➤ Product: OfficeRnD Flex
➤ Who: Admins
➤ Where: Admin Portal, under Calendar and Space > Meeting Rooms
➤ Availability: All plans
If a meeting room is closed for repairs or on weekends, members can still book it on the Member Portal or the mobile app. The member then arrives at a meeting room that is unavailable. To prevent that, you can block member bookings for one meeting room. All other meeting rooms remain open for bookings.
You block a meeting room with a recurring admin booking on the Calendar, or with the 'Limited' privacy setting on the meeting room.
In this article:
Choose a method to block a meeting room.
Block a meeting room on a schedule with a recurring admin booking.
Block a meeting room with the 'Limited' privacy setting.
Reopen a blocked meeting room.
Prerequisites
The recurring admin booking and the 'Limited' privacy setting each block 1 meeting room at a time. Ensure that these items exist before you start:
The meeting room that you want to block. Create a meeting room →
For a recurring admin booking, a company that holds the recurring admin booking. For example, use your admin company.
Business hours and closed days cannot block a single meeting room. Business hours apply to every bookable resource at a location. Closed days apply to the whole organization or to one location.
Choose a method to block a meeting room
The correct method depends on the dates when the meeting room must stay closed. Find your situation in this table:
Situation | Method | Reason |
The meeting room closes on the same days every week. For example, every Saturday and Sunday. | Recurring admin booking | The recurring admin booking repeats on the days that you select. |
The meeting room closes for a set period. For example, a 2-week renovation. | Recurring admin booking | The recurring admin booking stops after its End date. |
The meeting room closes, and you do not know the reopening date. | 'Limited' privacy setting | The 'Limited' privacy setting stays in place until you change it. |
Only some members can book the meeting room. | 'Limited' privacy setting | You add the members who can still book the meeting room. |
A recurring admin booking blocks only the dates that you select. The recurring admin booking stops after its End date. Members can then book the meeting room again, with no change from you.
The 'Limited' privacy setting has no start or end date. The 'Limited' privacy setting blocks the meeting room on every date until you change the Privacy field again.
Important: Do not use the 'Limited' privacy setting to block weekend bookings. To block only weekends with the 'Limited' privacy setting, you must change the Privacy field every Friday. You must then change the Privacy field back to its previous value every Monday. While the Privacy field is set to 'Limited', members cannot book the meeting room on any date, weekdays included. If you forget one change, the meeting room stays closed on weekdays or stays open on the weekend. To block every weekend, use a recurring admin booking.
Block a meeting room on a schedule with a recurring admin booking
A recurring admin booking blocks the meeting room only on the dates that you select. Create the recurring admin booking on the Calendar:
Go to Calendar.
Select the All Day slot under the meeting room that you want to block. The New Booking dialog opens.
In the New Booking dialog, enter the details of the recurring admin booking:
Select the company and the member who own the recurring admin booking. For example, select your admin company. Flex records the recurring admin booking under this company.
If Make "Select Member" a required field is active in Settings > Calendar > Calendar & Bookings, you must select a member here.
Enter a title. For example, enter 'Weekend closure'. Admins see the title on the Calendar. The title tells admins why the meeting room is blocked.
In the From field, select the first date that you want to block. For example, select the next Saturday.
Set the hours from 00:00 to 00:00. The recurring admin booking then covers the full day.
Set Preparation time to 0. A preparation time reserves extra time before a booking starts. With a value of 0, the recurring admin booking takes no time from the previous day.
Select Repeat. The recurring admin booking then repeats on a schedule.
Select how often the recurring admin booking repeats:
To block the same days every week, select 'weekly'. Then set the recurring admin booking to repeat every 1 week.
To block every day of a set period, select 'daily'. Then set the recurring admin booking to repeat every 1 day.
If you selected 'weekly', select the days to block. For example, select Saturday and Sunday to block every weekend.
Set the End date of the recurring admin booking. After the End date, members can book the meeting room again.
Select Free. Flex then does not charge a booking fee to the company that you selected.
Click Book Now.
