View What are Web Cutoff Times and how do I Change them
What are Web Cutoff Times and How do I Change them (Lead Time Adjustments)
When you have your Web Reservation system up and running you will want to set a method of cuttting off online reservations so that clients cannot book last-minute reservations that would "surprise" a dispatcher. On the Web system these cutoff times are called Lead Time Adjustment and can be set globally (see Web System below) but can also be overridden for specific Group Profiles. This allows Prefered or Priority accounts to have a different cutoff or Lead Time Adjustment.
Lead Time Adjustments can be made in the local system (easier) and then uploaded to the web system, OR they may be made on the web system directly (little bit more tricky) .
We will review the concept of Lead Time Adjustment on the Local System First:
LOCAL SYSTEM
In HWeb Agent, Click Tools - Profiles - Edit Existing Profile (or Shift + F9 keys)
Enter the Profile ID or the Name, select the approriate Search Key and click the ‘Find It’ button
Once the Profile Detail window opens, locate and select the ‘WEB’ tab.
Locate the field labled Lead Time Adjustment. Select as appropriate:
- Use Site Values (default): Global Lead Time cutoff is specifed on the web. Use the Web specifiied settings.
- Fixed Cutoff Time Override: Changes the Hour Reservations will be cutoff at, and determines how early/soon into the future pickup times may be made when using the online system.
- Relative Lead Time Override: Sets the number of hours (from the current time) that pickup requests may be made for.
Locate the field labled: ‘Cutoff time or relative value.’ Enter the desired value
- If Lead Time Adjustment (above) is set to FIXED, then this field will contain the clock time (ex: 13:00, 08:00, etc) to be used when determining the cutoff Scale (see below). If the current time, when actively creating and entering an online reservation is BEFORE this cutoff time, then the person will be able to enter a reservation no sooner than the value contained in the CutoffScale: Days if before field. If the current time, when actively creating and entering an online reservation is AFTER this cutoff time, then the person will be able to enter a reservation no sooner than the value contained in the CutoffScale: Days if after field.
- If Lead Time Adjustment is set to RELATIVE, then this field will contain the number of hours from now that a pickup time may be entered on a web reservation. If the pickup time is sooner, or less than the relative lead time hours, the reservation request will fail and an error message will be displayed. If the pickup time is after the number of hours specified in this field, the reservation will be accepted
Locate the field labled: Cutoff Scale. Enter the desired Values.
- Days if Before: If the Cutoff time above has not yet been reached today, then you can enter a reservation with a pickup time this many days from today.
- Days if After: If the Cutoff time above has been reached today, then you can enter a reservation with a pickup time this many days from today.
After setting the desired Lead Time Adjustments, and if you are ready to upload to the web. From within the edited profile, click Tools - Update the Web. After being prompted to save the changes, the profile updates, including the Lead Time Adjustments, will be uploaded to the Web system. A dialog box will open and should show successful upload of the record. If nothing happens when selected, check the General Tab of the profile to ensure that the profile is set to EXPORT.
Examples:
Policy: I do not want any surprises or last minute reservations coming in from the web. I want at least a 48 hour notice.
Setting: Lead Time Adjustment = Relative, Cutoff time or Relative Value = 48
Policy: I will accept online reservations with a pickup for anytime tomorrow, until 3PM today. After 3PM, they may not reserve for tomorrow, but may reserve for anytime the next day (2 days from now).
Setting: Lead Time Adjustment=Fixed, Cutoff time or relative value=17:00, Cutoff Scale: Days if Before=1, Days if After=2.
Policy: This is a priority account. I will accept all online reservations as long the pickup is at least 4 hours from now.
Setting: Lead Time Adjustment=Relative. Cutoff Time or Relative Value=4
Policy: I will accept reservations until noon time today for a pickup 3 days from now. After 12:00 noon, Reservations must be for 5 days from now or beyond.
Setting: Lead Time Adjustment=Fixed, Cutoff Time or Relative Value=12:00, Cutoff Scale Days if Before=3, Days if After=5.
WEB SYSTEM
Review the section above to understand what Fixed and Relative Lead time Adjustments are. Understanding these concepts will assist with setting these values directly on the web.
Global or default Lead Time setting:
Login to the Web Reservation Utility page and go to the section titled: General Configuration.
The first or topmost portion of this page is labled TIME SETTINGS.
On the Right hand side you set the Lead Time Type: Relative or Fixed
On the Left hand side you set the Relative lead time in hours. (If Lead Time Type=fixed, then this field should be blank).
Also on the left hand side is the Fixed Reservation Cutoff time and the values for Lead Time for Reservations made BEFORE and AFTER the fixed cutoff. Again, see the top portion of this page to understand what these settings are and how they should be configured.
Setting or adjusting the Lead Time Setting for a specific Group Profile
Login to the Web Reservatin Utility page and go to the section titled: Group Configuration.
From the top drop down menu, browse to and select the profile to be edited.
Locate the field titled: Web Edited Profile Options (GROUPMISCSTR).
In the field you will insert a statement that defines the Relative Lead Time Type (RLT), the Relative Lead time Value (RLV), and RLB and RLA (lead time for days Before and After, if needed).
Relative Lead Time Types:
RLT=1 or RLT=F: Lead time Type is Fixed.
RLT=2 or RLT=R: Lead time Type is Relative
Relative Leade Time Values:
RLV=#: relative Lead time value in hours, when Lead Time Type is Relative
RLV=hh:mm: Fixed Cutoff time when the Lead Time Type is Fixed.
RLA=#: Lead time in days if current time is AFTER the time specified in the RLV for a Fixed Cutoff Time.
RLB=#: Lead time in days if current time is BEFORE the time specified in the RLV for a Fixed Cutoff Time.
Examples:
Policy: I do not want any surprises or last minute reservations coming in from the web. I want at least a 48 hour notice.
Setting: RLT=R,RLV=48
Policy: I will accept online reservations with a pickup for anytime tomorrow, until 3PM today. After 3PM, they may not reserve for tomorrow, but may reserve for anytime the next day (2 days from now).
Setting: RLT=F,RLV=17:00,RLB=1,RLA=2.
Policy: This is a priority account. I will accept all online reservations as long the pickup is at least 4 hours from now.
Setting: RLT=R,RLV=4
Policy: I will accept reservations until noon time today for a pickup 3 days from now. After 12:00 noon, Reservations must be for 5 days from now or beyond.
Setting: RLT=F,RLV=12:00,RLB=3,RLA=5.
After adding the desired string to the Web Edited Profile Options field, be sure to locate and select the UPDATE button on this page to save the changes. Repeat the steps above for other Group Profiles that need to have edited Lead Time Adjustments.