Resource Approvals lets you require an approval step before reservations are confirmed for specific rooms or seats. When a reservation is requested, approvers are notified by email and can review pending requests on the Resource Approvals page or the Pending Approvals dashboard widget. From there, they can approve, deny, or propose an alternate resource. While a request is pending, the time slot is held with a tentative placeholder on the resource’s calendar so the slot isn’t double-booked.

Overview

When a room or seat is configured to require approval, every new reservation for that resource enters a Pending state. The reservation is visible to the requester with a “Pending Approval” pill. If calendar sync is enabled, a tentative Pending Reservation Request event is placed on the resource’s external calendar to hold the slot. Approvers are notified by email and can take action from the Resource Approvals page, the Pending Approvals dashboard widget, or directly from the email itself.

Approvers are resolved in this order:

1. Resource-level approvers configured on the room or seat (specific users and/or groups).
2. Location-level fallback approvers: if the room or seat has no approvers configured, the location-level fallback approvers are used instead.

Resource-level configuration always takes precedence. If either the user list or the group list on the room or seat is non-empty, the location-level fallback is ignored entirely for that resource.

Configuring Resource Approvals

Approvals can be configured at three levels: per-room, per-seat, and per-location (as a fallback). Each level offers the same set of options: designated approvers and optional auto-approve rules.

Configuring Approvals on a Room

1. Select the Locations tab from the left-hand navigation bar.
2. Select the Manage Rooms tab at the top of the page.
3. Locate and select the room you want to configure, and click Edit Room.
4. On the left side of the edit room window, click the Approvals tab.

5. Toggle Reservations require approval to enabled.
6. Click Save Changes.
7. Add one or more Approvers. You can add individual users, groups, or a combination of both. When a group is added, every member of that group becomes an approver for this room.
8. (Optional) Configure Auto-Approve Rules. See the section below for details.

Configuring Approvals on a Seat

1. Select the Locations tab from the left-hand navigation bar.
2. Select the Manage Seats tab at the top of the page.
3. Locate and select the seat you want to configure, and click Edit Seat.
4. On the left side of the edit seat window, click the Approvals tab.

5. Toggle Reservations require approval to enabled.
6. Click Save Changes.
7. Add one or more Approvers (users, groups, or both).
8. (Optional) Configure Auto-Approve Rules.

Configuring Location-Level Fallback Approvers

Location-level approvers are used as a fallback for any room or seat in that location that does not have its own approvers configured. This is useful when most resources in a location share the same approver(s), so you don’t have to repeat the configuration on every room or seat.

1. Select the Locations tab from the left-hand navigation bar.
2. Select the Manage Locations tab at the top of the page.
3. Locate and select the location you want to configure, and click Edit Location.
4. On the left side of the edit location window, click the Approvals tab.

5. Add one or more fallback Approvers (users, groups, or both).
6. (Optional) Configure Auto-Approve Rules. These will apply to any approval-required resource in the location that doesn’t have its own auto-approve rules.

Auto-Approve Rules

Auto-Approve Rules let you automatically approve reservations that meet certain criteria without sending the request to an approver. Rules can be configured per-room, per-seat, or per-location (as a fallback). When more than one rule is configured, all rules are evaluated. If any rule matches, the reservation is auto-approved and no email is sent to approvers.

The supported rule types are:

• Short Duration: auto-approves reservations that are at or below a specified length in minutes (e.g., auto-approve any reservation that is 30 minutes or shorter).
• Requester is in group: auto-approves reservations made by anyone who is a member of the selected group(s).
• Time Window: Automatically approves reservations that fall entirely within the specified time range (e.g., 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM); reservations starting before or ending after the window will not be auto-approved. Overnight windows are supported by setting the To time earlier than the From time (e.g., 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM).

Access to the Resource Approvals Page and Widgets

The Resource Approvals page is visible only to users who are configured as an approver on at least one active room or seat (either directly, via a group, or via the location-level fallback). This applies to admins and non-admins alike — an admin who is not configured as an approver anywhere will not see the Resource Approvals page.

The Approvals Process

When a user submits a reservation that includes an approval-required resource, the reservation enters the approvals workflow.

Submitting a Request

1. A requester creates a reservation that includes one or more approval-required rooms or seats.
2. The reservation is saved with an Approval Status of Pending. A “Pending Approval” pill appears on the reservation in the resource finder, the home calendar, the reservation dialog, the “My Reservations” agenda, and on event blocks across the app.
3. If the resource is configured to sync with an external calendar, a tentative Pending Reservation Request placeholder event is placed on the resource’s external calendar to hold the slot. The placeholder shows as tentative, has no attendees, and contains no reservation details - it simply indicates the slot is held. Resources that don’t sync with an external calendar still go through the in-app approval gate; only the external placeholder is skipped.
4. All resolved approvers for the resource receive an Approval Required email. They also see the request appear immediately in the Resource Approvals page and the Pending Approvals dashboard widget.

