1. Reservations in general

Reservations are a vital aspect of managing shared resources effectively, involving the process of reserving specific items, workplaces, or services for future use. Whether it's reserving meeting rooms, booking a beamer, or scheduling catering services, reservations play a crucial role in ensuring availability and facilitating planning.

Individuals can specify their requirements by making reservations, such as the desired date, time, duration, and quantity or type of items needed. This structured approach helps streamline resource allocation, minimize conflicts, and prevent double bookings. Moreover, reservations provide peace of mind, ensuring that the necessary resources will be available when needed.

2. What is this module about

For more information on the content of this module, including detailed descriptions of some of the core components, see: Reservation module in the 'Application Managers' section.

3. Why use this module

From a business perspective, effective reservation management optimizes resource utilization, enhances operational efficiency, and improves customer satisfaction by providing real-time availability of reservable resources. It allows businesses to plan, allocate resources effectively, and deliver services in a timely manner. Ultimately, reservations contribute to smoother transactions and better overall experiences for both providers and users of the reserved services.

3.1 Choices to be made within the module

The most relevant choices that can be made before using this module are the following:

What to reserve

Depending on the specific needs, additional master data modules will need to be enabled, and an import sheet must be filled in by the customer (or this data must be created manually)

1. Areas (Meeting rooms, workplaces, parking)

2. Assets (Equipment)

3. Catalog items (Catering services)

Which reservation restrictions apply

The advice is only to apply restrictions if they serve a business purpose, as they will cost time to create and manage and possibly unnecessarily cause hiccups in the reservation process for end users. Examples of restrictions that do serve a business purpose:

1. Each reservable catalog item (catering) can only be reserved 1 workday in advance since the reserved catalog items are exported to the catering service a day before, giving them time to order and prepare

2. Workplaces can only be booked 2 times per week per user, as the number of workplaces is limited, and every employee should get a chance to visit the office regularly.

Is Outlook or Google Calendar already used by the customer to book meeting rooms?

If yes, and this option should still be possible, integration with one of these calendar providers must be set up to keep (room) reservations in sync between both applications (otherwise, a room could be booked via 2 separate systems at the same time by different people) For more information, see:

1. Microsoft Exchange (Graph)

2. Google Workspace

Use Workplace Experience as the touchpoint to create reservations
If the customer want to use the Workplace App / Go from Workplace Experience as the touchpoints for end users to create reservations, or use Workplace Analytics to get more insights and dashboards on reservation data, then these products must also be purchased, implemented and integrated. For more information on these products and integrations:

1. General Knowledge base on Workplace Experience and the integration from a Workplace Management perspective: WPM-WPE integration (WPM side)

2. General Knowledge base on Workplace Analytics and the integration from a Workplace Management perspective: Workplace Analytics dashboard integration

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 reservation module:

• As a complete solution in combination with Workplace Experience (Complete solutions can only be rolled out initially if no other module has been activated yet). More information on this option can be found in the Workplace Experience integration: Reservations module activation and information article: https://spacewell.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/KB/pages/105021497/Workplace+Experience+Reservations+module+activation+and+information

• As a module (The Reservation module is rolled out as an (additional) module, possibly next to other already activated solutions or modules). The rest of this article will focus on this option.

In a new environment, both the solution and individual module can be activated. If another solution or module is already activated, only the reservation module can be activated.

4.1 Prerequisites before activating this module

The reservation module does not require any other modules to be activated before. However, if you want to use the reservation module to reserve areas and/or assets, those modules must be activated first. Otherwise, indicating that either areas and/or assets are to be reserved is impossible.

By default, catalog items (catering) will be available as a "module" if the reservation module is activated (as this module does not have its own module activation). Nonetheless, it is still a deliberate choice in the reservation module activation to enable reserving catalog items.

