What Do I Need To Know?

This article will assist administrators with understanding the two main parts of the Facilitron platform, and how they work.

Getting started with a new software platform can be intimidating, however learning the basics of Facilitron is easy. First, let's discuss some of the fundamental things you need to know to get you up and running.

The Two Parts to the Scheduling and Reservation Platform

Facilitron’s Scheduling and Reservation platform, often called Facilitron S&R, has two main parts:

The Marketplace - This is our online rental marketplace where members of the community can easily search and find available facilities, view photos, pricing, and make reservation requests.
The Administrative Dashboard - This is where administrators go to manage external community reservations and create internal reservations for school or district use.

Members of the community submit reservation requests from the rental marketplace. Facility administrators and internal users (such as teachers) who are requesting facilities for internal site or district use go through the administrative dashboard.

The dashboard will allow internal users to book or request facilities and times that may not be available to the community (such as during the school day).

How to Direct Renters to Your Facility’s Rental Website

When community members come to you to inquire about facility rentals, you can explain that the reservation request process is online, and direct them to your organization’s community-facing front end rental site.

Your organization's rental site has a specific online web address (URL) - keep that web address handy! The address is usually linked from your organization's website, but it can also be found by going to Facilitron.com and typing in your organization's name into the What kind of space do you need? search field.

For example, the URL of the Columbus City Schools rental marketplace shown below is https://www.facilitron.com/ccs43215.

Providing the support articles listed below to your community members may also assist them in getting started on the Facilitron platform, searching for your organization, and submitting a reservation!

If community members have trouble creating an account or placing a reservation request, they can contact Facilitron support through email at support@facilitron.com, phone at (800) 272-2962, or live chat through our website for assistance.

Getting Started on Facilitron as an Administrator

If you have not already been added as an Administrator during your district’s onboarding period, you will need to request to be added to your specific site or general district.

Please note that requesting to be added as an administrator is key to ensuring that you have access to submit internal reservation requests, review external community reservation requests, and manage your school or district’s calendar.

To request to be added as an administrator, please see Creating an Account at your School or District - Administrators, where you will learn how to do so from our Sign Up page.

Alternatively, you may reach out to your school or district administrators to assist in being added, or Facilitron Support at support@facilitron.com, or (800) 272-2962.

How to Manage External Reservations

After logging into your administrator account, you will be met with your administrator dashboard. This is the central hub, where you can;

View pending requests awaiting your approval
See a list of upcoming events
View an overview chart of reservations and status
Keep up to date with the newest updates from Facilitron

In addition to the main widgets on your administrator dashboard, there is also a collapsible navigation bar on the left hand side where you can view your organization’s calendar, reservations, and reports, depending on your role’s configuration. For additional information on how to get the most out of your administrator dashboard, please see Using the Dashboard - Administrators.

Your organization’s calendar can be accessed from your dashboard. Your calendar can show both internal and external reservations, which appear as multi-colored tiles. The tile of the reservation will correspond to the building or area that the reservation is taking place in (for example, orange for gyms, green for fields, grey for general areas, etc. Colors will depend on your organization’s configuration!)

The tile will be checkered if the reservation is still pending, and will appear solid once the reservation has been Approved. Cancelled and Declined reservations will not appear on your Calendar. For additional information on viewing and managing your Calendar, please see Finding My School or District’s Calendar.

Every event on the calendar, whether internal or external, has a reservation detail page where the request is managed. Pending requests not only need to be reviewed for approval, but they may need to have adjustments made to fees or services.

In order to view the full details of a reservation request, and pre-approve it if necessary, you will need to navigate to the reservation details page by clicking on the hyperlinked "more details" next to the reservation ID attached to the calendar tile.

Knowing how to review pending requests and make adjustments to reservations is an important requirement for a facility administrator. For additional assistance in understanding the reservation details page and pre-approving a reservation, please see Finding Reservations/Navigating to the Reservation Details Page - Administrators and Pre-approving Reservations for Administrators.

Once you have access to your Administrator account, accommodating timely approvals for external reservations is one of the many benefits of the Facilitron platform. Your account has been set up to accommodate your organization's approval workflows per facility.

It's important to understand who the final approver(s) are for your organization, and who your organization's pre-approvers are for certain sites or facilities in order to help facilitate an efficient approval timeline for renters.

How to Make Internal Reservations or Schedules

Creating schedules for internal events and schedules for your organization is different from how community members submit reservation requests on the front end. Creating an internal event or schedule is a lot like adding an event with Google calendar.

To create an internal schedule or event, you will first need to navigate to your organization’s Calendar from your Administrator Dashboard. Once you have found your organization’s Calendar, continue by clicking the "+ Event" button in the upper right hand corner.

A pop-out will appear for you to proceed in specifying your internal event’s requirements, including the event name, number of attendees, facilities, dates, and time slots needed. For additional information and assistance in creating an internal event or schedule, please see Creating an Internal Reservation and Creating an Internal Schedule with Multiple Dates.

Please note that internal events or schedules should not be created from the community facing front end, as the availability will be subject to your organization’s scheduled available dates and timeslots. Creating a reservation from the front end may also result in fees and insurance requirements populating incorrectly.

Internal events may go through an approval process depending on the facility you are requesting, and your role’s privileges (Example: requesting a conference room in the library for a teachers meeting may include the librarian in the approval work flow).

What to Contact Your Account Manager About

Facilitron provides dedicated account managers to assist you with questions, on-going training, best practices and more. Understanding what to contact your account manager about will help build the partnership between you and your account manager, and allow you to become an expert at managing facility use for your organization.

You may need to contact your account manager for assistance with:

Updating or opening availability for your school site or district
Adding, removing, or changing facilities at your school or district
Assistance in communication with renters

If you're unsure who your Facilitron account manager may be, please reach out to your district's Facilitron liaison. These contacts may work in your district's Maintenance and Operations department, Facilities Department, HR, or another department.

For further training assistance, you may sign up for one of our weekly webinar classes, held on Wednesdays at 9:00 am PST/12:00 pm EST. If you are interested, please Register Here.

In addition to dedicated account managers, Facilitron support team is here to help as well at (800) 272-2962 or support@facilitron.com. Based on your role’s privileges, our Facilitron Support department may be able to assist you with some or all of the following:

Making changes to reservations
Adding/removing users
Providing information about your district’s availability, or facilities
General questions and support for the Facilitron platform