Forum Discussion
Using bookings for events at specific times
HI, Bookings might not be the right tool for this task but I want to check. I plan to run small online webinars for colleagues and I'd like to list the events so they can book an event to suit th...
you will need to limit the maximum lead time if it's a one-time event
if i am offering a session next week, i will limit the max lead time to 9 days so the (recurring weekly) is not activiated.
if i am offering a session next week, i will limit the max lead time to 9 days so the (recurring weekly) is not activiated.
I have read through all of these and still don't see what I would think would be a simplistic feature I can use for the following. Any help is appreciated! 
I have a 1 hour event set up using custom times. It has a max of 7 attendees and it recurs every week at the same 5 times (lets just say its Wednesdays at 10, 12, and 2:00 and Thursdays at 2 and 4:00). I am the only "staff" assigned to this service. The recurrence goes out for an entire year, so I obviously don't know my vacation schedule etc. that far in advance.
If I go in to my work calendar and schedule PTO for an entire week 3 months out, I am still able to book a spot in any of the 5 scheduled events that week even though my work calendar says I am out of office.
I clicked the option for it to look at the staff's personal calendar, but it still allows me to book on dates when I am out of office on my work calendar.
Anyone have any insights on this?
@BillGates (hahahaha)
Thanks!
So you have 1 hour event which is not recurring?
Scheduling Policy
Time increment 1 hour
Minimum lead - upto you, lets say 1 day
Maximum lead - if it is happening within the next 365 days - keep it as 365
General availability - Not bookable (not intuitive, but works)
Availability during these days - Start and End enter the day that the event is happening for both fields.
Custom hours (recurring weekly) - Don't mind the recurring weekly because you have limited your period in the previous step.
Then remove all other times and leave the day and the time the event is happening.
I have an event that is happening Tuesday from 7-9. This is how I created it - and works.
Anjana_R This is also what I did however it is much more cumbersome than it needs to be as I would think when you add the available item to the Calendar view it would respect what is entered and it does not. This is very poor development on Microsoft that these settings are not integrated. I did not off to block off time in the calendar based on the settings I used below. Hopefully this will help others until Microsoft can make this more intuitive
And then on the Staff settings I disabled the availability to use Events on Office and Business Hours. And now the Bookings page is only showing the 3 specific dates and times that I entered.
- I've just submitted a suggestion via the Feedback section in Outlook (Help tab then Feedback icon)
*********
Hi - I run regular online webinars for colleagues. I need to cap the numbers at 12 places, but I email the invite to a larger number of people.
I would love to be able to set the limit of how many people can accept the invite. My ideal workflow would be
- the invite sent to whole mailing list, stating there is a capped limit
- when the number of accepted places hits the maximum anyone else accepting it told that the limit is reached and that they are on a reserve list
- the meeting link only goes to those who are accepted, so the event can't be crashed by any others
- if anyone subsequently declines the waiting list is used to fill the space
It is a bit like a basic event booking system but designed for in-house events. It would also work if you had a maximum limit for a room.
Thank you Brian1700 I don't think there is a way - I gave up in the end and just hoped I wouldn't get too many bookings.
It would be great if Microsoft could just add a setting that allows you to cap the number of attendees in an ordinary Outlook/Teams appointment as it could then all be done in one place.
I think someone did send me a link to some script that did this, but it was too involved for what I was after. It does show though that it isn't impossible. For those who run webinars in Teams, for work colleagues, it would be a really useful tool.
ClaireThirlwall Thanks for the insight. I am quite surprised that this application has been out for a few years and something as simple as not allowing clients to book over events on my work schedule is still a problem.
Total fail Microsoft
- I know - I think it is more aimed at basic appointment bookings, such as dog groomers or bank employees who are mainly working on face to face appointments.
