Facility types, photos, capacity and amenities
Group your rooms, halls, labs and courts into types that share one set of booking rules. Each facility carries its photo, description, capacity, amenities and the people in charge of it.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Staff book the board room for two people because they cannot see the smaller rooms.
- The projector is in Room 4, but nobody knows until the meeting starts.
- Every hall has its own rules in someone's head, and newcomers break them.
- A complaint about the lab goes to the wrong person.
How it works
- Make your facility types under Facilities > Configuration > Places > Facility Types, for example Meeting Room, Auditorium, Lab, Court and Desk.
- Choose a Booking Policy for each type. Two come ready: Meeting Room and Hall / Auditorium. Make your own for the other types.
- Add each facility under Configuration > Facilities / Rooms: name, type, block, floor and Capacity.
- On the Booking tab, choose the Amenities and name the Facility Managers, the Approvers and the Front Desk / Caretakers.
- Write the Description bookers read before they book, and add a photo.
- Bookers now see cards with the photo, type, block, capacity and amenities, and can filter by size, type and amenities.
Everything it does
Facility types
- Name, Booking Policy and a colour; no types are made for you
- A facility uses its own rule set, else its type's, else its site's
- Ready rule set Meeting Room: free time in 15-minute steps, up to 4 hours, up to 30 days ahead
- Ready rule set Hall / Auditorium: 30-minute steps, 30 minutes setup and 30 cleanup, 24 hours notice, 90 days ahead
- Hall / Auditorium also gives free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and bookings wait for the facility's approvers
- Rule sets for gyms, pools, courts, guest rooms and desks are not shipped: you make them in a few minutes
A facility
- Name, Code, type, block, floor and Capacity (1 to start with)
- Photo up to 1920 pixels; a facility without a photo shows a drawing by its type
- Description: what the place is for, how to find it, what to bring
- Amenities: seven ready (Projector / Screen, Video Conference, Whiteboard, Air Conditioning, Sound System, Stage, Wheelchair Access); the Administrator adds more
- Booking Policy of its own, One booking at a time or Seats, and Part of a bigger space
- Allow Booking: untick to keep the room in the list but out of booking
People in charge
- Facility Managers: besides the site's managers
- Approvers: approve bookings that need approval; when empty, the facility managers do
- Front Desk / Caretakers: check people in and out and report damage
- Roles under Facility Booking on the user: Front Desk / Caretaker, Facility Manager, Administrator; every staff login can book without a role
What bookers see
- Cards under Book a Facility and Operations > Facilities: photo, type, block, capacity, amenities, Free now or Busy until, and the next booking
- Filters by site, type, size, amenities and name
- The facility's page: place, capacity, amenities, description, rules to accept, and notes such as May need approval
Who uses it
AdministratorCreates types, rule sets and amenities.
Facility managerAdds facilities, photos and descriptions, and names approvers and front desk.
BookerCompares facilities by photo, size and amenities and picks the right one.
Front desk / caretakerIs named on the facilities they look after.
Where you use it
- Web: Facilities > Configuration > Places > Facility Types, Facilities / Rooms, Booking Policies and Amenities
- Web: the cards under Facilities > Book a Facility and Operations > Facilities
- The booking portal: the same cards and details
- The SmartMy Facility app: the same cards and details (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not an import sheet for facilities yet: they are added one by one
What you control
Settings
- Booking Policy per type, or per facility
- Capacity per facility: 1 to start with
- Amenities: seven ready, more added by the Administrator
- Approvers: the facility managers when empty
Questions
Do the types come with rules ready?
Two rule sets come ready: Meeting Room and Hall / Auditorium. You make the types yourself and can copy a rule set for a court, a lab or a gym.Can one facility break the rules of its type?
Yes. Choose a Booking Policy on the facility itself. It wins over the type's and the site's.Who approves when we name nobody?
The facility managers: those named on the facility and those of its site.Can we add our own amenities, such as a podium?
Yes. The Administrator adds them under Facilities > Configuration > Places > Amenities, and they appear in the filters at once.Can we load our 80 rooms from a spreadsheet?
Not yet. Facilities are added one by one on the web. Tell us if you need an import before you start.Related features
BOOKING RULESBooking rules: slots, notice, limits and exceptionsA rule set says how a facility may be booked. It sets the slots, the notice, how far ahead, how long, and how many bookings each person may hold. Exceptions change it for an Entity, a group or one person.PLACES AND FACILITIESSites with opening hours, holidays and a shared room listEach site has its own time zone, opening hours, working days and facility managers, and holidays are blocked for the whole site. Blocks, floors and rooms are one list that the other SmartMy products use too.PLACES AND FACILITIESHalls that split into parts, and spaces booked by the seatA hall that divides into Hall A and Hall B is booked whole or by part, and the system keeps them apart. A gym, a pool or a study hall can take many bookings at once, up to its capacity.FINDINGFind a free facility, or book one that is free nowSearch for a room that is free at a time, for a number of people and with the amenities you need. Or see what is free right now and grab it for 30 minutes or an hour.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.CHECK-IN AND NO-SHOWSCheck-in with the QR code on the door, and no-shows freedAsk people to check in when they arrive, by scanning the QR code on the door or tapping Check in. A booking nobody checks in to is released after the grace time, and leaving early frees the rest of the time.
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.