Cards: Schedule Board (Multi-Rooms) with Maps & Floor Plans

In Appspace 8.0, we are launching Appspace integrations with calendar services that leverage standard technologies to create long-lived, authenticated, and secure connections. An initial connection must be established between Appspace and the calendar service, which is then stored in a virtual passport in Appspace and can be used until the calendar service revokes or cancels the integration.

As such, combining this new integration with the new Locations module that supports maps and floor plans for room scheduling experiences, the Schedule Board card has been updated to leverage these new features.

You can now use the Schedule Board card to create a room booking experience that allows users to view the room location on the displayed floor plan, view its availability, and book it instantly. 

This article provides instructions to configure the Schedule Board card with maps.

Prerequisites

• Appspace 8.x with Locations service.
• Schedule Board Card v 1.8 and later.
• Appspace App 2.15 and later. (Preferably running on touch screen (interactive) devices).
  
  Note

  Please refer to our Appspace Supported Devices and Operating Systems article, and Compatible Appspace Cards article.
• Account Owner, Location Administrator permissions required.
• Ensure Calendar Provider booking account has been preconfigured with resources (rooms, buildings). Refer to either one of these articles for instructions, based on your calendar provider type:
  • Configure Schedule Board (Multi-Rooms) with Microsoft Office 365
  • Configure Schedule Board (Multi-Rooms) with Google G Suite
  • Configure Schedule Board (Multi-Rooms) with Custom Calendar Provider
• Administrator permissions to the Calendar Provider booking account, to authentate the account with Appspace.
• Floor plans images should be in the following formats: jpg, svg, bmp, png, and gif.

Authenticate Calendar Provider Account

Follow the instructions to authenticate a calendar provider account with Appspace.

1. Log in to the Appspace console.
2. Click the ☰ Appspace menu, and then click Admin > Integration, and click the Passports tab.
3. Click +ADD, and select the desired calendar provider integration.
   
4. In the Account Settings tab, click CONNECT ACCOUNT and grant the passport permissions to access the calendar provider. You may need to sign in with your calendar provider credentials if you’re currently not signed in.
   Note

   If you encounter authentication issues while setting up the Office 365 passport with User privileges on Azure, please ensure the Azure Admin Consent Requests has been configured by following the steps in the Configure the admin consent workflow (preview) article: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/manage-apps/configure-admin-consent-workflow
5. Once complete, continue to configure the Account Settings tab.
6. In the Account Settings tab, you can perform the following actions;
   
   • Change the name of the calendar provider integration, by entering a different name in the Name field.
   • View the Account ID of the calendar provider integration.
   • View the App Permissions granted to the calendar provider integration.
   • View and refresh the Status of the calendar provider integration.
   • Remove the calendar provider integration, by clicking the Remove Account button.
7. In the Permissions tab, you may grant the following users or user groups permissions to view or edit the passport.
   
   • Enter and select the users or user groups from the drop-down list, and select the permissions to grant from the Select permissions drop-down menu.
   • You may also view and remove the users or user groups that have already been granted permissions.
8. You may proceed to the Create Locations section below.

Create Maps and Locations

The instructions below show you how to create a floor plan for a location that will be used in your Schedule Board card.

1. Log in to the Appspace console.
2. Click Locations from the ☰ Appspace menu.
   
   Note

   Select the geo location or campus location you wish to create the building plan in before clicking the Create button. For more detailed instructions refer to the Configure Locations with Maps & Floor Plans article.
3. Click the CREATE drop-down arrow, and select Create Building Location. 
   
   
   
4. Enter the name of the campus location, and click SAVE.
5. Proceed to Upload a Floor Plan from here.
   
   
   
   Note

   Locations supports floor plan images in the following formats: jpg, svg, bmp, png, pdf, gif, or mov.
6. Select the floor plan you wish to configure.
7. In the Edit section, click ADD, and select one of the map tracing options:
   
   • AUTO TRACE – Automatically traced the borders of the room.
   • Polygon – Manually trace the borders of the room.
   • Marker – Manually hotspot a location.
8. Map the room or point of interest on the floor plan.
9. Click the mapped room or point of interest, and configure the following fields:
   
   • Link to Managed Resource – Select the following options from the drop-down menu:
     • External Calendar Passport
       1. Select the calendar provider from the drop-down menu.
       2. Enter or select the resource from the drop-down menu for the room.
     • None
   • Name – Enter the name of the room or point of interest, if not auto-filled by the calendar resource.
   • Identifier – Enter the room number or specific location of the area.
   • Type – Select the type of mapping.
   • Room – Select the type of room.
   • Capacity – Enter the capacity of the room.
   • Coordinates – Enter the coordinates of the room to the floor plan.
   • Facilities – Add the facilities available in the room.
   • Photo – Add a photo of the room.
   • Delete – Delete the room or point of interest.
10. Click the Zones icon to organize your floor plan into zones.
    
11. Click ADD, and select one of the map tracing options:
    
    • AUTO TRACE – Automatically traced the borders of the room.
    • Polygon – Manually trace the borders of the room.
    • Marker – Manually hotspot a location.
12. Click the Info icon to manage your floor plan.
    
13. You may configure the following floor plan settings:
    • • Upload an image of the Floor Plan.
      • Configure the floor plan level or floor number.
      • Configure the floor plan scale ( pixels vs units ).
      • Export the floor plan.
      • Delete the floor plan.You may configure the following floor plan settings:
14. Once done, click SAVE.

Configure Schedule Board Card with Maps

The instructions below show you how to configure your Schedule Board with maps.

