Booking Type fields

Description    The Booking Type field specifies whether a resource is considered committed or proposed. You can select whether proposed resources are to be included in resource availability graphs, resource leveling, and other resource-related operations.

There are several categories of Booking Type fields.

Data Type    Enumerated

Booking Type (task field)

Entry Type    Null

Best Uses    Add the Booking Type field to the Task Usage view to see whether assigned resources are proposed or committed. No actual data appears in the task fields; only in the assignment fields.

Example    Most resources in your project are committed, but a few are proposed. You want to review all assignments and see which ones are assigned to proposed resources and which are assigned to committed resources. You add the Booking Type field to the Task Usage view.

Booking Type (resource field)

Entry Type    Entered

Best Uses    Specify that a resource is proposed when you're estimating a proposed new project or a new phase of an existing project. Entering proposed resources can help you forecast costs, availability, and scheduling for a new project or phase without tying up the proposed resource's availability. When the proposed project or phase is confirmed, you can then change the resource's booking type accordingly.

Use the proposed booking type when you want to use a specific resource but you need to find out whether the resource is available for your project. For example, you might need to obtain approval to borrow a resource from another department, or you might need to find out whether an outside consultant is available. Entering the resource as proposed can help you estimate scheduling and costs so you can provide concrete information about the proposed resource assignments.

You can sort, filter, or group by the Booking Type field. You can also review resource availability and level resources with or without proposed resources.

Example    You need to determine whether you currently have the resources and budget required to take on a new initiative. You set up a project and add actual resources from your organization's resource pool. Because you don't want to prevent those resources from being assigned to other projects in case you cannot take on this project, you add the Booking Type field to the Resource Sheet view, and set the booking type for all resources to Proposed.

Remarks    You can set the Booking Type for an individual resource using the Resource Information dialog box. Select the resource, and then click Resource Information . Click the General tab, and then in the Booking Type box, select Committed or Proposed. By default, resources are committed.

Don't confuse the Booking Type field with the Confirmed field. The booking type specifies whether the resource is committed on the project or only tentatively proposed. The Confirmed field specifies whether the resource has responded to assignment messaging.

You assign proposed resources the same way you do committed resources. However, if you are using Microsoft Office Project, you cannot publish assignments for proposed resources to Microsoft Office Project Web Access. Note that work and remaining work values include proposed bookings as well as committed bookings.

Booking Type (assignment field)

Entry Type    Calculated

How Calculated    The assignment Booking Type field is the same as the resource Booking Type field.

Best Uses    Add the Booking Type field to an assignment view when you have a mixture of proposed and committed resources assigned to tasks, and you want to review assignments by their booking type. You can sort, filter, or group assignments by the Booking Type field.

Example    You have 20 committed resources already set up in your project and assigned to tasks. You have also set up three additional team members as proposed resources. Although they're proposed instead of committed, you have already tentatively assigned tasks to them to help you plan the schedule and budget. You want to review all assignments and see which ones are assigned to proposed resources, and which are assigned to committed resources. You add the Booking Type field to the Task Usage view.

Remarks    Proposed bookings are done for resources as a whole, and not for individual assignments.

You can review the booking type for an individual resource using the Assignment Information dialog box. In the Task Usage or Resource Usage view, select the assignment, and then click Assignment Information . Click the General tab, and then review the setting in the Booking Type box.

Don't confuse the Booking Type field with the Confirmed field. The booking type specifies whether the resource is committed on the project or only proposed. The Confirmed field specifies whether the resource has responded to assignment messaging.

You assign proposed resources the same as committed resources. However, if you are using Project Server, you cannot publish assignments for proposed resources to Project Web Access. Note that work and remaining work values include proposed bookings as well as committed bookings.