iSAMS: How to set up iSAMS integration

If you would like Room Booking to integrate with iSAMS (also known as IRIS Ed:Gen), this article takes you through the steps to set this up - either as part of the initial set up of Room Booking or using a system that's already up and running.

Why Integrate with iSAMS

iSAMS integration allows you to automatically sync the complete timetable, rooms & term dates automatically every day. 

How does it work?

This uses the iSAMS Batch API through the iSAMS API Management module and is a chargeable extra by iSAMS. The sync is read only, no data is written back to iSAMS. 

Setting up iSAMS integration

Create a new single Batch API key for the following data areas using the iSAMS API Management Module: (please contact iSAMS directly if you don't already have this module)

• Calendar Manager Datasets - Events - This Year (optional)
• Calendar Manager Datasets - Events - Next Year (optional)
• Cover Manager - Lesson Suspensions
• Cover Manager - Room Closure Reasons
• Cover Manager - Room Closures & Cover
• Estates Manager Datasets - All Buildings & Rooms
• HR Manager - Current Staff 
• School Manager - School Terms
• Teaching Manager - Departments & Subjects
• Teaching Manager - Teaching Sets
• Teaching Manager - Teaching Forms
• Timetable Manager Datasets - Published Timetable Schedule
• Timetable Manager Datasets - Timetable Week Allocations
• Timetable Manager Datasets - Weeks, Days & Periods

If you use iSAMS IP Restrictions, please allow access from:

• 3.11.136.51
• 3.11.149.57
• 3.11.229.108
• 195.89.1.118

Please set the Batch API Key to refresh every 1 hour rather than the default 24 hours. 

If the API setup asks you for the  Integrator Properties please enter School Cloud Systems and Room Booking System respectively. 

Once set up access our contact form https://support.roombookingsystem.co.uk/ click Contact at the top of the page and send us the details below

• Your iSAMS web address 
• Your Batch API key
• Your iSAMS Client ID
• Your iSAMS Client Secret
• Confirmation of your periods and their timings as in iSAMS. For example: Period 1: 08:44 - 09:34 Period 2: 09:34 - 10:40 Break: 10:40 - 10:55 etc This is important, since iSAMS syncs them with the timeslots in Room Booking by matching up the start and end times.

We will then complete the set up and let you know by email once this has been done. If you are adding this option to an existing system please see the section below. 

Match Room/Timeslots (Existing Customers Only)

When setting up integration for an existing system you now need to match timeslots and rooms that have synced across from iSAMS to any of them that have already been set up on Room Booking:

1. Login to Room Booking as an administrator - or if logged in already, click the Home tab at the top.
   
   Follow the on screen instructions to match up the rooms and timeslots that have been extracted from iSAMS (in the drop down boxes) to those already on Room Booking. 
   
   If the on screen instructions don’t show, ensure that your initial sync completed correctly and that (under Manage Admins) your administrator account has permission to access System Settings.Please ensure that you match this information accurately, as matching Rooms and Timeslots allows us to correctly sync timetable information into existing rooms in Room Booking.
   
   If any bookings previously made on Room Booking clash with the timetabled information received from the sync then those bookings will be removed and the user associated with the booking will be emailed to advise them of this.
   
   Existing bookings which do not clash with timetable information from the sync remain on the system.
   
2. Once you have matched rooms and timeslots the main administrator panel will appear, with the message below.Any rooms from iSAMS that have not been matched will be automatically created in Room Booking under Manage Resources in the resource category of 'Unassigned'.
   This category is hidden from administrators & users when making bookings and does not count against your licence limits. If you would like the rooms to be made bookable see What's Next below. 
3. Let us know once you have matched the rooms and timeslots and we will run an up to date sync for you to ensure all details are updated on your system.

What's Next? 

Your set up of iSAMS Integration for Room Booking is now complete! An automatic sync from iSAMS will run daily for you. Here are some extra steps you may need to take:

1. If you are setting up your system for the first time you will need to assign categories to any rooms that you would like to be made bookable. Select Manage Resources from the administrator homepage to edit the resource and assign it to a visible category. There is more on this in How do I set up my rooms and make them bookable? and All about resource categories
2. As long as your rooms have categories assigned you can check your timetable is showing correctly by going to the Calendar tab and viewing the timetable information for each room. The timetable information will be displayed in yellow.
3. If you are setting your system up for the first time you can now continue to to set up your users. Please see Users: How to add users to your system or How to Set Up Single Sign-On (SSO).