Browse Guides

Agent Resource Booking
Reading mode
Copy Link
Link Copied!
Print
Feedback
This guide has multiple versions available:
<style>p { margin: 0; }span.fr-emoticon.fr-emoticon-img { background-repeat: no-repeat !important; font-size: inherit; height: 1em; width: 1em; min-height: 20px; min-width: 20px; display: inline-block; margin: -0.1em 0.1em 0.1em; line-height: 1; vertical-align: middle; } span.fr-emoticon { font-weight: normal; font-family: "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "NotoColorEmoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Android Emoji", "EmojiSymbols"; display: inline; line-height: 0; } blockquote { border-left: solid 2px #5e35b1; color: #5e35b1; margin-left:0; padding-left:5px;}blockquote blockquote{ border-color: #00bcd4; color: #00bcd4;}blockquote blockquote blockquote{ border-color: #43a047; color: #43a047;} table.grid{ border-collapse: collapse;} table.grid td, table.grid th { border: 1px solid #ddd;} .fr-fic.fr-dib{ display: block; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fir{ text-align: right; margin: 5px 0 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fil{ text-align: left; margin: 5px auto 5px 0;}.fr-fic.fr-dii{ float: none; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fil{ float: left; margin: 5px auto;}.fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fir{ float: right; margin: 5px auto;}img.fr-dib.fr-fir { margin-right: 0; text-align: right;}img.fr-dib.fr-fil { margin-left: 0; text-align: left;}img.fr-dib { margin: 5px auto; display: block; float: none;}img.fr-bordered { box-sizing: content-box; border: solid 5px #CCC;}img.fr-shadow { box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px 0px #cccccc;}img.fr-rounded { border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; -moz-background-clip: padding; -webkit-background-clip: padding-box; background-clip: padding-box;}</style><style> p { margin: 0; } span.fr-emoticon.fr-emoticon-img { background-repeat: no-repeat !important; font-size: inherit; height: 1em; width: 1em; min-height: 20px; min-width: 20px; display: inline-block; margin: -0.1em 0.1em 0.1em; line-height: 1; vertical-align: middle; } span.fr-emoticon { font-weight: normal; font-family: "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "NotoColorEmoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Android Emoji", "EmojiSymbols"; display: inline; line-height: 0; } blockquote { border-left: solid 2px #5e35b1; color: #5e35b1; margin-left: 0; padding-left: 5px; } blockquote blockquote { border-color: #00bcd4; color: #00bcd4; } blockquote blockquote blockquote { border-color: #43a047; color: #43a047; } table.grid { border-collapse: collapse; } table.grid td, table.grid th { border: 1px solid #ddd; } .fr-fic.fr-dib { display: block; margin: 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fir { text-align: right; margin: 5px 0 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fil { text-align: left; margin: 5px auto 5px 0; } .fr-fic.fr-dii { float: none; margin: 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fil { float: left; margin: 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fir { float: right; margin: 5px auto; } img.fr-dib.fr-fir { margin-right: 0; text-align: right; } img.fr-dib.fr-fil { margin-left: 0; text-align: left; } img.fr-dib { margin: 5px auto; display: block; float: none; } img.fr-bordered { box-sizing: content-box; border: solid 5px #CCC; } img.fr-shadow { box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px 0px #cccccc; } img.fr-rounded { border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; -moz-background-clip: padding; -webkit-background-clip: padding-box; background-clip: padding-box; } </style><style> p { margin: 0; } span.fr-emoticon.fr-emoticon-img { background-repeat: no-repeat !important; font-size: inherit; height: 1em; width: 1em; min-height: 20px; min-width: 20px; display: inline-block; margin: -0.1em 0.1em 0.1em; line-height: 1; vertical-align: middle; } span.fr-emoticon { font-weight: normal; font-family: "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "NotoColorEmoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Android Emoji", "EmojiSymbols"; display: inline; line-height: 0; } blockquote { border-left: solid 2px #5e35b1; color: #5e35b1; margin-left: 0; padding-left: 5px; } blockquote blockquote { border-color: #00bcd4; color: #00bcd4; } blockquote blockquote blockquote { border-color: #43a047; color: #43a047; } table.grid { border-collapse: collapse; } table.grid td, table.grid th { border: 1px solid #ddd; } .fr-fic.fr-dib { display: block; margin: 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fir { text-align: right; margin: 5px 0 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dib.fr-fil { text-align: left; margin: 5px auto 5px 0; } .fr-fic.fr-dii { float: none; margin: 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fil { float: left; margin: 5px auto; } .fr-fic.fr-dii.fr-fir { float: right; margin: 5px auto; } img.fr-dib.fr-fir { margin-right: 0; text-align: right; } img.fr-dib.fr-fil { margin-left: 0; text-align: left; } img.fr-dib { margin: 5px auto; display: block; float: none; } img.fr-bordered { box-sizing: content-box; border: solid 5px #CCC; } img.fr-shadow { box-shadow: 10px 10px 5px 0px #cccccc; } img.fr-rounded { border-radius: 10px; -moz-border-radius: 10px; -webkit-border-radius: 10px; -moz-background-clip: padding; -webkit-background-clip: padding-box; background-clip: padding-box; } </style><p><strong>In this guide we will cover:</strong></p><p><strong>- Agent Resource Booking Configuration</strong></p><p><strong>- Ticket Type Configuration</strong></p><p><strong>- Resource Booking via the Self-Service Portal</strong></p><p><strong>- Linking to the Resource Booking screen via an Email</strong></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Agent resource booking allows your technicians to send links to Customers directly &amp; allows Customers to find a suitable time to book an appointment themselves, bypassing the dreaded &#39;Email Tennis&#39; associated with trying to arrange an appointment when both the customer and technician are available.</p><p><br></p><p>For detailed descriptions of the configuration options, checkout the <strong>Admin Guide:&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://usehalo.com/haloitsm/guides/1838/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Resource Booking</strong></a></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Agent Resource Booking Configuration</span></strong></p><p>Head to Configuration &gt; Asset Management and ensure the &#39;Resource Booking&#39; module is enabled:\</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImQ4N2YwYzVhLTZhMjMtNDZiOS04ZmZiLTMwYTliY2RlZDI4NCJ9.2APLwCn1kjpXCtkkPLVtl_i7aOL_aoGPHiY6jNAFTYw" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="265" height="198"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 1. Resource Booking Module within Configuration &gt; Asset Management</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Within this module, you will see an option to enable Agent Resource Booking.<img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjZhN2Y2YTk0LTUwMWItNDYwMC1hOWFmLTUwZjA0MTliMmY0MCJ9.5GzGEpju1DVzARmLMJg_LPT6dIw_rA4JmMxy6I1m3B4" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="989" style="width: 991px; height: 748.906px;" height="749"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 2. Agent Resource Booking Configuration</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Enabling this option will then dynamically present the required Agent Resource Booking configuration.</p><p>We&#39;ll see shortly that the inclusion of $_appointmentBooking in one of our Email Templates it is how we allow clients to access the booking screen, but first we will need to create some booking types that the client can use.</p><p>This is achieved via adding to the &#39;<strong>Booking Types</strong>&#39; table, where each addition to this table allows us to enter:</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><ul><li><strong>Name</strong>: The name of the booking type.</li><li><strong>Booking Duration</strong>: The duration of the Appointment, set in minutes, (fractions of) days, or as a set of distinct Timeslots.</li><li><strong>Appointment Type</strong>: Allowing you to set the Appointment Type, based on the existing Appointment Types configured in Configuration &gt; Calendars &amp; Appointments &gt; Appointment Types.</li><li><strong>Message to Show when Booking</strong>: This is some additional text presented on the booking screen clients interact with.</li></ul><p>You will also see options to set a minimum hours/maximum days, effectively establishing a window of time that the appointment can be booked within.</p><p><br></p><p><strong><em>Note: From v.2.216 you can set the &quot;minimum hours/maximum days in advance to allow booking&quot; against a booking type.</em></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Ticket Type Configuration</span></strong></p><p>Against the configuration for each Ticket type (Configuration &gt; Tickets &gt; Ticket Types &gt; *Settings Tab*), you will find an &#39;Agent Resource Booking&#39; dropdown:</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjY3YWU2YmY1LWQyMGYtNGVhOC05NGYyLWI3ZTVhYmJmOGE1MiJ9.pQ9vXLFvItTCH5w0ep754FcTBTWd6R1_6Sitv0NlFlA" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="709" height="739"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 3. Ticket type booking configuration.