Lightning Scheduler setup runs in three layers: enable the feature and turn on the data model, configure resources, territories, and work types, then build the booking flow. Plan for two to four weeks of admin time for a non-trivial rollout.
- Enable Lightning Scheduler
Setup, Quick Find, Lightning Scheduler. Turn on the feature. This activates the Service Resource, Service Territory, Work Type, Work Type Group, and Service Appointment objects under the Field Service shared schema.
- Configure Service Resources
Create a Service Resource record per staff member. Link to the User record. Add Service Resource Skills for each service type the person can deliver. Resources without skills do not appear in availability for skill-gated services.
- Define Service Territories and Operating Hours
Build Service Territory records for each location or organizational unit (Atlanta Branch, Online Wealth Team). Create Operating Hours records and link them to territories. Each resource gets a Service Territory Membership that says where and when they work.
- Define Work Types and Work Type Groups
Work Type defines the service (Mortgage Consultation, 30 minutes, requires Mortgage skill). Work Type Group bundles related services for the customer to pick from (Lending Services groups Mortgage Consultation, Refi Review, HELOC).
- Build and publish the booking flow
Flow Builder, New, Screen Flow. Add the Lightning Scheduler flow components (Get Appointment Topic, Select Service Type, Select Date and Time, Confirm Booking). Add custom screens for branding, contact capture, and any business logic. Publish to an Experience Cloud site or embed as an LWC.
Configures ranking criteria when multiple resources match a request: earliest available, least busy, round-robin, or custom Apex logic.
Public flow runs as Guest User on an Experience Cloud site; authenticated flow runs as the logged-in customer. Authentication unlocks reuse of existing customer records.
Concierge runs inside Salesforce for internal users assisting customers by phone; self-service runs on the public site for direct customer booking.
Confirmation email at booking, reminder 24 hours before, follow-up after. Each step is a flow trigger on Service Appointment status; the standard templates ship as starting points.
- Lightning Scheduler is an add-on license. Plan a per-resource license cost on top of any base Cloud license.
- The availability engine respects Operating Hours and Service Territory Memberships exactly. A resource without a current territory membership shows as available zero hours.
- Public flows run as Guest User. Set up the Guest User profile carefully or bookings fail with sharing errors that look like generic Apex faults.
- No native two-way iCal sync. If a resource declines the meeting on Outlook, the Service Appointment in Salesforce does not auto-cancel.
- Skill matching is strict. A service requiring Mortgage skill ignores resources with only Personal Banking skill, even if those resources are otherwise available.