Online Check-In
Purpose
The Online Check-In is a series of steps that allow your customers to check the existing information about their booking and add any necessary information prior to hiring out their vehicle. Overall, this helps save time and streamlines the hiring out process, while also ensuring that you have all the required information and documentation. The Online Check-In includes places where you customers can look over and change their personal information, add an extra driver, choose KMS, Insurance and extra fee options. They are also able to upload images, add credit card information and sign the rental agreement.
Accessing the Online Check-In
There are 3 ways that you can give your customer access to the Online Check-In
- The Check-In Reminder Email
- An additional link on the Rental Agreement email.
- The Online Check-In Kiosk
The Check-In Reminder Email
The Check-In Reminder Email contains a link to the Online Check-In. It can be set up to auto-generate and send a certain number of days before the pickup. For information on setting up this email template, please see the Online Check In Reminder article.
Alternatively, you are able to manually send these emails at any time by opening the Booking Details of a reservation and clicking the “Online Check In Reminder” button.
Please note that the Booking Details page can be easily accessed through the Reservation Enquiry and Update, the Daily Activity Report and the Reservation Sheet.
Once you has selected the "Online Check In Reminder" button, the email window will open. There are five pages in this window and they are:
- Option: There are no extra option to select from for this email.
- Sender & Recipient: This is where you can add extra recipients and CC other addresses in.
- Message: This is where you can add an additional message to the customer, separate from the existing template.
- Attachments: This is where you can attach any documents to send as part of the email
- Preview & Send: This is where you can see the email as the customer will. If you are happy with it, press the "Send Message" button at the bottom of the page and the email will send.
The image below shows an example of what the customer will see when they receive the Check-in Reminder email, whether it is automatically or manually sent.
Once the customer clicks on either blue "Click Here" link, they will be bought to the Online Check-In screen shown below.
An Additional Link on the Agreement Email
Like the Online Check-In Reminder, the Rental Agreement can be emailed from the Booking Details page by selecting the "Agreement" button indicated below.
This will open up a window from which the Rental Agreement can be emailed. In this window, you are able to update the recipients, email subject and special notes. More importantly, you can select the "Add Pre-Checkin Link" box, which will add the section the email indicated below. Once this has been done, select "Send Email" to send this message to the customer.
The email the customer receives will appear the same as it does in the Email Preview shown above, If they click on the blue link under "Complete Your Reservation", it will open up the same Online Check-In page as the Check-In Reminder email.
Online Check-In Kiosk
The Online Check-In links sent in both the emails above are specific to the reservation they were sent from. However, the Kiosk is a non-specific link that can be used for any reservation. As such, you can use the Kiosk in numerous ways including integrating it into your website to allow customer to complete their Online-Check-In there and having it open on tablets in your renting locations for customers to complete if they haven't already. To gain access to the Kiosk please contact RCM Support (support@rentalcarmanager.com).
Below is an image of what the first page of the Kiosk's Online Check-In looks like. Please note that unlike the previous two, the customer needs to enter their Reservation Number as well as their Last Name. This is because, with the non-specific nature of the Kiosk, the booking needs to be located first.
Online Check-In
Once the customer has entered their Last Name and Reservation Number (only required if accessed through the Kiosk), they will be taken to the Online Check-In. Depending on how your Online Check-In workflow is set up, this screen may look different. The workflow determines which sections appear in the Online Check-In, as well as the items in some of the sections, whether or not they are mandatory and the order in which they are shown. To setup or change you Online Check-In workflow, please contact RCM Support (support@rentalcarmanager.com).
Below, is an example of how you Online Check-In could appear.
As you can see, the information about the booking which the customer is unable to change is displayed on the left, and all the collapsible sections appear on the right. The customer can then go through each of these sections, adding and changing any relevant information. Once all the mandatory information in each section has been added, it will be marked with a tick, as seen in the Extra Drivers section above. To save these changes, the customer must mark that they have accepted the Terms and Conditions of the Hire, and then select "Save."
If the customer saves the Online Check-In without filling in all the mandatory fields in each section, they will be given this message. The changes that they have made will be saved against the booking, but the Online Check-In will not be marked as completed. They are able to come back to the Online Check-In at any time using the same link to complete it.
If all the sections have been completed and marked with a tick when the Online Check-In is saved, then the screen shown below will appear. The booking will be updated in RCM to include all this new information and the Online Check-In will be marked as completed.
Automatic Emails when Customer Completes the Online Check-In
There are three emails that can be automatically sent when the Online Check-In is completed.
The first if the Notification email sent to you to inform you that the customer has completed their Online Check in. See below:
The email notification will be sent to either the company email address or the location email address depending on your settings.
To set this, go to System Setup >> System Parameters >> Document and Email Parameters >> "Use Location email address for Confirmation":
Please note that this requires a small configuration change from our end, so if you would like this set up for you, please email support@rentalcarmanager.com.
Confirmation - you can choose that your customer receives an "Online Booking Confirmation" email. This is the same email that is sent at the time of the original booking, so if you'd prefer to have different wording, see the Rental Agreement option below.
Note: if you wish to set up this email, it will need to be integrated into your Online Check-In Workflow, so please contact support@rentalcarmanager.com.
Additionally, upon completion of the Online Check-In, a copy of the Rental Agreement can be automatically sent to the customer's email address. An example of this email is shown below.
Note: if you wish to set up this email, it will need to be integrated into your Online Check-In Workflow, so please contact support@rentalcarmanager.com.
Important Articles
Related Articles
Online Check In Report
Purpose: The Online Check in report allows you to easily see which bookings have had a Check in email sent out to the customer. You are also able to see if the customer has completed the Check in process. If the customer has not completed the Check ...Online Check In Reminder
Purpose The Online Check In Reminder allows you to send your customers an email containing a link to the Online Check In page. This can be configured to automatically send an email to your customers a certain number of days before their pick up. From ...Additional Feature - Exclusions for Online Check-In Reminders
RCM now allows you to set up exclusions for Online Check-In Reminder emails. This feature allows you to use certain fields to setup exclusions, so that these emails will not automatically send for bookings with specified details. For example, you can ...Feb 2024: Additional Feature - Email Agreement After Online Check-In
RCM now allows for the automatic emailing of a booking's Rental Agreement to the customer, upon completion of the Online Check-In. If you wish to use this new email, please contact support@rentalcarmanager.com, for help integrating it into your ...Update to the Online Check in - Automatic Email Notification after Customer completion
You can now get notified via email when a customer completes their Online Check in. See below: The email notification will be sent to the company email address or the location email address depending on your settings. To check, go to System Setup > ...