Reservation Rulesets (RRS) Overview

Reservation Rulesets (RRS) Overview:

Configuring Reservation Rulesets (RRS) will allow you to define rules that your program will abide by. Each RRS will contain a definition with details about how this will affect your service.

These RRS can be measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks or months.

There are RRS for different aspects of your service:

• Reservation Times - These control basic rules for reservations created by drivers, such as minimum and maximum allowed duration.
• Cancelation Policy - You can specify if you'll charge for cancelations and configure the amount.
• Other - Miscellaneous rules can be configured.
• App Reservation - You can set default information for what's visible in the app during reservation creation.

Here is a list of default values.

 

Below is a list of all the configurable Reservation Rulesets (RRS) in Mission Control. Each RRS is accompanied by a description of its function, along with a best practice recommendation.

Reservation Times

Reservation Minimum: 15 min

The minimum duration for a reservation. This setting allows you to define the shortest reservation a driver can make.

Best Practice: If your drivers will be using vehicles for very short periods, it is recommended to set this to 15 minutes. This will ensure the vehicle is available for other reservations in a timely manner.

Early Start: 5 min

How far ahead of a reservation's scheduled start time will you allow a driver to begin their reservation?

Example: If you set the value to 30 minutes, a driver will be allowed to start a reservation at 7:30am for a scheduled start time of 8:00 am.

Best Practice: A value in the 15-30 minute range is usually sufficient based on our experience.

Example (Early Start):

• Reservation scheduled start: 8:00 am
• Reservation scheduled end: 8:00 pm
• Timedelta Early Starts = 30 mins
• Customer may check into the reservation

 

Reservation Maximum: 24 hrs

The maximum duration for a reservation. This allows you to define the longest reservation you'll allow a driver to make.

Best Practice: Avoid setting this duration too short and consider rare situations, as drivers may encounter issues when trying to extend a reservation that is already in progress.

Early End: Allow immediate end

How far in advance of an in progress reservation's scheduled end time will you allow a driver to finish their reservation?

Best Practice: Allowing a reservation to be ended immediately can be useful when unforeseen circumstances arise.

Example:

• Customer starts the reservation early at 7:30am (with the reservation scheduled to start at 8am).
• Billing period starts at 7:30am.
• Customer ends the reservation at 5:30pm (with the reservation scheduled to end at 8pm).
• Taking timedelta early end (1 hr) into account, the earliest that the system would consider stopping time-based pricing is at 8pm - 1hr = 7pm.
• Since 7pm is later than the reservation's actual end at 5:30pm, the billing period will end at 7pm, so the customer will be charged for 7:30am-7pm = 11.5 hrs.

 

Example (Early End):

• Customer Starts Reservation: 7:30 am
• Reservation Scheduled Start: 8:00 am
• Customer Ends Reservation: 5:30 pm
• Timedelta Early End: 7:30 pm
• Reservation Scheduled End: 8:00 pm
• Scheduled Reservation = 12 hrs
• Actual Reservation = 10 hrs
• Customer Charged = 11.5 hrs

 

Reserve Ahead Minimum: Allow immediate Start

The minimum amount of time required between when a driver creates a reservation and when their reservation can start. This setting allows you to specify the shortest lead time for reservations.

Best Practice: Allowing a reservation to start immediately after creation can help prevent issues in last-minute situations where a vehicle is urgently needed.

Example: If this value is set to 24 hour and a driver creates a reservation at 08:00 AM, the earliest the reservation's scheduled start time can be is 8:00am the next day.

End Service Buffer: 15 min

The length of time to block after a vehicle has been returned for any post-reservation maintenance or cleaning. The vehicle will be unavailable for reservations while this buffer is active.

Best Practice: If post-reservation cleaning is not part of your normal reservation process, selecting "No buffer" is suggested to maximize vehicle availability.

Example: If this value is set to 12 hrs and a vehicle's reservation ends at 8:00pm, the next reservation for that vehicle cannot be scheduled to start until 8:00am.

End Margin Buffer: 30 min

To accommodate late returns, a buffer time after each reservation determines how long drivers can still use mobile app vehicle controls like locking/unlocking.

