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The options for consumers looking to contact businesses without picking up the phone continue to grow. Last week we wrote about Haptik and Hello.de, both of which enable businesses to replace costly, inconvenient call centres with digital messaging customer service platforms. Now, Mytime is offering a talk-free booking solution for local businesses across multiple platforms. The company recently launched a free android app, enabling every small business to take online bookings from new and returning customers.

Over two million service providers are already included in Mytime’s searchable database, which is organized into 70+ service categories, including dentists, personal trainers and babysitters. To begin, businesses create a profile page, listing their services, opening hours, employees and prices. Then, customers can book appointments using the MyTime calendar which syncs with the business’s pre-existing calendar. MyTime can take payment for the booking in advance or simply act as a digital yellow pages and 24/7 receptionist. The app will then send customers a reminder when their appointment is imminent and encourage them to post reviews and make recommendations — they will even be rewarded with vouchers if they successfully refer a friend.

MyTime’s database continues to grow — it lists all local businesses, even those who are yet to sign up. In the event that a customer tries to book an appointment with a company that hasn’t registered, a MyTime employee will phone up, make an appointment on the customer’s behalf and attempt to persuade the business to come onboard. Profiles are free to set up, with a thee percent credit card processing fee on orders made through the platform. Merchants can then optionally choose to pay a 37 percent commission on new customers or a 299 USD flat monthly fee to have MyTime promote their business through a Promoted or VIP profile. Small businesses — what are you waiting for?