How does a reservation system work?

When setting the options for your customers, you need to consider not only the group size, but also the minimum and maximum duration of the reservation. You also need to determine whether the reservation has a fixed price, a price per hour, or a price per person per hour.

Optimum occupancy and customer-friendliness

For optimum occupancy, it is important to establish the maximum capacity. You will need to weigh up whether your customers can only book pre-set (fixed) time slots or whether they can decide for themselves how long their reservation lasts. If you want the best possible occupancy, it is best to work with fixed time slots that can be booked to 100% capacity. Is a high level of customer-friendliness an essential factor in your industry? Then let your customer, guest, or visitor choose their own exact start and end time, and factor in any potential vacancy.

Example

You rent out a space and configure your booking tool so that reservations can only be made in two-hour blocks. With fixed blocks, the space can be booked from 08:00–10:00, from 10:00–12:00, from 12:00–14:00, from 14:00–16:00, and from 16:00–18:00. If you give your customers the option to choose their own start time, a customer might select 09:00 as their start time (end time 11:00). This results in one hour of vacancy, as another customer cannot book the same space on the same day at 08:00.

You therefore have to make a choice between optimum occupancy and customer-friendliness. Depending on the industry, customers will have varying levels of understanding regarding the booking options available during these challenging times.

Browse our various DEMO websites to explore the different booking scenarios.

With i-Reserve, you decide what your customer can reserve. Can they only choose a pre-set block? Or do they have full control over their own start and end time? i-Reserve is therefore flexible enough to be configured to suit your booking scenario, allowing customers to place their own reservations.

With i-Reserve, you decide how many customers may reserve a single product. You no longer need to check your diary or spreadsheet while a customer waits on the phone for confirmation of availability.
The reservation system automatically indicates which time slots still have availability for the group wishing to book.

You open up time slots yourself by using a calendar (start and end date) to set your opening hours and the corresponding prices.
In this way, you can, for example, manage high- and low-season prices and opening hours. You can plan this well in advance so that, at a time that suits you, you can calmly set the times and prices for the upcoming period. You don't need to rush on the day of the change to make last-minute adjustments.
TIP: Plan ahead and bring peace of mind to your colleagues

If you offer multiple products (for example, several meeting rooms), it can often be difficult for the customer to find a suitable and available room. Using an advanced "Search and Book" system, we can immediately present the customer with available spaces based on their search criteria. See our meeting room demo for an example of such a system.

The reservation guide provides detailed instructions on how to configure the system, and if you have any questions, you are welcome to contact the professional support desk by phone or email.