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December 30, 2012

Resource Guru – Resource Scheduling for Businesses

People can easily schedule their doctor’s appointments and manicures online, but online tools for scheduling professional resources have traditionally been scant. Resource Guru is a web-application that fills that void, giving busy bosses a way to allocate resources and schedule their employees’ days without relying on spreadsheets or dry erase boards.

Scheduling is easy when you’ve only got one employee. Add additional staffers and clients to the mix, however, and you’ve got a recipe for disorganization. Start getting your professional house in order by creating a business account with Resource Guru and adding each person on your team to your account. Enter bookings for your employees into the system. For example, you can use Resource Guru to record a meeting that Mark has scheduled for 4 p.m. on Monday, and an assignment that you expect Jane to be working on from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday. The resource scheduling application shows you everyone’s schedules on one color-coded calendar, and shows you important details like client names and project descriptions on the very same page. Resource Guru’s “availability bar” shows you which employees aren’t busy on any given day or time, allowing you to appropriately allocate resources without double booking team members.

Resource Guru’s management system also allows employees to book specific resources or tools they need to get work done, like conference rooms or company vehicles. The platform shows when these resources are available, and uses various permissions settings to ensure only high-level staffers have the authority to set aside important company assets for their personal use.

Practical Uses:

  • See what each of your employees is working on today
  • Book the conference room for a meeting you’re holding at 3 p.m.
  • Find out which employee is available to meet with a potential client this afternoon
  • Schedule time to collaborate with a colleague about a project you’re working on

Insider Tips:

  • Account administrators can select unique permission levels for employees
  • Create reports to determine which clients are using the most resources
  • Check out how many hours your top employees are spending at the office this week
  • Users can archive infrequently used resources, and bring them back when they’re available again

What we liked:

  • Managers can see full team calendars on a single page
  • People can schedule office resources, like conference rooms and vehicles
  • Resource Gurus provides bosses with data they can use to determine the productiveness of their employees
  • Managers can gain insight into how their companies could run more efficiently
  • Users can get their questions answered quickly by posting in Resource Guru’s Support Center

What we didn’t like:

  • Users have to add their own resource data and client information by hand, rather than by uploading a single .csv file

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: June 2012
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: London, England
  • Founded by: Andrew Rogoff and Percy Stilwell
  • Web site: http://resourceguruapp.com

Costs:

  • Free trial
  • Mini plan is $19/month
  • Basic plan is $49/month
  • Premium plan is $99/month
  • Premium Plus plan is $99+/month

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