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.

 Reservation Ruleset Default Values Table

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

Default Value: 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.

⚙️ | Reservation Maximum

Default Value: 24 hours

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 Start

Default Value: 15 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.

⚙️ | Early End

Default Value: 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.

⚙️ | End Margin Buffer

Default Value: 30 min

To accommodate late vehicle returns, a buffer period is automatically applied to each reservation. This helps maintain vehicle availability and prevents scheduling conflicts. This is especially helpful if your drivers regularly return vehicles a little late. 

💡 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.

⚙️ | End Service Buffer

Default Value: 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. It's best to only set up this buffer if post-reservation maintenance and/or cleaning is a part of your normal reservation flow.

Example: If this value is set to 1 hour and a vehicle's reservation ends at 1:00pm, the next reservation for that vehicle cannot be scheduled to start until 2:00pm.

⚙️ | Reserve Ahead Minimum

Default Value: 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 1 hour and a driver creates a reservation at 08:00 AM, the earliest the reservation's scheduled start time can be is 9:00am.

⚙️ | Reserve Ahead Maximum

Default Value: 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?

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

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.

⚙️ | Vehicle Confirmed

Default Value: 2 hours

The length of time before a reservation starts within which a specific vehicle’s details are visible to a driver. Once this threshold is met, the vehicle’s details will be visible on the app and the Web Reservation App (WRA). An admin will immediately have visibility to a reservation’s vehicle in Mission Control.

During the reservation creation process, a driver selects a group of vehicles, known as a Service Group, for their reservation. The system will determine, based on utilization, which specific vehicle will be 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’s details will be visible to a driver 2 hours prior to the scheduled start time. Until then, only the vehicle's Service Group will be shared with the driver.

💡 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.

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Cancellation Policy

⚙️ | Minimum Cancelled

Default Value: 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.

⚙️ | Times Locked

Default Value: 1 hour

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.

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Other

⚙️ | Concurrent Max

Default Value: 1 reservation

The maximum number of simultaneous reservations allowed for a single driver. Setting this to more than one would allow a driver to create reservations for multiple vehicles at the same time.

💡 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

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

Default Value: 15 min

The added buffer time after a scheduled reservation ends during which the virtual (vehicle) key remains active in the driver's device. 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 - 30 minutes. We've seen this value often matches that of the End Margin Buffer.

If the Max Late duration is shorter than the End Margin Buffer, administrators will need to manually issue lock or unlock commands to the vehicle for the period that extends beyond the Max Late setting but within the End Margin Buffer.

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App Reservation

⚙️ | Start Time Resolution

Default Value: 15 min

The clock picker resolution for start 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. To avoid confusion this is usually set to match the End Time Resolution.

Example: If end time resolution = 15 minutes, then a customer can select time slots that end in increments of 15 minutes (e.g., 10am, 10:15am, 10:30am, etc.). 

⚙️ | End Time Resolution

Default Value: 15 min

The clock picker resolution for 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. To avoid confusion this is usually set to match the Start Time Resolution.

Example: If end time resolution = 15 minutes, then a customer can select time slots that end in increments of 15 minutes (e.g., 10am, 10:15am, 10:30am, etc.). 

⚙️ | Duration Default

Default Value: 4 hours

The initial duration presented when the reservation creation screen loads on the app.

💡 Best Practice: 

Set this to what you consider to be your average reservation duration. This will minimize the amount of adjustments your drivers will need to make during the reservation creation process.