</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p><p><br></p><p>The options in this tab allow you to personalise the behaviour of bookings from one Ticket type to another. these options include:</p><p><br></p><ul><li><strong>Agent Resource Booking Type</strong>: This option allows you to specify the resource (namely the technician getting the appointment) who will get the appointment. You can pick &#39;Agent&#39; here - meaning the Assigned agent of the Ticket will get the appointment, or &#39;Team&#39; - where an appointment will be allocated to anyone in the team who is available at the selected time. <em><strong>Note: If &#39;Agent&#39; is selected here and the Ticket is Unassigned, the appointment will assign to any Agent free at that time.</strong></em></li><li><strong>Allow Users to Book Appointments From Tickets</strong>: When this option is checked, a button will be presented on the Self-Service Portal, allowing users to book an appointment directly from a Ticket.</li><li><strong>Default Agent Booking Resource Type</strong>: This single select field allows you to specify the default team/resource used for bookings from Tickets of this type. Here, you can specify the Team assigned to the Ticket, allow the user to select from the available teams/resources, or you can specify the Team to be used.</li><li><strong>Agent Booking Type/Duration</strong>: This option allows you to specify the booking type (created in the previous section) used for bookings from Tickets of this type.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>You will also see a table below, where you can select the available Teams/Resources for bookings from Tickets of this Type.</p><p>Now, lets look at two worked examples of Resource Booking. In the first example, we will have the end-user book an appointment from the Self-Service Portal.</p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fields to show when booking<br></span></strong>You can select ticket type custom fields to appear on the booking screen too. Allowing users to complete these fields when booking an appointment and have this data populate the ticket.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>To do this add the field you would like users to complete to the field list of the ticket type. Then edit the field using the pencil icon.</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjU1OTQyOTdjLWQ2NzAtNGI1YS1hNDA1LTliZDRhODJiZGJkMSJ9.Gqx4eZgL0aYW6wJnBI5_9fjnIMcouX4-Z7ZG6RSfFnI" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1222" style="width: 1224px; height: 654.406px;" height="654"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 4. Edit field on field list</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>When editing you can choose where this field is visible, you can set if this field is visible on the agent resource booking screen.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImJiNTAwZDA2LTE3NTQtNDBhYS04OTZmLTYxNzEzZWVlODU3MiJ9.b1ixNLeKNXGnr5Td-p0gxvhfUUm0My-KEn7nIJ7SrEU" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="594" style="width: 596px; height: 582.031px;" height="582"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 5. Agent Resource Booking Screen Visibility</span></strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you would like users to be able to complete this field, or force them to complete this field when booking an appointment with an agent, ensure you check any of the &#39;Visible&#39; options. If you would only like the field to be populated when booking an appointment, not when logging the ticket ensure you adjust the other visibility settings accordingly.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Resource Booking via the Self-Service Portal</span></strong></p><p>Firstly, lets configure some booking types: 30 minute meeting &amp; 1 hour consultancy session. In Configuration&gt;Asset Management&gt;Resource Booking, I have added two records to the Booking Types table:</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjJkNzBjNjE0LWJjN2UtNDFhYS1iM2RiLTg4NzMyNTFmYWY5YiJ9.kXP8E5NGFZOsCSx6aMBQeUISaThymvBevaSMoSpbi7U" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="982" style="width: 984px; height: 607.615px;" height="608"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 6. Creating Booking Types</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Next, I will configure my Incident Ticket type booking configuration to allow the end-user to book an appointment with any available Agent in first or second line support. I will also specify that end-users can directly book appointments via the ticket type setting: &quot;Allow Users to book appointments from Tickets&quot;.