1. Workplace Experience integration: Reservations module in general

This module activation is used to setup the integration between Workplace Management and Workplace Experience for the reservation module, from a Workplace Management point of view.

Workplace Experience touch points (Go, Workplace App, Floor display, Kiosk, Room display) can be used by end-user to create reservations, were Workplace Management will be the background system, used for creating and managing all the relevant (master) data and setting up the relevant reservation workflow settings and restrictions.

This article only focuses on setting up this integration for the Workplace Management side. For the Workplace Experience side, see the relevant articles in Workplace Experience.

2. What is this module about

This module activation is about the integration of the Reservation module and relevant master data with Workplace Experience. For more information on the content of these modules, including detailed descriptions of some of the core components, see these articles in the Application Managers part:

• Reservation module

• Master data: Buildings and areas module

• Master data: Asset module (applicable based on the setting in the module activation down below)

• Master data: Catalog items (applicable based on the setting in the module activation down below)

2.1 What data is registered in Workplace Management?

When making or viewing a reservation via a Workplace Experience touch point, in the background a reservation is created in Workplace Management. The information needed to create or view the reservations resides in Workplace Management:

• Users (user data is in both Workplace Management and Workplace Experience and not automatically synced)

• Buildings and areas (meeting rooms, workplaces, parking, etc.) (including categories used for mapping)

• Assets (Equipment) and catalog items (Services / catering)

• Availability of areas and meeting room based on regimes and block dates

• Reservations itself

3. Choices to be made within the module

Since this module is about the integration of the Reservation module with Workplace Experience, see Reservations module activation and information for the relevant choices to be made in the reservation module.

4. How to activate this module

As for every new module, use the ‘Module activation’ option on the administrator startboard (only available for level 2 and level 3 admins). For more general information about these 'Module activation' options, see Module activation

There are two options to activate the Workplace Experience integration module:

• As a complete solution (complete solutions can only be rolled out initially, if no other module has been activated yet and will include any relevant module related to this solution).

• As a module (the Workplace Experience integration module is rolled out as an additional ‘module’ next to other already activated solutions or modules).

In a new environment both the solution and individual module can be activated. If another solution or module is already activated, the Workplace Experience integration solution cannot be activated anymore.

4.1 Prerequisites in general

1. The first step is the creation of both a Workplace Management and a Workplace Experience environment. After requesting these environments via the proper channel, the environments are created by Workplace Support.

2. The integration is always start with setting up the integration on the Workplace Management side. Which is done via the next steps in this article

4.1.1 Initializing the environment

For details on the initialization wizard, see article: Initial configuration of the environment.

What if the environment is already initialized?

It is possible that a client is already using Workplace Management, but is not yet using the Workplace Experience integration with the Workplace App, Go and any other touchpoints.

In which case users, buildings, areas and (if applicable) assets (equipment), catalog items (services) and cost centers can already be present in the environment.

• These will then need to be manually added to the External App*.
  This is explained in chapter 4 ‘Configuration of the External App’ in this article.

• Also, check if the current building and area hierarchy is correct. The mandatory building and area hierarchy is described in the following article: Mandatory hierarchy for buildings and areas.

*An External App is used to link Workplace Management with other applications (in this case, Workplace Experience). For more information, see: External app

4.2 Prerequisites before activating this module

The following prerequisites only apply to enabling the module and not to the complete solution, since the solution activation already takes all prerequisites into account.

The following modules need to be activated before the Workplace Experience reservation integration module can be activated:

• Master data: Buildings and areas

• Master data: Assets (only if assets (equipment) needs to be reserved via Workplace Experience)

N.b. Catalog items (services) can also be reserved via Workplace Experience, but this module does not have a separate module activation and is automatically enabled if relevant.

4.3 Module activation

As a complete solution

If the solution is activated, it will automatically activate the following modules:

• Reservation module

• Master data: Buildings and areas module

• If applicable*: Master data: Asset module

• If applicable*: Master data: Catalog items

*applicable based on the setting in the module activation.

For this specific solution activation, multiple settings and options apply:

Open

Settings to be determined

• Create reservations only in Workplace Experience: If this setting is set to Yes, the options in Workplace Management to create reservations and additional options such as periodic reservations, calendar, etc. are all hidden, so that key users have clearer screens for managing buildings, rooms, users and can create reservations via Workplace Experience touchpoints.

