Resource mailboxes are the best way to handle room bookings!

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get rid of that pile of paper, that book or binder, that holds all the bookings for a particular room or piece of equipment? Well, with Live@edu you can because resource mailboxes are the best way to handle room bookings!

There are two types of resource mailbox: room, and equipment. By creating them for your users you allow them to book meetings and events electronically rather than writing their name down on a paper diary, or having to go and pester the secretary every time you want the main hall after school!

Some advantages:

• Reduces amount of paper used
• Speeds up the booking process
• Allows people to make bookings wherever they are, as long as they can access the Internet
• Bookings can be restricted, moderated, and denied by definition or by a nominated individual

Some disadvantages:

• You don’t get to practice your handwriting by filling in a form to book manually
• You might see people using the resources more, as booking them will be easier (this is probably a good thing!)

Creating these mailboxes is really easy – there are some great guides on Outlook Live Help that talk about exactly how to do it, so rather than cover that here, go take a look! (After you’ve finished here!)

Tips for success:

• When naming rooms pick a convention and stick to it! Give your users an easy time by making it clear what each room has, for example a room called M1 that can seat 35, has audio, video, interactive whiteboard and black & white printing facilities might be listed as “M1 (35) A/V, IWB, B&W”. Use this convention with all your rooms and people will see at a glance the important details.
• Ditch the paper TODAY! Once you’ve created the mailboxes run a couple of light training sessions, or distribute a one-page guide on how to use them and then get rid of the paper straight away. Force your staff and students to change their ways, otherwise you’ll end up with a mix of paper/electronic booking and this can lead to confusion.
• Don’t allow block bookings! I know what you’re thinking – by doing this some clever person will book a room every week, all year, even if they don’t need it. Use some of the features of the resource mailboxes to restrict the number of consecutive bookings someone can make to prevent them from hogging!

Have you started using resource mailboxes with Live@edu? Share your success story in the comments!