EduBooker FAQs

Frequently asked questions about EduBooker, and its applicability for your EMS training organization.

1. Who uses EduBooker?
  • EduBooker is used by EMS training organizations such as hospitals, community colleges, county-wide training centers and EMS squads.Anyone who has a need to schedule students through rotations will find EduBooker advantageous.
  • Note that EduBooker is intended for U.S.-based organizations but may have applicability outside the U.S. We are currently looking at multi-language support in RescueBooker for non-English-speaking countries.
  • Emergency services organizations (ambulance, fire, etc.) should look at RescueBooker, our schdeduling service allowing crews to sign up for duty shifts over the internet.
2. How does it work?
  • Scheduling Coordinators can use any internet web connection to update their organization's schedule. Throw away your Wite-Out and erasers because all scheduling is done online! Coordinators and students can print out a handy schedule to carry with them, too.
  • Paramedic/EMT students can sign up for shifts (book on) or take their names off a shift (book off) using the Internet Explorer web browser. Changes are done in real-time. No more paper-based schedules or juggling the schedule demands of your sponsor hospitals' departments!
  • EduBooker is built using the powerful RescueBooker scheduling engine. Therefore, from time to time you may see references to RescueBooker when using EduBooker.
3. Does EduBooker allow students to sign up for partial rotation shifts?
  • Yes! In fact, EduBooker allows members to sign up in five minute increments. So it can easily accomodate someone signing up for, say, a rotation in pediatrics from 8:45 am to 1:20 pm and the emergency department from 3:05 pm to 5 pm. 
  • Any restrictions on sign-up times are defined by your scheduling coordinator.
4. If students are being allowed to sign up for rotations on their own, is there security?
  • Yes! EduBooker requires that the Coordinator assign usernames and passwords for each student. Students can only sign themselves up for rotation or remove their names from one. (The Coordinator is all powerful and can put anyone in any rotation). There is also a "bumping" capability, but it is logged to avoid disagreements between students.
  • One of the real benefits of allowing students to book themselves is that they can peruse open rotations slots online and sign up for them making the Coordinator's job much easier. Just about everybody has internet access today; those that don't can just call the Coordinator who can do the scheduling for them.
  • A transaction log viewable only by the Coordinator tracks scheduling actions and will be helpful in determining which members use EduBooker to the benefit of the whole organization and those who refuse or abuse the privilege.
5. Can the Coordinator be notified when someone changes their rotation signup at the last minute?
    Yes. When important scheduling transactions occur during a time window that you defined (for example, less than 24 hours), 
    EduBooker will send out an email message to the Coordinator(s). Since most paging systems accept email pages, the Coordinator 
    can also be paged. The transactions that are of interest to the Coordinator are user-definable and might include:
  • A student booking off less than a day before the start of a rotation shift
  • Someone booking off a rotation shift and thus leaving an empty slot
  • Rotation shifts for which there is still no one signed up
6. What do I need to get started?
  • Just click here and fill out the short contact form. 
  • We will contact you with further information.
7. How much does EduBooker cost?
  • EduBooker is as inexpensive as it is easy to set-up, use and maintain. There is a one time setup fee of $12.50/department, to customize the web pages and data structure for your organization and to load your initial data.After that, you pay only $6.25/month for each department you are scheduling. This covers the cost of the software, host computing time, data storage, and all student logins throughout your organization.
  • For instance, if you work with three hospitals that each have four departments doing rotations, your one-time setup fee would be $150. Each month your training organization would be charged $75, or $225 a quarter. That's all!
  • There are no annual contracts required. Stop using the service at any time if it no longer fits your needs. For your convenience, Bigfoot Labs bills usage on a quarterly basis.
  • Ready to contact us for more for EduBooker information?  Click here! 
8. Can I try EduBooker before signing up?
  • Please do! You can sign up for an account for your organization and try it out for 30 days absolutely free. Bigfoot Labs will set up a small demo site using a few of your departments and hospitals. You can try EduBooker out with your own data and sign up only if you think it will work for you. 
  • If you decide that EduBooker isn't for you, you won't be charged and there will not be a setup fee! So there is every reason to test it out!Ready to try EduBooker?  Click here!
9. Who sets the class schedules?
  • Normally, the same administrator who currently sets the schedule will continue to do so. However, anyone you designate with the proper authority can do so as well. 
  • Because the software is easy to use and is very flexible, some instructors may want to take on this task to accommodate their own schedules. 
10. How far in advance can I allow students to sign up for shifts?
  • As far as you wish-although most staff/instructors opt for two to four months into the future (about the length of a college semester). 
11. It would be nice if I could post messages to all students using EduBooker. Is there a way to do that?
  • Yes. You can post information that all students see when they log on. 
  • These posts are called "News," and can be about upcoming events, exams, class changes, whatever you want to convey to your students using EduBooker.
12. How do I limit shift size?
  • The number of students allowed to sign up is controlled by department and designated by the coordinator. 
  • If the designated number of students are signed up for a shift, the “book on” option goes away for subsequent students, restricting any more from signing up unless someone books off the shift.
13. Can I tell how many students have signed up for a shift?
  • Sure! 
  • Just pull up the schedule to see how many students have signed up and who they are.
14. Can a "class schedule" be custom defined?
  • You have an incredible amount of flexibility on defining schedules. You can set your class/lab times to start and end.
15. How long is the contract for?
  • There is no contract. Use EduBooker only as long as you find it useful.
16. Can I get a demo?
  • Sure! Follow this link to the EduBooker Demo site. 
  • You will be logged on as John Demo, a student. You can book yourself on and off shifts, and look around the system. 
  • If you would like to see the coordinator screens, contact us for a coordinator demo. Just click here!
17. What hardware is required?
  • EduBooker only requires a way to get to the internet and a current version of Internet Explorer. 
  • Most people use the hardware they currently have. The only exception is, EduBooker does not work on Apple or Macintosh computers or currently with any non-IE browser.
18. How long until I'm up and running?
  • Fast! 
  • Once we receive your setup information, Bigfoot Labs will have your EduBooker up and running in only a few business days in most cases. Very large facilities may take a little longer.
19. Who maintains the schedule after my account is set up?
  • You do, along with your designated coordinators. It’s your data.
  • Bigfoot Labs is always available to answer questions and help out if you get stuck.
20. What kind of reports can I get?
    There are four basic reports available for your use:
  • The daily log, which displays all activity which has taken place on the system
  • Seven day schedule by department
  • Total hours worked to this point-in-time
  • Regularly scheduled duty (usually applies only to instructors)
21. What support service can I expect?
    We at Bigfoot Labs pride ourselves on excellent customer service.
    You can expect and will receive:
  • friendly, live telephone support during business hours
  • fast telephone response
  • all software updates and release notes
22. Where can I get additional information?
Edubooker documentation