Introduction

Use Microsoft Bookings for changing reservations or appointment-based scheduling that relies on users submitting reservation or appointment requests through a central portal.

Use Microsoft Shifts for recurring shifts, reservations or appointments within defined groups of users who can self-manage their schedules.

Depending on your use case, you could use either Bookings or Shifts for your division’s scheduling needs. For 1-on-1 appointments with staff or faculty, Bookings are the more suitable option.

Please refer to the following tables to determine whether Bookings or Shifts is the preferred product for your particular use case.

Table 1: Which product should I use based on the specifics of my use case?

	Bookings	Shifts
I want a central portal that any client can make an appointment from.	X
I want a small, defined group of people to be able to self-manage room, lab or resource reservations.		X
I want clients to be able to schedule appointments with staff (e.g. writing centre appointments, support appointments, office hours).	X
I want to create a set schedule where the same people are assigned to the same shift/room/resource/lab from week to week.		X
I want to manage the work schedules of a team of people.		X
I want my schedule tool to be integrated with individuals' availabilities on their Outlook calendars.	X

Table 2: Which product best meets the needs of my division’s COVID-19 re-entry plan?

	Share resources	Microsoft Bookings	Microsoft Shifts
Calendar Integration	YES	YES	NO
Capacity-enforced	NO	YES	YES
Contact tracing	Email	Email, phone number, address	Email
Standalone calendar	Only for individual resources	One calendar for multiple services/resources	YES
Add buffer time	NO	YES	YES
Send social distancing policy with confirmation	NO	YES	NO
Customizable reminder	NO	YES	NO
Clock-in/clock-out function	NO	NO	YES
Can publish schedule to all parties	YES	NO	YES
Open to a closed group only	YES	NO	YES
Reservation requests can require approval	YES	NO	YES

Note: Outlook shared resources are included in this comparison chart. To learn more about shared resources, please refer to this web page.