Feature
The study room is booked in two messages, with no double bookings
Sunday, 21:15. A resident writes "is the study room available tomorrow?". Bedel replies with the slots left that day and asks for the time. He answers "at seven" and gets the confirmation with the day and the time. A minute later, another resident asks for the same room at the same time; it holds one person, so Bedel tells her that time is not possible and gives her the open slots. On Monday morning, reception has both in the dashboard's agenda, with no sheets of paper on the door.
What a resident writes, and what happens to each request
| What the resident or the team writes | What Bedel does |
|---|---|
| "Is the study room available tomorrow?" | Replies with the first open slots that day, already worked out by turn, and asks for the time. Nobody has to write "from 17:30 to 18:45" |
| "At seven" | Checks in a single operation that the slot exists, that there is capacity left and that he does not already have it booked at that time, and confirms with the day and the time |
| "Book me the washing machine three weeks from now" | If it goes beyond the days of advance booking that space allows, 7 by default, it says so: that space can only be booked that far ahead |
| A resident asks for the court again this week | If the space has a weekly limit per person and he has reached it, it tells him how many bookings he has this week and that it is the maximum |
| "Can I book the library?" | If that space cannot be booked, it opens nothing: it says it is not bookable and gives its opening hours |
| "Cancel my study room booking" | Cancels his and confirms it. The cancelled booking stays marked, it is not deleted, and the slot becomes available again |
| Someone who neither lives nor works at the centre writes to book | They cannot: bookings are only for the centre's residents and staff |
The centre decides the spaces
Bedel does not come with a list of rooms. The centre sets up in the dashboard the spaces it has, with the names the house uses, and decides one by one which can be booked. One that cannot be booked still exists: when someone asks about it, Bedel gives its opening hours.
- Time bands per day of the week: which days and from what time to what time it can be booked.
- Slot length, one hour by default, and capacity: a washing machine is for one person; a gym can be for twenty.
- Days of advance booking allowed: 7 by default.
- Weekly limit per person, optional, counted from Monday to Sunday, so nobody hogs the washing machine.
- Everything in the centre's local time, which is the time that is written and the time that is shown.
Fixed slots, not forms
On WhatsApp nobody fills in a form. That is why Bedel does not ask for a start time and an end time: it offers that day's open slots, already worked out from the space's slot length, and the person picks one. If they ask without saying the day, Bedel takes it to be today, which is what someone asking whether the room is available means.
- It shows the first eight open slots; if there are more, it says so.
- If they ask for a time that is not available, it says that time is not possible and gives the ones left.
- If there is no slot left that day, it says so.
- "What have I got booked?" returns their active bookings.
When it cannot be done, it says why
A booking refused without a reason brings another message after it, and another. Every refusal from Bedel carries its reason, written so the person knows what to do next: change the time, the day or the space, or ask at reception.
- The space is closed at that time, or that time has already passed.
- It is being booked further ahead than the space allows.
- It is already full at that time.
- They already have that space booked at that time, or have reached their weekly limit.
- The person writing does not belong to the centre.
No double bookings, and only for people who belong to the centre
Two people can ask for the same room in the same second. Bedel checks for duplicates, capacity and overlaps, and saves the booking inside a single transaction per space, so both cannot get in. Before all that, it checks that the phone number belongs to a resident or to someone on the team.
- Multiple capacity works: a twenty-place space accepts twenty bookings in the same slot, not one.
- The membership check is tied to the booking itself, not to the route it comes in by.
- An outsider writing to the centre's number cannot block a room.
The team's agenda and cancellations
In the dashboard, the spaces section has two parts: at the top, the agenda with what is booked over the next few days, which is what reception looks at in the morning; below, the spaces and their rules, which are changed every so often. A change of opening hours can be told to everyone from announcements.
- Whoever booked cancels on WhatsApp; the team can cancel any booking from the dashboard.
- A cancelled booking is not deleted: it stays marked, with its cancellation time, and the history does not lie.
- Opening a space for booking is the centre's decision, space by space.
What it does not do
- It does not ask the team for approval: if the slot is open and the space's rules are met, the booking is made.
- It does not send reminders before the booking.
- It keeps no waiting list: if someone cancels, the slot shows as available again to whoever asks next.
- It does not charge for the booking or control physical access to the space.
Frequently asked questions
Which spaces can be booked?
Whichever the centre sets up in the dashboard and marks as bookable, with the names the house uses: a study room, a washing machine, a court, a visitors' room or a gym. Each one has its time bands per day of the week, slot length, capacity, days of advance booking and, if wanted, a weekly limit per person. Those that cannot be booked only give their opening hours.
How does it stop two people booking the same thing?
The check and the booking happen together. Duplicates, capacity and overlaps are checked inside a single transaction per space, so if two people ask for the last slot in the same second, only one gets in and the other is told it is already full. In a space with a capacity of twenty, twenty get in.
Can someone hog the washing machine?
Not if the centre gives it a weekly limit per person. When someone reaches their limit, Bedel tells them how many bookings they have that week and that it is the maximum. The limit is optional and set per space: you can put one on the washing machine and leave the study room without. The days of advance booking also limit how far ahead people can book.
Can someone who does not live at the centre book?
No. Before booking, Bedel checks that the phone number belongs to a resident or to someone on the centre's team. Anyone else is told that bookings are only for residents and staff. The check goes with the booking itself, so it does not depend on the route the request comes in by.
How is a booking cancelled?
Whoever booked writes that they want to cancel and Bedel cancels theirs and confirms it. The team can cancel any booking from the agenda in the dashboard. A cancelled booking is not deleted: it stays marked with its cancellation time, so the history tells the truth, and the slot shows as available again for the next person who asks.
Does the team have to approve each booking?
No. If the slot is within the time bands, there is capacity left, the advance-booking rule is respected and the person has not reached their limit, the booking is made on the spot. The centre sets the rules in the dashboard, space by space, and the team sees in the agenda what is booked over the next few days.
Related features
- AnnouncementsThe same notice to many people in the centre, from the dashboard or with '/difundir' on WhatsApp, knowing beforehand how many it reaches.
- Dashboard and metricsConversation history and search, metrics that come from counting rows, team roles and shifts, and data protection rights carried out from the dashboard.
For each type of centre
- Colegios mayoresFor colegios mayores: the dining hall with its cancellations, packed lunches and allergens; activities with their call and their survey; families and applicants; and what belongs to management, to management.
- University residencesFor residences owned by or affiliated with a university: support in each resident's language, repairs and cleaning with outside contractors, the arrivals of each semester and enquiries about places.
- Student residencesFor student residences and PBSA operators: WhatsApp support in the resident's language, repairs with an owner and a deadline, arrivals, presence and parcels.
- ColivingFor coliving and flex living: support in each resident's language, repairs with an owner and a deadline, common-room bookings, parcels and announcements without groups.
- Researcher residencesFor researcher, graduate and visiting-faculty residences: arrivals any week of the year, replies in each person's language, contracted maintenance and cleaning, and the end of every stay.
- Hostels and alberguesFor hostels, albergues and pilgrim hostels: house questions answered in each guest's language, repairs with an owner and a deadline, and the night covered with nobody at the desk.
- Holiday apartmentsFor holiday apartments, aparthotels and mid-stay lets: replies in the guest's language, repairs with a technician and a deadline, housekeeping requests between stays and house rules.
- Build to rentFor build-to-rent and flex living buildings: repairs with an owner and a deadline even when maintenance is outsourced, parcels with a notice, shared-space bookings, building notices and house rules answered.