The Best Appointment Schedulers for Insurance Agents

Is scheduling each appointment by phone and writing it in your planner not cutting it anymore? If so, that’s good news! You’ve hit an important milestone in your business — having too many clients to do it all yourself. It’s probably time to outsource scheduling to a software application.

Many scheduling software options are available for small businesses. They all allow clients to book appointments online, saving you time from playing phone or email tag. Explore insurance appointment scheduling software below to discover features that could help you choose the right solution for your needs!

Considerations for Choosing an Insurance Appointment Setter

Before you start researching specific options, ask yourself what’s important to your scheduling needs. Here are some questions that might help get you started:

• “Is this for my agency or downlines too?” Consideration: Team scheduling features
• “Do I dislike using multiple apps?” Consideration: CRM with scheduling capabilities
• “Do I want to test it out or not spend much?” Consideration: Free trials and budget options
• “Do I want to remind my clients of their upcoming appointments?” Consideration: Automated emailing capability
• “Do I serve clients who speak other languages?” Consideration: Translation option on booking page

HIPAA Compliance & Insurance Appointment Software

As an insurance agent acting on behalf of health plans, you must follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which means you must perform certain actions to help protect the privacy and security of your clients’ sensitive information.

One of the biggest considerations to keep in mind is choosing an appointment software for small business that follows certain protocols, like encryption and automatic sign offs, to help you with compliance. Every option in this post should be HIPAA compliant. In order to be compliant, however, you must sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the software provider.

Although syncing your business and personal calendars can be useful, we don’t generally advise it in the case of online appointment calendars. Personal calendars are not engineered to be HIPAA compliant, so you don’t want personal client information (like name and contact info) showing up alongside your kid’s soccer game or your dentist appointment. Instead, block off times you’re unavailable on your appointment scheduler so a client doesn’t double book you.

Note: Just because a technology claims HIPAA compatibility, doesn’t mean you’re all set with compliance. Remember, you must follow HIPAA rules as well.

What All Appointment Schedulers Have in Common

All these platforms will offer the same basic functionality. You can expect:

• A branded scheduling/booking web page where your clients can book their own appointments
• The ability to set your availability/block out unavailable times
• Tailored setup to meet your needs (e.g., set buffer times between appointments, set a max number of appointments per day, limit how early or last-minute people can book, etc.)

The differences you’ll see will mainly be in the scheduler’s team features, automated workflows and reminders, degree of customization, and price.

Your CRM

Perhaps you don’t need or want a separate online appointment app and, instead, want one housed within your client relationship management (CRM) system. Although many generic CRMs exist that you can customize for your insurance business, we generally recommend choosing one already set up for the industry to save you time and effort. For example, MedicareCENTER is tailored to insurance agents selling Medicare products, with useful features relevant to the industry.

Some industry-specific CRMs, like AgencyBloc, Radius, and ProducerMAX, come with scheduling capabilities. This can be a useful feature if you want as much as possible in one application you are already using or considering one of these CRMs.

Pros:

• Don’t have to navigate a new platform
• Appointment history integrated into client profiles

Cons:

• Pricey (you can pair a quality free CRM with budget scheduler instead)
• May not have team scheduling features or automated workflows
• May have limited customizations

Best for Agents Who…

• Already use a CRM with this capability
• Want consolidation of tools as much as possible
• Operate agencies needing robust agency management included

The Best Scheduler Apps for Insurance Agents

If you don’t have a CRM with scheduling capabilities or want a more refined and powerful tool, consider one of these options dedicated to the purpose. Each offers the same basic functionality and could be a great fit for your small business.

Acuity

Often ranked as the best appointment scheduling app for small business, Acuity is known for its versatility and number of powerful features. With the ability to manage multiple locations, team scheduling, and complex automated workflows, this scheduling solution can be a good choice for agencies.

Although there’s a free trial, there’s no free tier for Acuity. Instead, you’ll pay for one of their four levels — Emerging, Growing, Powerhouse, or Enterprise. Because Acuity will only sign a BAA for HIPAA compliance on the top two tiers, we can’t recommend the Emerging and Growing tiers.

Although Acuity can seem pricey at first look, when you consider that some providers charge price per calendar, the 36 staff/locations you get on the Powerhouse tier is actually a great value. Still, if you’re looking for a budget option, one of our other recommendations may suit you better.

Pros:

• Advanced reporting
• Robust appointment type and team features
• Excellent customer service and tech support
• Can sync with business Google or Microsoft calendars

Cons:

• More expensive
• No BAA for HIPAA compliance on lower tiers

Best for Agents Who…

• Operate large agencies or have downlines
• Offer diverse appointment types

Google Workspace

Google Workspace is more than just a scheduling app. It’s the full suite of Google’s useful tools — Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Meet, Drive, Slides, and Chat — upgraded for business uses. The appointment scheduling feature is one of those and is housed under the Calendar app. It includes an appointment booking page and useful customizations like meeting buffers, availability blocking, and maximum daily meeting settings.

You won’t be able to access an appointment booking page from the bottom tier, Business Starter. You’ll need to pay for at least a Business Standard tier, which is still manageable at $12 per month per user (or pay slightly less for a Google Workspace Individual subscription if it’s just you). Paying for a higher tier will also unlock premium features like unlimited schedules and email reminders.

