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System introduces new features for room bookings 

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Anything that simplifies things is appreciated. So the uBookit system launch last month by Hospitality Concordia with technical support from IITS was a welcome event.

The program, accessed through the portal, provides a computerized bank of all university rooms available through Hospitality Concordia. Anyone with a net name will be able to browse the system for a room with the capacity, location and equipment they need.

The data bank makes it easier to narrow down the spaces available according to various criteria. Using information on location, size or technical equipment, appropriate rooms are identified and can be selected for availability on a weekly or monthly basis, or over several days for a conference. An increasing number of rooms have a photo displayed alongside the information to make selection easier. The real innovation is that only those rooms available that meet the criteria are displayed.

Ideally, applications should be made 10 business days before the desired date. “Before, you had to wait up to 48 hours after you made a request to find out if the space was available,” explained Benoit Salem, Manager, Conference Services and Summer Housing.

Many groups seeking rooms would become frustrated because promotional material would already be in production when they learned the location was not available at the requested time. Although the university still evaluates the request, and may suggest an alternate venue, organizations know that no prior booking will force a change to their selection.

“We haven’t changed the system, but we’ve eliminated the frustrations,” explained Salem.

Not everyone can submit a request to the system. Staff can book rooms while students can browse the system and select a venue. However, students will have to make requests through a registered sponsor assigned early in the fall term.
The more complete an initial request is, the easier, and quicker, it is to process it.

The uBookit system was developed by IITS with the input of Hospitality Concordia’s Christina Soulière, who had managed room bookings before now. Understanding the types of problems that cropped up allowed her to design a system that addressed them.

All of this is critical for a system that has a lot of traffic. “In September, we can get up to 30 requests a day,” she explained, adding some of them are for bookings repeated over the course of the year. Last academic year, there were 3 750 bookings managed by Hospitality Concordia.

Hospitality Concordia encourages feedback from uBookit users. Comments or suggestions can be submitted at bookings@alcor.concordia.ca.