1. To create this card, select one of the following options:
   
   • Click +QUICK ACTION from the Appspace menu bar on the top right, and select Create Content.
   • Click Library from the ☰ Appspace menu, and select a library or folder you wish to create the content in. Click +CREATE, and select Content.
   • To create and add the card directly to an existing channel, refer to Add Content to Playlist Channels.
2. Select Services from the All Templates drop-down menu, and click Schedule Board.
   
   
   
   Important

   If you are unable to locate the content, try using either the Search bar, the Order by, or Filter icon to narrow down the content that you are looking for.
3. In the Edit tab;
   
4. You may authenticate the card now by clicking the Connect button on your calendar provider passport, and proceed to step 5 below.
   If you would like to authenticate later, click the Preview card in demo mode link in the preview window, and proceed to step 8 to configure the booking options and styling of the Schedule Board card.
   
   Note

   The demo mode on cards, allows users to experience the design and functionality of the card, prior to configuring the calendar provider. This includes displaying various booking statuses, and performing bookings on the card itself.
   
5. Enter in your booking account credentials (created earlier) to authenticate the Schedule Board card.
   Note

   Please contact your Administrator for credentials. Some large organizations may have one account for each room.
6. Once authentication is successful, select the rooms to be displayed on the board, and click Verify.
   
7. Once the rooms have been verified, click Finish.
8. Select Map from the  Layout drop-down menu to display the room information, and events available to the users.
9. Enter the Header title with the preferred messaging text. Use the Text Editor to customize the text font and style.
10. In the Design section; click the arrow to expand. Customize the Schedule Board card with the following options:
    • Logo
    • Logo position
    • Header title
    • Header background color or image
    • Header mask color
    • Available color
    • Occupied color
    • Check in color
    • Table text color
    • Table color
    • Table border color
    • Background color or media
    • Background mask color
11. In the Configuration section; click the arrow to expand. Select the Display options for the schedule board.
    • Interactivity enabled
    • Logo enabled
    • Header enabled
    • 24-hour clock
    • Check in enabled
    • Show meeting name
    • Show organizer’s name
    • Show clock
    • Show in 15 minutes time block
      Important

      If the Schedule Board card detects that the service provider has restricted viewing access to a meeting room/resource, it will automatically disable the interactivity and booking functions for that room on the board (Appspace App). However, meeting information will still be displayed.
12. The preview pane displays the card. Click the Card Gear icon to change the displayed rooms, or to log out from the card.
    
    
    
    Note

    The booking status of the meeting room is only a preview, and is not indicative of the real status in this preview. If the card is in demo mode, clicking the Gear icon will display the Authenticate Account option, which will allow you to authenticate the card with your desired calendar provider.
13. In the Article tab; This section may be skipped.
    • Include an Article or Caption to accompany the content item when being displayed on mobile apps, tablets, and other social collaboration apps.
    • Enter a Referral Link to link more information to the content.
14. In the Schedule tab; This section may be skipped.
    • You may add the content to a channel by selecting the channel from the Add to channel drop-down menu, or leave it unassigned to be added later.
    • When the content is assigned to a channel, the SCHEDULING and DISPLAY PROPERTIES options are displayed. Refer to the Configure Content Playback Properties: Dayparting, Frequency, Scheduling, in a Playlist Channel article for detailed configuration instructions.
15. In the Settings tab; This section may be skipped.
    • The Name field will be auto-populated to match the Title of the content which will also act as the filename for the content. This is a mandatory field.
    • Enter any relevant Tags for the content. (Optional)
    • Select a folder for the content in the Library Location drop-down menu to change the default folder location.
    • Select an expiry date for the content from the Auto Delete Content from Library drop-down menu. (Optional)
    • Upload an image to be used as the Thumbnail for the content.
16. Once done, click SAVE.

Navigating Schedule Board with Maps

The instructions below show you how to navigate the Schedule Board with maps.

The Schedule Board card is displayed in the map layout, allows users to make room bookings instantly while providing them a graphical view of where the rooms are located and its availability.

The booking functions are the same as the regular schedule board, for more information, please refer to the Book Multiple Meeting Rooms Instantly on Schedule Board article.

• • Users are able to quickly identify the room’s availability and location instantly, as the room color on the floor plan reflects the current room status:
    • Green – Room available for booking.
    • Red – Room is occupied.
    • Yellow – Room is waiting to be checked in.
    • Grey – Unmapped resources, rooms, or POI (Point of Interest) that can’t be booked.
  • Users can click on the room name, or the location of the room in the floor plan to view information, or to make a booking.
    
  • If a building contains many floors, users can select the floor to identify the available rooms or resources located on that floor.
  • When a booking is made or canceled, the room color on the floor plan reflects the current room status.

Edit Schedule Board Card with Maps

The instructions below show you how to edit a Schedule Board card with maps.

1. Log in to the Appspace console.
2. Click Library from the ☰ Appspace menu, and select a library or folder containing the content you wish to edit.
3. Select and click the Schedule Board card to edit, and select the desired tab to edit or view.
   • In the Edit, Article, and Settings tabs:
     • You may edit the content the same way as it was configured. For detailed instructions on how to do this, please refer to the Create Schedule Board Card with Maps section above.
   • In the Preview tab:
     • Preview how the content is displayed on your device.
   • In the Channels tab:
     • You may add the content to a channel by selecting the channel from the Add to channel drop-down menu, or leave it unassigned to be added later.
     • When the content is assigned to a channel, the SCHEDULING and DISPLAY PROPERTIES options are displayed. Refer to the Configure Content Playback Properties: Dayparting, Frequency, Scheduling, in a Playlist Channel article for detailed configuration instructions.
   • In the Analytics tab:
     • View the individual content analytics in this tab. For more information, please refer to the Individual Content Analytics section of the Analytics article.
4. Once done, click SAVE.