web-based software allowing people to choose a time slot?

Factual Questions
1

Hi, I have a need for people to sign up for “interview slots”.

I have a service that allows people to record family interviews for a particular project. The idea is that every hour for the next three months there will be two or three interview slots open per hour, and I want to have people sign-up for those slots.

Is there any (hopefully free or low-cost) software that I could install on my web server that will allow people to see what time slots are open, and securely register with their email address and sign-up for a time? For privacy reasons, I wouldn’t want others to see the names of who already signed up, I just want them to know that the slot is taken.

Thanks in advance.

2

One free and low tech solution I can think of would be to assign all the interviewees a random, say 5 digit, number and just invite them to Google Docs and Spreadsheets or another online spreadsheet/calendar application that supports collaborative editing. They could then place their random number in the intended time slot.

The downside is that a Google account is required for editing and many of your subjects might not be web savvy enough to register a Google account. OTOH, these same people would probably have about as much trouble navigating any standalone scheduling dealie that you set up on your own.

3

I researched a bunch of these firms about 3 years ago. None are super, all are pretty easy & low cost (at least by commercial standards of “cost”). Google with [web appointment scheduling] for more.

Here’s one Sign in | AppointmentQuest Online Appointment Scheduler that’s $15/month for the volume you need. Multiplied by 3 months but with zero setup effort on your end that might be about right. I recall their product was solid.

4

Thanks for the suggestions. One thing I should have mentioned, Stan Doubt, is that I don’t know who might want to schedule an appointment, so I can’t pre-assign random codes to people. It could be anyone in the United States.

To be more specific, this would be for the Veteran’s History Project to have people schedule interviews for vets using a donated conferencing service.

LSL Guy, I’ll check out that link you sent me. Thanks.