• Reference Workplace Experience tenant: Enter the Workplace Experience tenant reference. The reference can be found in Workplace Studio as a prefix to the username. For example axxprod1.username.

• New buildings to Workplace Experience: Determine whether all new buildings are automatically exported to Workplace Experience or whether the buildings are manually added to the External app.

• New areas to Workplace Experience: Determine whether all new areas are automatically exported to Workplace Experience or whether the areas are manually added to the External app.

• New users to Workplace Experience: Determine whether all new system users are automatically exported to Workplace Experience or whether the system users are manually added to the External app.

• Reserve assets (equipment): Determine whether assets can be reserved. Enabling this will also enable the option to set this setting per reservable type (if reservations are created via Workplace Management) or the option to automatically add new assets to the Workplace Experience External app.

• New reservable assets to Workplace Experience: Determine whether all reservable assets are automatically exported to Workplace Experience or whether the reservable assets are manually added to the External app.

• Reserve catering (services): Determine whether catalog items can be reserved. Enabling this will also enable the option to set this setting per reservable type (if reservations are created via Workplace Management) or the option to automatically add new reservable catalog items to the Workplace Experience External app

• New reservable catalog items to Workplace Experience: Determine whether all reservable catalog items are automatically exported to Workplace Experience or whether the reservable catalog items are manually added to the External app.

• New cost centers to Workplace Experience: Determine whether all cost centers are automatically exported to Workplace Experience or whether the cost centers are manually added to the External app (if relevant).

• Default reservation type: A default reservation type can be selected, which will be automatically linked to reservations created from a Workplace Experience touchpoint.

Automatically created user profiles:

In the solution activation, default user profiles are automatically generated (as appose to the module activation, in which case the relevant user profiles need to be created or update manually via the user profile management option on the administrator startboard).
Via this solution, the following two user profiles are automatically generated and can be assigned to users:

• End user profile (reservations): This profile will be used by end users who make reservations (either in Workplace Management or Workplace Experience)

• General manager: This profile is used for the manager of a Workplace Experience environment (user management, building management and reservation coordinator system groups)

See Authorizing users for more information on user profiles and authorizing users.

Workflow Emails

The emails that are automatically sent via the workflow (E.g., the confirmation email to the requestor or a new reservation when a new reservation is created) are also generated and shown in the include on the module or solution activation after the module activation is started. It is possible to delete some or all of these emails, if some or all of these emails should not be used. For more information on workflow emails: Standard Workflow emails

For a detailed description of the emails sent via the workflow, see: Reservation module in the 'Application Managers' section.

As a module activation

If the module activation is started, it will only activate (if not active already) the reservation module. The same settings to be determined apply to the module activation as are used in the solution activation described above (with the exception of the first setting ‘Create reservations only in Workplace Experience'). No user profiles are automatically generated. The applicable reservation system groups need to be added to new or exiting user profiles via the user profile management option on the administrator startboard. If the reservation module was already in use in Workplace Management, the users most likely already have the correct system groups in their user profile. See chapter '4.4 System groups’ down below for more information.

4.4 Workplace Experience button bar on administrator startboard

After activating the module, the module setting ‘Use Workplace Experience’ is automatically set to ‘Yes’ and a new button bar will become available on the startboard of the administrator. On this buttonbar several options are visible:

Open

• Information: General information on the integration.

• Report: Overview of the reports used by the APIs for the integration.

• User export: This export can be used to export Workplace Management users and import them directly in Workplace Experience.

• External apps: Quick link to the External App configuration. See down below for more information.

• Analytics: This dashboard van be used to debug the integration setup and show client customization on the integration reports. See down below for more information.

• QR Codes Areas: Overview and the option to view and print QR codes of areas/ workplaces. See down below for more information.

• Area pictures: Easiest way to upload/link pictures to single or multiple areas in bulk. See down below for more information.

• Asset pictures: Easiest way to upload/link pictures to single or multiple assets in bulk. See down below for more information.

• Catering pictures: Easiest way to upload/link pictures to single or multiple catering items in bulk. See down below for more information.

