Hello everyone,
We trust you are all keeping your spirits up and embracing working remotely wherever possible. Here at Matrix Booking HQ we have seen a dip in daily bookings recently (as expected) however we have also seen a number of clients taking the opportunity to implement some changes to business rules and settings whilst there is a temporary quiet period. We have even seen a few clients speed up their implementations so they can be ready to launch when people return to the office. As we are fully set up to work remotely we have also taken the opportunity to improve some of the features on our website. Over the next weekend (April 18th / 19th) we will be releasing a new version of the Matrix Booking web application with further features and improvements. These features are are outlined below in advance so that, if you wish, you can update any internal communications or screenshots you have - we will communicate this again next week once the changes have gone live.
Improved accessibility support – WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance
The Matrix Booking web app will now be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant, to further improve our support for users with accessibility needs. As part of this support, we will also improve the consistency, contrast and appearance of the web app for all users. There will be a large number of small changes across the site, however some of the main ones that may look a little different (and clearer of course) are shown below.
Changes to availability list views
When searching for available rooms, desks or other resources, the results of the search will now look a little different, although the app still works the same.
Key changes include:
-
Filters (shown on the left hand side of the screen) will be given a new appearance to better identify whether they allow a single value to be selected or multiple. This will appliy to My Bookings and All Bookings filters also.
-
Links will be more noticeable – such as “Meeting Room A.1” (shown below), which can be clicked to see the pictures and other information that have been added for this room.
-
Any alert text will now shown inline, rather than as an icon with tooltip. The same also applies if the booking will need to be approved.
-
The Book button will change colour to be consistent throughout the app, and will now appear underneath the room name.
Changes to calendar views
The colours shown in day, week and month calendar views will be updated to be less bright and to change to a font colour that better satisfies contrast ratios. This will apply to wherever the calendar is shown, including availability search results, My Bookings and All Bookings.
The text of column headings will also now be easier to read also.
New Image Gallery
A new image gallery will be implemented so that each image appears larger and to support navigating between images with the left and right keyboard arrow keys. You will also now be able to click an image to zoom in and out, or by pressing the Enter key. The zoomed-in image will be panned by moving the mouse pointer or via the keyboard arrow keys.
This is particularly useful when viewing floorplans.
Other accessibility changes
-
The signup, login and reset password screens will be updated with a more consistent and accessible design.
-
Error, warning and information messages will be updated to have better contrast.
-
Charts will indicate key figures in legend labels to aid users with accessibility needs.
-
Values that were read-only could be hard to read, especially on Internet Explorer. Read-only values will now appear as labels and will be much easier to read. This is particularly noticeable when checking a visitor in and out.
-
Although not used by most customers, the design of the 'shopping basket' screen will be improved.
Hiding all booking details from others
Generally, users are able to see most details of bookings made by others within their organisation, such as the title and meeting attendees. Whilst this continues to be the default, customers can choose to restrict what booking information others can see.
When enabled, other users can only see who made a booking and when it is for. They will not see the title, notes, attendees nor any options selected. Please contact your account manager if you would like this feature enabled for your organisation or if you would like further details about it.
Showing only the relevant SSO login button
When an email address is entered on the login screen, Matrix Booking checks for a single sign-on setup and shows an SSO login button for each setup found.
Whilst most SSO customers only have a single SSO setup, for customers with multiple setups, this meant that multiple SSO login buttons would be shown.
It will now be possible to associate one or more domains with an SSO setup, so that only the relevant SSO login button for the entered email address will be shown.
To set this up, please raise a support ticket detailing which email domains should be associated with each SSO setup.
Matrix 'Flex': Auto cancel resources
Flex is a feature that allows Matrix Booking to allow resources to be generally UNAVAILABLE, and then simply be released when available. This is often referred to as 'reverse hotelling'. These are known as 'flex' resources – where, for example, a desk is permanently assigned to an individual and then made available for others to use when they are away. It is now possible to have Matrix Booking automatically cancel bookings where the flex resource is no longer available, notifying the owner of the booking for example where a released resource now needs to be used because the person releasing it now needs it back.
If you are interested in finding out a bit more about this type of feature then please contact your account manager to arrange a demonstration.
Supporting Information
View our .
Finally, you are receiving this operational email because you are listed as an Administrator of Matrix Booking – if this is not the case or you do not wish to receive these updates, then please click the unsubscribe link below.
** As a reminder, these changes are NOT live yet, this is advance notice of the changes being implemented next weekend - 18th / 19th April 2020 **
Regards,
Ian Jones
Head of Professional Services