Approval chains
Bookings that need approval in SmartMy Facility go through a chain of levels. For example: the facility's approvers, then the head of department or the principal. With no set-up only hall and auditorium bookings wait; you choose which other bookings need approval, and who decides at each level, without code.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- The auditorium is approved on a phone call, and two departments arrive on the same morning.
- Every meeting room booking waits for the admin head, who has better things to do.
- A request sits unanswered for days, and the booker does not know whether to plan the event.
- Months later nobody can say who approved the hall for an outside party, or why another was refused.
How it works
- Each Entity has a Facility booking chain, made the first time it is needed. With no set-up, bookings are confirmed at once, except bookings of facilities with the Hall / Auditorium rule set, which wait for the facility's approvers.
- To ask for approval in other cases, open Facilities > Configuration > Booking Rules > Approval Chains and add a chain with Only For. It can be one facility, one rule set, bookings over 4 hours or outside opening hours. Drag it above the general chain.
- Add levels and say who decides each. It can be the facility's approvers (its named Approvers, else its facility managers), named people or a group. Or A person on the request, such as the booker's manager. Any one approver of a level decides.
- While a booking waits, its time is held. Approvers decide under Facilities > Approvals, in the SmartMy Facility app, or under My approvals; a rejection asks for a reason the booker sees.
- If nobody decides within the rule set's Approval Timeout, the facility managers are asked too and get the same time again. If they do not decide either, the booking is rejected. The booking is confirmed after the last level.
Everything it does
Which kinds you have
- Facility booking: every plan
- Public hire (Growth): a starting Only For chain sends bookings by outside hirers of a facility with Approve Public Bookings to the facility's approvers
- Asset change (Scale, with fixed assets): revaluing, impairing, changing the life of, selling or scrapping an asset. The asset managers decide to start with; its chain is under Approvals > Configuration > Approval Chains
- Counter approval: with SmartMy POS, refunds and what is above a cashier's limit at the club counter; it is a SmartMy POS chain
Who is never asked
- A booking by a facility manager of the facility, or by one of its approvers, is confirmed at once
- Reservations made by other SmartMy products, such as classes, exams and meetings, need no approval
- The person a booking is by is never named by A person on the request
Who approves a level
- Facility's approvers: the facility's Approvers, else its facility managers; a facility manager may always decide in their place
- Named users or a group
- With SmartMy HRMS: Booker's Manager or Booker's Department Head
- With SmartMy Campus, for a student's or parent's booking: Class Teacher, Head of Department or Hostel Wardens
- Any one approver of a level decides; for two signatures, add two levels
While a booking waits
- Hold the Slot while Waiting: on to start with; off, the time stays open and the first approved booking wins
- Approval Timeout (h): 24 to start with; 0 waits for ever
- Timeout Action: Escalate to facility managers (to start with) or Reject
- A booking still waiting when its start time passes is rejected with Not approved before the start
- A booking that needs approval on a facility with no approvers and no managers is refused with a message
Rules and record
- Requester May Approve: on for the Facility booking chain as the system makes it; whoever raised a booking may decide a level they approve
- Only For on a booking: Booking Policy, Facility, Duration, Outside Opening Hours, Booked by
- A change to a chain applies to bookings sent after it
- Each approver of a level gets a to-do on the booking. Approved / Rejected by is kept on it, and every decision is in its history
- A moved booking that now needs approval goes back to waiting
Who uses it
Facility managerSets the chains of the facility bookings and may decide any level in the approvers' place.
Approver of a facilityApproves or rejects with a reason under Approvals or in the app.
Head of department, principal or admin headDecides at a level you add, such as auditorium bookings over half a day.
BookerSees Waiting for approval with the time held, then the decision and the reason.
Where you use it
- Web: Facilities > Configuration > Booking Rules > Approval Chains (facility managers); Approvals > Configuration > Approval Chains for an Approvals Administrator, with every chain
- Web: Facilities > Approvals; Approvals > Requests > To Approve
- The SmartMy Facility app: Approvals in the Menu, and My approvals for every product (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Portal: the Approvals page for anyone named on a level who uses only the portal
- Not built: a reminder to approvers before the timeout; the timeout escalates instead
What you control
Settings
- Levels and their approvers, per Entity: the facility's approvers to start with
- Starting chains: Hall / Auditorium bookings wait; with Growth, public hires of a facility with Approve Public Bookings wait
- Hold the Slot while Waiting (on), Approval Timeout 24 h, Timeout Action Escalate: per rule set
- Requester May Approve (on), Only For conditions, Approved at Once
Notifications
- Facility Booking to Approve: to the approvers of the level, and to the facility managers after an escalation
- Facility Booking Waiting for Approval, Confirmed and Rejected: to the booker, with the reason when rejected or not approved in time
- These go in the app and by email; WhatsApp and SMS from your message credits, and app push once the apps are in the stores
- Request Waits for Your Approval: to the approvers of an Asset change (Scale)
- Each goes out at once; a person can switch off a channel, never the message, and in-app notices always arrive
Works with
SmartMy HRMSA level can name the booker's manager or department head.
SmartMy CampusA level can name the class teacher, the head of department or the hostel wardens of a student.
Questions
Can every booking of the auditorium go to the principal after the hall in-charge?
Yes. Make a chain Only For that facility with two levels: the facility's approvers, then the principal.Do meeting rooms need approval?
Not with no set-up: they are confirmed at once. Switch off Approved at Once on the general chain, or add an Only For chain, to ask for approval.What if the approver is on leave?
After the Approval Timeout, 24 hours to start with, the facility managers are asked too. Put two people on a level so either can decide.Can the approver book without approval?
Yes. A booking by an approver or a manager of the facility is confirmed at once.Can an outside hirer's booking need approval?
Yes, with Growth. Approve Public Bookings is on to start with for each facility open to hire, and those bookings wait for its approvers.Related features
APPROVALBooking approval, with escalation when nobody answersBookings that need a yes, such as the auditorium, wait for the facility's approvers while the time is held. If nobody answers in time, the facility managers are asked. If they do not answer either, the request is turned down, so a forgotten request never locks the time.APPROVALManager override with a reason and free alternativesA facility manager can book outside the rules or move other bookings out of a slot. Each time takes a reason, kept on the booking. The people moved out are told why and shown facilities free at the same time.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSDepartments, rules by job and manager approval with SmartMy HRMSWith SmartMy HRMS in the same account, every booking shows the booker's department. Rooms can be kept for some departments or job positions, and an approval level can go to the booker's manager or department head. Employees whose leave is approved are asked to cancel or hand over their bookings for those days.WITH OTHER SMARTMY PRODUCTSRooms for the timetable, exams and meetings with SmartMy CampusWith SmartMy Campus in the same account, classes, exams, parent-teacher meetings, activities and placement rounds reserve their rooms in SmartMy Facility by themselves. Exams and classes move ordinary bookings out and tell the bookers. Students and parents book under rules by class section and hostel, approved by the class teacher, the head of department or the warden.PUBLIC HIREA public page for hiring your facilitiesFacilities you open to the public are listed on a page anyone can read, with each day's free and taken times. Hirers create an account, give their phone, ID proof and address, and book with your approval.ACROSS SMARTMY FACILITYNotificationsBookers, approvers and attendees are told as soon as something changes. That is a booking confirmed, waiting, rejected or cancelled, a reminder before it starts, a waitlist slot to take, or a payment due. Messages go in the app and by email, and by WhatsApp or SMS when your organisation turns them on.
See it with your own rooms.
Tell us what you run: rooms, halls, courts, desks. We will show you a booking from request to check-out with your rules.