</p><p>The outcome of this is that end-users will see a &#39;Book Appointment&#39; option whenever viewing Tickets on the Self-Service Portal:</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImE2YTAyYjQ2LWMwYzMtNDc1OC1iYzhkLTE1ZmNjNDU0MDFlYiJ9.6DTJiRBAdhcDcLRX8kb083xZSHjAb2oKRJJDFRkUH3U" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="989" style="width: 991px; height: 333.787px;" height="334"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 7. Booking an Appointment from the Self-Service Portal</span></strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Whenever End-Users click this option, they will be directed to the Resource Booking screen, where they can find a suitable time to book an appointment. Based on our previously set configuration options, users will be able to s<span id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">elect the resource they wish to book an appointment with:</span><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjI3ZDQ1ZjUyLTBiMjEtNGIxNi1hNzFkLWZjZDQ0ODQ1NTA0OCJ9.q2ImiEddzo8HqH97o4q5_KCBn2IsDgkDWIlHmkeR7yc" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="999" style="width: 1001px; height: 556.358px;" height="556"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 8. The Resource Booking screen</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>And select a convenient time for an appointment:</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjZlYmY2YTQ4LWNiMTYtNGQ1My04NDcxLTI5ZDM0ZDBjNzliNiJ9.-3ZZ1-7f5yvOd_X_P7Eeef-ARkgED11nsjKom1n_BOw" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="986" style="width: 988px; height: 464.726px;" height="465"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 9. Selecting a time for a meeting</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The times available for resource booking, that the user can pick from will be determined by the &#39;Working hours for resource booking&#39; set against the team. Under configuration &gt; teams and agents &gt; teams &gt; details tab there is the field &#39;Working hours for resource booking&#39;, here you can choose the working hours that appointments can be booked with this team in. The working hours chosen here can be different to the teams/agents actual working hours, useful if you would only like users to be able to book appointments with them at certain times of the day.&nbsp;</span></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImQ1YjZiOWUzLTQyYzMtNGY0Yy1iMjhhLTk3NDhhZDhhYjg1NyJ9.eKyiYGDTRlrYr_TaMuaewSzMu5Tp0UFAsryJTs0RjZg" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="600" style="width: 602px; height: 347.527px;" height="348"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 10. Working hours used for resource booking</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>Once the user confirms their select and saves, an appointment will be added to the Ticket. As we selected our resource booking type to be Team, Halo found an available Agent within this team &amp; assigned the appointment to them:</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjZhMWNhNWY5LTRlOWEtNDQzYi1hYzhiLTdjMzcxZmUyZTAyOCJ9.lbjexu6WNiYDQNZEd07xqishiuMiyRsefbsSQ2Xck88" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="985" style="width: 987px; height: 535.861px;" height="536"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 11. Appointment added to Ticket via Resource Booking</span></strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">&nbsp;</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Choose the time zone appointments can be booked in</span></strong></p><p>A global setting under Configuration &gt; Calendars and Appointments &gt; Resource Booking can be enabled to allow users to book appointments via resource booking in a chosen time zone, rather than their own time zone.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImY5ZWJlY2RlLTIwNTMtNDRkMC1hYzZhLTlkYmUxNDgzMGNkNyJ9.gEhYX1M_Las1Shq9neVm4NTJ83RVfPuNwdiJzE7sPdU" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="948" height="321"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 12. Allow time zone selection on Agent appointment bookings</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>When this is enabled an additional option will appear on the resource booking page to choose a time zone.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImU2NDViY2U0LThiMzgtNGEzOC04N2UyLTNiOWEzYjcyOWJjMiJ9.Ggcox4ODZNpxRuh-LG8AWm0MDRel2ZtuDpSkE3Qc0x0" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="1214" style="width: 1216px; height: 517.241px;" height="517"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 13. Choose a time zone for resource booking&nbsp;</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>The times available to choose from will still use the team&#39;s set working hours for resource booking, but they will be recalculated to show what time this is in the selected time zone. For example, if the team&#39;s working hours for resource booking are 11:00-16:00 (UTC), when the time zone is changed on the booking form to (UTC-10), the available times to book from will be 01:00-06:00.