ServiceDesk 4.4.81 Update 10/11/10

Two releases back, we described an improvement in how the system looks at availability, via the ZoneScheduling system, to decide whether to warn an operator against overbooking.  Specifically, we'd found that if day-portion vacancies (i.e., morning or afternoon) were available for a particular zone/day socket, but not all-day vacancies, the alert would trigger if an operator attempted to schedule an all-day appointment.  This didn't seem logical, since all-day appointments are more liberal to internal management than mere day-portion ones, if day-portion slots are available, it stands to reason, a fortiori, that all-day ones should be permitted.   

So (and via a significant internal rebuild) we fixed it.  Then we got calls.  Lots of them. 

Turns out the old system had been being liberal in the opposite way (one that, arguably, logic dictates against).  Specifically, it had been permitting (without alert) scheduling of day-portion appointments in the presence of available all-day allocations, but absent any applicable day-portion allocation.  Our rebuild incidentally fixed this.  In other words, via the improvements as made, an operator could no longer schedule for a day portion, absent warning, unless there were unused allocations for that day-portion. 

Logical or not, people did not like this "improvement."  So, with this release, the old (arguably less logical) liberality is back.  Regardless, the new and added (more logical) liberality, as added two releases back, of course endures.