Eligibility and booking conflicts
Which interpreters Fluent lists for an appointment, what each availability label on the Assignment step means, and when Fluent refuses an overlap.
What you'll learn
- What decides which interpreters you can pick for an appointment, and when Fluent blocks a double booking.
Who Fluent lists
Owners, Admins, Managers, and Schedulers at your agency see the list on the Assignment step when they create or edit an appointment in Appointments.
An interpreter appears when all of these are true:
- Status: They're Active on Team › Interpreters, or they're Invited and you're using Assign. Deactivated interpreters and revoked invites never appear.
- Language: One of their language pairs is for the appointment's language, such as Spanish - English.
- Service type and mode: That pair's Service Types include the appointment's service type, and its Interpreting Modes include Consecutive. If either field is empty, the pair matches on the language alone.
- Certifications: Fluent doesn't check certifications or specializations. Tag interpreters with a credential your agency has checked, and filter the list by tags. See Interpreter profiles.
- Auto-assign and Broadcast: They list Active interpreters only. See Auto-assign and Broadcast.
How Fluent shows who is free
Each row's badge and last line compare the interpreter's day with the appointment's time.
| Row reads | Badge | What it means | Dimmed |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Available" and their hours | Green | Their hours cover the whole appointment | No |
| "Scheduled" and the times | Orange | Another appointment of theirs overlaps this one | Yes |
| "Outside working hours" | Grey | Their hours that day miss the appointment | Yes |
| "Does not cover full appointment" | Grey | Their hours cover only part of it | Yes |
| "No availability" | Grey | They have no hours set that day | No |
- Another appointment: One they're assigned to, or an open offer they hold from Assign or Auto-assign. Canceled, Late Cancel, Declined, and Missed appointments don't count, and Broadcast offers don't either.
- Time off: Time off that overlaps the appointment dims the row, whatever the row reads.
- No hours that day: Fluent treats the interpreter as possibly free, so the row isn't dimmed.
A dimmed row ranks lower, and you can still pick it. See How interpreter ranking works.
To check or change someone's hours, see Manage interpreter availability and time off.
Overlapping appointments
An interpreter can't be assigned to 2 appointments that overlap. Fluent checks each time someone would end up assigned:
- Save: You save an appointment that names an interpreter.
- Change: You change an appointment's interpreter or time.
- Accept: The interpreter taps Accept in the Fluent mobile app, or clicks it in the web app.
What counts as an overlap:
- The other appointment: Counts when it's Assigned or at a later status, such as In Progress or Complete.
- An open offer: Doesn't count, so a row that reads "Scheduled" can still save.
- Back to back: An appointment that ends at 10:00 AM and one that starts at 10:00 AM don't overlap.
When the check fails:
- Your save: Fluent saves nothing and shows "This interpreter is already booked then (appointment {number})." The number is the other appointment's.
- An interpreter's accept: Their offer stays open. The mobile app shows "You're already booked at that time, so you can't accept this appointment."
Important: 2 ways of accepting skip this check: the Accept button in the offer email, and Mark as accepted on the Assignment step. Either can leave an interpreter assigned to 2 overlapping appointments. Before you mark an offer accepted, check that the row doesn't read "Scheduled".
Rules and limits
- Every appointment is Consecutive. See Services overview.
- On a new appointment, the first interpreters the list loads aren't checked against Interpreting Modes, so the list can show a pair without Consecutive. Auto-assign and Broadcast check them when they start.
- Interpreters you invite start with no Service Types or Interpreting Modes, so they match on language alone until their profile lists them.
- An overlap that already exists doesn't block edits that leave the interpreter and the time alone.
Troubleshooting
An interpreter I expect isn't in the list
Their profile has no language pair for the appointment's language, or the pair's Service Types or Interpreting Modes leave out this appointment. Add what's missing on their profile.
Auto-assign or Broadcast went to fewer interpreters than I picked
Fluent left out picks whose language pair doesn't cover the appointment. On a new appointment, the list can show a pair without Consecutive, and that pick drops out when the method starts.
Add Consecutive to the pair's Interpreting Modes, or pick someone else.
"This interpreter is already booked then (appointment {number})."
The interpreter is assigned to appointment {number} at an overlapping time. Pick someone else, change this appointment's time, or take them off the other appointment first.