Room booking App

[gcopeland]

Afternoon All,

Our contract with Whole school for the Room booking is due to expire at the end of this month.

As I am new to the job I was wondering can anyone recommend 3 companies, which will run on the C2k system as per needing to provide options to the Bursar?

Thanks

[JMcB]

I think WholeSchool are the only ones that are linked with Myschool and Sims timetables

I wouldn't jump ship unless you are very unhappy with the service

[LOUD]

I would like to know the answer to that question as well.

Is it worth the ?300.  (Quote I received)

I use MRBS.  Its free and it helps to keep my hosting site going as well.
Downside its not linked to SIMS and with the amount of changes made here with the timetable and new staff its difficult to get time to update all manually.

[Belfast_Tech]

I use Classroom Bookings here - it's an open source platform, which I just host on our website hosting package.

http://classroombookings.com/

although the downside - like above, it's separate from SIMS so takes a bit of time to set up / keep on top of changes, but meets our needs perfectly.

[gcopeland]

Thanks for the prompts replies and information.
Our Head of ICT would ideally like it to link to Sims.
wondering apart from Wholeschool is there any others?

I'm not 100% sure why there's beef with wholeschool (new to the job) though it seems to be the most popular

Thanks in advance

[bahhumbug]

you could try www.schoolbooking.com

There is a facility to link to SIMS though we don't use it here.

[tommy]

Something we are looking to get up and running in our school.


http://www.capita-sims.co.uk/products/room-booking-system

Came across this and emailed them, this is the reply I got.

Hi Tomas,
 
The Room Booking System software is available Northern Ireland and there are already approx. 8 schools using it including St Joseph?s Boys in Derry, St Mary?s in Derry and CBS Omagh.  If you need a contact at any of these schools, please let me know.
 
Regards, Trevor.
 
Trevor Millar
Capita SIMS, Northern Ireland

T: 07760 111 748
E: trevor.millar@capita.co.uk

www.capita-cs.co.uk

[tyrone_lass]

We use WholeSchool here but it is not linked to SIMS. I have to manually enter timetabled class in September and update it throughout the year when there are timetable changes

[zyber]

I am currently testing the Capita version linked to Sims.net and it seems very easy to use and any issue or queries have been answered very quickly. Obviously your Sims timetable data needs to be up to date and correct otherwise the timetables will not be correct. The only person who will hold you back will be your Sims manager as they will be involved in the initial setting up.

zyber   

[deeboorman]

Tommy, do you know if there is a fee to use The Room Booking System software? I've been looking for 1 for years to use for our computer rooms.

Cheers

Dee

[tommy]

Yeah, here's some information that I recieved. Im currently using the trial and seems to be going okay, it pulls all the seems data providing that it is up to date in SIMS

As you know, Room Booking System is a comprehensive, web-based room booking solution, managing bookings for all types of rooms and resources. Integrated with SIMS, it reduces staff time, maximises resources and improves efficiency throughout the school.Key advantages include:
 
?         Fully integrates with SIMS to sync rooms, timetable information, non-class codes, term dates, cover, room closures and suspension rules daily.
?         Eliminate double bookings. Once a meeting is booked, it is automatically reserved in the system, reducing the risk of errors and double bookings.
?         View comprehensive reports and statistics. Accurately track room and resource utilisation, helping you maximise your most valuable resources - your staff and facilities.
 
Please see below pricing:
 
    Max Rooms/Resources   Max Staff Accounts   Annual Cost
Basic   10   30   ?455
Plus   50   200   ?575
Premium   200   500   ?755
Lettings/Invoicing (inc Time Based Bookings)   N/A   ?240
 
 
A 28 day trial available at no cost and with no obligation to purchase.  Please see below link:
 
http://www.roombookingsystem.co.uk/free-trial.asp?plan=school

[Dade]

Hi all

Tommy how did the trial go? Have you kept it on?

I am looking for a booking system that will allow the booking of seats in a room as we have a Learning Centre with 68 C2K Workstations.

Currently I am using MRBS as the solution but we are looking at other options and a link to SIMS would be a great time saver.

The pupils can currently book seats during study periods on the current system and it would be handy to keep that and be able to allow everyone access to view the seats booked.

Cheers

dade

[dfinney]

We used to use MRBS and moved to wholeschool last term.

We have just switched again to MRBS as wholeschool is too restrictive, too many steps to book a resource and the turn around for out of the norm fixes was too long.

[LOUD]

We made the switch from MRBS to wholeschool.  Not a fan.
You only see the teachers name on the booking not the class name.
Its hard to know if its a timetabled (sims) booking or a teacher booking etc.

Also if the block booking changes slightly you have to remove each booking.

It doesn't link to sims completely.
You have to run a report in sims and email to wholeschool.
When you have a timetable change (in here once a week) you have to run report again.
You have to show them what has changed so they can remove the previous bookings etc.

The price is expensive for the year and you still have to do the work.

[Dade]

Thanks for the feedback on Wholeschool

Anyone using room booking system or School Booking

I am a big fan of MRBS after using it for so long and customising it to suit my only issue with it is removing bookings as while you can book out a number of seats (rooms) in one go it is not possible for staff to remove those bookings apart from one by one so bookings for a class of 24 can take ages to remove.

I have seen information on a script called SIMS to MRBS but I have not had the time to see if it would work for us. Should anyone be interested you can find out more at  http://www.edugeek.net/forums/scripts/40387-sims-mrbs-script-available-6.html#post1051997

dade