Room Scheduling FAQ

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  2. Dining and Conference Services
  3. Room Scheduling FAQ

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How do I make a simple reservation with no special services?

1. Click CREATE A RESERVATION and then the book now button next to one of your reservation templates (on the right).

Not all rooms are available in the system yet.  To reserve a room that currently is not managed in EMS (more rooms will be added regularly,) click HOME and then click the about button next to the Book a Room reservation template to find the person to contact regarding that space.

2. Specify the date and time of the meeting/event.

Recurring and/or Multiple Date Meetings

If you are scheduling a recurring event with a common start and end time, click the Recurrence button to specify how often it should be scheduled; then select the Apply Recurrence button.

  • Daily allows you to select daily patterns within a time period.
  • Weekly allows you to select certain days of the week.
  • Monthly allows for a specific day in the selected week(s) for the month.
  • Random allows for selecting individual dates.

3. Specify the location of the meeting/event by selecting:

  • Filter your search by Location
  • Let Me Search For A Room
  • I Know What Room I Want

When you click Search, results appear on the right.  From these results, you can view expanded Room Details by clicking on the room name.

4. Click the + sign next to the room you would like to reserve.

On the popup window, indicate how many people will be attending the meeting/event and click Add Room.

The room will be added to your Shopping Cart and it will appear in the Selected Rooms section.  If you change your mind, click on the minus sign to remove it.

5. Click on the Reservation Details tab.

6. Complete the information on the Reservation Details tab.  If this is your first time using the system and you have never selected a group, click the magnifying glass to the right and select your department and click Close.  Then click the arrow  on the dropdown and select that group.  In the 1st Contact dropdown, select your name and your contact information will populate.

7. Read the Terms and Conditions and check the checkbox to show that you agree.

8. Click Create Reservation.

If the room you are requesting does not require any special approval, then you will receive a confirmation email immediately and the room is reserved for your event/meeting.

If the room you are requesting requires administrator approval, then you will receive an email notification within the next 72 hours with the status of your request.

9. To add the reservation to your Outlook calendar, click Add to my calendar.

10. To invite others to your meeting/event, click Edit this reservation, then click Send Invitation.

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How do I book an event with special setups and/or catering?

Follow the instructions for How do I make a simple reservation with no special services? Then indicate any facilities items and/or technology needs for your event on the Services tab.

Indicate any special facilities equipment or technology needs on the Services tab.

Click on the + sign to see the different options available.

Adding Special Setup Information

If additional items are available for the room you have selected, you will see them on the Services tab. Click on the ^ sign next to the category of services (e.g., Facilities Furniture, AV Equipment) to see the items that are available. To select an item for your event:

  1. Click on the name of the item.
  2. In the popup window, specify the quantity of the item that you would like to have in the room.
  3. In the Special Instructions box, be as detailed as possible about how you would like the items to be set up in the room.  Click OK.
  4. Use the Additional Info or Setup Notes section to specify any additional details you would like Facilities and/or IT to know about your event that will help them with the setup of your event.
  5. Click Next Step to provide more reservation details or click Create Reservation when you are ready to submit your request..

Note: The items displayed on the Reservation Details tab will vary depending on the room you have selected. For some rooms, you will be able to specify the facilities and/or technology items you need for your event as part of your reservation. In that case, you do not need to submit any additional Facilities work orders or IT service requests for those items. Other rooms can only be reserved “as is”. In that case, if you need additional facilities and/or technology items, you must submit Facilities work orders or IT service requests for them. The Services tab will show you the optional items that are available for the room you have selected. If you don’t see any items listed, then either none are available for the room you have selected, or there is not enough time before your event for Facilities and/or IT to provide those items for you.

Catering

The ability to specify catering items when you make your reservation will be supported in EMS in the near future. Until then, please continue to follow the existing procedure to request them from Dining and Conference Services directly.  Ordering is now done in Catertrax and Instructions and menus can be found on the Dining and Conference Services web site:

http://www.stlawu.edu/dining/catering-services

https://stlawrencecatering.catertrax.com/

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How do I cancel a reservation?

1. Click on MY EVENTS.

2. Click on the Name of the reservation you want to cancel.

You can cancel a booking in several different ways:

1. Click on Cancel Reservation to cancel the reservation and all the associated bookings, or

2. Click on Cancel Bookings ot cancel selected bookings, or

Click on the minus sign next to the booking(s) you want to cancel.

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How do I edit a reservation?

After you have made a reservation, you can modify it.

1. Click on MY EVENTS.

2. Click on the Name of the reservation you want to edit

3. Click on the link that corresponds to what you want to edit. (The list of options may vary depending on the type of reservation you are editing.)

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How do I add services to an existing reservation?

1. Click on MY EVENTS.

2. Click on the Name of the reservation you want to add services to.

3. Click on Add Services (upper right).  As you add services, the right panel of the Select Services window updates to show your additions.  When you have added all services for the meeting/event, click the Next Step button.

When you are adding Facilities or Technology items, please be as descriptive as possible about where these items should be set up in the room.

4. Select the booking(s) to which you wish to add services (if the reservation includes multiple bookings, they are all listed here for you to select), and click the Add Services button.

5. You will return to the Reservation page and a confirmation appears briefly confirming your changes.

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How do I know if my reservation has been confirmed?

You will receive an email confirmation when your request is confirmed.

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What catering is available and how can it be requested?

