Make a reservation

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of Make a reservation

    The 'Make a reservation' form, also called the Reservation portal, is a centralized tool within ServiceNow's Workplace Reservation Management and Workplace Service Portal. It enables users to reserve workplace items such as meeting rooms and desks, view availability, manage existing reservations, and receive notifications upon confirmation. Reservations can be made for any time within a single day (00:00 to 23:59); reservations spanning multiple days require separate entries.

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    How to Access and Use the Reservation Form

    • From the Workplace Reservation Management application: navigate to Workplace Reservation Management > New Reservation.
    • From the Workplace Service Portal: select Reservations > Make a reservation, use the Make a reservation option on the homepage, or select New general reservation from the Workplace services catalog.
    • The form allows viewing and reserving items at your location or other locations, checking availability, and using workplace floor maps powered by Mappedin and Indoor Mapping within Workplace Core.
    • Users can reserve items for themselves or on behalf of others, including multiple buildings or locations in a single reservation, and make group reservations managed through a parent reservation record.
    • Additional features include viewing standard services (e.g., whiteboards, seating capacity), sharing reservation details, browsing nearby workplace locations, and downloading iCalendar files to integrate reservations with personal calendars.
    • Virtual Agent chat support on the Workplace Service Portal assists with creating, viewing, and canceling reservations, as well as checking start times.

    Recurring Reservations and Conflict Management

    Recurring reservations repeat for specified days within a period, with the initial reservation acting as the parent record. If a conflict arises on any occurrence (e.g., double booking), the system marks it as Conflicted and attempts to automatically find an alternative space based on availability, proximity, and capacity using floor maps if available.

    If no alternative space is found, users receive notifications and must manually resolve conflicts by selecting different workplace items or times. This applies especially to recurring conflicts, which require manual resolution.

    Reservation States and Notifications

    • Confirmed: Reservation is approved and space is available.
    • Awaiting approval: Reservation is pending approver action.
    • Rejected: Reservation was denied by approver.
    • Conflicted: Reservation overlaps with another booking; requires manual or automatic resolution.
    • New Space: Indicates an automatically assigned alternative workspace for recurring reservations.
    • Cancelled: Reservation has been cancelled by the user.

    Email notifications are sent to users for state changes, helping them stay informed and take necessary actions.

    The 'Make a reservation' form also referred to as the Reservation portal, is a central location for reserving workplace items, such as meeting rooms and desks. You can also view and manage your reservations. After a reservation request is confirmed, you're notified about the reservation details.

    You can reserve a workplace item for any period between 00:00 to 23:59 (midnight to 11:59 p.m.) on the same day. For example, you can make a reservation until anytime before 23:59. If the reservation continues to another day, you must create a separate reservation.

    You can make a reservation from the Workplace Reservation Management application and the Workplace Service Portal.
    • To open the 'Make a reservation' form from the application, navigate to Workplace Reservation Management > New Reservation.
    • To open the 'Make a reservation' form from the Workplace Service Portal, perform the following actions:
      1. Select Reservations > Make a reservation.
      2. Select Make a reservation directly on the home page.
      3. Select New general reservation from the Workplace services catalog.

    The 'Make a reservation' form enables you to do the following:

    • View workplace items such as meeting rooms and desks for your location or for a different location.
    • View the availability of a meeting room or desk before making a reservation request.
    • Use workplace floor maps to find and reserve a space within Workplace Core. To view the maps in the Location directory and within Workplace Reservation Management, use Mappedin and Indoor Mapping. For more information on how to use floor maps, see Workplace Space Mapping.
    • Check for any standard services that are available with workplace items, such as whiteboards, seating capacity, and projector.
    • Reserve a workplace item for yourself or on behalf of someone else.
    • Reserve multiple buildings for a single reservation. For more information, see Create multi-building reservations.
    • View the details of the reservations that you've created.
    • Modify or cancel the reservations that you've created.
    • Share reservation details with others.
    • Browse workplace locations near a person and make a reservation.
    • Reserve multiple workplace locations in a single reservation.
    • Make a group reservation for different users in a single reservation. You can manage the group reservation in the parent reservation.
    • Download an iCalendar of a reservation to add the reservation to your calendar.
    You can also use the Virtual Agent chat support on the Workplace Service Portal to make a reservation and view your reservation details. The chat support enables you to do the following:
    • Create a reservation for a location.
    • View the reservations that you created on the current day.
    • See when your reservation will start or happen.
    • Cancel a reservation.

    Recurring reservations

    When you reserve a workplace item for a recurring event, the reservation gets repeated for the indicated days of the specified period. You determine the applicable days when you create the request. The reservation that you initially created acts as the parent reservation record.

    If a reservation occurrence conflicts with an existing reservation on a particular day, the reservation occurrence for that day is not confirmed and the state changes to Conflicted. The system tries to find an alternative space automatically for Conflicted states.
    • If a floor map is available, the Workplace Reservation Management application finds a space closest to the same capacity, then looks for one with more capacity, and lastly, for one with less capacity.
    • If no floor map is available, the application finds an alternative space in the same area or on the same floor.
    • The favorite spaces are prioritized over 'location' (within the same area or proximity).
    • The employee can find an alternative space easily if no alternative space was found.
    • The employee is notified when the application assigns an alternative space.
    For more information about automatically resolving recurring conflicts, see Configure a reservable module and Create a reservation.

    If Workplace Reservation Management is unable to find a new workplace, date, and time, relevant messages are shown to the user so that the conflicted reservation can be manually resolved by selecting a different workplace item or by changing the time of the reservation.

    For example, if you have reserved a workplace item for a meeting that occurs every Wednesday for one month. Four reservation records are created for each occurrence. But if another employee reserved that same room for the same time as one of your recurring reservations, then your reservation occurrence will conflict with the other employee's reservation. In such a case, you can modify your reservation for that day by selecting a different meeting room or time.

    Reservation states

    After you make a reservation, the state of the reservation changes to Confirmed.

    If the reservation requires approvals, its status changes depending on what your approver does. You receive email notifications of these changes. The possible changes are the following:

    • If your approver has not taken action on your reservation, the state of the request stays Awaiting approval.
    • If your approver approves your reservation and the availability is confirmed, the state of the reservation changes to Confirmed.
    • When the recurring reservations are automatically resolved, the New Space state is shown below the Confirmed state to indicate that Workplace Reservation Management has assigned a new workspace, date, or time.
    • If your approver rejects your reservation, the state of the reservation changes to Rejected.
    • If your approver approves your reservation but the workplace item is not available for the selected date and time, the state of the reservation changes to Conflicted.
      Note:
      If there are recurring conflicts, employees are expected to manually resolve the reservation conflicts by selecting a new workspace, time, and date. For more information, see Create a reservation.
    • If you're reserving a workplace item for recurring days, the reservation gets confirmed for the days and times when the item is available. For the remaining days and time, the state of the reservation remains as Conflicted.

      You can modify your reservation and follow up with your approver to resolve your conflicting reservation.

    • If you cancel your reservation, the state of the reservation changes to Cancelled.