The information in this chapter is only available if Physical Content Management has been enabled.
Reservations are used to manage physical items. Items can be checked out to users, reserved for later use, or requested. This chapter discusses reservation use and contains the following topics:
A user can put a hold on items that are currently unavailable (for example, someone else has the item). If others also made a reservation request for an item, that reservation is put on a waiting list, which specifies the order in which people made a reservation for the item.
A reservation request may comprise multiple items.
After a reservation request is made, an e-mail notification is sent to the administrator, who processes the request and starts the reservation fulfillment process in accordance with the applicable procedures in the organization.
If you are a user with the standard reservation privileges, you cannot make any changes to an existing reservation. You can only do so if your administrator has granted you special privileges beyond the defaults for a PCM requestor.
Each user can normally place only one reservation request for the same item. However,the administrator may have set up the system so a user can make multiple requests. This may be useful in environments where there are users who make reservation requests on behalf of several people.
Each reservation request has several properties, including:
The request status specifies the current status for a reserved physical item, which can be any of the following:
Waiting List: The request item is currently already checked out to someone else. It will become available to the next requestor upon its return (unless the administrator chooses to override the waiting list order).
In Process (initial default): The reserved item is available and is being prepared for delivery. Only one request item for a reservation can have the "In Process" status.
Not Found: The request item could not be located in its designated location.
Unavailable: The request item cannot currently be processed for delivery.
Denied: The reservation request has been rejected by the administrator and cannot be fulfilled.
Canceled: The reservation request was called off before it could be fulfilled.
Checked Out: The reserved item is currently in the possession of someone as part of a reservation request. If a physical item is checked out, its current location (as shown on the Physical Item Information page) is automatically set to the value of the Deliver To Location field for the associated reservation request. If no value was entered in this field, the current location is set to "OTHER." Also, the current location comment on the Physical Item Information page) is set to the location comment specified for the associated reservation request. If no comment was provided, it is set to the login name of the user who made the reservation.
Overdue: The reserved item is currently checked out to someone who has failed to return the item within the configured checkout time. As a result, the reservation request cannot currently be fulfilled.
By default, an e-mail notification is sent out to the user who has an overdue item. This e-mail notification can be turned off.
Returned: The checked-out item was returned to the storage repository, so it is available for other users to reserve and check out.
The transfer method specifies how the person who made the request (the requestor) will receive the reserved item. Users specify the desired transfer method when a reservation request is created. The following transfer methods are supported:
Copy: The physical content item will be duplicated and the copy will be provided to the intended recipient. The copy can be physical (for example, a copied DVD) or electronic (for example, an ISO image of a CD).
Fax: The physical content item will be faxed to its intended recipient.
Mail: The original physical content item will be mailed to its intended recipient.
Pickup: The intended recipient will pick up the physical content item in person.
Email: The content item will be e-mailed to its intended recipient.
The priority of a reservation request specifies the urgency with which it must be fulfilled. User specify the desired priority when they create a reservation request. The following priorities are supported:
No Priority: Delivery of the requested item does not have any particular priority (there is no rush). The item can be delivered in accordance with the applicable fulfillment procedures.
ASAP Rush: The requested item should be delivered to its intended recipient as soon as possible after the reservation was made.
This Morning: The requested item should be delivered to its intended recipient the same morning the reservation was made.
Today: The requested item should be delivered to its intended recipient the same day the reservation was made.
This Week: The requested item should be delivered to its intended recipient the same week the reservation was made.
The following tasks are included when managing reservations:
Permissions:
The PCM.Reservation.Create right is required to perform this task. This right is assigned by default to the predefined PCM Requestor and PCM Administrator roles.Use this procedure to create a new reservation request for one or more physical items.
Reservation requests can only be made for physical (external) items. Error messages are displayed if an attempt is made to reserve electronic (internal) items.
By default, each user can place only one reservation request for the same item. If users make reservation requests on behalf of multiple people (for example, manager assistants), it may be useful to override this behavior. To do so, add the following variable to the physicalcontentmanager_environment.cfg configuration file:
AllowMultipleRequests=true
If a reservation request is created for a physical item containing other items, the other items are included in the reservation. The child items are not seen in the request, but when a checkout is done for the parent item, all child items are also checked out. YA reqeust can be made for each of the child items, but they cannot be checked out until the parent item is returned.
As soon as a reservation request is submitted, the status of all request items is automatically changed to "In Process," unless their status is already "In Process" or "Checked Out." In that case, it is changed to "Waiting List."
Users with the standard reservation privileges (those with the predefined 'pcmrequestor' role) cannot make any changes to an existing reservation by default. In order to edit existing reservation requests, they must be given the PCM.Reservation.Edit right.
To make a reservation request, complete the following steps:
Search for the physical item(s) to reserve and add them to the content basket.
Click My Content Server then click My Content Basket.
The Content Basket Page is displayed.
Select the box of each physical item to reserve and click Request then Request Selected Items from the Table menu. To reserve all items in the content basket, choose Request All Items.
A prompt is displayed asking if the selected items should be removed from the content basket after they are reserved.
Click Yes or No. Click Cancel to stop the reservation request.
The Create or Edit Request Page is displayed.
Specify the properties of the new reservation request, such as the transfer method, priority, and delivery location.
Click Create when finished.
The status of all request items is now automatically changed to "In Process," unless their status is already "In Process" or "Checked Out." In that case, it is changed to "Waiting List." The items are reserved and the administrator is notified about the reservation request. After the administrator processes the reservation request, it can be fulfilled in accordance with the procedures in the organization.
Permissions:
The PCM.Reservation.Edit right is required to perform this task. This right is assigned by default to the predefined PCM Administrator role. A user can edit an owned reservation without this right depending on the settings when PCM was configured.Use this procedure to modify the properties of an existing reservation request.
Click Physical then Reservations from the Top menu.
The Reservation Search Results Page is displayed.
Locate the reservation request to edit and click Edit then Edit Request from its Action menu.
The Create or Edit Request Page is displayed.
Modify the properties of the reservation request and click Submit Update when finished.
Permissions:
The PCM.Reservation.Delete right is required to perform this task. This right is assigned by default to the predefined PCM Administrator role. A user can delete an owned reservation without this right depending on the setting when PCM is configured.Use this procedure to delete an existing reservation request. Deleting a reservation request effectively cancels it.
Click Physical then Reservations from the Top menu.
The Reservation Search Results Page is displayed.
Locate the reservation request to delete and click Delete Request from its Action menu.
The reservation request is deleted immediately, without any further prompts. If there were no errors, a message is displayed stating the reservation request was deleted successfully.
Permissions:
The PCM.Reservation.Read right is required to perform this task. This right is assigned by default to the predefined PCM Requestor and PCM Administrator roles.Use this procedure to view all outstanding reservation requests for a physical item.
Search for the physical item.
On the search results page, click Information then click View Reservations in the item's Action menu.
The Reservation Search Results Page is displayed listing all outstanding reservation request for the current physical item.
Permissions:
The PCM.Reservation.Edit right is required to perform this task. This right is assigned by default to the predefined PCM Administrator role. Users can change the status of an owned reservation without this right depending on the settings when PCM was configured.Use this procedure to change the status of a request item in an existing reservation request.
Search for the request item to change.
On the Reservation Search Results Page locate the request item with statuses to change and click Information then Request Item Information from its Action menu.
The Request Item Information Page is displayed.
Choose Edit on the Page menu.
The Edit Request Item Page is displayed.
Select a new status and click Submit Update when finished.