Multi-Location and Recurring Reservations

• Multi-location reservations (a reservation that includes more than one resource) treat each location independently. If only some of the resources require approval, the reservation may show as approved for one resource and pending for another. If a resource is denied while others remain, the denied resource is removed from the reservation but the rest stay live.
• Recurring reservations are decided as a series. One approval (or denial) covers every occurrence of the series. On the Resource Approvals page and in the Pending Approvals dashboard widget, recurring requests are grouped into a single tile that shows the recurrence pattern, occurrence count, and an expandable list of occurrence dates.

What Happens When an Approved Reservation is Edited

Approvals are sticky across edits. Once a reservation has been approved, editing the time, title, attendees, or other fields does not reset the reservation to a pending state. Instead:

• A system note is automatically added to the Approval Notes thread describing what changed and who made the edit (e.g., “Reservation edited after approval by Jane Doe: time changed.”).
• All approvers for the resource receive an Approved Reservation Updated informational email. This email is purely a heads-up and contains no Approve or Deny buttons.

Auto-Approve on Edit

Edits to a still-pending reservation that bring it into a matching auto-approve window (for example, shortening the duration so it now fits the “Short Duration” rule) will flip the reservation to Approved automatically. Approvals are one-way: an already-approved or denied reservation is never re-evaluated.

Approving, Denying, and Proposing Alternates

Approvers can take action on a pending reservation from several places. Every surface decides the same way: approve, deny, or propose an alternate resource. All actions instantly update the requester and any other open approver sessions in real time.

The Resource Approvals Page

The Resource Approvals page is the main full-page interface for triaging pending reservations. It is automatically available under the Home menu for any user who is a designated approver for at least one active room or seat.

The page shows a filterable agenda of pending, approved, and denied reservations. Each agenda card shows the resource, requested time, requester, and a status pill. For pending requests, the card also shows Approve, Deny, Propose Alternate, and Add Note action buttons.

Approving a Request

1. From the Resource Approvals page, locate the request in the list.
2. Click Approve.
3. The placeholder is removed from the resource’s calendar, the real reservation event is written in its place, and the requester receives a Reservation Approved email. The status pill on the request flips to green (Approved) immediately.

Denying a Request

1. From the Resource Approvals page, locate the request in the list.
2. Click Deny.
3. A prompt appears asking for an optional Denial Reason. The reason is included in the requester’s denial email and appears in the Approval Notes thread for that resource.
4. Click Submit.
5. The placeholder is removed, the requester receives a Reservation Denied email, and the reservation is moved to the denied collection. If the reservation included other resources besides the denied one, those other resources stay live. Only the denied resource is removed from the reservation.

Proposing an Alternate Resource

When the requested resource isn’t a good fit but a similar resource in the same location is available, you can propose the alternate instead of denying outright. The original resource stays held while the requester decides whether to accept the swap.

1. From the Resource Approvals page or the Pending Approvals widget, click Propose Alternate on a pending request.
2. The Propose Alternate picker opens, listing all eligible alternates: same location, same type (room or seat), and free for the entire requested time window. Resources that themselves require approval are included with a Requires Approval badge so you know what the requester will see.
3. Select the alternate and click Propose. For recurring series, the proposal applies to the entire series (the picker confirms the occurrence count before submission).
4. The reservation status changes to Alternate Proposed and the requester receives an Alternate Proposed email.

The requester then sees an Alternate Proposed pill on their reservation with inline Accept and Reject buttons in the My Approval Status widget:

• Accept: the original resource is swapped for the alternate. If the alternate doesn’t require approval, the reservation is immediately approved. If the alternate does require approval, a fresh approval request is sent to the alternate’s approvers.
• Reject: the proposal is dismissed and the reservation returns to Pending on the original resource. The original resource’s approvers are re-notified.

One-Click Approve / Deny from Email

Every Approval Required email contains Approve and Deny buttons that allow approvers to take action without logging into Maptician.

1. In the email, click Approve or Deny.
2. A confirmation page opens in a browser showing a summary of the reservation and an Approve or Deny button. If denying, an optional reason field is provided.
3. Click the action to confirm. A success page is shown, and the decision is applied immediately.

Approval Notes Thread

Every approval-required reservation has an Approval Notes thread, which is an ongoing conversation between the requester and the resource’s approvers. Notes are visible to both sides and are included in the body of approval, denial, and notification emails so context isn’t lost in inboxes.

The Approval Notes dialog can be opened from:

• The Notes button on each row of the Pending Approvals dashboard widget.
• The Notes badge on each resource entry in the My Approval Status widget.
• The Notes button on each approval-required location in the reservation dialog and on calendar location tiles.

Inside the dialog you can:

• View the entire thread, including any system-generated notes (auto-approve reason, post-approval edit summary, alternate proposed, accepted, or rejected, etc.).
• Add a new note (up to 2,000 characters).
• Edit or delete your own notes only. You can’t edit or delete notes authored by someone else.

Unread indicators appear when the other party has posted a note that you haven’t seen yet:

• A red dot on the Notes button or badge for the affected reservation.
• A red dot on the dashboard widget header itself, so you can see at a glance that something needs your attention.
• A red left border on the affected card in the My Approval Status widget.

