Room booking for small organisations
I'm Doris. I take the bookings, stop the clashes and send the bills.
“Calls to Kirsten about room bookings have all but stopped.”
Kirsten, Clinical Lead, Beyond Counselling, Wolverhampton
Margaret, Dev and Priya are drawings. Kirsten isn’t.
Read the Beyond Counselling storyTap an answer to each, and I'll tell you honestly whether I fit.
Each runs a different kind of place, and each books it a different way.
Margaret runs Willow House, a counselling practice with eight rooms and forty therapists. They book an hour at a time, or a morning, afternoon or evening in one go. Students pay less, and the regulars can take a monthly plan.
See how Doris helps Margaret
Dev runs Brookside Community Centre: a main hall, two meeting rooms and a kitchen, hired for whatever hours people need. Regular groups like Carla’s Zumba book the whole term at the community rate, and Dev books in the parties for the wider community at the hire rate, with a deposit.
See how Doris helps Dev
Priya runs Northlight Works, a co-working space with thirty hot desks, six parking spaces and two offices booked by the hour for meetings. Members drop in for a day or come on a monthly plan, and everyone gets one statement a month.
See how Doris helps PriyaGrouped by the plan that brings them. Free is free for as long as you use it.
On every plan, Free included
Counted in the month they happen. Run short and a pack of 40 more costs £16; spare ones never expire.
For example: December is busy at a village hall on Free; the secretary buys one pack and carries on.
No app store: it goes on the home screen.
For example: Tom books Room 3 at eight at night, while the client is still on the phone.
Checked the moment someone books, never sorted out afterwards.
For example: The whist drive can't take the hall while Zumba has it.
Nobody is in two rooms at once, unless you say they may be.
For example: Sam has a desk for the day, and books Office 1 for a meeting at two.
A term at a time on Free (up to 14 dates), or with no end date on Diary.
For example: Carla books her Zumba term in one go.
For people who are not members. You talk to them first, then book them in.
For example: A birthday party rings; Dev books it before he hangs up.
Mark the days the building is shut, Christmas or a week of repairs, and nobody can book them. Anything already booked on those days is flagged to you.
For example: The hall shuts a week to redecorate; Carla's Zumba term, booked after, skips that week.
Some rooms need your say-so. You say yes from your phone.
For example: The Group Room needs Margaret's OK; she gives it on the bus.
Things with a count, booked with the room. A price on them is Diary & Billing.
For example: Sue books the tea urn with the room. There is only one.
People who stop booking are warned, then paused. You never phone round.
For example: Amira gets her 15-day notice and books to stay.
Add with Diary
No monthly count and no packs to buy.
For example: Priya's desks are booked every weekday, and nothing is counting.
Draw your building once; see who is where. On a tablet or a computer.
For example: Sam sees the window desks are free before he leaves home.
Owners and admins can ask their own assistant about the diary.
For example: "Which rooms are free next Saturday afternoon?"
Add with Diary & Billing
Different prices for different people, set once.
For example: Students pay Margaret less for the same room.
Bundles of bookings or hours, counted for you.
For example: Lola's plan includes two desk days a week.
I send the statements. Members pay by card from the email, into your account. I take no cut; Stripe's card fee applies.
For example: Kit pays his statement by card, no sort code.
Strangers can't book your hall unseen. They ring, you talk, then you book them in as a guest.
Money goes from your members to your account. It never passes through me, and I take no cut.
100 rooms and 500 members on every plan, Free included.
Everyone starts with up to 28 days of everything, free. Then keep Free, or choose Diary or Diary & Billing. No per-room fees, no per-member fees. 100 rooms and 500 members on every plan. Pay yearly and get two months free.
The diary, free for as long as you use it.
£0
The whole diary, no limits.
£20 a month£200 a year
Everything I do. All of it.
£40 a month£400 a year
Prices plus VAT. Cancel whenever you like; your diary and its history stay put. Every price and question.
Yes. Free covers 100 bookings a month, counted in the month they happen. If you go over, a pack of 40 costs £16, or you move to Diary.
Not by themselves. They ring, you talk it through, and you book them in as a guest. Guest bookings are on every plan.
There's no import button, so someone types it in: the rooms and opening hours, each weekly group as one regular booking, the one-offs, then your members, a few at a time. Run both for a month. We'll walk you through it on a call if you like.
No. Doris opens in the phone's browser and goes on the home screen like an app.
Not in the part that books your room. That is plain, predictable software that does the same thing every time, and I would not have it any other way. At the edges I open up: the assistant you already use can read your diary and draft the fiddly bits, and nothing it drafts takes effect until you say so. On Diary and above, with your permission, revocable in one click.
Free for up to 100 bookings a month. Up to 28 days of everything first. No card needed.