Conflict Management

Overview

Double bookings can frustrate customers and create operational headaches. Fieldspace includes robust conflict management tools to:

• Prevent overlapping bookings automatically
• Detect and alert you to potential conflicts
• Help you resolve conflicts when they occur
• Manage waitlists for popular time slots

Conflict Prevention

By default, Fieldspace prevents double bookings. When someone tries to book a time slot that's already taken:

• The time slot appears as unavailable
• They're shown alternative available times
• They can join a waitlist (if enabled)

Staff with appropriate permissions can override conflict prevention to create overlapping bookings when necessary (e.g., shared court time).

Detecting Conflicts

Fieldspace continuously monitors for potential conflicts:

• Real-time checks - Every booking is validated before it's created
• Recurring booking analysis - Conflicts in future occurrences are flagged
• Import validation - Bulk imports are checked for internal conflicts
• Calendar sync conflicts - Changes from external calendars are validated

Resolving Conflicts

When a conflict is detected, you have several options:

• Move one booking - Reschedule to a different time or court
• Cancel one booking - Remove the conflicting reservation
• Shorten a booking - Reduce duration to eliminate overlap
• Allow overlap - Permit shared use (with appropriate permission)

Fieldspace shows you the affected customers and helps you communicate changes with automatic notifications.

Waitlists

Enable waitlists to let customers queue for fully-booked time slots:

1. Customer requests a time slot that's already booked
2. They're added to the waitlist with their contact information
3. If the original booking is cancelled, the first person on the waitlist is notified
4. They have a set time window to confirm before the next person is contacted

Waitlist settings can be configured per facility, including:

• Maximum waitlist length
• Confirmation time window
• Automatic vs. manual offers

Conflict Notifications

Stay informed about scheduling issues with conflict notifications:

• Email alerts - Receive immediate notification when conflicts are detected
• Dashboard warnings - See conflict indicators in the calendar view
• Daily digest - Get a summary of unresolved conflicts

Configure notification preferences in Settings → Notifications.