Let people reserve a room, lab, piece of equipment, or service from one booking page, without double-bookings or back-and-forth email. This guide shows departments how to set up and manage a shared booking page, and shows everyone else how to book.
About this guide
Microsoft updates Microsoft 365 regularly. Features, settings, names, and screen layouts can change without notice, and many of these changes are outside the control of KAUST IT. KAUST IT may also limit, change, or turn off features to meet KAUST requirements and Saudi data privacy regulations. We update this guide as changes are identified. If your screen does not match these steps, the linked Microsoft articles reflect Microsoft's latest instructions. For help, contact IT.
New to Bookings? For an overview, including personal booking pages and adding a booking link to your email signature, see Microsoft Bookings at KAUST.
Use Bookings when people need to reserve something, such as:
Bookings gives people a booking page with defined services, durations, and available times. They choose a slot, and Bookings prevents two people from booking the same slot.
| If you need to... | Use instead |
|---|---|
| Book a meeting room that is already bookable in Outlook | A normal Outlook room reservation |
| Share team events, maintenance windows, or deadlines | A Microsoft 365 Group Calendar |
| See who is working, away, or on call | Microsoft Teams Shifts |
For the Group Calendar and Shifts, see Manage Shared Team Calendars and Schedules with Microsoft 365.
A department manages one laboratory that is used for several activities, each with a different length:
| Service | Duration |
|---|---|
| Respirator Fit Testing | 1 hour |
| Equipment Calibration | 1 hour |
| Chemical Segregation Training | 1 hour |
| Chemical Spill Response Training | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| Orientation | 1 hour 30 minutes |
| Training Session | 4 hours |
| Special Event (Half Day) | 4 hours |
| Special Event (Full Day) | 9 hours |
With Bookings, people choose the activity, see only the times the laboratory is free for that length of time, and book. The department's administrators can see every booking in one place.
To create and manage a booking page: any faculty or staff member whose KAUST email is on Outlook can create a shared booking page. You do not need to request one.
To book: anyone with a KAUST account can book, including people whose KAUST email is on Gmail. If you choose to make your booking page public, people outside KAUST can book too.
If your KAUST email is on Gmail
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Shared booking page | A booking page that belongs to a team or department, not one person. It has its own calendar. |
| Service | Something people can book, with a name and a length, for example "Equipment Calibration, 1 hour". |
| Staff | Anyone or anything that can be booked or that manages the page. In this guide, a room or resource is added as staff, even though it is not a person. |
| Booking | One reservation of a service at a specific date and time. |
| Booking page link | The web address you share so people can book. |
Every staff member on a shared booking page has a role. Roles control who can change settings, who can manage bookings, and who can be booked.
| Role | What they can do | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator | Everything: edit all settings, add and remove staff, and create, change, and cancel bookings. | The people responsible for the booking page. Have at least two. |
| Scheduler | Manage bookings and customer details. Can only view settings, staff, and services. | Someone who handles bookings for others, such as an office coordinator. |
| Team member | Manage bookings on their own calendar and their own availability. | A person who delivers a service, such as a trainer. |
| Viewer | See all bookings, but not change or cancel them. Can only view settings. | Someone who needs visibility only. |
| Guest | Can be assigned to bookings, but cannot open the booking page's calendar. | A room or resource, or someone without a KAUST Microsoft 365 account. |
Microsoft's guide: What are the different staff roles?
This section is for the people who will manage the booking page.
Answer these questions first. They make every later step faster.
Is the room already bookable in Outlook?
If people already reserve this room in Outlook, choose one method. The two systems cannot see each other's reservations.
Use a name that identifies the room or service clearly, for example "Building 9 Room 4128 Demo Laboratory". People will see this name on the booking page.
You are automatically an administrator of any booking page you create. Once someone else also has the Administrator role, you can remove the role from yourself if you no longer need it.
Microsoft's guide: Set up your shared booking page.
Do this now, before anything else.
Why two administrators matter
If the only administrator leaves KAUST, changes roles, or accidentally removes their own Administrator role, nobody can change the booking page. Restoring access then needs help from KAUST IT. A second administrator prevents this.
Bookings has no separate option for rooms. Instead, you add the room as a staff member. Bookings then treats it like a person with working hours: when someone books the room, that time is no longer available to anyone else.
Bookings-Schedule-[Building]-[Room]@kaust.edu.sa
For example: Bookings-Schedule-Building14-Room1@kaust.edu.sa
This address does not need to exist as a real mailbox. It identifies the room inside Bookings.
Do not request a separate account for a room
The format above lets Bookings manage the room's availability without a new KAUST account or mailbox. There is no need to request one.
Microsoft's guide: Add team members to Bookings.
Create one service for each type of booking. Keep the list short: if one flexible service would work, do not create five.
| Setting | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Service name | What people are booking, for example "Equipment Calibration". This appears on the booking page. |
| Description | One or two sentences explaining the service and anything people must know before they book. |
| Default location | The room, for example "Building 9, Room 4128". This appears in confirmations and calendar invitations. |
| Duration | How long each booking lasts. |
| Buffer time | Optional. Time blocked before or after each booking, for example to reset the room. Buffer time counts toward availability, so a 1-hour booking with a 15-minute buffer needs a 75-minute free slot. |
| Maximum attendees | Keep this at 1 if only one person or group can use the room at a time. A higher number lets several people book the same time slot. |
| Price | Select Free, or choose not to show a price. Bookings at KAUST are not connected to any payment system. If you need to take payments, contact the Finance Department for guidance. |
| Staff | Assign the room. This is what connects the service to the room's availability. |
| Scheduling policy | How far ahead people can book, the minimum notice needed to book or cancel, and the time increments shown on the booking page. |
| Custom fields | Optional. Questions people must answer when they book. Only ask what you need. |
Microsoft's guides: Define your service offerings in Bookings and Set your scheduling policies.
In your booking page, go to Booking page, then review these settings.
Who can book
| Option | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| No self-service | No booking page is published. Only staff can add bookings. | Administrators handle all bookings themselves. |
| Available to people in your organization | Only people who sign in with a KAUST account can see the page and book. | Recommended for most KAUST booking pages. |
| Available to anyone | Anyone with the link can book, including people outside KAUST. | Only when the service is genuinely for people outside KAUST. |
If you make your booking page available to anyone
Information you ask for
Bookings can ask for name, email, phone number, address, and notes. For most room bookings, name and email are enough. Turn off any field you do not use.
Save and publish
Select Save. Your booking page link appears under Configure booking page. Do not share it until you have tested the page in Step 7.
Microsoft's guide: Customize and publish your booking page.
Open the booking page link as someone who books would, and run a few test bookings:
If a slot you expected is missing, check the room's working hours, the service's scheduling policy, and any buffer time.
Share the link where people will look for it, for example:
Administrators and schedulers manage bookings from the booking page's Calendar.
Bookings works best when the department owns it, not one person.
KAUST IT can help if something in Bookings does not work as expected. Day-to-day booking management stays with your department.
This section is for anyone who has received a booking page link.
You receive a confirmation email with the details. To change or cancel, use the options in the confirmation email.
If your KAUST email is on Gmail
Bookings cannot see your Google Calendar. Check your own calendar for conflicts before you book.
