Lesson types are another way to group products in the schedule and sort them for custom reporting.

Every booking product has a lesson type. Before performing a booking through Sales or SysManager, lesson types are defined for group and private booking products. This feature allows all bookings of a particular user-defined type (for example, private/request lessons) to be displayed in the schedule with the same color without having to set a color for each product. You may also pay instructors the same rate for all the bookings of a particular type.

Lesson types define bookable items that are not products, such as instructor time-off, request time-off or any times that you would like to block off on the schedule.

Lesson types are defined as either planned or scheduled. Planned events represent what might happen and can be booked on top of actual events. Planned events are things like requested time off. Scheduled events are usually booked through Sales in conjunction with the sale of a product, but also can be booked in SysManager and represent what will happen. Nothing else can be booked to conflict with a scheduled event. Scheduled events are most often actual booking products that are sold through Sales, but can also be such things as doctor appointments or actual time off that cannot be booked on top of.

A planned event that is inserted in the schedule causes a small band to be placed across the bottom of the time slot, so you can see what an instructor is “supposed” to be doing during that time. Other scheduled events can then be booked on top of planned events. Scheduled events create a large band on the top of the time slot and other events cannot be booked on top of them.

Planned events are automatically available to be booked through the SysManager > Privates or Sales > Sched button. Click the Sales > Sched > Facility Scheduling button and it changes to Privates if Privates is not already displayed on the button. Scheduled events are most often associated with a product sold through Sales and scheduled events associated with the sale of a product is booked through Sales only. However, some scheduled events may not be associated with products, such as doctor appointments or actual time off that cannot be booked on top of.

Planned events are always lesson types. Scheduled events can be lesson types or actual products. Siriusware Inc. recommends creating matched sets of one planned and one scheduled lesson type. Set the colors the same. That way when you plan for an instructor to be teaching a private/request, and then you book an actual private/request, the colors match. If you book something else, like a lesson that is a private/assigned lesson type, the colors do not match, indicating that things did not go as planned.

To prepare to enter data into the Private Instruction module, think about and list the lesson types you would like to use. For information about entering lesson types, see Entering lesson types.