Resource booking

Additional Module

Resource booking is an additional module in Insight. It allows staff to reserve rooms or resources for their own use. Rooms will be imported automatically from SIMS and additional resources such as laptop trolleys can be manually entered into Insight.

As Resource Booking is an additional module of Insight, a separate charge applies. Please contact sales@tascsoftware.co.uk for further information.

Configuring Resource Booking

The configure button at the top right of the Resource Booking page is used to access the setup and management options. This button will only appear for users who have the correct role options.

Managing resources

There are three tabs at the top of the configuration section. The first tab is for Resources. Once the resources tab is selected, the Add button at the top of the page is used to create a new resource.

The resource should be named. The name should not include the number of items e.g. "iPads (20)" is not a suitable name as 20 should not appear in the title of the resource.

Caretakers can be added, which are people who are responsible for maintaining the resource (upgrading items, updating software, etc.). Periods of downtime can also be added for these reasons. When users are bookings resources, they will be able report malfunctions with the resources. This will place the resource into downtime (so that it cannot be reserved until the problem has been fixed) and send an email to the catetaker informing them of the problem.

Creating categories

Each category will contain a list of rooms/resources that can perform a certain function, such as having internet access or being able to take photos.

Categories are created using the Add button at the top of the page. Once a category has been created, any of the rooms and resources can be added to it. When added to a category, each room or resource has a capacity. This is the number of items that the room/resource provides for the category e.g. Art Room 1 has a capacity of 30 in the Computers category, because there are 30 computers in that room.

Adding intervals

By default resources and rooms can be booked for any timetabled period during the school day e.g. AM, Period 1, Period 2, etc. Additional intervals (such as lunch time, after school, etc.) are added on the Intervals tab.

Using resource booking

Making bookings

Users reserve rooms or resources by first selecting the date on which they would like to make the reservation. Once done, the "Select resource" link is used to select the type of resource required.

The user selects the category they require, then one of the resources or rooms in that category. Once a room/resource has been selected, the schedule for that item will appear at the bottom of the page.

The user can then reserve the room/resource by clicking the Reserve button next to the period(s) during the day that they require it. If the item is not available at the times they require, the user can select a new item by clicking on the item's name.

Reporting

The report button at the top right of the page is used to run a report showing the bookings for users over a date range.