> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.anny.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Getting Started – Universities
> Set up your anny account for study spaces, rooms, equipment and consultation appointments at your university.
This guide shows you how to set up your anny account for day-to-day operations at a university. You will learn how to map study spaces, rooms, equipment and consultation appointments as resources, how to manage students and staff through SSO and communities, and how to define booking rules for the whole campus.
* Available from **Enterprise** (for single sign-on, custom deletion periods and unlimited communities).
* Activate **Communities**, **Multiple availability of resources**, **Multiple availability with assignment**, **Check-In & Check-Out** and **Deletion periods** in advance.
## Thinking universities the anny way
In the university use case, anny maps your entire booking infrastructure digitally. The core principle: every bookable place or item is a **resource**, and every individual workspace inside it is a **child resource**. You control who may see and book what through **communities**.
| anny concept | Meaning in a university context | Example |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Resource | A bookable room, area or item | Library reading room, seminar room A1, projector set |
| Child resource | A single spot inside a resource | Study space 1 to 50 in the reading room |
| Booking option | Configuration of how a resource is booked (duration, time grid) | "Daily booking" or "Flexible hourly booking" |
| Community | Protected booking area for a user group | "Students TH Nürnberg", "Staff", "Externals" |
| Attribute mapping | Automatic assignment of users to communities via SSO attributes | Everyone with the status "Student" ends up in the "Students" community |
| Booking rules | Global limits for bookings per person | Max. 1 booking per time slot, max. 5 active bookings |
Your team manages everything in the **admin area** (resources, bookings, communities, dashboard). Students and staff book through the **booking area** (anny app, weekly planner, maps).
## Step-by-step setup
Create a resource for every bookable area. Use clear names that include building, floor and capacity (e.g. "Library ground floor, reading room 1").
For rooms with several individual spots: open the resource, go to **Availability** and create the individual spots under **Child resource** (e.g. study space 1 to 30). Students can then pick a specific spot or have one assigned automatically.
Group related resources into **resource groups** (e.g. "All library study spaces", "Seminar rooms building A") for a better overview and easier permission management.
Create at least one booking option per resource type. Typical setups:
| Resource type | Booking option | Duration |
| ------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------- |
| Study spaces | Flexible hourly booking | 1 to 8 hours |
| Seminar rooms | Time slot booking | 45, 90 or 180 minutes |
| Equipment | Daily booking | Full day |
| Consultation | Appointment booking | 15 or 30 minutes |
To do this, open the relevant resource and create the matching configuration under **Booking options**.
Connect anny to your university's identity provider through the SAML interface (typically Shibboleth via DFN-AAI or eduGAIN).
1. Open the **account settings** and go to **SSO & Security**.
2. Click **+ Add IdP** and select **Federation** plus your network (e.g. DFN-AAI).
3. Enter the **Entity ID** of your organisation and save.
4. Have your computing centre release the required attributes (email, first name, last name and, if needed, group attributes for the mapping).
You will find the Entity ID of your organisation in the DFN-AAI tool overview under "Identity Provider".
Create communities for every user group, for example:
* **Students** (access to study spaces, library, university sports)
* **Staff** (access to office workspaces, meeting rooms)
* **Externals** (limited access, e.g. for guest students)
Then set up **attribute mapping**, so users are assigned to the right community automatically when they log in via SSO:
1. Go to **Account settings** → **SSO & Security** → **Attribute mapping**.
2. Click **Add mapping** and select **Community**.
3. Create a rule: if the attribute (e.g. `urn:oid:xxxx`) contains the value "Student" (array), then assign the community "Students".
4. Save and test the login.
Activate **incognito mode** in the community settings, so students are not visible to each other by default.
Define global booking rules under **Account settings** → **Booking rules** to set campus-wide limits:
* Max. bookings per time slot (e.g. 1 booking at a time)
* Max. active bookings into the future (e.g. 5)
For finer control per user group (e.g. "students may book a maximum of 20 hours per week"), use **booking quotas** in the community settings.
