Event Management System (EMS)

is an enterprise application from Dean Evans & Associates (DEA) that supports academic classroom scheduling, facilities and other space planning needs. For academic scheduling EMS replaced a tool called Resource 25 (R25).

EMS is currently in use and overseen by Finance and Business and the Registrar's Office. UAlbany's ITS manages the servers with application support from DEA. The need for a campus-wide dedicated event management administrator has been identified.

Most users will rely on the component called Virtual EMS (VEMS) to access campus event information. 

The client installation (Windows only) is for venue managers and power users of the system. Venue managers etc. can also use the system over the web using what is called EMS WSebClient.

Venue Managers use the web client to manage the meetings and events that take place in their facilities. Standard features include:
• The Reservation Wizard room booking tool
• A graphical reservation book
• The Browser and month-at-a-glance Calendar Inquiry

A web user is a registered user who can submit requests for reservations or schedule reservations in Virtual EMS. Albany Faculty Staff and Students affiliated with a student group are already in the system.  It is possible to create duplicates.  Please exercise caution as duplicate accounts prevent the user from logging in.

When you create a web user, you can also specify one or more delegates for the web user. A delegate is a web user who can create and view reservations on behalf of another web user. 

Creating the VEMS Web User

These steps are the same whether we are using the EMS Web Client or the EMS Campus 4.0 desktop client with one difference:   within the desktop client we can optionally click Spelling to spell check any information manually entered for the user.

Note: Before adding a Web User search to verify they have not already been created.

On the EMS menu bar go to Configuration> Web > Web Users

Click New

Enter the information for the web user in these required fields:  Name, Password, Email Address, Status, Security Template, and Time Zone.  

The External Reference for Albany members is our Network ID and it connects us to our HR record in PeopleSoft.  External users are not Faculty Staff or Students and so we will leave the External Reference field empty, as well as Email Opt Out and Network ID.   

Open the Groups tab

Click Display to produce a list of all groups. In the Available list, select a group, or CTRL-click to select multiple groups, and then click the Move button (>) to move the selected groups to the “Selected” list window.

Open the Delegates tab à  it appears that we most often do not use this feature.  When you create a web user, you can also specify one or more delegates for the web user. A delegate is a web user who can create and view reservations on behalf of another web user.

Click OK.

The dialog box for creating a web user closes and a message opens indicating that the web user was created successfully.

Note:  User-defined fields are additional fields that store custom data for a reservation. UA's EMS Administrator configures the types of fields that are available as well as the allowed values for these fields.

Search for a Web User

We search to verify they have not already been created.

On the EMS menu bar go to Configuration > Web > Web Users

In the Web Users window, the number of web users currently in use for Virtual EMS (VEMS) is displayed.

Search for users based User Name then search for them by Email Address by entering a search string in the Find field

Ensure we are not just looking for Active accounts as there may be an Inactive account already in existence. Avoid this by ensuring the Status field says (all). 

We can use the wildcard % in the Find

Click Display; the web users who meet your search criteria are displayed in the lower pane of the Web Users window.

NOTE: The User Defined Fields tab displays questions that a web user would be required to answer when they requested an account through VEMS. UA does not use this feature and so it is not relevant.

On the EMS menu bar go to Configuration > Web > Web Users

In the Web Users window, the number of web users currently in use for Virtual EMS (VEMS) is displayed.

Search for users based User Name then search for them by Email Address by entering a search string in the Find field

Ensure we are not just looking for Active accounts as there may be an Inactive account already in existence. Avoid this by ensuring the Status field says (all). 

We can use the wildcard % in the Find

Click Display; the web users who meet your search criteria are displayed in the lower pane of the Web Users window.

NOTE: The User Defined Fields tab displays the questions that a web user was required to answer when the user requested to create an account through VEMS and it is not relevant.

Changing your Password

When your EMS administrator first sets up your user account, your password is predefined for you. You can change this password if you want.

1. On the EMS menu bar, click Settings > Change Password. 

The Change Password dialog box opens. 

2. Do the following:

• In the Old Password field, enter your current EMS password.
• In the New Password field, enter the new password.
• In the Re-enter New Password field, enter your new password again, exactly as you entered it in the New Password field.

