Timetabling

What do we mean by 'timetabling'?

Do you need to plan a combination of facilities, resources and time for an effective schedule, timetable or project? This can often present a challenge even for the most efficient individual! Booking errors often lead to inconvenience and wasted resources, so there is a genuine need for a tool to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of such plans. Here at Plansoft, we have been providing effective tools for this task for over a decade.

Who might use our software and why?

Just one example where this tool is used is in the Further Education sector where there is a great need for flexibility. Our products have been designed by people who have actually been involved in FE timetabling for many years and know first-hand about the challenges faced. This doesn't mean we are not open to change - we have listened and responded to the feedback from all our customers and allowed this to drive product development. So you can be confident this tool is totally practical for the job you need it to do - people like you have helped in its design and growth!

Does this mean our software only applies to the education sector?

Absolutely not! Whilst our planning tools were designed for use by educational institutions they can be used by any organization that requires event planning. At present the bookings are made on a room, human resource or class/project name basis. However, soon you will be able to customise the settings yourself - and manage whatever resources you need.

So how does the software work?

In basic terms, you put in the bookings, the software works out the most efficient and effective timetable automatically for you. The software currently allows bookings to be made on a room, staff or class basis. Further classes can have individual student/delegate names added to them, with option groups also catered for. By option groups we mean where a group of students/delegates are given the choice of taking one of a number of subjects/activities at the same time, such as is often required with A-Level Courses for example. This means that you can plan very complex schedules taking several factors into account, without the headache.

What can you do with the data when the planning is complete?

Once you have timetabled your events, you need to be able to communicate this professionally to those whom it effects - our software caters for this abundantly. As well as a large range of standard printed timetable/report outputs, it allows you to export data in a number of formats that can be used by other software (such as Excel). This allows you to create your own customised reports. In addition to this you can publish timetables on your Intranet or the Internet and when in networked configuration you can allow real-time viewing access; as soon as timetables are updated the changes can be viewed by all with viewing rights.

Sounds complicated?

It has always been our aim to provide software tools that are sophisticated enough to cater for the complexities of the task, yet simple enough to use with a small amount of training. The Windows-based interface operates in a way that most will find familiar. Also, as well as the usual text editing tools that allow for editing the database, GTI3 has a unique graphical drag and drop interface that is intuitive to use.

Fancy a test run?

A free demonstration version of our software is available for you to try. It has an on-board tutorial to guide you through the basics and we have a helpdesk manned 9am-5pm (UK time) if you require any personal assistance. Please contact us for more details, we would be happy to help.