All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without the written permission of the publisher. Products that are referred to in this document may be either trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners. The publisher and the author make no claim to these trademarks. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, the publisher and the author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this document or from the use of programs and source code that may accompany it. In no event shall the publisher and the author be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this document. Printed: May 2007 Publisher Seekom Managing Editor Craig Fraser Special thanks to: To all those who contributed to and proof-read this document, and of course to our Seekom subscribers and resellers. Technical Editors Simon Casey Nicky Casey Cover Designer Nicky Casey
Contents 1 Table of Contents 1 ibex Rentals 2 1-1 Introduction... 2 1-2 Purpose of... this Guide 2 1-3 Demonstration... System 2 1-4 Account Set... Up 3 1-5 User Set Up... 3 1-6 Log into ibex... Rentals 3 1-7 View and Edit... your Set Up 4 1-7-1 1-7-2 View/Edit... Account Details 4 Default User... Preferences 6 1-8 Making Bookings... 7 1-8-1 1-8-2 Booking... on Behalf of your Clients 7 Clients Self... Booking through your Web Site 7 1-9 Managing... Your Bookings 8 1-9-1 1-9-2 1-9-3 Retrieve... Booking Screen 9 View Booking... Details 10 Reports... 11 1-10 View Booking... System Set Up 12 1-11 Help... 13
1 2 ibex Rentals - Introduction ibex Rentals 1.1 Introduction ibex Rentals is a powerful internet based marketing tool for rental car and campervan/motorhome operators. It allows operators to distribute their vehicle availability (either instant booking confirmation or on request), rates, and process bookings via the internet. It also enables agent bookings to be processed and manages the communication of booking status and details between the customer, the operator and you as the agent. ibex Rentals also includes comprehensive facilities for the operator to set up and manage agents. You, as an agent can use the ibex Rentals booking screens on your own web site and have access to select management functions to view and manage the bookings you have supplied the operator. 1.2 Purpose of this Guide This Guide is intended for use by agents of ibex Rental operators. It covers the functions and options the operator has available to set up your account and the information you can control. It tells you how to access the ibex system to view and report on your bookings. 1.3 Demonstration System The Seekom web site (www.seekom.com) has a demonstration ibex Rentals booking system. It uses a mythical company, Kiwi Rentals and agent U Travel. The agent U Travel has a user ID of Booker. The examples following use the Kiwi Rentals booking system and U Travel agent to illustrate the agent functions within ibex Rentals You can use the demonstration system to make test bookings - enter a dummy credit card number but use your real email address so you will receive the email booking confirmation. To make a booking on the demonstration system, copy and paste the following link into your browser address bar: http://www.seekom.com/rental/vehiclesearch.php?op=kiwirentals Enter utrav in the box under Agent and click the Login button. The box under Agent will now say 'U Travel', indicating that you are logged in. Please make a booking to see how ibex Rentals works.
ibex Rentals - Account Set Up 3 1.4 Account Set Up An operator can set up an agent as a registered user in ibex Rentals and assign them a user ID. The user ID is used to log into the ibex web booking screens prior to placing bookings. The operator will then be able to identify bookings as having come from you. You can note your ibex Rentals Registered User ID here: The operator is responsible for set up of: Your company contact details (including email address where booking notifications will be sent). Vehicle allocation, rates and currency specific to you. Whether they pay you a fixed fee per booking, or a commission percentage. Whether any deposit taken at the time of booking is paid to you, or the operator. Whether credit card details are required to secure the booking, or just an order reference. 1.5 User Set Up To permit agents access to ibex Rentals to view and report on their booking the operator can set up internal users. Internal users have restricted access to the administration functions of ibex Rentals. The internal user is tied to the agent so that internal users can only see booking details for that agent. Each agent can have more than one internal user. The internal user ID and password are used to log into the ibex Rentals Management Console 8. Note your ibex Rentals Internal User ID here: Note your ibex Rentals Internal User password here: 1.6 Log into ibex Rentals To log into ibex Rentals to view and edit your bookings access the web address http://www.seekom.com/account/aclogin.php and enter your internal user id and password as above.
