Bookings: booking resources by time

It is possible to book resources on the Room Booking System by time instead of (or in addition to) timeslots (or periods).

Prerequisites

In order to book by time, you must have time-based booking as part of your licence. Where the system is being used by a business this is provided by default (since businesses do not use timeslots).
For schools this is part of the Lettings and Time-Based Module available as a chargeable extra option. You can find out more by getting in touch with our sales team on 0333 344 3403. 

How does it work?

When you want to book on a time-based resource, you can choose the duration of the booking via drop down boxes to set start and end times.

You can customise your system to allow whatever duration values you need via Timetable > Timetable Options. 

Your users also get the option to book a time-based resource by timeslots (if timeslots have been assigned start and end times, see further down this guide) :

Setting Up a Resource Category

Resources become time-based when placed in a resource category set up for time-based bookings. To set up such a category, please follow the steps below:

1. Go to Resources > Resource Categories. Click Add Category.
2. Set up the category as desired but ensure that the Booking Slots option is set to Time Based:

You can also edit an existing timeslot-based resource category to be time-based, though note that it is not possible to change it back from a time-based to a timeslot-based resource.

Setting Up Resources

Once you have added, or edited, a resource category to be time-based, follow these steps to apply it to a resource:

1. Go to Resources then click the edit (pencil) icon that appears when you mouse over the resource in the list you wish to change to time-based.
   
2. Change the Category of the resource to the time-based category.
   
3. (Optional) You may want to set up open/close times here. You can do this further down the edit resource page.You can adjust the default open and close times by setting the Start/End Time in Timetable > Timetable Options.

Setting up timeslots to be booked on time based resources

Your users cab book a room/resource in a timebased category by either timeslot or time if you have start and end times set up for your timeslots. To set these up go to Timetable > Timeslots and assign start/end times for each timeslot. 

If your slots start/end at different times on different days, please get in touch with us and we can assist you.

If you do not see the Start Time and End Time columns please contact us .

When you've made your changes, click Update Timeslot Names to make the change live.