Services

Services are schedulable tasks that may be reserved alone, reserved as part of a collection of things, or inherited with another resource as a setup or teardown task. Examples might include a parking attendant, custodial service, security, equipment operator, or simply the setup or teardown of a certain type of space or equipment.

Adding Services

1. Click the Equipment and Services option from the Settings tab. The list of equipment and services is displayed.
2. Click Add a Resource in the upper left corner of the page.
3. Choose the “Service” resource type from the drop-down list.
4. Enter a name to identify the service being added.
5. Select a resource category from the drop-down list. 
6. To associate one or more group tags with the item, click Add, choose the appropriate tag from the drop-down list, and then click Ok.
7. Enter a text description for the service item.
8. Specify a quantity to indicate the number of these items available to be simultaneously scheduled.
9. Click Save to create your service, or continue on to configure additional optional details.
10. The “Active” box is checked by default and the expiration is set to “Never”. If you’d like to set an expiration date, click the calendar icon and choose a date from the calendar.
11. Check the box labeled “Require Confirmation” if you wish to require that this item be confirmed for use regardless of the scheduling permissions of the user making the request.
12. If there is a quantity specified, you may check the “Track Individual Items” box. A list of individual items will appear on the form for which you can record identifying information. Use the edit icon next to each item to enter specific information. When a reservation is made, a requestor can simply request a single item. Once scheduled, the system will keep track of which items are reserved for tracking purposes.
13. You may optionally add an image file to represent the service. Uploaded image files are stored in the Astra Schedule database and are sized automatically to be appropriate for use in the application.
14. To restrict the usage of the item to specific locations, click the Add button in the section labeled Restrict to Location. Select the appropriate location from the list and click Ok.
    
    When creating activities that use rooms and services, the system will validate the combinations that are allowed. Services that cannot be selected due to room restrictions will display as "restricted" on the ad hoc scheduler.
15. Specify the service duration settings. Options include a default duration, an optional required minimum duration, or you can simply set the service to default to the meeting duration. Additionally, you may specify whether the service reserves the room in which the activity is taking place and whether the service is exclusive, or may not conflict with another service or activity.
16. If the service is to be used as a setup or teardown service and associated with other resources, then select either the “is setup” or “is teardown” flag. This service will then become available when adding setup or teardown services to other resources.
17. You may optionally associate setup and/or teardown services with the resource item. If a setup or teardown service is associated with the item, then when it is scheduled the reservation will also include the service for the duration specified. Learn how to add a setup or teardown service in the Equipment article.
18. Click Save to save your changes.