Because the appointment scheduling features in Google Calendar are limited on their team capabilities and automated workflows, this option is best for independent agents, small agencies, or larger agencies who don’t mind working around these limitations.

Pros:

• Bundled with Google’s other apps
• Reasonably priced
• Google will sign a BAA at all tiers for HIPAA compliance
• Pairs well with a custom domain email address (@yourbusiness.com vs. @gmail.com)

Cons:

• Limited premium features like team scheduling and automated workflows
• Might be too many apps if only looking for scheduling
• No embeddable option for website

Best for Agents Who…

• Are familiar with Google apps or want to use them
• Work independently
• Operate small agencies
• Have simple scheduling needs (e.g., one-on-one appointments)

Microsoft Bookings

Like Google, Microsoft offers its own suite of tools geared for businesses called Microsoft 365. They both have similar applications (although Microsoft has more with overall more flexibility), and people often choose one over the other because of personal preference. Microsoft 365 includes household-name, powerhouse apps like Word, Excel, Teams, and PowerPoint. If you’ve worked in traditional office settings before, you’re likely more familiar with Microsoft’s apps than Google’s.

Bookings has customizable booking pages, meeting types, service providers, and more. It also fully integrates with Teams, acting as an app within Teams, which can be useful if you’re operating an agency and need to meet virtually with downlines or assign insurance agency appointments (although you won’t be able to automate workflows with Bookings).

One of Microsoft’s biggest strengths is its pricing flexibility. They offer three business tiers with or without Teams. You could spend as little as $4.25 per month per user for the Basic level without Teams to as much as $22 per month per user for the Premium level. You’ll get access to Bookings on every tier. And even better news? Microsoft will sign a BAA for HIPAA compliance on every level.

Pros:

• Budget friendly
• Bundled with Microsoft’s other apps
• BAA available at all levels
• Robust features and customizability
• Pairs well with a custom domain email address (@yourbusiness.com vs. @outlook.com)

Cons:

• Limited team scheduling features
• No automated workflows
• Might be too many apps if only looking for scheduling
• No embeddable option for website

Best for Agents Who…

• Are familiar with Microsoft apps or want to use them
• Work independently
• Operate a small- to mid-size agency
• Meet virtually with downlines or clients

SimplyBook.me

SimplyBook.me is another good singular scheduler app, like Acuity, that combines some unique and diverse features with affordability. Although there are Free and Basic tiers, you’ll have to pay for at least the Standard level to gain access to the HIPAA custom feature. If you are an independent agent or operate a small agency, the Standard tier will likely be more than sufficient. If you operate a larger agency, the Premium tier might better suit your needs.

One of these aforementioned unique features is the SimplyBook.me app. Not only do they offer an admin app where you can manage your appointments on the go, but they also provide a client app (branded with your info!) that your clients can use to make appointments from their phones. For insurance appointment setting services, you can also use a personalized booking page, Book Now button for your website, widget for your website, and integration with social platforms. Then, your clients can book directly from your business Facebook or Instagram account.

Pros:

• Integration with Google Meet and Zoom (if you use those platforms for virtual meetings)
• Many ways to accept online bookings, including an app
• Reminder emails
• Can sync with business Google or Microsoft calendars
• Multiple languages

Cons:

• No BAA for HIPAA compliance on lower tiers
• Limitation on number of bookings you can make per month (might impact very large agencies)
• Client app is more of a bookmarked webpage rather than full-fledged app

Best for Agents Who…

• Work independently
• Operate an agency
• Meet virtually with downlines or clients

OnceHub

Our last recommendation, OnceHub, offers four levels: Basic (which is free), Schedule, Route, and Engage. You can enjoy HIPAA compliance as a $5 per seat per month add-on to any paid plan, which means you could subscribe to their lowest paid tier, Schedule, and still be compliant — a nice budget-friendly option.

OnceHub looks cheaper on paper, but remember, they charge per seat per month, which means they might not be the best budget option for larger agencies. However, users have unlimited bookings links and meetings on all plans, which adds to the overall value of OnceHub’s options.

With sophisticated team scheduling features and automated workflows, the Route level may be a good fit for agencies. We advise you to steer clear of their Engage level, however, with its chatbots and engagement tools. It’s too much of a CMS-compliance risk (think Permission to Contact).

Pros:

• Integration with Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom (if you use those platforms for virtual meetings)
• Reminder emails
• Can sync with business Google or Microsoft calendars
• HIPAA compliance possible for every paid plan
• Budget friendly for independent agents

Cons:

• Can get pricey if buying lots of seats
• Upper levels have features that aren’t CMS-compliant

Best for Agents Who…

• Work independently
• Operate a small- to mid-sized agency
• Meet virtually with downlines or clients

Give Your Clients the Power

Scheduling apps give your clients the power to schedule their own appointments, saving you precious time and effort. They especially make sense if you email clients or have a business website where you can embed a widget or link to your booking landing page. If you’ve decided to upgrade your scheduling game with an online appointment setter, factor in budget, compliance, downlines, existing tools, personal preferences, and appointment types when considering these online booking software for small business recommendations.

Ritter aims to provide agents with comprehensive resources. Check out our Ultimate Agent Resource List, ASG Podcast, and free eBooks to grow your knowledge beyond the blog. Registering with Ritter is also free and unlocks sales technology tools, personalized support, and more!