In this article, we will be covering the following topics in relation to vehicle bookings:
- Creating a Booking Type
- Adding a Vehicle Booking
- Viewing Vehicle Bookings
- Completing Vehicle Bookings
Creating a Booking Type
Go to the 'Vehicle Types Management' page in Stream (accessed through the main menu in the top right hand corner).
In the 'Bookings' module on the right hand side of the screen, you will see the different booking types.
The 'Selected Booking Types' will vary based on which vehicle you have selected in the 'Overview' module on the left hand side of the screen.
We provide a number of booking types by default, and you can assign these to your vehicles by selecting the vehicle in the 'Overview' module and then drag and drop the relevant booking types from 'Available' into 'Selected' within the 'Bookings' module.
To create a booking type:
Step 1:
Select the vehicle you would like to create a booking type for in the 'Overview' module.
Then click 'Add' in the Bookings module.
This will open the Booking Type creation window.
Step 2:
In the dropdown box, select the type of booking that this is and enter a name for the booking type in the text field.
Step 3:
There are two types of intervals you can choose if you want this to be a recurring booking such as a service or MOT.
- Date - for bookings that have a time sensitive frequency, IE every 12 months.
- Mileage - for bookings that have a mileage sensitive frequency IE every 10,000 miles
If neither of these are suitable for this booking type you can leave both fields unticked.
Select the interval type(s) that is suitable for this booking and check the relevant box.
If you have ticked either the Date or Mileage boxes, then use the Interval frequency fields to tell Stream how often these bookings occur.
You can then use the 'Email Reminder' field to state how far in advance of the booking you'd like to be sent an automatic email reminder to ensure that you don't forget to schedule the booking with the relevant parties IE engineer, garage, etc.
Step 4:
The 'Usable if Missed' check box allows us to state whether a vehicle can remain in use if the booking is missed.
If we leave the box empty, the booking will need to be successfully completed or else the vehicle will stop being available to be selected on runs in Stream. You would use this for something where the booking completion is a requirement for the vehicle to be allowed on the UK roads, such as an MOT or Road Tax.
If this is the case then leave the box unchecked.
However if you'd like your vehicle to remain usable if the booking date has passed, then check the box.
Step 5:
The 'No. to Show in Vehicle Schedule' field relates to bookings which have a recurrence, such as a service or MOT.
When you add the initial booking for this vehicle type, it will use the number in this field to automatically create that many recurring instances of the booking.
For example if we enter the number 5 in this box, and the booking occurs once per month, it will automatically add the next 5 months worth of bookings to the vehicle based on the due date we add to the first instance of the booking.
Once all of the information has been filled out, you can go ahead and click 'Save' to finish creating this 'Booking Type'.
Now the Booking type will appear in the 'Available Booking Types' for this vehicle in the 'Bookings' module and you can use drag and drop to move it into 'Selected Bookings'.
Once you've done that, click 'Save'.
Adding a Vehicle Booking
You can now use the booking type we have just made to create a booking for this particular vehicle type.
Step 1:
Head to the Vehicle Details Page in Stream (accessed through the main menu in the top right corner).
Step 2:
In the 'Overview' module, select the vehicle that you wish to add a booking for and then in the 'Bookings' module in the centre you will see that because we've already created the booking type, we have a booking flagged as it has not yet had the details added.
Click the booking and then click 'Edit'.
Step 3:
The 'Create Booking' window will now be open and the Booking Type and Name will be prepopulated.
Enter a 'Due Date' to state when this booking type is due for this particular vehicle.
You will notice that the 'Next Due Date' has automatically been populated based on when we entered the current due date.
Step 4:
If you have confirmed booking date with the relevant party, IE the garage or an engineer, you can add this into the 'Booked Date' field (Press the plus icon if you'd like to add the exact start and end dates/times for the booking). If you haven't confirmed this yet, you can always come back and add this later.
You will see the 'History' for this particular booking at the bottom of the window, which will create a log each time an event occurs to this booking.
Step 5:
Now you've added all the information you need to create the booking, you can go ahead and click 'Save'.
You will now see that this has created 5 instance of this booking (as we stated when creating the Booking Type) based on the due date that we entered on our booking.
You can click on any of the bookings and click 'Edit' at any point to alter the details or input booking dates.
Viewing Vehicle Bookings
Once you have created your booking types and added your vehicle bookings, you can then view your bookings on the 'Vehicle Details' page in Stream (accessed through the main menu in the top right corner).
List View
Once on the vehicle details page, in the 'Overview' module, click on the drop down menu and click 'Bookings View' to see the bookings for all your vehicles as a list, or alternatively, click 'Bookings Calendar' to view the bookings for all your vehicles but visualised as dates on a calendar so you can easily see upcoming events.
Calendar View
Completing Vehicle Bookings
When the booking date arrives, you can go back into the 'Bookings' module on the 'Vehicle Details' page, select the relevant booking and click 'Edit'.
This will allow you to enter a completion date, the mileage upon completion, the result of the booking and any additional notes and attachments.
If you had entered a frequency interval for this booking type, the Next Due Date/Mileage will already be populated to tell you when the booking is next due and you will receive an email notification in advance of the booking as you had specified earlier.
If not, you can add these in now.