For more details please read: Workplace Experience dashboard in WPM .

4.5 Configuration of the External App

An External App object is used to configure and monitor the connection to another system. The External App used for the Workplace Experience integration is created via customer support when Workplace Experience is also purchased by the customer and can be found via the Workplace Experience button bar on the administrator startboard (or via Client settings → Authentication tab).

When configuring the External App, you actually determining what Workplace Management objects become available in Workplace Experience. Most steps to configure this external app are done automatically during the module or solution activation. However, some steps are still required to do manually. Please read the following information: External app and more specifically the part about Workplace Experience.

4.6 Data imports

When activating this module, some data imports become available, which can be used to quickly import relevant data into the system (as opposed to manually entering this data, which is also possible).

Relevant data imports become available in the module activation after it has been started. Default data imports can also be found on the administrator startboard (only for level 2 and level 3 administrators).

For more information on data imports in general, see: Data imports

Available data imports for the Workplace Experience integration

If Workplace Experience integration is activated as a solution, the following default import connectors become available (some depending on the setting in the module activation):

N.b. If it is activated as a module, only some of the imports will be available directly in the module activation. Most of the master data import will be available via the default import overview and related master data module activation’s.

4.6.1 Mandatory hierarchy for buildings and areas

Main area

For every building that is created in Workplace Management, a main area is created with the category ‘Main area’. Do not make any changes to the main area! All floors and areas that are created for this building, will be placed hierarchically below this main area.

Location mapping

Below the requirements in Workplace Management are explained. When importing or manually creating buildings and areas in Workplace Management please make sure to stick to the following rules regarding hierarchy:

¹ When a custom Area category is created, 95% of the cases it will be on the same hierarchical level as workplaces, rooms or parkings. As an example of a custom area categories, you could think of a concentration hub or prayer room. For details on mapping custom categories, see this article Studio location mapping.

4.7 System groups

When a module is activated, system groups can be assigned to user profiles. These system groups give users access to (a subset of) navigation menu options, startboard tabs, and tasks in the relevant workflow(s).

For more general information on user profiles, system groups, users, and the user profile dashboard, see: User management.

Since this module is about the integration of the Reservation module with Workplace Experience, see Reservations module activation and information for the relevant system groups.

4.8 Navigation menu and startboard options

Since this module is about the integration of the Reservation module with Workplace Experience, see Reservations module activation and information for the relevant navigation menu and startboard options in Workplace Management.

5. Additional reports

Since this module is about the integration of the Reservation module with Workplace Experience, see Reservations module activation and information for the additional reports in Workplace Management.

6. Additional settings and options after enabling

Since this module is about the integration of the Reservation module with Workplace Experience, also see Reservations module activation and information for the additional settings and options after enabling in Workplace Management.

General reservation setting

Some of the general reservation settings are also applicable for creating and editing reservations via Workplace Experience. These settings can be found via ‘Module settings' > 'Reservations’ tab.

General reservation settings that also apply to Workplace Experience:

*Also see Reservation restrictions for more information about reservation restrictions

Default reservation type

A default reservation type can be selected for reservations created from Workplace Experience or Outlook/Google Calendar. This default reservation type can be used to automatically enable or disable specific reservation options for the reservation created from Workplace Experience or Outlook/ Google Calendar when managing the reservations in Workplace Management.

More information on reservation types, see: Reservation types

7. Additional information

7.1. Linking regimes

Optionally, Regimes can be created and linked to the tenant in general or to specific buildings and or areas for two reasons:

• Limiting users from reserving certain resources (rooms, workplace, etc.) outside of specific (office) times (e.g. only between 9:00 AM - 5 PM). This should only be used if really necessary, as the check if a regime is blocking a reservable resource will make the floorplans load less fast in Workplace Experience.

• When the tenant has buildings in countries that are in different time zones you MUST use regimes linked to the buildings, because the regime allows you to set a time zone that differs from the time zone that you set in the client settings.

Some remarks:

• Linking a regime is optional and should only be used if necessary. If no regime are linked to any reservable objects, reservations can be made 24/7.

• Do not add a regime without availability. Make sure at least one availability is added.

