Creating reservations with the Room Search add-in

What is the Room Search add-in for Outlook? Our Room Search add-in for Microsoft Outlook is a user-friendly Perceptive app. But this app is displayed within the Outlook application as a side-panel interface. By using this Perceptive application on your laptop or desktop, you can easily search for rooms, add one or more rooms to your meeting invitation, and move on to the next invitation.

Note: To resolve display issues or find authentication details, see Installing the Room Search add-in in Microsoft Outlook. For more information, see Managing reservations and reservable resources.

Contents

  • I. What is the Room Search add-in for Outlook?
  • II. Send invitation as an Outlook User
Parent topic: Reserving rooms, equipment, and vehicles

I. What is the Room Search add-in for Outlook?

a. Integration data flow

To illustrate the integration between our Perceptive app -- the Room Search add-in -- and Microsoft Exchange, here's a basic diagram of the integration data flow. The arrows represent the step-by-step data flow from clicking Room Search (Step 1) to seeing the newly created Maximo Real Estate and Facilities reservation (Step 8a) to completing all reservation updates in the Maximo Real Estate and Facilities application (Step 13).

A diagram that describes the flow of data between different components as numbered arrows between colored boxes. In the left-most third of the diagram, there are two yellow boxes. The upper yellow box is labeled 'Microsoft Outlook' within which a smaller blue box is labeled 'TRIRIGA Add-in for Outlook'. The lower yellow box is labeled 'Microsoft Exchange'. Spanning the middle and right-most thirds of the diagram, a single large light-blue box is labeled 'TRIRIGA' within which two smaller vertical blue boxes are labeled 'TRIRIGA Platform' and 'TRIRIGA Application'.

b. Add-in process flow

To set the context, our foundation Maximo Real Estate and Facilities reservation application enables you to manage the reservations of shared rooms such as meeting spaces and workspaces, shared equipment such as projectors, and shared vehicles. Here's a basic diagram of the Maximo Real Estate and Facilities reserve process flow.

A diagram that describes the process flow between different actions as solid lines and dashed lines between colored boxes. In the left half of the diagram, a set of gray boxes is titled 'Foundation UI'. The first gray box is labeled 'Create Reservation', while the final gray box is labeled 'Submit Reservation'. In the right half of the diagram, a set of mostly blue boxes is titled 'Outlook Add-in'. The first blue box is labeled 'Create Invitation', while the final blue box is labeled 'Send Invitation'.

So, in terms of the reserve process diagram, the Add Reservable Room or Resource box loosely represents our Perceptive app -- the Room Search add-in -- in our UX framework. Keep in mind that these foundation boxes still represent our foundation reservation application. But here, let's focus on the Perceptive app.

Similar to our Room Reservation app, our Room Search add-in for Microsoft Outlook is a user-friendly Perceptive app. But this app is displayed within the Outlook application as a side-panel interface. By using this Perceptive application on your laptop or desktop, you can easily search for rooms, add one or more rooms to your meeting invitation, and move on to the next invitation.

You can install the add-in in two ways: (1) Deploy it as an Exchange administrator, or (2) Install it as an Outlook user.

II. Send invitation as an Outlook User

Security Group and Access

  • Request Central - Reserve: This group has full access the Room Search add-in.
  • Request Central - Reserve - Fundamentals: This group has full access the Room Search add-in.
  • Reservation Coordinator: This group has full access the Room Search add-in.
  • Reservation Coordinator - Fundamentals: This group has full access the Room Search add-in.

Basic Steps

Here are the basic steps to use the Room Search add-in as an Outlook User:

  1. Open your Outlook application.
  2. Open or create a meeting invitation.
    • Enter the subject title and attendees.
    • Select the Start and End time.
    • For recurring meetings, select the Recurrence pattern.
  3. Open the Room Search to look for one or more available meeting rooms.
    • Enter the Room Capacity.
    • Add one or more filters if needed.
    • Review the room details if needed.
    • Click Add room. The Location displays the room name.
    Tip: If you selected a Recurrence pattern, where some occurrences are unavailable (for example, 11 of 15 matches), then after you click Add room, you can open the Scheduling Assistant to view the unavailable occurrences. After you Send the invitation below, you can select an alternate room for the declined occurrences.
  4. Add, change, or review the invitation details.
    • Review the room details if needed.
    • Click Add room or Remove room if needed.
  5. Send the invitation.
    Tip: If you selected a Recurrence pattern, where some occurrences are unavailable (for example, 11 of 15 matches), then after you Send the invitation, you can open the Calendar to select an alternate room for the declined occurrences.
    Tip: In the Calendar, you can open each declined occurrence, click Edit > This event, open the Room Search, click Remove room for the unavailable room, click Add room for an available room, and Send the edited invitation. Repeat for each declined occurrence.