What about resource reservations?

[cubert]

I did multiple searches and could find no mention of resource reservations. I'm currently using Lotus Notes and this is critical to my infrastructure. Is there any way to add this in, or is it forthcoming in a future release?

I have a few more questions but I'll keep digging around the forums and see what else I can find. I'm excited about this!

[KevinH]

We do this today(inside Zimbra) with a shared cal that all can access. We'll add resources in the future, but for now this works ok.

[cubert]

I thought about that after I posted. After noodling it for a bit I realized there are a few limitations with that approach.

1. No ability to set a resource owner to approve the reservation.
2. No way to search for specific resources. For example, a meeting room that can accomodate 10 people.

One of my big frustrations in Lotus Notes reservations is not being able to group everything reserved at the same time together. I'm the resource owner for our LCD projectors, but I have no idea what room I need to put it in because the two reservations are completely decoupled. I don't need to get the meeting invitation, I just need to know what all has been reserved together. A conversation for reservations concept would work.

I would also like to be able to enter extended information about a room and have it visible on the reservation form. For example, how many Ethernet drops are there? Is WiFi available? Does it have a presentation screen? Is there a conference phone? If it were searchable as part of the meeting request that would be really slick.

And finally, it would be really spiffy to have a way to request things that require extended information, such as airfare for an offsite meeting or a catered lunch to be delivered. Building a centralized template for those would be ideal so we can control what the options are.

You're doing a great job, and I look forward to doing more testing.

[kelvinsw]

Is a bit sad I still do not think Zimbra does resource reservation well. I am using the Zimbra Network edt 6 and abit shocked how badly the reservation was designed. My old Lotus Notes V6 or V5 does it much much better...

I thought about that after I posted. After noodling it for a bit I realized there are a few limitations with that approach.

1. No ability to set a resource owner to approve the reservation.
2. No way to search for specific resources. For example, a meeting room that can accomodate 10 people.

One of my big frustrations in Lotus Notes reservations is not being able to group everything reserved at the same time together. I'm the resource owner for our LCD projectors, but I have no idea what room I need to put it in because the two reservations are completely decoupled. I don't need to get the meeting invitation, I just need to know what all has been reserved together. A conversation for reservations concept would work.

I would also like to be able to enter extended information about a room and have it visible on the reservation form. For example, how many Ethernet drops are there? Is WiFi available? Does it have a presentation screen? Is there a conference phone? If it were searchable as part of the meeting request that would be really slick.

And finally, it would be really spiffy to have a way to request things that require extended information, such as airfare for an offsite meeting or a catered lunch to be delivered. Building a centralized template for those would be ideal so we can control what the options are.

You're doing a great job, and I look forward to doing more testing.

[phoenix]

Is a bit sad I still do not think Zimbra does resource reservation well. I am using the Zimbra Network edt 6 and abit shocked how badly the reservation was designed. My old Lotus Notes V6 or V5 does it much much better...

That's a rather vague comment, I guess you've filed RFEs in buzilla for your ideas on improving the situation?