Ask one or more people to approve desk, room or parking bookings before they go ahead. You build the approval steps on a canvas by dragging Approval blocks and connecting them. The second level starts only after the first is approved, and so on. If any level is rejected, the booking is cancelled.

Availability: if this option is greyed out or missing, contact your Vizmo account manager.

Note: The screens call each approval level a "workflow". In this article, an approval level is one Approval block on the canvas.

Before you start

• If the Approvals item is missing under Settings, or saving a new level fails with "Custom approvals feature is disabled", contact your Vizmo account manager.
• You need access to the product's settings (desks, rooms or parking). The Settings menu is not shown to employees or receptionists.
• Adding, changing and deleting a level each need their own permission. Without it, the button or field is unavailable.
• Approvers need an employee profile with an email address. To use a department head or deputy head as the approver, set them up first. See Set up department leaders, booking limits and desk zone priorities.

Open the approvals canvas

Go to one of these. Each canvas works only with its own product.

• Desks > Settings > Approvals
• Rooms > Settings > Approvals
• Parking > Settings > Approvals

At the top you see the text "Drag and Drop the node to create a new flow" and an Approval block.

Create the first approval level

1. Drag the Approval block onto the canvas. The Workflow Details panel opens.
2. On the Details tab, enter a Workflow Name (up to 90 characters). Use a name that tells approvers what it is for, such as "Manager approval". The Module is Desks, Rooms or Parking. You cannot change it after you save.
3. Under Event, choose Created to ask for approval when a booking is made, or Updated to ask again when a booking is changed.
4. Add conditions to choose which bookings need this approval. For example, you can use the floor, zone, department, designation, duration, number of occurrences or source. For rooms you can also use the title, and for parking the registration number. If you add no conditions, every booking that matches the Event needs approval.

   

5. Click Next to open the Notifications tab.
6. Choose the Workflow Approver (required). You can choose one or more employees, or a department leader. Desks and parking offer the creator's and the assignee's Department Head and Deputy Head. Rooms offer the creator's Department Head and Deputy Head.
7. Optional: choose who is told when the request is approved (Approval Notification) or rejected (Rejection Notification).
8. Enter the No Response Time (in mins) (required, at least 1) and choose who to tell in No Response Notification (required). If nobody decides in that time, the level is marked No response and those people are told.
9. Optional: choose a Fallback Approver and enter a Fallback Approval Timeout (in mins). If nobody decides within that time, the request is sent to the fallback approver. The timeout is required with a fallback approver, and it must be shorter than the No Response Time.

   

10. Click Save. Vizmo shows "Workflow details saved successfully".

Approval requests are sent by email. The Notification Channel(s) field is fixed.

Add more levels

1. Drag another Approval block onto the canvas and fill in its details.
2. Drag a line from the first block to the second. The second block's panel opens with the condition "first level Is Approved" already added. Check it and click Save.

   

3. Repeat for more levels. Click a block at any time to review or change it.

You can connect blocks only when they are for the same product. The canvas blocks a direct reverse connection, but you must avoid longer loops yourself.

If a level has no approver

If Vizmo cannot find anyone to approve a level, it skips that level and moves on to the next one. For example, this happens when you choose Department Head and the person's department has no head. If every level is skipped, the booking goes ahead with no approval.

In the booking's Approvals list, the level shows Skipped with a reason such as "The department has no department head assigned." To avoid this, set the department head first.

Delete a level or a connection

• To delete a level, click its block, click the bin icon in the panel, then click Delete in the Delete Workflow confirmation.
• To delete a connection or a block from the canvas, select it and press Backspace. Then click Delete in the Delete Connection or Delete Workflow confirmation.

What approvers and requesters see

• Each approver gets an email request. On the product's bookings page (Desk Bookings, Room Bookings or Parking Bookings), a Pending Approvals table lists requests with Approve and Reject buttons. When rejecting, the approver can add a reason of up to 100 characters. For parking, see Manage parking bookings as an admin.
• The booking's Approvals list shows each level as Pending, Approved, Rejected, No response or Skipped, with who decided and when.

  

• If any level is rejected, the booking is cancelled and the person it was for gets an email.
• Use the Edit approval icon on a pending or no-response level to approve or reject it from the booking's details, if you have permission.

Pending approvals are listed only for bookings that can still be acted on. Once an approval has expired or been completed, it cannot be changed.

Troubleshooting

• No Approvals item under Settings. Your role may not be able to see the product's settings, or approvals may not be available for your company. Contact your Vizmo account manager.
• Save is missing, or fields are read-only. You do not have permission to add or change approval levels.
• The connection does not appear. The blocks are for different products, or the reverse connection already exists.
• The approver receives nothing. Check that the approver has an email address on their employee profile and that email notifications are on for the location.
• No response. The response time passed without a decision. This does not mean the booking was approved. Check the booking's Approvals list and use Edit approval if you need to decide.
• A booking is still waiting. Open its Approvals list to see which level is waiting. The approver can act from Pending Approvals.
• "No response time must be greater than fallback approval timeout". Make the No Response Time larger than the Fallback Approval Timeout.

Related articles

• Manage parking bookings as an admin
• Set up department leaders, booking limits and desk zone priorities
• Run an email alert or webhook after an approval