HaloITSM Guides

Documentation to assist with the setup and configuration of the HaloITSM platform

Guides > Agent Resource Booking

Agent Resource Booking

In this lesson we will cover:

- Agent Resource Booking Configuration

- Ticket Type Configuration

- Resource Booking via the Self-Service Portal

- Linking to the Resource Booking screen via an Email

Agent resource booking allows your technicians to send links to Customers directly from HaloPSA & allows Customers to find a suitable time to book an appointment themselves, bypassing the dreaded 'Email Tennis' associated with trying to arrange an appointment when both the customer and technician are available.

For detailed descriptions of the configuration options, checkout the Admin Guide: Resource Booking

Agent Resource Booking Configuration

Head to Configuration > Asset Management and ensure the 'Resource Booking' module is enabled:

Fig 1. Resource Booking Module within Configuration > Asset Management

Within this module, you will see an option to enable Agent Resource Booking:

Fig 2. Agent Resource Booking Configuration

Enabling this option will then dynamically present the required Agent Resource Booking configuration.

We'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.

This is achieved via adding to the 'Booking Types' table, where each addition to this table allows us to enter:

Name: The name of the booking type.
Booking Duration: The duration of the Appointment, set in minutes, (fractions of) days, or as a set of distinct Timeslots.
Appointment Type: Allowing you to set the Appointment Type, based on the existing Appointment Types configured in Configuration > Calendars & Appointments > Appointment Types.
Message to Show when Booking: This is some additional text presented on the booking screen clients interact with.

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.

Ticket Type Configuration

Against the configuration for each Ticket type (Configuration > Tickets > Ticket Types > *Settings Tab*), you will find an 'Agent Resource Booking' dropdown:

Fig 3. Ticket type booking configuration.

The options in this tab allow you to personalise the behaviour of bookings from one Ticket type to another. these options include:

Agent Resource Booking Type: This option allows you to specify the resource (namely the technician getting the appointment) who will get the appointment. You can pick 'Agent' here - meaning the Assigned agent of the Ticket will get the appointment, or 'Team' - where an appointment will be allocated to anyone in the team who is available at the selected time. Note: If 'Agent' is selected here and the Ticket is Unassigned, the appointment will assign to any Agent free at that time.
Allow Users to Book Appointments From this Ticket: 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.
Default Agent Booking Resource Type: 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.
Agent Booking Type/Duration: This option allows you to specify the booking type (created in the previous section) used for bookings from Tickets of this type.

You will also see a table below, where you can select the available Teams/Resources for bookings from Tickets of this Type.

Now, lets look at two worked examples of Resource Booking in HaloPSA. In the first example, we will have the end-user book an appointment from the Self-Service Portal.

Resource Booking via the Self-Service Portal

Firstly, lets configure some booking types: 30 minute meeting & 1 hour consultancy session. In Configuration>Asset Management>Resource Booking, I have added two records to the Booking Types table:

Fig 4. Creating Booking Types

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 Self-Service Portal setting: "Allow Users to book appointments from Tickets".

The outcome of this is that end-users will see a 'Book Appointment' option whenever viewing Tickets on the Self-Service Portal:

Fig 5. Booking an Appointment from the Self-Service Portal

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 select the resource they wish to book an appointment with:Fig 6. The Resource Booking screen

And select a convenient time for an appointment:

Fig 7. Selecting a time for a meeting

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 & assigned the appointment to them:

Fig 8. Appointment added to Ticket via Resource Booking

Linking to the Resource Booking screen via an Email

The other option is to send a link to the Resource Booking screen via an email.

This is achieved via including the $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:

Fig 9. Example of including the $AppointmentBooking variable on a HaloPSA Email