Best Practice: In situations where the reservation hasn't been extended, we've found that 30-45 minutes is usually enough time for the vehicle to be returned.

Example (End Buffer):

• Reservation Scheduled Start: 8:00 am
• Reservation Scheduled End: 8:00 pm
• Start of next available slot for a reservation: 10:00 am
• Timedelta End Margin Buffer = 2 hrs
• Timedelta End Service Buffer = 12 hrs

Example (Max Late):

• Reservation Scheduled Start: 8:00 am
• Reservation Scheduled End: 8:00 pm
• Virtual Key Expiration: 12:00 am
• Timedelta Max Late = 4 hrs

Example (Reserve Ahead Min):

• Reservation Scheduled Start: 1/1, 8:00 am
• Start of next available slot for a reservation: 1/2, 8:00 am
• Timedelta Reserve Ahead Min = 24 hrs

Reserve Ahead Maximum: 3 months

The maximum amount of time required between when a driver creates a reservation and when their reservation can start. This can be configured to any length of time, up to a year. How far in advance do you want to grant access for your drivers to create reservations?

Example: If this value is set to 1 month and today's date is January 27th, a driver will only be able to create reservations up to February 27th.

Best Practice: We recommend setting this value to 3-6 months, as this time frame typically allows drivers to plan for the future effectively.

Vehicle Confirmed: 2 hrs

The length of time before a reservation starts within which a specific vehicle is assigned to a reservation.

Example: If this value is set to 2 hours and a reservation is created 24 hours in advance, the specific vehicle will be assigned 2 hours prior to the scheduled start time. Until then, only the Service Group from which the vehicle will be chosen is defined.

Best Practice: Setting a value of 2 hours allows the driver enough time to plan for their reservation, while also providing the system flexibility with vehicle availability for other reservations. Additionally, a "Reservation Reminder" email can be sent at this time to inform the driver of all their reservation details.

Cancelation Policy

Minimum Canceled: 15 min

The minimum amount of time to bill a driver for if they cancel.

Best Practice: Typically, this value aligns with an organization's Reservation Minimum value.

Minimum Canceled: 15 min

The length of time before a reservation's scheduled start time during which a cancellation fee will be charged.

Best Practice: We suggest setting this to a value that considers the impact on the vehicle's availability for other reservations. A common choice is 1 hour.

Example:

• Customer cancels a reservation at 7:48am within the cancellation window (timedelta times locked = 12 hrs) before the reservation (8am-8pm) starts.
• Duration min cancelled (4 hrs) is shorter than the length of the scheduled reservation (12 hrs). The customer will be charged for the length of duration min cancelled (4 hrs).

Example (Cancellation):

• Customer Cancels Reservation: 7:48 am
• Reservation Scheduled Start: 8:00 am
• Reservation Scheduled End: 8:00 pm
• Timedelta Times Locked = 12 hrs
• Duration Min Cancelled = 4 hrs
• Scheduled Reservation = 12 hrs
• Customer Charged = 4 hrs

Others

Concurrent Max: 1 Reservation

The maximum number of simultaneous reservations allowed for a single driver.

Best Practice: Typically, organizations do not allow a driver to have multiple reservations in progress at once. This value is usually set to 1.

Create Grace Period: No charge

The length of time after a reservation is created within which a driver can cancel/make changes to the reservation with no penalty.

Best Practice: It is common for there not to be a charge for making an edit to a reservation.

Max Late: 15 min

The added buffer time after a scheduled reservation ends during which the virtual (vehicle) key remains active in the app. Only one virtual key can exist for a vehicle at a time, and it will automatically expire once a new reservation for the vehicle begins.

Best Practice: This is usually set at a value of 15 minutes.

App Reservation

Start/End Time Resolution: 15 min

The clock picker resolution for start and end times on the reservation creation screen in the app. This setting determines the increments in which drivers can select or change reservation times.

Best Practice: We recommend setting this value to 15 minute increments to provide your drivers with the maximum amount of flexibility during the reservation creation process.

Example: If end time resolution = 30 minutes, then if a customer is searching for a reservation, they can select time slots that end in increments of 30 minutes (e.g., 10am, 10:30am, 11am, etc.).