How to connect Maraba to your Google Calendar for automatic booking

Google Calendar is how most Nigerian clinics, salons, law firms, and professional services businesses manage their schedules. It is free, it is on your phone, and your whole team can see it. The Maraba–Google Calendar integration connects Maraba directly to your calendar so that when a caller asks to book an appointment, Maraba can check availability in real time and confirm a slot without you lifting a finger.

This guide covers the complete setup: connecting your Google account, setting availability windows, configuring booking duration and buffer time, handling double-booking protection, and sending WhatsApp confirmations to callers after booking.

Step 1: Connect your Google account

In your Maraba dashboard, navigate to Integrations → Google Calendar. Click Connect Account. You will be redirected to Google's OAuth screen. Sign in with the Google account that owns the calendar you want Maraba to book into.

After authorising, you are returned to the Maraba dashboard. You will see a list of calendars on your Google account. Select the calendar Maraba should book into — this is typically your primary calendar or a dedicated "Appointments" calendar if you have created one.

Step 2: Set your bookable hours

Google Calendar shows your existing appointments but does not know which slots Maraba is allowed to offer callers. You define this separately under Integrations → Google Calendar → Booking Hours.

For a Lagos clinic open Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm:

• Monday–Friday: 9:00am–5:00pm bookable
• Saturday–Sunday: Not bookable
• Last bookable slot: 4:30pm (if appointments are 30 minutes)

These hours are separate from your Maraba business hours (which control when Maraba answers calls). A business might answer calls from 8am but only start booking appointments from 9am. The two settings are independent.

Step 3: Configure appointment duration and buffer time

Under Booking Settings → Appointment Duration, set how long a standard appointment takes. You can configure multiple appointment types if your business offers different services — a 15-minute follow-up consultation versus a 45-minute initial consultation, for example.

Buffer time is the gap Maraba leaves between appointments. If your doctor needs 10 minutes between patients to write notes, set a 10-minute buffer. Maraba will never book a 9:00am and a 9:15am appointment when appointments are 30 minutes long — the next available slot would be 9:40am.

Step 4: How a booking call works

When a caller says "I would like to book an appointment," Maraba enters booking mode. Here is how the dialogue flows:

The appointment is created in your Google Calendar immediately, with the caller's name and phone number in the event description. The calendar entry appears on your phone within seconds.

Step 5: WhatsApp confirmation to the caller

Under Integrations → Google Calendar → Post-Booking Actions, enable Send WhatsApp confirmation to caller. When this is on, Maraba sends the caller a WhatsApp message within 60 seconds of a successful booking confirming the details.

The confirmation message template can be customised. A clinic might send: "Hello [name], your appointment with Dr Nwosu at [clinic name] is confirmed for [date] at [time]. Address: [address]. If you need to reschedule, please call us. — [clinic name]"

This reduces no-shows. When callers have a written confirmation on WhatsApp, they are significantly less likely to forget or confuse the appointment time.

Step 6: Reminder messages (optional)

Maraba can send a WhatsApp reminder message 24 hours before the appointment. Enable this under Integrations → Google Calendar → Reminders → 24-hour reminder. The message goes to the phone number captured during booking.

For clinics and health professionals, this feature alone pays for the Maraba subscription in recovered no-show revenue. A 45-minute appointment that would have gone unfilled brings more value than the monthly subscription cost.

Double-booking protection

Maraba checks calendar availability at the moment of the booking conversation. If two callers are speaking simultaneously and both choose the same slot, only the first booking is confirmed — the second caller is offered the next available slot. There is no risk of double-booking.

Maraba also respects existing entries you have placed in Google Calendar manually. If you block a Tuesday afternoon for a staff meeting, those slots are invisible to callers — Maraba will not offer them.

Which plan includes Google Calendar integration

Google Calendar integration is available on the Starter plan (₦20,000/month) and above. It is not available on the free plan. If your business depends on appointment bookings — clinics, salons, legal consultations, dental practices — the Starter plan with Google Calendar integration is the recommended starting point.