In the near future, you will be able to specify your catering needs at the same time you make your reservation. In the meantime, please contact Dining and Conference Services and use our catering system Catertrax to be able to see our menu and enter catering arrangements for your event. You can find menus and instructions on their web site at:http://www.stlawu.edu/dining/catering-services

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Why are some rooms not managed by EMS and people still have to be emailed?

We are in the process of migrating the management of all publicly available campus spaces into EMS. Until all spaces are in EMS, you must contact the administrator of some rooms directly to arrange a reservation. To see the list of rooms that are not yet managed in EMS, click on HOME and then click on the about button next to the Book a Room reservation template.

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How do I view photos of a room?

Once you have logged into the EMS web app, you can view photos of a room by clicking on the room name.  Wherever you see a room name in blue text, you can click on it to see the images associated with the room. 

 From BROWSE > LOCATIONS:

  1. In the list of rooms/locations in the lower part of the page, click on a room name in blue text (e.g., "Appleton East Side Reception Room").
  2. In the pop-up window containing details about that room, click the IMAGES tab. 
  3. Click on any of the thumbnail images to view a larger image.

 From BROWSE > EVENTS:

  1. By default, you will see the MONTHLY LIST view which shows scheduled events on a monthly calendar.  Click DAILY LIST to change the view to one that shows the events scheduled for a particular day.
  2. Select the date of the event you're looking for. 
  3. In the LOCATION column, click on a room name in blue text.
  4. In the pop-up window containing details about that room, click the IMAGES tab. 
  5. Click on any of the thumbnail images to view a larger image.

 From CREATE A RESERVATION:

  1. Click on the book now button to start your reservation.
  2. Click on the Search button.  There are three of them:
    1. On the left side, under "Locations"
    2. On the left side, under "Number of People"
    3. On the right side, above the grid of rooms/locations

If you don't see the room you're looking for, try entering the date, time and number of people.  Some rooms have a minimum capacity larger than 1 and won't appear in the list until you enter the number of people.

  1. In the grid of rooms/locations, click on a room name in blue text.
  2. In the pop-up window containing details about that room, click the IMAGES tab. 
  3. Click on any of the thumbnail images to view a larger image.

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I am a student. What spaces am I able to reserve?

Students are not yet integrated into the system. If you are a group leader who needs to request space for your group meeting or event, please send an email to Timberly Hewitt at thewitt@stlawu.edu.

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What services are available and how can they be requested?

Here are some examples of the types of services that may be requested. The list will vary, depending on the type of room you are requesting.

Facilities

4’ Square Table

6’ Rectangular Table

8’ Rectangular Table

4’ Round Table

54” Round Table

60” Round Table

72” Round Table

Coat Racks

Easels

Flipchart Easels

Food Tables

Lectern

Lined Trash Cans

Podiums

Portable Whiteboard

Stackable Chairs

Table Top Podiums

Trapezoid Table

Technology

Computer/Projector Cart

Conference Speaker Phone

Laptops

Microphone

Microphone – Hand-Held

Microphone – Over-the-Ear

Microphone – Wireless

Projection Screen

Speaker System

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Reserving a room vs Requesting a room

A room that you can “reserve” is automatically booked for the event and no approval is required. A room that you can “request” must be approved by an EMS reservation coordinator.

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Reservation vs Booking

Reservation Structure

An event in EMS is comprised of the following:

• A reservation

• One or more bookings

• Booking details

These three components exist in a hierarchy—a reservation contains one or more bookings and each booking can have one or more details associated with it.

Reservation and bookings

A reservation is the who and the what of an event. For example, Group X (the who) can reserve some space for an Event Y (the what).

A booking is the where and the when of an event.

For example, Group X can schedule the conference room (the where) for a staff meeting on the second Monday in January (the when). Group X now has a single reservation with a single booking in EMS. If, however, Group X schedules the conference room (the where) for a staff meeting on the second Monday of each month for a calendar year (the when), then Group X now has a single reservation with twelve bookings in EMS.

Booking details

A booking can have one or more booking details associated with it. Booking details are the resources or services that are needed for an event, the notes for the event, the activities for the event, the room charges for the event, or any combination of these. For example, for Group X’s staff meeting, the resources could include the requested catering (coffee service, bagels and muffins, and so on) and the A/V equipment (a projector, a speaker’s podium, and so on).

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How do I get back to the EMS Web App Main Menu?

Click on the EMS logo in the upper right hand corner of the page.

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How do I log in?

Use your SLU username and password to log in. If you have problems logging in, please contact the HelpDesk at 315-229-5770 or helpdesk@stlawu.edu.

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My reservation is missing from MY EVENTS

Problem
A reservation may be missing from MY EVENTS > RESERVATIONS in the EMS web app.
Long-term resolution
Accruent reports that this is a known issue and it is fixed in a later version of EMS software than the version we have installed. We have been unable to upgrade to that version.  However, we have been approved to move our EMS system to the cloud.  Once we do that, this problem will be fixed and we will get future bug fixes as soon as they become available.
Short-term workaround
You can see your past reservations by viewing them in MY EVENTS > BOOKINGS. Use the following instructions:
1. Click on MY EVENTS.
2. Click on BOOKINGS.
3. Specify the booking date by clicking on the Day, Week or Month buttons and/or selecting a date from the date drop-down menu.
4. Click on your booking. (If you selected Day, click on the booking name; if you selected Week or Month, click on your green booking in the calendar view.) 
5. In the Booking Details pop-up window, click on the event name or on edit to edit your booking.
6. You should now see your reservation details.