Checking for overlaps

You can check automatically to see if there are any overlaps when scheduling times for appointments, holidays, jobs and phone calls by using the overlap check function.

There are 3 settings which you could use for this.

• Your administrator defines the defaults for this in the Management Console.
• You define the general setting for the overlap check in the Settings window, in the Calendar tab.

• Settings: Calendar/General

• In addition, you can configure a special setting in the data record window for appointments and holidays.

Depending on the administrator defaults and the general settings the overlap check can vary.

Administrator defaults

The administrator settings only have an effect if you have activated the overlap check, either in general in the settings or more specifically in the respective data records.

• All-day appointments are included in the overlap check if the administrator included them in the check.

For example
Booking Resources is easier when all-day appointments are checked. Company cars are often booked out as all-day appointments. We therefore recommend that your administrator configure your overlap check to include all-day appointments. If you also want to check appointments for overlaps and book the company car for all-day appointments, then you will be sent a hint text.

Appointments between 00:00 and 23:59 are checked using only your settings and independent of the administrator settings.

• Time

• Appointments in the past are not checked for overlaps with other Activities even if the administrator has configured it that way.

  Activities are data record types and include appointments, tasks, phone calls, jobs, and holidays.

  You manage all activities similarly. For example, you create or edit data record types or lists the same way for all data record types.

You can check these administrator settings if you open a past appointment. If the Check for overlaps option is not active, then your administrator has deactivated the Check for overlaps option for past events.

You can change the Check for overlaps option in a data record manually.

• You can check for overlaps in all the changes made to an activity or only in specific fields such as Start, End and participants. This has to be configured by your administrator.

General setting: Overlap check is activated

When saving an appointment, job, holiday or phone call, the system checks whether or not an overlap exists. If there is an overlap, you will receive an error message.

The general setting has the following effects for appointments and holidays in the data record window: the Check for overlaps option is activated by default.

• If you deactivate the option in the data record window, then the check will be disabled for the next saving action and no overlap check will be carried out.

The Check for overlaps option will be automatically re-activated the next time the data record will be activated.

General setting: the overlap check is deactivated

Overlaps will not be checked.

This general setting has for appointments and holidays the effect that the Check for overlaps option in the data record window is not activated by default.

• If you activate the option, the check for the next saving of the appointment and/or holiday is activated and an overlap check is executed.

When you open the data record the next time, the option is automatically deactivated again.

Resolving overlaps

If the system identifies overlaps, the Overlap warning for ... window will open. The upper pane then displays all data records that triggered this overlap warning.

• Select a data record in the upper section of the list.

You cannot select multiple data records.

If you select a data record in the upper pane of the window, the users and resources with overlaps will then be displayed in the lower pane.

• To ignore the overlap warning, click Save current activity; this saves your data record.
• If you want to change the data in the data record, click Change current activity.