Import Reservations Utility

The practices below are recommended for preparing existing reservations for import into EMS.

To view the fields you are importing in order, navigate to EMS System Administration > Tools > Import Reservation Utility. Use Print > Import Format to view the fields in order.

Reservation Import Utility Fields

More Best Practices

• Your import file must be tab-delimited. The easiest way to generate the file is to use Excel, copy and paste into Notepad, and save the file.
• Make sure the Group, 1st Contact, and Billing Reference are the same for all bookings within any single reservation. (For example, Taylor cannot be the contact for Monday while Chris is the contact for Tuesday)
• Group Name will be matched based on the first one found in your database. If you have two groups called "Pat Lee", EMS will pick the first one and assign it to all matching reservations.
• Values for 1st Contact will create contacts in EMS as temporary contacts.
• Everyday User and Everyday User Process Templates will not be assigned to imported reservations.
• If you choose to map Everyday Users to your imported reservations, you should also make sure the Everyday User you assigned is set to "Active" security status. If an Everyday User logs on for the first time and they already have reservations created, they will be moved from "Activate on Logon" status to "Pending" status and you will need to manually activate their account. You can prevent this by making their account "Active" in advance.
• Be sure not to copy any header rows when you import. Your first row in Notepad should have tabs between, instead of spaces.
• Selecting the checkbox to "Skip Notifications" causes all imported bookings to bypass the checks for any EMS Notification Rules. The utility has been successfully used for importing tens of thousands of records at a time, but if you are processing notification rules, large batches could take a very long time to complete.
• The Import Utility only allows you to specify the Start Date. If your start time is greater than your end time, EMS will assume your end date is one day later. You cannot import a single booking longer than 24 hours.
• All times should be local to the time zone of the building you’re booking. For example, 0800 for New York, and 0800 for London would create 8:00 am bookings in the respective buildings.
• Once you start loading your import file, if you see "Unassigned" rooms or groups/people, that means the data in your import file did not find an exact match. You can manually fix rooms and groups individually, but if you notice that there are way too many to cleanup individually, you might be better off deleting the import session, then fixing your import file, and then creating a new session. If you create manual mappings, they will be remembered for future import sessions.
• After launching an import, you might see a failure message. The import might have been completed, so after waiting a while, check to see before re-launching the import.
• If you are importing video conference reservations, you will need to one more step for them to have associated reservation numbers: after the import, for these reservations use the “Move Bookings” option to move them to a primary reservation number. That reservation should then be marked as “Videoconference” in EMS, and a host site designated.
• Setup and Teardown time are not included in the import. If you need the room blocked including setup/teardown time, you can set your start time and end time to reflect the entire duration for which you want to block the room, or you can modify the bookings post-import.

If you need to load an existing import, then after opening the Reservation Import Sessions window, skip to Import Reservations Into a Session.

1. On the EMS menu bar, click System Administration > Tools > Import Reservations Utility. 

   The Reservation Import Sessions window opens and lists all reservation sessions imported into your EMS database.

2. Click New. 

   The Reservation Import Session dialog opens.

3. Enter the information for the new import session. Learn about

4. Click OK. 

   The newly configured import session displays in the Reservation Import Sessions window.

1. On the EMS menu bar, click System Administration > Tools > Import Reservations Utility.

   The Reservation Import Sessions window opens.

2. Select the reservation session into which you are importing the reservations, and then click Load. 

   The Import Reservations wizard opens.

3. Click the Search icon to browse to and select the file you are importing, and then click Next. 

   The Import Reservations wizard displays all the reservations in the import file by the building/room combinations that have been assigned to them. 

   If a Building/Room combination in the import file is identical to a Building Code/Room code in the EMS database, then the record is automatically assigned. Otherwise, the record remains unchanged.

4. To filter the list, in View, select a different view. In Building select a different building.
5. To work with room assignments:
   • To Assign a Room, select a Building/Room Combination, or Ctrl-click to select multiple combinations, and then click Assign to open the Room Selector dialog and select the room in your EMS database.
   • To Exclude a Room from the Import, select a Building/Room Combination, or Ctrl-click to select multiple combinations, and then click Do Not Import. This excludes all the reservations that are assigned to this Building/Room combination.
   • To Unassign a Room, select a Building/Room Combination, or Ctrl-click to select multiple combinations, and then click Unassign.
6. Click Next. 

   The Import Reservations Wizard displays all groups that are assigned to reservations in the import file.

   If a group name in the import file is identical to a group name in the EMS database, then the record is automatically assigned. Otherwise, the record remains unassigned.

7. To work with groups:
   • To Assign a Group, select a group, or Ctrl-click to select multiple groups, and then click Assign to open the Groups window, and select the group in your EMS database for which all reservations that are assigned to the selected group will be made.
   • To Exclude a Group From the Import, select a group, or Ctrl-click to select multiple groups, and then click Do Not Import to exclude all reservations that are assigned to this group.
   • To Unassign a Group, select a group, or Ctrl-click to select multiple groups, and then click Unassign to undo a Group assignment.
8. Click Finish. 

   A success message opens.

9. Click OK.

   The Reservation Import Sessions window displays.

You can delete a reservation import session. If you delete an import session, all reservations in the session are deleted. Because you cannot recover these reservations other than to repeat the import process, make certain you want to delete the session.

1. On the EMS menu bar, click System Administration > Tools > Import Reservations Utility. 

   The Reservation Import Sessions window opens. This window lists all the reservation sessions that have been imported into your EMS database.

2. Select the import session that you are deleting, and then click Delete. 

   A message opens informing you that all reservations related to the session will be deleted and asking you if it is OK to continue.

3. Click Yes. 

   The import session is deleted.