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Exclude an Agent from Team Resource Booking</span></strong></p><p>Agents can be excluded from resource booking when the &quot;Agent Resource Booking Type&quot; on the ticket type is set to &quot;Team&quot;. <em><strong>Note: If set to &quot;Agent&quot;, that will override the following configuration.</strong></em></p><p><br></p><p>In the agent&#39;s profile &gt; Preferences tab &gt; set &quot;Exclude Agent from Resource Booking calendar&quot; to &quot;Yes&quot;.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjZkMDE1ZjRjLWZmODctNDRiZi04NTgwLTE4MDkyMzYyMzZhNyJ9.WlxHqgehuW3ghlGW5_7BPHObJSszhev2jbltqsgCHME" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="451" height="202"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 14. Excluding an agent.</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>When the user books, it will then only book with other members of that team who have not been excluded.</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6Ijk0ZTBkNWQzLTVhNmMtNGQ4ZC1iZTMxLTFlNThmYjliNDIxOCJ9.Nxfb8E7T50nrJOQkj42KafyXRy1nHA4irclIw6yxaiM" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="174" height="108"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 15. Appointment booked with another agent, even when ticket is assigned to first agent</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">You can default whether &quot;Exclude Agent from Resource Booking calendar&quot; is on or off by default for newly created agents. This is done using the setting &quot;Exclude new Agents from Resource Booking by default&quot; under Configuration &gt; Calendars and Appointments &gt; Resource Booking.&nbsp;</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Linking to the Resource Booking screen via an Email</span></strong></p><p>You can also send a link to the Resource Booking screen via an email.</p><p><br></p><p>This is achieved via including the&nbsp;$-APPOINTMENTBOOKING variable into customer-facing emails. For example, I may want to include a line in all outgoing emails, allowing the end-user to book an appointment:</p><p><br></p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjA3MmQ1OGRiLTJhYmUtNGQ2OS04MzhjLTk5MTMwNTIyNzkyYyJ9.T9rC7tdM3uG6kkCQbyEifhdrB_QVplao5OFPKqX3fOs" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="874" style="width: 876px; height: 412.462px;" height="412"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 16. Example of including the $AppointmentBooking variable on an Email</span></strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>All of the same logic as above is applicable, with the only difference being the link included in email templates:</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImVlNzM1MDBkLTAwM2MtNGI3ZS1iYWJlLTY0MmMyZWZhMWJiYiJ9.Cw3nvpDEQETXF1sZFveiKYkPIoZx9QgZu5c7lr6Mxww" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="978" style="width: 980px; height: 631.346px;" height="631"><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 17. Resource Booking link in outgoing Emails</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">When this variable is used, a link will be added to the email that, when used, will take the User to the Portal where they can book an appointment. If the &#39;Agent Resource Booking Type&#39; of the ticket is set to be Agent, the user will be able to book an appointment with the Agent assigned to the ticket. If the &#39;Agent Resource Booking Type&#39; is set to be &#39;Team&#39; they will be able to book with a member of the team assigned to the ticket.&nbsp;</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Link to Book an Appointment of a Set Type</strong></p><p>The $-APPOINTMENTBOOKING variable can be appended to have the link only allow the user to book an appointment of a specific booking type (booking duration).</p><p><br></p><p>Use $-APPOINTMENTBOOKING{X} where {X} is replaced with the booking type ID. This will allow the user to book an appointment only of this specified type. The available booking types you have can be found/configured under Configuration &gt; Calendars and Appointments &gt; Resource Booking Booking Types table.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>To find the ID of a booking type run the following SLQ query in your reporting database:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><em>select * from BookingType</em></p><p><br></p><p>The column &quot;BTid&quot; will contain the ID of the booking type. In the figure 18 example the booking type &quot;30 Minute Meeting&quot; has the ID 4.