Outlook

We probably don't need to explain to you what Microsoft Outlook is, as it is one of the most used calendar systems in the world. Also part of Office 365. By linking i-Reserve boats , all kinds of possibilities arise.

How does it work?

Customers who have made a reservation usually receive an agenda item by email that they can immediately add to their agenda. You will of course see the reservation immediately in the reservation system . But do you also want the reservation to appear in an Outlook calendar? No problem with an Outlook connection from i-Reserve .

Once you have made the link and a reservation is made, it will automatically be placed in a chosen agenda. Is there a change in reservation? Then i-Reserve will automatically send notifications to Outlook and adjust the agenda item. This way you and your team are always up to date!

Most users and/or employees have an agenda on their phone and are reminded of appointments in this way. With this link you can enter calendar items of users, for example a trainer who gives courses Or a reception at a location that rents out rooms. The great thing about this is that they can also see availability directly in the agenda. This way the planning is always with you, even on the road.

Advantages of the Outlook connection

This connection offers many options and makes working with i-Reserve a lot easier. We would like to give you an overview of a number of advantages of linking the i-Reserve reservation system to Outlook. By linking the reservation system to Outlook, you can:

• Automatically track reservations and bookings
• Never worry about double-booking or forgetting an important appointment again
• See availability in real time

What information is provided?

In itself the connection seems very straight forward. That's it too to start with. However, there are nice possibilities in the connection to get more out of the agenda.

In principle, all object, customer and reservation fields can be used either in the title (subject) or the description (body). This means that a combination of fields can be used in the coupling platform. i-Reserve can have all kinds of custom fields, which can be combined into a logical title. Possibly with abbreviations and formatting.

How can you link Outlook to the reservation system?

Now that we have discussed the benefits and possibilities of linking Outlook to the reservation system, let's look at how to do it.

The link between the reservation system and Outlook is bi-directional. This means that data can be sent in both directions. This is just not mandatory. It is often enough to work with a single direction. Has a reservation been made? Create an agenda item. Point.

But it may also be that changes need to be made. Or that an agenda item is dragged by the user of the agenda to a different time. Is the intention then that the reservation "moves with you"? This is also possible with i-Reserve. By using the calendar id in the external id in the reservation, we link the calendar item to the reservation. A flow then has an extra step. An example:

What is linked?

To ensure that both systems work well together, they exchange data. You can see which data is sent in the table below.

Knowing more?

Linking Outlook to the i-Reserve reservation system is a great way to increase efficiency and prevent double bookings. Would you like to know more about the Outlook connection or try out our reservation system for 30 days ? Contact us.