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Blocking out Rooms

You may need to make certain rooms unavailable or block them out for periods of time so that they cannot be booked by staff or students.

There are 2 ways in which you can do this - one allows you to block a room for a period of time, another allows you to set recurring unavailability against a room.

How can I block a room for a period of time?

Room blocking can be found within the Configuration tab, entitled 'Availability'.

From here you can block a room for a certain period of time, for example, a room may be undergoing maintenance for a few weeks, so you need to block the space so no one can book it until it is ready to be used again.

  1. Click 'Create Room Block'
  2. Select the relevant room
  3. Enter the start and end dates/times to block the room
  4. Click 'Submit' to save the blocking

You can create and modify room blockings at any point - you can edit the dates of a blocking to delay or extend a blocking if you need.

You can also archive a room blocking if needed - if you archive a blocking prior to its end date, this will end the blocking early.

How do I log recurring unavailability for a room?

Room unavailability can be set against individual rooms. Enter the Configuration tab and select Rooms to view your list of rooms. The Room Unavailability option can be found against each room.

From here you can set recurring unavailability against a room, for example, if a room is not available to any bookings every Monday from 8am - 9am.

  1. Find the relevant room and click the orange 'Room Unavailability' option
  2. Select the day in which the room will be unavailable(to recur weekly)
    1. Check the 'All Day' box if the room is to be unavailable for the whole day (this will run from 00:00 to 23:59)
    2. Or, enter the specific time parameters for when the room will be unavailable
  3. Click 'Submit' to save, and the unavailability that you have set will be listed below

The room will then be marked as unavailable on a weekly basis on the day and at the times you have selected. The room will also be greyed out in your calendar and timeline views.

You can delete any unavailability by clicking the red 'Remove' button alongside an entry. To remove all unavailability entries, you can select the orange 'Clear Room Reservations' button.

If a member of staff or a student attempts to book a room within the parameters you have set, a notification will appear upon submission confirming that the room is not available and that they will need to adjust their booking.

What will happen if staff attempt to make a booking via SUMS?

If a staff member attempts to book a room while it is blocked or marked as unavailable, an error will appear when they try to submit confirming that there is a hold on the room during the dates/times that they have selected.

What will happen if a student attempts to make a booking via the Student Dashboard?

Students will not be able to to book a room while it is blocked or marked as unavailable.

When booking via an Advanced Booking on the Student Dashboard, an error will appear confirming that the room is unavailable. Where a student uses the Smart Bookings system, the room will not be taken into account when trying to find a suitable room that suits their requirements.

Updated on 11th December 2024