How to Check Google Calendar Room Availability

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When your organization uses resource calendars for room management, you may need to see the full schedule in one place. This guide will walk you through the steps needed to show resource calendar schedules like a regular calendar inside of Google Apps.

See Resource Calendar Events in Google Calendar

By default, you'll only see resources under "Rooms, etc" in the sidebar when creating a new event. When you add a room to a meeting invite, you're basically asking it to RSVP immediately. If the resource is already booked, it will reject the meeting invite. This can lead to some confusing "I thought we booked this room" moments if left undiscovered.Instead of guessing availability randomly, you can add your organization's room calendars to your sidebar and increase visibility in just a few easy steps.

1. Under "Other Calendars", Click on "Browse Interesting Calendars"

2. From the “More” tab You’ll See A Link for “Resources on YOURDOMAIN.COM”

3. Click "Subscribe" for Each Calendar You Want to See

4. The Resource Calendars Will Now Show Up in Your Sidebar.

‍You can now show and hide the room's schedule just like your other shared calendars. Administrators in Google will see them under "My Calendars" and regular users will find them in "Other Calendars".

Booking the Resource Calendar from Google Apps

When a calendar is listed in one of your sidebars, it will show up as part of the dropdown on the event booking page. This can be a little confusing at first, since you'll also see a reference to the resource calendar under "Rooms, etc." on the right.Events that use the "Calendar" dropdown to select the room's resource will still work.

Booking this way won't be as easy to manage since Google Calendar's UI won't won't update you of collisions until you book the meeting and find the room's calendar rejected due to conflicts.

When in doubt, you should rely on the "Rooms, etc" list for scheduling the room.

You Can View the Room Schedule. Now What?

By now you should be able to see all event times and (depending on your admin's settings) full meeting details for the room resource. This makes finding free blocks of time for a specific room much easier than randomly clicking around inside the "Rooms, etc" area until a free room finally appears.

‍Tip for administrators: Now that you know how to show resource calendars in Google Apps, you can make changes to the calendar itself via its settings menu. This is useful if you want to override the sharing settings or include extra info about the calendar itself.

Learn how to share a Google Apps resource calendar outside your organization's domain. Do you want to grab a meeting room on the fly? Perhaps you need to have a quick, ad hoc meeting. If you use Robin, you can download Robin Rooms and see room availability right from the door.

‍Room displays mounted outside meeting rooms show you if rooms are free, in use and when the next meeting will be in that location. If it's available, you can schedule from the display and get your meeting under way.