Smart Lock Box Pick Up
As of December 2023, lockboxes are no longer available for purchase.
Purpose
Lock boxes are becoming more prevalent in recent times to limit contact between the rental car company operator(s) and the hirer of the rental.
What is a Smart Lock Box? It's a lock box that you can open with a automatically time-generated code on a keypad, where the car keys can then be stored inside. These lock boxes are designed to be attached to a car window by hooking over the top, or they can be mounted on a wall. The codes are time sensitive, so the hirer can only access the lock box for a set period of time before the code expires
Getting Started
Please contact Rental Car Manager for pricing information and about how to order your lock boxes.
Usage
Let's look at an example where the operator is getting a Lock Box ready to put a key in for a reservation.
The first step is to go to the Lock Box Pick Up button on the booking details for the relevant reservation:
This button is also available on the Update Booking form.
After clicking here, you will be taken to one of the following screens depending on the completion of the reservation:
Scenario #1 - Eligibility Issues - The system will try to determine if the reservation is in a valid state for an unattended pick up. If warnings appear in red, you need to fill in some or all of the missing fields that are restricting you from authorising a Lock Box for this reservation.
Scenario #2 - Eligibility Issues, but able to manually Authorise - Other warnings may appear in yellow, and these can be overridden by clicking the "Authorise for Lock Box Pick Up" button as shown below:
Once authorised, the Lock Box pop up screen will appear where the operator needs to complete some fields to activate the Lock Box code prior to the reservation being hired. (1 hour before hire - this is explained below - "Unlock Now Code").
Operator Assistance:
- Assign Lockbox: From the drop down, select a Lock Box. To create lock boxes, see the further down in the article - "Creating lock boxes".
- Unlock Period: These dates are set using your system settings for lock box pick ups, see further down "Configuration". These dates and times may be changed by clicking in the box and using the calendar picker.
- Driver's Unlock Code: Click the Refresh Code button to generate a code for the selected Lock Box linked to the reservation. This is the code for the hirer. Once the code is generated, it will state how long it is valid for, which is the duration of the reservation.
- Unlock Now Code: This code is for the operator to open the Lock Box and put the key in. The code for this is valid immediately, for one hour. Note that the operator can regenerate this code as much as they want by simply viewing the Lock Box Pick Up screen as seen below. This will in turn make that code valid for another hour from now. This comes in useful for after hour pick ups.
- Add Note to Log: Here you can add a note if you wish, any notes will appear in the status log on this page.
Email the Pick Up/Unlock Instructions
Once you have assigned a lock box and generated the code, you can send an email to the customer with instructions on picking up their vehicle and accessing the lock box. Scroll down to the email section. Note that the email is constructed using templated text which can be set using the Configuration Settings page (see below). You can change any of the email details and instructions, and then click "Send Email". You can see a preview of the email lower down the screen before you send it, if necessary.
Lock Box Pick Up Configuration Settings
Navigate to the Lock Box Setup page: System Setup > Lock Box Setup
Here is where you can set the default email text.
You can also set the defaults according to how long you would like the unlock code to be valid. You can either choose:
- Unlock across the entire period of the Reservation (this should be used when the lock box is attached to the car and will remain with the vehicle)
- Only for the first X hours after scheduled pick up. This option should be used if the lock box is attached to a wall and will not remain with the vehicle.
In the Email Settings, you can choose if you want to include the Lock box alias in the emails rather than the lock box name
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