Each date of the recurring admin booking is displayed on the Calendar as 'Block from Parent Booking'. On those dates, members cannot book the meeting room on the Member Portal or the mobile app.
Block a meeting room with the 'Limited' privacy setting
The 'Limited' privacy setting hides the meeting room from members on every date until you change the Privacy field again. Use the 'Limited' privacy setting when you don't know the meeting room's reopening date, or when some members must still book the meeting room.
Before you change the Privacy field, write down its current value. You need the same value to reopen the meeting room. To change the Privacy field:
Go to Space > Meeting Rooms.
Select the meeting room that you want to block. The Edit Meeting Room dialog opens.
Open the Calendar tab.
In the Privacy field, select 'Limited'.
(Optional) Add the members who can still book the meeting room. You can add companies, individual members, or members with selected plans. If you add nobody, only admins can book the meeting room.
Click Update. Members that you did not add can no longer see or book the meeting room.
Reopen a blocked meeting room
A blocked meeting room stays blocked until the recurring admin booking ends, or until you change the Privacy field. The steps to reopen the meeting room depend on how it was blocked.
Reopen a meeting room that a recurring admin booking blocks
The recurring admin booking stops by itself after its End date. To reopen the meeting room before the End date, cancel the recurring admin booking.
You can also open the meeting room on some dates only. To do this, cancel only those dates of the recurring admin booking. For example, cancel 1 Saturday so members can book the meeting room for an event. Cancel all or some dates of a recurring booking →
Reopen a meeting room with the 'Limited' privacy setting
To reopen the meeting room, change the Privacy field back to the value that you wrote down before you blocked the meeting room:
Go to Space > Meeting Rooms.
Select the meeting room. The Edit Meeting Room dialog opens.
Select the Calendar tab.
In the Privacy field, select the value that you wrote down. For example, select 'Full Access / Public' or 'Active Members'.
Click Update. Members allowed by the selected value can see and book the meeting room again.
Best practices
These practices apply when more than 1 meeting room must close at the same time:
If every resource at a location closes on a public holiday, set a closed day for the location. A closed day blocks all bookings at the location. You then do not need a recurring admin booking for each meeting room. Set closed days for holidays and maintenance →
If every meeting room at a location closes on weekends, set that location's workdays and business hours. Then select Restrict outside business hours bookings. Business hours apply to every bookable resource at the location. Set the workdays and business hours of a location →
FAQs
Can I block weekend bookings for one meeting room only?
You can block weekend bookings for 1 meeting room with a recurring admin booking that repeats every Saturday and Sunday. In the New Booking dialog, select Repeat and select 'weekly'. Then select Saturday and Sunday. Other meeting rooms stay open for bookings on weekends.
Can I use the 'Limited' privacy setting to block a meeting room on weekends?
The 'Limited' privacy setting is not suitable for blocking a meeting room on weekends. To block only weekends, you must change the Privacy field every Friday and change it back every Monday. While the Privacy field is set to 'Limited', members cannot book the meeting room on any date, weekdays included. To block every weekend, use a recurring admin booking.
Can I use business hours to block weekends for one meeting room?
You cannot use business hours to block weekends for 1 meeting room. Business hours apply to every bookable resource at a location. To block 1 meeting room on weekends, use a recurring admin booking.
Does a meeting room reopen after a recurring admin booking ends?
A meeting room reopens after the End date of a recurring admin booking, with no action from you. Members can book the meeting room again after the End date.
Can I open a blocked meeting room for one weekend only?
You can open a blocked meeting room for 1 weekend by canceling only the dates for that weekend in the recurring admin booking. The other dates of the recurring admin booking stay blocked. Cancel some dates of a recurring booking →
Who can still book a meeting room with the 'Limited' privacy setting?
Only the members that you add to the meeting room can book a meeting room with the 'Limited' privacy setting. You can add companies, individual members, or members with selected plans. If you add nobody, only admins can book the meeting room.
What do members see when a meeting room is blocked?
Members cannot book a blocked meeting room on the Member Portal or the mobile app. With a recurring admin booking, members cannot book the meeting room on the blocked dates. With the 'Limited' privacy setting, members that you did not add cannot see the meeting room.