3. Click OK to close the Change Password dialog box.

The next time that you log in to EMS, you must use your new password.

Note: The process is the same for the desktop client, the appearance of the menus is slightly different.

In the event that you have a reservation request from an external group that does not appear already already in EMS, please verify this first by following the steps below.  If you find a student group that is not in the system, please refer them to Student Involvement and do not make any reservations for them until they show up in EMS.

Log in to EMS  https://uaems.albany.edu/EMSWebClient/Login.aspx using your Net ID and Password for login credentials

On the Home Screen --> Click on Groups and enter the group name or keywords and click on Get Data in the lower right.

You may use the wildcard % 

If after searching for the group in a variety of ways, the search filter does not return any records, you may then add the group. Do this by clicking on the New button on far right side of the Results view.

Fill in contact information and select a group type.  External groups will be either:

• For Profit
• Non Profit
• State Funded (this includes any NYS or Federal Agency)

Add a contact person

Ensure your changes are saved by clicking OK

It depends upon who YOU are.  

• Faculty/Staff may log in using their University NetID and password. 
• Students once approved* by Student Involvement who are affiliated with an approved Student Group may log in to the Event Management System (EMS) using their University NetID and password.  
• Off Campus Customers requesting University spaces on a more regular basis, may request an EMS account may request an EMS account by submitting a request online.

Please note: all off campus users of University at Albany facilities will need to apply for a Revocable Permit.

Naturally....please see the tutorial here.  

Internet Explorer 7.0-11.0  Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari

Faculty/Staff and Students affiliated with an approved Student Group may log in to the Event Management System (EMS) using their University NetID and password.  Off campus schedulers  requesting University spaces on a regular basis, may request an EMS account by submitting a request online.

You may need to clear the cache in your web browser. See the AskIT wiki How to Clear Browser Temporary Internet Files or Cache  or  https://wiki.albany.edu/x/EASX. See Web Browser - How to clear temporary files or cache

There may be a scheduling policy in the specific building that prevents scheduling the space.  Some buildings are not available on weekends, holidays or evenings.  Examples of constraints include but are no means limited to: the Athletic Facilities require at least 7 business days advance notice, academic space managed by the Registrar require a minimum of 2 business days and student organization events/meetings are not permitted after the last day of classes each semester.

Make sure you are logged into the system (your name will appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen). Although this option is available  to the public, not all buildings are available for view unless you do so. If you are logged in and still don't see the building you want, under "Browse," select "Browse for Space," then click "Filter" on the far right side of the screen. When the dialog box opens enter the date and use the "Facilities" drop-down menu to view buildings. Select your desired facility/building and click "Apply" to see availability.

A room should not appear in the list if it is already booked. To confirm this, use the "Browse" - "Browse for Space" option on the main menu bar. Use the "Filter" in the upper right of the screen to select the Date and Facility. If the room does not appear at all under Browse, then it is not available to your user group. If the room you want is already in use, either adjust the date and time of your event or look for an alternate room.

When you click on an available space a Location Details box will open within which are Building Details and Room Details.  Room Details also has sub tabs Setup Types and Features for more specific information on the space

After you have found an available space, within the Where and When dialog click the "Recurrence" button and enter your start and end time. Choose daily, weekly, monthly or random. Enter the number of weeks and click the days you need. Under "Range of Recurrence," enter the start date and the number of occurrences needed or enter the date of the last occurrence. Then click the "Apply Recurrence" button.

This can happen sometimes when someone is using two monitors, while making a reservation they drag the pop-up window to the other screen and later upon reuse of the link/button that same pop-up will be over on the other screen hidden underneath whatever other windows are open.  Another example is when clicking on the group button, it no longer opens the master list of groups but the list of groups can be seen by starting a reservation.  In both cases the fix is in user preferences.

1) Go to Settings > Preferences – check box for “Do Not Save Window Coordinates.

2) then reset the window coordinates  Go to Settings > Preferences > Reset Window Coordinates.

It facilitates coordination of the many vital campus services like dining, catering, multimedia support, and setup for event programming.  In many cases Virtual EMS is your most effective means to making a reservation request.

Yes, if  If you access VEMS from a mobile device you are redirected to the mobile version.  It does not require a client download,  the web application is dynamically reformatted for use on a mobile device.