• When you want to use the option for ‘Multi-day bookings’ in the Workplace App, make sure to not use regimes with limited availability (e.g. 9:00AM - 5:00PM), because then multi-day bookings will not be possible, as a reservation taking place after 5 Pm will not be allowed.

• When using a regime only for linking a specific time zone to a building without wanting to limit the availability of reservable resources, you can add a 24/7 availability:

• If regimes are not used for limiting the availability to resources, make sure to also skip the regime checks via the Workplace Experience external app, as this will make the reservable resources and floorplans load faster in Workplace Experience. For more information, see: External app: Workplace Experience: Skip checks.

For all information about creating an linking regimes: Managing regimes .

7.2 Upload pictures of areas/workplaces/assets/catering

Area, asset and catering pictures can be uploaded via an easy overview, which can be found on the administrators startboard, Workplace Experience button bar. Via this overview, pictures can be uploaded directly instead of opening every area/asset/catering item separately and also pictures can be linked to multiple reservable objects in one go. For example, 1 stock picture is used for all workplaces. The picture can be uploaded once and then linked to all other workplaces.

For more information on this, see: Workplace Experience dashboard in WPM - from chapter 7.

7.3 Enabling Service & Equipment later

If the Workplace Experience integration module/solution activation has already been completed in the past, without the use of Services (catalog items) and/or Equipment (assets), it is always possible to enable this via the ‘Module settings’ for Workplace Experience:

Via these settings (same as in the module activation), it can be determined that every newly created reservable asset, reservable catalog item and/or cost center can automatically be added to the External app. If any of these objects already exist, and should be made available in Workplace Experience, they need to be added to the (Workplace Experience) External app manually. For more information on the External app, see: External app.

7.4 Check-in Settings

To optimize space utilization and reduce ghost bookings (without the use of sensors), you can use the check-in functionality. When enabled, a user must confirm a reservation via the Workplace App a few minutes before it takes place. It the check in is not done, the reservation will get canceled automatically.

To turn on the check-in functionality, follow the next steps:

• Open The Workplace Experience External app (via the Workplace Experience button bar on the administrator startboard)

• Navigate to the ‘Category settings’ include

You can determine the ‘Check-in’ settings per area category. To add a new setting, press the ‘New’ button.

After pressing the ‘New’ button, you can create a new ‘Check-in’ setting.
Choose per area category and building combination the desired check-in settings.

7.5 Group Bookings

It is possible to create group bookings in Workplace Experience. The setting must be enable in ‘Device control’ for Workplace Experience to activate group bookings.

Also, check if the following setting is turned on in Workplace Management:
'Module settings' → ‘Workplace Experience’ tab → 'Default reserve on behalf of someone else'.

8. Next step: continue with the setup of Workplace Experience

Once the integration on the Workplace Management side is done, the next step is to setup the integration on the Workplace Experience side (setting up Workplace Studio, device control, hardware, etc.).
See that part of the knowledge base for more information: Workplace Experience.

9. User manual

Since this module is about the integration of the Reservation module with Workplace Experience, see the reservations user manual with a more step-by-step explanation of the process itself: Reservation module for (end)users for the Workplace Management part. For the end users in Workplace Experience, see: Workplace App End user Quick Guide

10. Q&A

Q: Is it possible to reserve specific services (catalogitems) and/or equipment (assets) only for a specific building?
A: Yes, it is possible to link the applicable building to the asset or the applicable building to the reservable catalogitem. The service and/or equipment will now only be shown, if a reservation is created for that building.

Q: Is it possible to reserve specific equipment only for a specific room or type of room?
A: No, it is not possible that specific equipment can only be reserved in specifc rooms or type of rooms. The area linked to an asset is only informative in Workplace Management to specify where a specific item is usually stored or can be picked up.

Q: Is it possible to reserve specific services only for a specific room or type of room?
A: No, it is not possible that specific services can only be reserved in specifc rooms or type of rooms. It is possible to specify on a reservable room, that it is not allowed to reserve services (catering) in combination with that particular room. This will then apply to all services.

Q: Is it possible to reserve services and/or equipment only with a specific system group?
A: By default, it is not possible to reserve services and/or equipment only by a specific system group. This is only possible with custom access changes on the reservable objects.