Since, in most cases, at least areas or assets are also always reserved next to catering, in almost all cases, either the ‘Masterdata: Buildings and areas' and/or ‘'Masterdata: Assets' module activations will need to be activated first. For more information on these module activations, see:

Master data: Buildings and areas module activation and information
Master data: Assets module activation and information

4.2 Module activation

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

Settings to be determined

• Default start time & Default end time: These settings will determine the default start and end time if a new reservation is created. The user can always change these dates in a new reservation, but if, for instance, most reservations take place from 09:00 to 17:00, these settings can help users by setting this as the default for each new reservation.

• Reserve areas: This will determine if areas can be reserved at all. Related settings (e.g., the option to enable ‘Reserve areas' on a specific reservation type and the option per area to set it reservable) only become available if this is enabled.

• Use Seating arrangements: If areas can be reserved, this setting will enable the option to create seating arrangements and add these seating arrangements to specific areas. For more information, see the part on seating arrangements in the Application Managers section of this module: Reservation module

• Reserve assets: See ‘Reserve areas.’ but for assets.

• Reserve catering: See ‘Reserve areas,’ but for catalog items.

• Approval needed: This setting is used in the reservation workflow to determine if every reservation that is submitted must first be approved* by a reservation coordinator

*Reservations that are not yet approved still keep the reserved objects in that reservation blocked for others, and only if the reservation coordinator cancels the reservation during the approval step will these objects become available again for others to reserve at the specified time in the reservation.

Reservation types:

At least one reservation type must be added before starting the module activation. Via the include, these reservation types can be added. Additional reservation types can always be added later on (via the navigation menu or the module settings for reservations). For more information on the reservation types, see the part on Reservation types in the Application Managers section of this module: Reservation module

After starting the module activation, the relevant imports become available to download in the next step. For more details, see further down (Data imports).

Starting the module activation will also enable the relevant user groups and these can be assigned to user profiles via the User profile management dashboard, which can be found on the admin`s startboard. For more details, see further down (User groups and profile suggestions).

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 activation after this 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.

4.3 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 admins' startboard (only for level 2 and level 3 administrators).

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

Available data imports for reservation as a module

If reservations are activated as a module, the following default import connectors become available:

*Data imports from other modules are most likely also relevant regarding the master data that is used to reserve (E.g., Buildings, Areas and Assets). For more information, see Master data: Buildings and areas module activation and information and Master data: Assets module activation and information

4.4 User groups

When a module is activated, user groups can be assigned to user profiles. These user 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, user groups, users, and the user profile dashboard, see: Authorizing users

For the Reservation module, the following user groups become available:

Via the 'User profile management' option on the administrator startboard, these user groups can be assigned to existing user profiles or add them to newly created user profiles.

4.4.1 Relevant user groups from other modules:

For some modules, other (master data) modules might be of importance, in order to be able to fully use this module.
For Reservations, the Master data modules ‘Buildings and areas’, ‘Assets' and 'Catalog items” are often relevant (depending on the exact types of objects that can be reserved); therefore the following user groups could also need to be assigned to users (If not already done in the past)to be able to create and edit the relevant master data objects.

When generating the user profiles, it is advised to include these groups or have dedicated profiles (and users) for these modules.

4.5 Navigation menu and startboard options

When a module is activated, the relevant navigation menu options become available to users with the correct authorizations (based on the user groups). Next, a module-specific key user startboard tab becomes available for that particular module and is visible depending on the user's authorizations. This tab gives users insights and day-to-day work overviews relevant to the specific module.

For more general information on the navigation menu and startboard, see: https://spacewell.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/KB/pages/441712705/Authorizing+users#2.2-Navigation-menu-and-Startboard

For the Reservation module, the following navigation menu options become available:

For the Reservation module, the 'Reservations dashboard' starboard tab becomes available:

This tab is available for the following user groups:

• Reservation coordinator

• View reservations startboard

• Management dashboards reservations

This startboard tab has the following buttons:

• Reservation + : The option to create a new reservation, same as on the general startboard tab.

• Search reservations: Same option as in the navigation menu to search on all reservations.

