The next update to our web based room booking and resource scheduling software is just around the corner, and so over the coming days on our blog we’re going to give you a first look at some of the new features and improvements you can look forward to in MIDAS v4.11..
The first new feature of v4.11 we’d like to unveil is the ability to send a “Booking Cancellation” to a client when their booking(s) are deleted from the system.
When bookings are deleted, users will now be presented with the option to send a booking cancellation notification, along with a brief reason why the booking has been “deleted” (canceled):
This functionality is available when individual bookings are deleted, or when multiple bookings are deleted via the “Delete Similar Bookings” function.
Like other email notifications that MIDAS is capable of generating, you also be able to customize the content of the “Booking Cancellation” email template too.
MIDAS v4.11 will soon be generally available, however for now it is only available to Beta Testers. We’re currently looking for additional testers to help test and provide feedback/bug reports on this and future updates to our software before release. It’s free and no experience is required. Find out more here.
If you would like to be notified when v4.11 is fully released, then why not join our Mailing List?
Our web based room booking and resource scheduling software, MIDAS, allows you to assign and book resources along with your rooms. Resources may be added to the system in one of three categories; Equipment, Consumables, and Staffing (the differences between these three categories is explained here)
In earlier versions of our software, when it came to assigning pre-defined resources to bookings, a small window would open listing all resources over the three categories. For customers who have setup a large number of available resources in their MIDAS system, a user would need to scroll through the entire list to locate the particular resource(s) they wished to add to their booking.
Searchable Resources
Now, with MIDAS v4.10, at the top of the Add Resources window, there’s now a “Search” box which when you begin typing into will instantly filter the current list of resources to only show those matching the search term you’ve entered, allowing you to quickly locate the resources you wish to add to your booking.
Oh, and today is the final day to get 10% off MIDAS with our Windows 10 offer – Find out more at [THIS OFFER HAS NOW ENDED], and hurry before it’s too late!
Want to help shape and improve future MIDAS updates? Then why not consider becoming a Beta Tester? – it’s free, there’s nothing to install, and no technical knowledge is required!
We love receiving feedback and suggestions from our customers, and one of the most popular areas that we often receive ideas and suggestions for is Invoicing.
So based on this feedback we’re introducing a host of exciting new features and improvements to the invoicing capabilities of MIDAS for v4.10!
Alternative clients for invoicing
Traditionally, when an invoice is generated in MIDAS for a client’s bookings, the invoice is for that particular client.
However, there are many cases when the person that a booking is for differs from the person who’s paying for it. Quite often for instance its desirable for invoices to instead go to a treasurer or finance department, rather than to the end-client who is actually using your facilities.
With MIDAS v4.10, you can now optionally set an alternative client to use for invoicing for all a client’s future bookings!
Greater control over invoice access
As you may be aware, an extensive range of user permissions are already available within MIDAS allowing administrators to precisely control what each user can see and do once logged in.
One of the user permissions that can be granted is “Can use invoicing?”. If this permission is granted, the user has access to all invoicing features within MIDAS (the ability to generate, create, view, modify, delete, print, and send invoices). Without the “Can use invoicing?” permission, a user has no access to any of the invoicing functions.
Restrict access to invoices
We’ve extended this user permission for v4.10 to include an additional “Restricted” option. Now, if a user’s “Can use invoicing?” permission is set to “Restricted”, they will still be able to generate and create invoices, but they will only be able to view, modify, delete, print or send those invoices which they themselves generated/created (i.e. they will have no access to other invoices generated/created by other users).
Of course, individual users can still be granted full invoicing access as before – allowing them access to all invoices, but this new “restricted” option will give administrators greater control over who can access which invoices.
Greater control over Booking Type Discounts
MIDAS allows you to associate percentage discounts to each of your booking types. This facilitates charging different room rates depending upon the “type” of booking.
For instance, if you have a room which is usually charged at $100/hour, you could setup a “Non-Profit” booking type with a 50% discount so that any bookings assigned that particular booking type would only be charged at a rate of $50/hour instead of the standard $100/hour rate.
In previous versions of MIDAS, booking type discounts have only applied to room rates. Resources (equipment, consumables, staffing, etc) have not been affected by any booking type discount, and were always charged at their standard rate.
In MIDAS v4.10, administrators can now control how booking type discounts are applied; you can choose to have them only applied to your venue charges (as in previous versions of MIDAS), or only applied to your resource charges, or applied to both venue and resource charges.
Apply discounts to venues and/or resources
Also, in v4.10, for the first time we’ve allowed you to enter negative numbers into the booking type discount field. Entering a negative discount will increase the venue/resource charge by the percentage amount you specify (as opposed to discounting by the specified amount)
Show invoices numbers on booking blocks/tooltips
Select which fields to shown on bookings
Up to two booking fields can be set to show on “booking blocks” within your booking grid (with a further two booking fields set to show on associated tooltips), however it’s previously not been possible to show a booking’s invoice number on its block/tooltip.
In MIDAS v4.10, this has changed and you can now set invoice numbers to show on a booking’s “block”/tooltip, and also in the Monthly Overview too!
Want to help shape and improve future MIDAS updates? Then why not consider becoming a Beta Tester? – it’s free, there’s nothing to install, and no technical knowledge is required!
We take a very pro-active approach to the security of our customer’s MIDAS systems and data, and we always strive to provide administrators and users alike with a wealth of security features and settings within our software.
We’re further enhancing the security options available in our web based room booking and resource scheduling software by introducing optional two-factor authentication in MIDAS v4.10.
What is Two-Factor Authentication?
Traditionally, when you access a website/app/online service which requires you to “log in”, all you need to provide is your username (or email address) and a password in order to authenticate your access.
Unfortunately, many people use the same credentials (username/password) over and over again for multiple websites/apps/online services. This means that if one of those services gets “hacked” and has a data breach and user’s credentials are exposed, an attacker could potentially then access all other websites/apps/online services the user uses.
Two-factor authentication combats this, by employing a secondary means of authentication in addition to the traditional username/password combination in order to authenticate your access to the website/app/online service when you login. This means that even if your username/password were compromised, an attacker couldn’t then use these on their own to gain access to your account.
How does two-factor authentication work within MIDAS?
Without two-factor authentication enabled in MIDAS v4.10, users simply login using their email address and chosen password. (A wealth of other customizable security features however are already built-in to MIDAS help prevent “brute force” attacks)
However, with the new optional two-factor authentication feature enabled in v4.10, users enter their email address and password as normal, but then MIDAS then emails the user a security code and presents a web page for this code to the entered. Once the user enters the code they’ve received in an email, the two-step login process will be complete and they will be successfully logged into MIDAS.
This ensures that in order to gain access and login to MIDAS, a user needs to know their MIDAS credentials and also have access to their own email account to retrieve a special security code upon each login.
As such, for two-factor authentication to be an effective security tool, users should ensure that they use a unique password for their MIDAS account (i.e. one which isn’t the same as the password they use to login to their own email account!)
Want to help shape and improve future MIDAS updates? Then why not consider becoming a Beta Tester? – it’s free, there’s nothing to install, and no technical knowledge is required!
We love receiving feedback and suggestions from our customers, and one of the most popular areas that we often receive ideas and suggestions for is 
We take a very pro-active approach to the security of our customer’s MIDAS systems and data, and we always strive to provide administrators and users alike with a wealth of security features and settings within our software.