4 ibex Rentals - Log into ibex Rentals You may want to bookmark this web address for future reference. 1.7 View and Edit your Set Up Once you have logged into ibex rentals you can view and edit your user details the operator entered when they created your registered user account and default preferences. 1.7.1 View/Edit Account Details To view and edit your account details log in as above, select User Maint from the menu bar and then Regd User as shown in the sample screen image below.
ibex Rentals - View and Edit your Set Up 5 The following diagram shows the Agent/User Registration screen.
6 ibex Rentals - View and Edit your Set Up Agent/User Registration screen continued. After editing or adding any details, press the Save button at the bottom of the screen. Note: Fields notated with pink speech bubbles are amendable by Operator only on your behalf. 1.7.2 Default User Preferences ibex Rentals has default preferences for each internal user. These preferences allow the user to change their password, set which screen is shown when the user first logs in (either the Booking List or a Calendar view and whether the Booking Edit screen or Calendar View opens when you select a booking from the Booking List.
ibex Rentals - Making Bookings 7 1.8 Making Bookings There are two ways of making bookings via the operator's ibex Rentals booking system. You can either make bookings on behalf of your clients by logging on the the operator's web site, or you can allow your clients to book directly themselves by adding a link on your web site to the operator's ibex Rentals booking system. 1.8.1 Booking on Behalf of your Clients Booking on behalf of your customers requires you to access the operator's ibex booking screens, enter your registered User ID then make a booking entering your customer's details and booking requirements. The web site address has the following format. It automatically logs you into the operator's ibex Rentals front booking screens. http://www.seekom.com/rental/vehiclesearch.php?op=xxxx&ru=yyyy Note: XXXX is the ibex Rentals Operator ID and YYYY is your Registered User ID. The process of making a booking is very straight forward. As you may have seen from the demonstration system, the information you will need to supply to make a booking is: Pick Up and Drop Off locations, dates and times Type of vehicle required Whether or travelling across Cook Strait is required. Any extras they require (eg.mobile phone, baby seat, collision damage waiver, etc). Customer details (name, contact phone number, email address, credit card details) 1.8.2 Clients Self Booking through your Web Site As an alternative to making direct bookings on behalf of your customers, you can place a link to the operator's booking screens on your own web site using the web address format as shown below. http://www.seekom.com/rental/vehiclesearch.php?op=xxxx&ru=yyyy
8 ibex Rentals - Making Bookings Note: XXXX is the ibex Rentals Operator ID and YYYY is your Registered User ID. The booking screen may be launched from a button on your web site either as a separate pop up window, or as a frame embedded into your web site. The pop up window will have the operator's branding and logo whereas the frame will not. For assistance with the technical aspects of linking to our booking screens, please contact your web master or info@seekom.com 1.9 Managing Your Bookings Whenever a booking is made via the operator's ibex Rentals system and you have logged in with your registered user ID you will receive an email like the following. The email is sent to the the address defined in your set up. Emails with the same information are also sent to the customer and the operator. To view your bookings log on to ibex Rentals using your internal user ID as described in Log into ibex Rentals 3.
ibex Rentals - Managing Your Bookings 9 1.9.1 Retrieve Booking Screen The first screen you will see after login (unless initial screen preference has been amended per Default User Preferences 6 ) is the Retrieve Booking screen (see example screen image below). This shows a list of your bookings in order they were made. You can search for bookings by reference number, customer name, dates of hire, dates of sale and status. Enter your criteria and click the Search button. Note: Bookings marked with an asterisk in the right hand column means they have not yet been viewed by you. The status types are: All New Enquiry On Request Inst Confirmed Confirmed Cancelled Bookings you haven't viewed yet. An enquiry that has been made via ibex Rentals. A booking request that has yet to be confirmed by the operator. A booking that has been instantly confirmed (ie. allocation was available at the time of booking). An On Request Booking that has been confirmed by the operator. A booking that has been cancelled (whether by the customer, you or the operator).
