Release Details

Product: Bookings - EQ1

Release Date: Monday 9th September 2024 TBC

Summary: A new calendar interface to view resource availability before making bookings

Overview

Video Snapshot

Calendar Based Availability

Existing Capabilities

Up to this point, determining the availability of bookable resources was done either by attempting to make a booking or by filtering resources based on the availability, using one or more of the available filter options shown below:

The resources were displayed as a single list view:

Although an end user could both search, and filter, to find an available resource, there were a few significant drawbacks to this approach:

• It can take time to apply filters to find available resources for the date and time you want

• If you didn’t apply these filters to begin with, the original booking form didn’t confirm availability until the final step i.e. once attempting to complete your booking. As such, you could spend time filling out the booking details only to find out that the resource wasn’t available on the specific day or time

New Calendar Availability

This new feature, in conjunction with other improvements to the booking process, has addressed the above two drawbacks and also provided end users with a more user friendly and expedited booking experience by means of booking via a calendar.

Users can more quickly determine availability of resources and select from available times, or predetermined slots. As a result, completing a booking is a far more streamlined and quicker process.

Accessing the Calendar

Select the Calendar icon at the top of the screen to access the calendar view:

Calendar Layout

The calendar consists of the following core components:

1. An overview of the resource consisting of:

   1. Image

   2. Capacity (if enabled)

   3. Available discounts (if enabled. Feature coming soon)

   4. Name of the resource

   5. Location of the resource
      

      

      
      As you vertically scroll, the image section will be collapsed to free up screen space. The title and location will remain stuck in the header:
      

      

2. Horizontal scroll to view available resources. Simply scroll L > R or R > L to view the available resources
   

   

3. Current time indicator for today (green horizontal line) and automatic scroll to the current time of day when loading the calendar:
   

   

4. Availability times on the y axis:
   

   

5. Date picker to view today or a future date:
   

   

6. The same search and filtering options from the list view to further refine your search:
   

   

7. The ability to view and book resources set up with available slots or as a flexible booking:
   

   

8. Selecting a flexible time, or a predefined slot, will launch the side modal with the date prefilled on the form and the slot preselected (if applicable):
   

   

   
   

9. Ability to launch the booking form either by selecting a time/available slot or by selecting the title of the resource:
   

   

Mobile Experience

Filtering Capabilities for Proxy Booking Resources

If you have one of the authorised roles to make proxy bookings (Property Manager, Workplace Manager, Booking Manager) you will see the ability to filter resources owned by your company (for which you can make proxy bookings for) and resources which are owned by other companies which you may be able to book as a regular end user. To filter the resources, select the Managed by filter option at the top of the screen:

Then choose from one of the two options:

• Managed by Me = resources which belong to the company I work for

• Managed by Anyone = resources which belong to another company of which I’m able to book

New Form Components

Having enabled the Managed by = Me filter, and having selected one of the resources which belong to my company, and of which I’m authorised to make proxy bookings for, you’ll see a few changes on the side modal which pops out.

There’s a new field called HOST which allows you to select the person who the booking is being made for:

The TITLE field is an optional field which is shown to the end user on their booking and may or may not be required when you complete the booking on behalf of someone else.

Once you’ve completed the required form components you can then complete the booking. A booking can be configured to accept the following payment options:

• No payment required - Free

• Invoice payment

• Credit card payment

• Credits payment (coming soon)

If booking on behalf of another end user, and these options are configured for the resource, you can use the following payment methods:

• No payment required - Free

• Invoice payment

• Credits payment (coming soon)

If booking on behalf of yourself, you can also use:

• Credit card payment

FAQs