&nbsp;</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6IjMyOGFkMTBmLTM1ZDgtNDA1Zi04YWI3LWY5MThmMzllN2RkNCJ9.1FdGTmP0HWK8fHkgh3O21iCn1v8PUevdw5QlZcA6Wp4" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="859" style="width: 861px; height: 394.358px;" height="394"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 18. Booking Types and their Associated ID</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><span style="font-size: 11pt;">To provide users a link to book appointments of this type only use the variable $-APPOINTMENTBOOKING{4}.</span></p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Booking with the Agent that sent the email</span></strong></p><p>If you would like the user to be able to book an appointment with the Agent that sent the email, rather than the team/agent assigned to the ticket the variable $-APPOINTMENTBOOKINGFORSENDER can be used in the email template.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>When this this variable is used, the user will be taken to the Portal to book an appointment with the Agent that sent the email, regardless of if they are assigned to the ticket or not.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Appointment reminder emails</span></strong></p><p>You will be able to configure a reminder email to be sent out to the user and/or agent x amount of minutes before the appointment commences. Useful for reminding agents and users about upcoming appointments.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Reminder emails are configured per ticket type. To set these up head to Configuration &gt; Tickets &gt; Ticket Types &gt; select a Ticket Type &gt; Settings tab. Here, you can choose how many minutes before the appointment the reminder email is sent and which email template is used for the email that is sent out.&nbsp;</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImRhYmU1MWY4LTMxYmUtNDkzOC04ZTk5LWU3MDkzYTQ1Y2Q0NCJ9.Tb_11w1AgA6pHOIWfITMAPZPxtJ3Ki38TgYWMpMVkcE" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="980" style="width: 982px; height: 408.192px;" height="408"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 19. Configure appointment reminders</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>As these reminders are set per ticket type, these will apply to appointments raised from ticket of this type.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Keep in mind if you are using a calendar integration (such as Exchange Calendars), the integrated tool may also send out reminder emails on it&#39; own schedule. Ensure to check/disable this before setting up reminder emails in Halo too.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The mailbox used to send out the reminder email will be determined in line with the <a data-fr-linked="true" href="https://usehalo.com/haloitsm/guides/2463" id="isPasted" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mailbox overrides</a> you have setup.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Cancelling an appointment</span></strong></p><p>If a user/agent has booked an appointment that the other cannot do, this appointment can be cancelled from the ticket using an action. To do this an action will need to be configured that has the system use &#39;Cancel Next Appointment&#39;, this action will then need to be added to the relevant workflows.&nbsp;</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6ImY3ZmZhMzk1LThlOTYtNGQ2Mi04MTQ5LWQxNjM5Y2Q3YWRkOSJ9._eARvjvW_nL5TVWzgcFhnDMg-CbavA2T2iUmrYi3XYA" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" style="width: 1125px; height: 428.749px;" width="1205" height="460"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 20. Action to cancel next appointment&nbsp;</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p>When this is used the next appointment (soonest occurring) associated with the ticket will be cancelled. If there are no appointments associated with the ticket the action will not appear.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Users can also use this action in the portal. To allow them to use this, enable &#39;Allow Users to use this action&#39; under the Details tab against the action.&nbsp;</p><p><img src="https://halo.haloservicedesk.com/api/attachment/image?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpZCI6Ijk0MzE1Nzg3LTUxY2MtNGZkMy05NWU5LWNhMDZjMTIyMjQ2ZiJ9.TxAgpCpH_clHqtwkdr2bTDj3O2qrEPYXR25zh9z8SL4" class="fr-fic fr-fil fr-dib" width="793" style="width: 795px; height: 439.318px;" height="439"></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fig 21. Enable users to use an action</span></strong></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.