Unread indicators clear automatically when you open the Approval Notes dialog for that resource.

Email Notifications

There are six emails that can be sent during the approval lifecycle. Every email includes the current Approval Notes thread in its body so all parties have full context, and emails are sent only when the recipient is the appropriate party for that event.

↳ Approval Required (sent to approvers)

Subject: “Approval required: {Reservation title}”

When it’s sent: A new reservation is submitted that includes a resource requiring approval, and the request is not auto-approved.

Recipients: All resolved approvers for the resource (per-resource approvers, or the office-level fallback if none are configured).

Includes: Reservation summary (title, requester, time, resource, location), an “Approve” one-click button, a “Deny” one-click button, the Approval Notes thread (if any notes exist), and a deep link to the Resource Approvals page.

 

 

↳ Reservation Approved (sent to requester)

Subject: “Reservation approved: {Reservation title}”

When it’s sent: An approver approves the reservation, either from the Resource Approvals page, the Pending Approvals widget, the reservation dialog, or the one-click email link.

Recipients: The reservation owner (requester).

Includes: Reservation summary, the full Approval Notes thread (if any notes exist).

 

 

↳ Reservation Denied (sent to requester)

Subject: “Reservation denied: {Reservation title}”

When it’s sent: An approver denies the reservation.

Recipients: The reservation owner (requester).

Includes: Reservation summary, the denial reason (if provided), and the full Approval Notes thread.

 

 

↳ Approved Reservation Updated (sent to approvers)

Subject: “Approved reservation edited: {Reservation title}”

When it’s sent: An already-approved reservation is edited (time change, attendee change, title change, or any other field).

Recipients: All resolved approvers for the resource that was previously approved.

Includes: Reservation summary, a description of what changed and who made the change, and the Approval Notes thread. This email is informational only. It does not contain Approve or Deny buttons. The reservation remains in an approved state.

 

 

 

↳ Alternate Proposed (sent to requester)

Subject: “Alternate proposed for your reservation: {Reservation title}”

When it’s sent: An approver proposes a different resource as an alternative to the originally requested one.

Recipients: The reservation owner (requester).

Includes: Original resource, proposed alternate resource, the approver’s name, whether the alternate itself requires approval, and a deep link to the My Approval Status widget where the requester can accept or reject the proposal.

 

 

↳ New Approval Note (sent to requester)

Subject: “New approval note: {Reservation title}”

When it’s sent: An approver posts a note in the Approval Notes thread for the reservation. No email is sent when the requester posts a note.

Recipients: The reservation owner (requester).

Includes: Reservation summary, the name of the approver who added the note, and the full updated Approval Notes thread so the new note appears in conversation context. This email is informational only. It does not contain Approve or Deny buttons.

 

 

Dashboard Widgets

Two new dashboard widgets ship with Resource Approvals. Both update in real time, so you don’t need to refresh the page to see the latest activity.

Pending Approvals Widget

Audience: Resource approvers.

The Pending Approvals widget is a table of every reservation currently awaiting a decision from the logged-in approver. It’s automatically added to the home dashboard for any user who is an approver for at least one resource. This widget provides quick action buttons to approve, deny, propose alternate resource, or add notes to the reservation. Clicking on the reservation will open the reservation details dialog.

My Approval Status Widget

Audience: Anyone who has reservations on approval-required resources.

The My Approval Status widget shows a card per upcoming reservation that has at least one approval-required resource, with a color-coded status line per resource:

• Orange: Pending
• Green: Approved
• Red: Denied
• Purple: Alternate Proposed - an approver has suggested a different resource. Inline Accept and Reject buttons appear directly on the card.

Each card also shows a Notes badge with an unread indicator. Clicking the badge opens the Approval Notes dialog directly; clicking elsewhere on the card opens the full reservation dialog.

➡️ How do I customize my home screen and widgets?

Reports

Three new reports are available under the Reports menu for tracking and auditing approval activity.

Pending Resource Approvals

A list of all reservations currently pending approval across the selected locations. Each entry displays the Resource, Requested By name, Email address, Title of the meeting, Start and End date/time of the requested time window, the Requested On date and time indicating when the request was submitted, and whether the reservation is Recurring. The Actions column provides buttons to open the reservation detail dialog (Open Reservation) or view reservation notes (Notes).

Pending Approvals by Resource

A list of all resources across selected locations that have require approvals enabled. Each entry displays the Resource name, Type (e.g., Room, Seat), Office location, the count of Approvers assigned to the resource, the count of Pending reservation requests, the count of Recent Denials, and the Last Activity date. The Approvers and Pending counts are clickable and open drilldown dialogs with additional detail.

Resource Denials

A list of all reservation requests that have been denied across selected locations. Each entry displays the Denied On date and time, the Denied By approver's name, the Resource that was requested, the Requested By name, the Title of the meeting, the Start and End date/time of the requested time window, the Denial Reason provided by the approver (if any), and whether the reservation was Recurring. The Actions column provides buttons to open the reservation detail dialog (Open Reservation) or view reservation notes (Notes).