This guide provides an overview of how to request audio/visual (A/V) event support from Education Support Services (ESS) when reserving a room through EMS Roombook. It outlines new steps to request A/V support when reserving a room only. It is not a guide to all steps required to reserve a room in EMS Roombook, as those procedures have not changed.
It does not supplant any existing methods of requesting A/V classroom support (i.e., A/V emergency requests, troubleshooting, and A/V upgrade requests). As before, please e-mail ess@fas.harvard.edu for class A/V requests, and call (617) 495-9460 for emergencies.
You may also continue to e-mail ess@fas.harvard.edu with Event support requests. Please note that requests for services received late in the planning process are subject to staffing capacity and equipment availability. We encourage you to use the EMS Roombook process outlined here in order to ensure that ESS receives your request in a timely fashion.
This page is not intended as a guide to all steps required to reserve a room in EMS as those procedures have not changed and may already be familiar.
Upon successful EMS Roombook authentication and Reservation Template selection you will see a familiar page with one new additional tab: Services. This tab will appear for buildings where ESS provides A/V support for one or more, but not necessarily all, of the rooms. See Figure 1 below.
Figure 1 EMS Roombook room selection
ESS Roombook is the available reference to be used when determining which bookable rooms have A/V support. Although the names of the websites are confusingly similar their purposes are distinct. ESS Roombook gives a thorough description of the features and A/V capabilities of rooms supported by ESS and does not offer functionality for booking rooms.
ESS Roombook – Finding a Room with A/V Support
ESS Roombook can be launched from https://essroombook.fas.harvard.edu and will appear as shown in Figure 2. After you have ascertained which room(s) best fit your A/V needs you may return to EMS Roombook to proceed with making the room reservation.
Figure 2 ESS Roombook Main page
To find a room with A/V support, select the name of a building in the Choose a building dropdown. The building selected should be one of the buildings that appeared in Figure 1 above.
Figure 3 Room Selection page
Expand the Choose a room dropdown to reveal the rooms with A/V support. Select a room for additional details.
EMS Roombook – A/V Support Service Tab
Once you’ve determined which room best meets your event’s needs, open EMS Roombook and begin your reservation. Add the required information in the Rooms tab, and then click on the Next Step button to advance to the Services tab where you can provide additional details regarding your A/V support needs.
Figure 4 Services Tab
If ESS A/V event support is needed for the room being reserved, then you must select Yes in the dropdown provided for the question “Does this event require A/V support/services?” If support isn’t needed, select No and move along to the Reservations Details tab to complete the reservation.
If the answer to the question was Yes, then a short questionnaire will be presented to collect additional information that will facilitate a consultation with ESS.
Figure 5 Questionnaire (excerpt)
In the questionnaire you will select requested A/V support services. As instructed on the page, click on the link Click this for Audio Visual Event Support. Questionnaire responses and selected services will be added to your room reservation.
Figure 6 Finalizing your AV request
Advance to the Reservations Details tab to complete your reservation.
Once the reservation is completed, ESS will be notified automatically and will be in touch for further discussion within 2-3 business days.