Restrict bookings to fixed time slots

Restricting bookings to fixed time slots structures meeting times into uniform blocks (such as 1-hour or 2-hour increments) rather than allowing arbitrary start times. This prevents calendar fragmentation (e.g., awkward 15-minute unusable gaps) and aligns reservations with facility needs like cleaning rounds or lesson blocks.

1. Enable fixed slot restrictions on a schedule

Fixed slots are configured within a resource’s Business hours schedule rather than in the general booking policy.

1. Go to Booking › Business hours.
2. Select the relevant schedule and click Edit.
3. On the Settings tab above the timetable, toggle on Restrict booking start times to fixed steps.

Under External bookings from Outlook / Google Calendar, choose how calendar sync handles unaligned meetings created outside Offision:

• Allow: Imports external meetings as they are, without enforcing the slot grid on external calendar clients.
• Decline if unaligned: Rejects imported calendar events that do not align with defined slot boundaries.

2. Define the interval step for each operating period

Turning on the master toggle requires defining the step duration for each time range on the schedule:

1. Click an active time block on the Week timetable grid to open its configuration popover.
2. Ensure Enforce fixed intervals is enabled.
3. Enter the Allowed step in minutes (e.g., 60 for 1 hour, 120 for 2 hours).

Key behavioral points:

• Range-specific steps: Different periods can use different steps (for example, 60 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon).
• Multi-slot bookings: The step defines allowed start points. Users can reserve multiple consecutive slots, resulting in booking lengths that are exact multiples of the step.

3. Interaction with suggested time slots

Enforcing fixed slots automatically disables optional Suggested time slots on the schedule. Suggested slots offer non-binding hints, whereas fixed slots strictly mandate start times.

4. User booking experience

When users open the booking form and select a restricted room:

• The freeform start and end time pickers are replaced by an interactive list of discrete slots.
• Occupied slots are clearly labelled Occupied and cannot be selected.
• Users can drag across consecutive slots to book longer durations.

Attempting to save a booking that starts off-grid displays an error stating the exact required interval step.

5. Calendar display

Both the admin Management calendar and the user Resource calendar render subtle grid bands behind restricted resources, making slot boundaries immediately clear.

Dragging to book directly on the calendar automatically snaps selection edges to slot boundaries.

6. Verify the setup

1. Open the user booking form and select the configured room.
2. Confirm that the form presents a list of fixed time slots instead of standard time sliders.
3. Verify that slot start times match your configured interval step.