quickly and effortlessly.

Even though TimeForge Scheduling Lite is a free employee scheduling software, it has other paid versions too.

Key features of TimeForge:

• Schedule matching

Use the employee rostering application for matching schedule with previous and predicted sales for complete coverage.

• Automatic approvals

Approve time off requests by your employees automatically to save time and increase employee efficiency.

• Workflow automation

Automate workflow scheduling along with the shift swapping and open shift bidding requests by employees.

• Self service employee mobile app

Your employees can use this shift management software app for viewing available schedules, setting appointments, requesting time offs, etc. 

• Auto Scheduler

Auto Scheduler in TimeForge employee scheduling software is used for identifying the best staff available for specific tasks or shifts.

• Meetin.gs Calendar Software for Meeting Scheduling

This efficient meeting management software helps you organize meetings. The easy to use meeting scheduler saves you from the hassle of coordinating with others as they can freely pick a time suitable to them that synchronizes with your calendar.

It streamlines and aligns your meetings and has an interactive interface to efficiently manage your meetings. So, you need not waste anymore time scheduling meetings over email, phone calls or through SMS.

With Meetin.gs, you can integrate your calendar and make it public or private. You can generate your personal Meet Me URL and share it with all your fellow workers and clients through email or social networks.

It helps owners in creating and editing goals for all team members and taking the right steps to attain set targets.

With this software, you can easily make Skype calls, Lync calls, etc. and make teleconferencing an important way to communicate with others.

Key features of Meeting.gs Meeting Scheduling Software:

• Integration with existing services

You can use Meetin.gs as calendar software and integrate it with other similar applications, such as address books, online communication tools, etc.

• Centralised meeting information

All documents, agendas and meeting points can be organised at one central location with this software.

• Meeting scheduling through Calendar & CRM

You can schedule meetings directly from your calendar interface and through the integrated CRM system.

• Access meeting-related info on the go

All meeting-related emails, attachments and action points can be accessed from your mobile browser.

• Attend online conferences without requiring PIN codes

This meeting scheduling software helps attend meetings through a single tap on a button, as no you don’t need to enter any lengthy PIN codes.

• Plantune Production Scheduling System

This fully featured scheduling software provides end-to-end solutions designed for Windows. Plantune is an advanced planning and scheduling (APS) tool that helps in production planning.

The software delivers an optimized production plan and analysis to help you evaluate the best way to get maximum results. It also focuses on lean business concepts such as controlled WIP and customer PULL to provide maximum efficiency.

This production planning software answers all production related queries of business owners such as the delivery dates to promise clients and the quantity of product to be produced.

Not only this, the software helps prepare your daily work schedule and optimizes the production planning process. It also gives updates about any changes in orders, inventories as well as connects easily to your ERP to conduct important business processes.

Key features of Plantune:

• Production planning

As advanced software for scheduling, Plantune is critical for undertaking production planning activities.

• Lean business concepts

The software helps organisations and businesses use lean business concepts such as controlled WIP, customer pull, etc.

• Production capacity evaluation

You can perform quick production capacity evaluation for analysing stock scenarios in product manufacturing stage.

• KPI forecast

KPI (key performance indicators) forecasts in Plantune software help identify how well your company can predict the demand for a given product under the manufacturing stage.

• Google Calendar App for Mac & Other Platforms

Google Calendar App for Mac and other platforms is a free scheduling software for creating new events and syncing these automatically with other devices. The open source scheduling software integrates with other productivity apps available to make you work smarter and smoother. For instance, if you have a Gmail account, you can create events immediately based on the emails received. Keep a track of all your appointments and avoid missing deadlines with this scheduling software. 

You can also import events from another calendar applications into Google Calendar scheduling software aside from adding locations to make it easier to attend events. End users can also utilise the colour feature to add colours to different events so that they are easily distinguishable. 

Key features of Google Calendar App:

• Create & edit events

The All-Day Event option within the Google calendar software is used for creating and editing events quickly. You can also set up the start and end time for each event.

• Recurring functionality

Recurring functionality is useful for setting frequency of event reminders through optional parameters.

• Set notifications

As per your convenience, set the type of notification you would prefer to receive. It could be push notification, email or a mobile one.

• Invite people

To those using this app, invitations becomes visible in their calendar. Those who don’t have the app are still able to receive notifications invite in their email with the option to show their availability through Yes/No/Maybe tabs.

• Enable/disable visibility

It is possible to enable or disable the visibility of special calendar events to specific people.

• Microsoft Outlook Calendar App for Windows

Keep at track of all work events and activities with Microsoft Outlook Employee Scheduling Software. For scheduling appointments and organising meetings, you can click on available time slots to book them easily. For quick identification and early reminders, end users are provided with the option of adding sounds and messages to events.

In case you have bought subscription for any other internet calendar application then the same can be synchronised with Microsoft Outlook scheduling software. Even to those who don’t have this scheduling software installed on their systems can send quick emails as reminders without any hassle. Many users who have subscription to Microsoft SharePoint sites use that application for viewing events, schedules and meetings attached in Outlook calendar. 

Key features of Microsoft Outlook Calendar App for Windows:

• Organising meetings

With Outlook employee scheduling and calendar software, you can search for the timings when everyone is relatively free. Accordingly, you can create meeting requests.

• Group schedules

Aside from using the application for employee rostering, you can determine the resources available such as free conference rooms, etc. with this meeting room booking software.  

• Multiple calendar views

You can also view multiple calendars you have shared and created with other end users.

• Overlay view

This scheduling app can be used as a meeting room booking software as well as for creating your own personal schedule timetable and organizing your work.  

• Delegate access feature

This feature enables an end user to manage the calendar of another person through their own copy of Outlook Calendar.

Conclusion

Open source scheduling software for workplace helps businesses manage and schedule employees, appointments, facilities, equipment, events, etc.

It is a boon for small businesses and start-ups that are tight on budget but seek optimal utilization of available resources.