Hello,
Thank you for all your help here in the IIQ Community.
Please bear with me as I get more acclimated to our system. I apologize in advance for the length of this post—I'm aiming to be as detailed as possible. If anything, this helps me organize my thoughts for our IIQ rep.
Below is a summary of issues reported to me by users, followed by potential solutions I’ve identified for handling them in IIQ, as well as options I may have as an admin. I’m curious to know what’s possible in IIQ and what I can manage on my own without always needing to involve IIQ support.
1. Event Denial for Specific Dates (Principals Denying Dates)
Problem: In our previous system, principals (or any approvers) could view all event dates in a request and deny specific dates within the request. In IIQ, they are unable to do this. For example, when conferences are happening but not in the cafeteria, principals may want to deny outside groups from booking the space on specific dates but not block the entire event.
For IIQ:
- Can IIQ set up a custom workflow or approval process where event requests are routed to principals or other approvers for review, allowing them to approve or deny specific dates within a request?
For Me:
- As a workaround, could we use Tagging or Comments in the event request system? Principals could note which dates are denied and provide reasons. Helpdesk/admin staff could manually adjust the bookings afterward.
2. Blackout Dates for Buildings/District-Wide (e.g., Holidays, Breaks, Events)
Problem: Staff are asking if it’s possible to blackout dates across buildings or district-wide (e.g., for holidays, breaks, or events) to prevent outside groups from booking on those days.
For IIQ:
- Can IIQ create event rules that prevent bookings during specific date ranges, either at a building or district-wide level?
- Is there a feature to easily implement date blackouts across buildings or districts?
For Me:
- Does IIQ allow me to set restricted or blackout dates via the event scheduling configuration? I can check system settings to configure holiday or event-specific blackouts.
- If IIQ integrates with external calendar systems (e.g., Google Calendar, Outlook), can I block off specific dates on those integrated calendars to prevent bookings?
3. Weekly Email Notifications
Problem: Staff members have requested weekly email notifications, similar to those from the old system.
For IIQ:
- Does IIQ support email notifications for event requests, approvals, and status updates?
- Can IIQ create custom reports or dashboards that summarize events and send them out weekly via email? This might require setting up automated reporting.
For Me:
- Has anyone used an external tool like Zapier or Microsoft Power Automate to create an automated process that pulls data from IIQ and sends weekly summary emails to staff?
Once again, thank you for your input on this. I hope this helps others with similar challenges in their IIQ implementations and sparks new ideas for improving processes.
Best,
Al Baker