Go to **Account settings** → **User management** and create roles:
* **Super admin** (1 to 2 people): central administration, user and permission management
* **Department admin** (1 per institute or faculty): day-to-day management of their own resources
* **Office staff** (optional): booking management without access to the account settings
Assign permissions selectively and per resource group. Fewer admins mean less complexity and fewer accidental changes.
## Typical examples
Create a resource "Library ground floor, reading room" with a description, the building and the capacity.
Go to **Availability** → **Child resource** and create 30 study spaces (study space 1 to 30). Activate automatic assignment if students do not need to pick a specific spot.
Create a booking option "Flexible hourly booking" with a duration of 1 to 8 hours and a time grid of 30 minutes.
Open the resource under **Check-In** and activate the check-in period (e.g. 15 minutes after the booking starts). Activate the expiry period, so unused spots are released automatically.
Upload the floor plan of the reading room and connect every study space on the map with the matching child resource. Students can then pick their spot directly on the map.
Create a resource "Building A, seminar room 1.01" with properties such as capacity (20 people), equipment (projector, whiteboard) and location.
Create a booking option "Time slot booking" with slots of 45 or 90 minutes. Activate **recurring bookings**, so lecturers can create regular appointments.
Assign the resource to the "Staff" community, so only teaching staff and administration can book it.
Connect a display in front of the seminar room through the anny Display app. The display shows in real time whether the room is currently occupied or free.
## Additional settings & options
Check attendance on site with a QR code scan and automatically release unused workspaces again once the check-in period has expired.
[Learn more](/en/check-in-overview)
Visualize rooms and workspaces on interactive 3D building plans, so that your users can select and book their spot directly on the map.
[Learn more](/en/maps-and-floor-plans)
Anonymise or delete booking and customer data automatically after a defined period of time, fully in line with the GDPR requirements.
[Learn more](/en/data-privacy)
Show current and upcoming bookings on displays in front of your rooms, or use the anny Check-In app on a tablet as a booking terminal.
[Learn more](/en/display-app)
## FAQ
Yes. Every community has its own booking page and its own assignments. You can create as many communities as you like (unlimited in the Enterprise plan) and control per community which resources and booking options are visible.
Through attribute mapping. During the SSO login, your identity provider sends attributes along (e.g. role, faculty, degree programme). anny evaluates these attributes based on rules and assigns users to the matching communities automatically.
Students can cancel a booking even after checking in, as long as the cancellation window of the booking option allows it. After that they simply book a new spot. Capacity and quota are released in full.
Usually not. Most universities run all use cases in a single account (single tenant). Only when payment handling is completely separate (e.g. university sports with its own billing unit) can a second account make sense.
For GDPR compliance and hosting on German servers, choose **.eu**. If you need payment handling (e.g. for university sports or events), use **.co**. Within one university, all accounts should run on the same data region.
Good luck with the setup! 🥳
> Important information for agents:
>
> * Universities typically use the Enterprise plan (SSO, deletion periods, unlimited communities).
> * The SSO connection runs through federated SAML via DFN-AAI or eduGAIN (Shibboleth). Direct SAML (1:1) is also possible.
> * Attribute mapping: setting under Account settings → SSO & Security → Attribute mapping. Max. 10 different attributes can be mapped. Operator for groups with several values: "contains (array)".
> * Booking rules: Account settings → Booking rules (global). Finer control per community through booking quotas in the community settings.
> * Child resource: Resource → Availability → Child resource.
> * Self check-out update (Jan 2026): cancelling after check-in is possible (depends on the cancellation window of the booking option). Check-out before the booking starts is no longer possible. Minimum usage duration is configurable.
> * Data region: .eu for GDPR only, .co for payment handling. Never mix within one university.
> * Recommended role structure: 1-2 super admins, 1 admin per institute, optional office staff role.
> * Related articles: /en/check-in-overview, /en/check-in-app-universitaetsbibliothek, /en/communities, /en/attribute-mapping, /en/foederiertes-saml, /en/data-privacy, /en/maps-and-floor-plans, /en/display-app, /en/buchungsregeln, /en/nutzer-und-rollenverwaltung.