1. In a nutshell

Collective event type is an appointment type between multiple hosts and a single participant. You can add multiple teams to the event type, and any one of the teams gets booked for the appointment. 

2. Feature availability 

• Available for all paid plans.

• Roles

• Super admins and admins can create and edit collective event types in all workspaces
• Workspace admins can create and edit it for their assigned workspaces
• Managers and staff can only view the event details
  
  

3. Overview 
A collective booking allows to conduct meetings that involve multiple users and a single customer. Collective bookings are ideal for appointments that require a many-to-one model. 
To create a collective booking event type, you'll have to:

• Create a group by choosing multiple users.

• Create multiple groups and assign them to the event type.

Groups can be created and assigned while creating an event type. When the customer makes an appointment, any group can be booked for the appointment, depending on the availability of its members.

4. Use case

Let's say a hiring company relies on Zoho Bookings to schedule their interviews. In some cases, they may need multiple interviewers to meet with a candidate. A collective booking can be used for these interviews, which involve multiple interviewers and a single candidate.

5. Steps to create a collective event type 

1. Switch to the required workspace by clicking the workspace name under the Bookings icon  in the top-left corner. Click Event Types in the left pane and click + New Event Type in the right pane. Create New Event type screen will appear.
   
   
   
   
2. Click Collective Booking in the screen below. 
   
   
3. In the next screen, fill out the below details:

1. Event Type Name: Give a name to the event type. For example: "Panel meeting."
2. Duration: Enter a time duration for a single appointment.
3. Price: Select Free for cost-free appointments, and Paid for paid appointments. If the appointment is paid, enter the appointment cost.
4. Meeting Mode: Choose whether the meeting method is Online or Offline. 

1. When you choose Online, it lists the video conferencing tool integrated, and you can select any one of it. 
2. When you choose Offline, it lists the in-person locations added under the workspace. You can select any one of them or add a new location by clicking +New Location.

4. Click Next.
   Note: The Price field is only to specify the cost per appointment. To collect payments online, you need to integrate any one of the payment gateways. 
   Furthermore, you can define the payment type under Event Type settings to make the payment as optional, full payment or deposit. 
   
   
   
   
5. Assign groups: 
   Similar to assigning a user to an event type, you can assign a group of users as a single entity. Multiple such groups can be assigned to an event type.

1. In the Create and Assign Groups screen, choose users to form a group.
2. Click Change Organizer and select Set as Organizer by selecting the required user. 
3. Enter a name for the group, then click Create. 
4. After creating a group, you can create multiple such groups by clicking Create Group and repeating the above three steps.
   
   
   

6. After creating groups, click Create Event Type. This creates a collective event type in the selected workspace.
   Once an event type is created, you can edit its settings by clicking the created event type.
   
   

Note:
A group can have a maximum of ten users.
Please note that the organizer must integrate the selected video conferencing tool. Only then will a meeting link be generated.  

6. Manage collective booking 

• Group assigned
• Notifications 
• Booking page

6.1 Group assigned  

To view/edit the groups assigned to an event type, navigate to Event Types > Required Collective Booking > Assigned Groups.

Here, you can:

• View the user groups assigned.

• Edit or delete each group.

• Add a new group.
  
  

6.2 Notifications 

Email and SMS notifications will be sent to all users and customers if notification is configured.

To include the user list in the notifications, you can use the variable, %cohosts%. This returns the email address of the co-attendees(users other than the organizer). This can be accessed under Event Types > Notification Settings.

6.3 Booking page 

On the booking page, the customer can choose their preferred group and book the appointment. Also, they can view the users' names in each group by clicking View All adjacent to the group.

7. Points to note

• Availability of all users in a group is checked. Only when all users in the group are available will a particular slot be made available for booking.
• The user selection on the booking page depends on the settings in the Event Type Booking Page.

• An organizer has to be chosen for each group.

• If an online meeting is enabled for an event type, the organizer should integrate/add the meeting tool. Only then will a meeting link be created. The meeting link will be sent to all the users in the group through email.

• A calendar event will be created from the organizer's calendar, and other users in the group will be added as attendees.

• When a user who was set as an organizer is removed or marked as inactive, another user will be automatically assigned as organizer for the group. You can set your preferred user as the organizer under Event Types > Assigned Groups. 

8. Related links 

• Event type settings
• Event types and its categories