Video meetings on appointments
A virtual appointment can carry a real video link, from your own Zoom or from Google Meet. How to add one, how Protocol picks when you have both, and how to join or host.
Basic A virtual appointment can carry a real video link, created for you when you schedule it. Your client gets the join link on the appointment and in their booking confirmation email, and you get a proper host view.
There are two providers, and you can use either, both, or neither:
| Where it comes from | You set it up in | |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom | Your own Zoom account, per appointment, via the Add Zoom meeting toggle | Connecting your Zoom account |
| Google Meet | Generated automatically for every virtual appointment, once you switch it on | Google Calendar sync |
An appointment carries one link, whichever provider filled it. Neither one ever replaces the other, for the simple reason that a link your client already has must keep working.
The short version
- Connected neither? Virtual appointments still work. They just have no link, unless you paste one in yourself. Your public booking page is unaffected.
- Connected Google Meet generation? Every virtual appointment gets a Meet link, with nothing to switch on per appointment.
- Connected Zoom? Switch on Add Zoom meeting when you create a virtual appointment.
- Connected both? See when you have both below.
Adding a Zoom meeting to an appointment
Requires Zoom connected. Until you’ve linked your own Zoom account, the toggle is disabled with a prompt to go and connect it.
- Create (or edit) an appointment and set it up as a virtual or hybrid session.
- In the Video call field, switch on Add Zoom meeting.
- Save the appointment. Protocol creates the Zoom meeting behind the scenes and attaches the join link to the appointment.
- Your client gets the join link on the appointment. If you choose Send when Protocol asks whether to email the guests, it’s in their invitation too, with a calendar file. See Emailing guests about an appointment. A client who booked from your public page gets it in their booking confirmation email.
If Zoom isn’t connected
The toggle is greyed out and there’s a link straight to Integrations. See Connecting your Zoom account.
When you have both
Nothing to configure, and nothing to worry about. The rule is the same in both directions: a provider only ever fills a link that isn’t there yet.
- An appointment that already has a Google Meet link will not have a Zoom meeting scheduled over the top of it. The Add Zoom meeting toggle isn’t offered on an appointment that already carries a link, precisely so you’re never shown a switch that would do nothing.
- An appointment that already has a Zoom meeting keeps it. Meet link generation skips any appointment that already has a link.
- For a public booking, where nobody chose, Protocol picks: Google Meet if you generate Meet links, Zoom otherwise. So connecting Zoom never moves the link on a booking page that was already working.
To swap an appointment from one provider to the other, clear the existing link on the appointment first, then set the one you want.
Joining and hosting
Once an appointment has a video link, its Video call field shows the link and up to two actions:
- Join meeting opens the link. It’s the same link your client has, so it’s a good way to check the meeting yourself.
- Start as host appears on Zoom meetings only. It starts the meeting with host controls, so use this when you’re actually running the session. A Google Meet link has no separate host URL: you’re the host because it’s your calendar event.
If a Zoom meeting couldn’t be created, the appointment shows “Couldn’t create the Zoom meeting”. Try toggling Add Zoom meeting off and on again, or check that your Zoom connection is still active on Integrations.
The public booking page
Every bookable event you’ve published shows on your public booking page, virtual ones included, whether or not you have a video provider connected. A booking against a virtual event with no provider is a normal booking that simply has no link, and you can add one afterwards by editing the appointment.