10 ibex Rentals - Managing Your Bookings 1.9.2 View Booking Details To view the booking details click on the booking reference number, Ref No in the left hand column. You will see the following screen: The details displayed are those that have either been entered at the time of booking (by the client, agent or operator). The Cancel button will cancel the booking and generate automatic emails to the customer and the operator informing them of the new status The Receipt button will show you the booking confirmation that has gone to the customer (see example image below):
ibex Rentals - Managing Your Bookings 11 1.9.3 Reports There are two reports you can view, Pick Up and Drop Off Report which mainly of use to the operator, and Hire Statistics Report. The Hire Statistics Report shows you the source of your bookings. In the check boxes on the right hand side of the screen you can select extra information you wish to be displayed in the report. Hire Country Made By Found Via is the country where the customer resides selection is restricted to your agent account only is how the customer found the operator (eg. agent recommendation, advertising, internet search, etc). These options are pre-loaded by the operator.
12 ibex Rentals - Managing Your Bookings Booking Status whether on request or confirmed The search results also show the number of bookings, average length of booking, and value of bookings. 1.10 View Booking System Set Up The Admin Screens give you view only access only to some of the key information that has been used to set up the operator's ibex Rentals System. The operator is in control of this and only they, or persons they nominate, can edit this information. This information determines how ibex Rentals booking screens function in provision of pick and drop off locations, rates, etc Operator Branch Class Category/Rate Vehicle Routes Calendar The Operator screen shows their contact details, forms of payment accepted, deposit and terms and conditions. The Branch screen shows the details for each branch office (i.e. pick and drop off locations) the operator has. It shows the contact details and hours of operation. The type of rental vehicle supplied (eg. 4WD, motorhome, car). Typically operators will only have one class. Categories and Rates and marketing classifications the operator uses to set rates. A vehicle may belong to one or more Categories. The vehicle Screen shows the vehicle description and which categories it belongs to. Routes are the combinations of pick and drop off locations (branches). The Routes function determines what categories are available for which routes, minimum hires and any price uplifts or discounts. The Calendar has a number of different views (by branch). Bookings View shows the number of bookings by Vehicle.
ibex Rentals - View Booking System Set Up 13 Allocation View shows whether vehicles are available with instant confirmation (white squares) on request (blue squares) or unavailable (pink squares). Rates View shows the daily rate for each Category. Extras Rates View shows the daily rate for the options available for sale. Extras Extras are options available at the time the vehicle is booked. The Extras Screen shows the different extras, including how they are sold and which Category they apply to. 1.11 Help Each screen in ibex Rentals includes a help button which explains the features and operation of that screen. If you require further assistance please contact the operator. If you would like to know more about ibex Rentals or any of Seekom's other booking and distribution solutions for accommodation and tour/activity suppliers, please contact: Seekom www.seekom.com info@seekom.com Phone:+64 4 386 3588 Fax: +64 4 386 4665
14 Index - A - account details, edit 4 account details, view 4 account setup 3 - B - booking details, view 10 booking link 7 booking list 6, 9 booking on behalf of clients 7 booking receipt 10 booking screen, retrieve 9 booking system setup, view 12 booking, clients self 7 bookings, test 2 - C - calendar view 6 clients self booking 7 clients, book on behalf of 7 contact seekom 13 - D - default preferences 6 demonstration system 2 - E - edit account details 4 - G - Guide, purpose of 2 - H - help 13 hire statistics report 11 - I - internal users 3 Introduction 2 - L - link, booking 7 link, web 7 list bookings 9 list, booking 6 login 3 - P - preferences, default 6 Purpose of this guide 2 - R - receipt, booking 10 report, hire statistics 11 retrieve booking screen 9 - S - screen, start 6 seekom contact 13 setup, account 3 setup, user 3 start screen 6 system, demonstration 2 - T - test bookings 2 - U - user setup 3 users, internal 3 - V - view account details 4 view booking details 10 view booking system setup 12 view, calendar 6 Version 2.2
Index 15 - W - web link 7