• Search recurring reservation schedules: Same option as in the navigation menu to search on all recurring reservations.

• Reservation for today (my location): An overview to see all reservations taking place today. If the user has a fixed location (via the ‘Building’ field on the contact of the user), only reservations for this location are shown, otherwise, all reservations (for all buildings)

• Overview catering/services: Via this overview, a list of upcoming reservations can be shown that contain catalog items (catering/services). This overview can be used by the service provider to know which services to prepare and deliver on time and can also be used to export catering/service reservations from the past, including the financial details (prices).

• Overview assets/equipment: Via this overview, a list of upcoming reservations can be shown that contain assets (assets/equipment). This overview can be used by the service provider to know which assets to hand out or take in on time.

Next to that, this tab has the following includes (most are only visible if they contain data):

• Reservations to be approved: An overview of reservations that require approval by the reservation coordinator. If the reservation coordinator has a specific building set on his or her contact, only reservations to be approved related to that building are shown.

• Reservations with reservation items to approve: This overview shows reservations with reservation items that need to be reviewed (approved or rejected) by the user.

• Reservations within the upcoming 7 days with remarks (my location): This overview shows reservations within the upcoming 7 days with a remark added by the requestor. If the user has a fixed location (via the ‘Building’ field on the contact of the user), only reservations for this location are shown, otherwise, all reservations (for all buildings) with a remark.

• Reservation items within the upcoming 7 days with remarks (my location): This overview shows reservation items within the upcoming 7 days with a remark added by the requestor. If the user has a fixed location (via the ‘Building’ field on the contact of the user), only reservation items linked to reservations for this location are shown, otherwise, all reservations items with a remark are shown.

• Today's reservations with a deviating seating arrangement (my location): This overview shows all reservations from today with a different seating arrangement compared to the default seating arrangement of the area.

• Today's reservations with setup or tidy-up times: This overview shows all reservations for today with reservation items that have setup or tidy-up times. The start time of the setup period or the end time of the tidy-up period is shown per line.

• Reservations with reservation items to approve: This overview shows reservations with reservation items that need to be reviewed.

• Areas to issue: This overview shows all reservations where the user must prepare an area for an upcoming reservation based on a dedicated workflow task (based on a general reservation module setting 'Preparation of areas via separate task').

• Areas to take in: This overview shows all reservations where the user needs to take in an area (clean it up again after a reservation) based on a dedicated workflow task (based on a general reservation module setting ('Clean up of areas via separate task').

• Assets to issue: This overview shows all reservations where the user is required to issue an asset based on a dedicated workflow task (based on a general reservation module setting ('Hand out assets via separate task').

• Assets to take in: This overview shows all reservations the user needs to take in an asset based on a dedicated workflow task (based on a general reservation module setting ('Take in assets via separate task').

• Catering to issue: This overview shows all reservations where the user is required to hand out catering based on a dedicated workflow task (based on a general reservation module setting ('Hand out catering via separate task').

5. Additional reports

For some modules, additional reports can be available via the ‘Report’ navigation menu option.
For the reservation module, there are reports available via:

• Navigation menu reports: A long list of reports related to reservations available to the ‘Reservation coordinator’.

• Management dashboard: A management dashboard for reservations is available in the ‘Reservations’ navigation menu to the ‘Management dashboards reservations’ system group, with overviews and graphs related to reservations (Quantity analysis, Occupancy overviews, etc):

6. Additional settings and options after enabling

For some modules, additional settings can be configured after the initial module activation via the 'Module settings' option on the administrator startboard. A module is always activated with the most used settings pre-defined. After the module is activated, the module may have more advanced settings available, which can be managed via the Module settings as well.

To navigate to all Reservation settings, go to Modules settings → tab Reservation. Hover over the available settings on that page to get more information:

7. Additional information

No additional information currently

8. User manual

For the user manual with a more step-by-step explanation of the process itself, see: Reservation module for (end)users

9. Q&A

Waiting for questions to answer