Starters Guide for the Booking System

STARTERS GUIDE FOR THE BOOKING SYSTEM Version 2.2

I-Rent Client Support

T: +34 965796741 / +31 (0)88 2021225

@: info@i-rent.net

CONTENT
1 Before you begin publishing 1.1 Administrator data 1.2 Accommodation information 1.3 Accommodation availability 2 Logging in to the I-Rent system 2.1 Logging in 2.2 In case you forget your password 2.3 Logging out GETTING STARTED WITH THE I-RENT SYSTEM 3 Filling in the Administrators data 3.1 User Information 3.2 Administrator Information 3.3 I-Rent Credit 3.4 POS Information 3.5 Particularities 3.6 Rental Conditions 3.7 Presentation 3.8 Parameters 3.8.1 Airco seasons, Heating seasons and High Season Commission Intervals 3.8.2 Payment Calendars 3.8.3 Users 3.8.4 Spoken languages 3.8.5 Company Extras 3.8.6 Accommodation Extras 3.9 Agents 3.10 Collaborations 3.11 Agents Commission Chart 3.12 Season Definition 3.13 GAP Control Definitions 3.14 Special Offers 4 Uploading an accommodation to I-Rent 4.1 Adding a new accommodation 4.2 Filling in accommodation details 4.2.1 Accommodation Information - General Information - Contract Data - Accommodations Address and Geographic Situation - Maintenance Team and Contacts - Accommodation Evaluation in Stars - Distances and Surroundings of the Accommodation p. 6 p. 6 p. 7 p. 8 p. 9 p. 9 p. 10 p. 11 p. 12 p. 12 p. 13 p. 15 p. 16 p. 16 p. 19 p. 20 p. 23 p. 23 p. 24 p. 27 p. 27 p. 30 p. 30 p. 31 p. 31 p. 32 p. 33 p. 36 p. 37 p. 37 p. 38 1 p. 3 p. 3 p. 3 p. 3 p. 4 p. 4 p. 5 p. 5

- Outdoor of the Accommodation - Indoor Additional Information - Floors - Extra Services - Additional Notes 4.2.2 Descriptions 4.2.3 Pictures 4.2.4 Prices 4.2.5 Extras 4.2.6 Accommodation InfoSheet 4.2.7 Accommodation Authorizations 4.2.8 Booking Notifications 4.2.9 Publish on your websites 4.2.10 Publish on Collaborators Websites 4.2.11 Publish on I-Rent websites 4.2.12 Publish on External websites 4.2.13 Add to Set 4.2.14 Map 5 Filling and maintaining the calendar 5.1 Option 5.1.1 Placing an option 5.1.2 Confirm an option 5.1.3 Cancelling an option 5.2 Booking 5.2.1 Placing a booking 5.2.2 Cancelling a booking 5.2.3 Recovering a cancelled booking 5.3 Owner booking 5.3.1 Placing an Owner booking 5.3.2 Remove an Owner booking 5.4 Non Available period 5.4.1 Create a non-available period 5.4.2 Remove a non-available period 5.5 On demand period 5.5.1 Create an On Demand Period 5.5.2 Options and Bookings that fall within an On Demand Period 5.5.3 Remove an On demand Period 6 Removing an accommodation from the system and the website(s)

p. 39 p. 40 p. 40 p. 42 p. 43 p. 44 p. 46 p. 47 p. 48 p. 51 p. 51 p. 52 p. 53 p. 53 p. 54 p. 55 p. 56 p. 56 p. 58 p. 58 p. 58 p. 59 p. 59 p. 60 p. 60 p. 61 p. 61 p. 62 p. 62 p. 63 p. 63 p. 63 p. 64 p. 64 p. 64 p. 65 p. 65 p. 66

1 BEFORE YOU BEGIN PUBLISHING

Before you begin publishing accommodations, you should collect the following data.

1.1 ADMINISTRATOR DATA

Details regarding your company, your logo, your bank data (including IBAN and SWIFT/BIC for international bank transfers), and reservation terms. Details about your company: a short text with general information that will be placed alongside every accommodation. For example, information regarding arrival and departure days, the check-in and check-out times, your business hours, sum of the safety deposit (if any), maximum occupancy, standard amenities, services included in the price, what is not included in the price, extras, etc. Payment terms: what percentages customers are expected to pay, and when. Users: overview and e-mail addresses of employees who are to receive login credentials for the account.

1.2 INFORMATION ABOUT THE ACCOMMODATIONS

Season data (high season, low season, etc.) o Season data for the customer o Season data for the owner Fill in the Accommodation Information Sheet Accommodation description Important: Try to insert keywords that you believe potential customers will be searching for in the text. For example: city, region/province, type of accommodation (villa, house, farm, apartment), swimming pool (yes or no), garden, etc. Photos of the accommodationinside as well as outside. Geographic coordinates

1.3 ACCOMMODATION AVAILABILITY

Determine the time period during which the accommodation will not be available for hire. Any bookings for or occupancy by the owner of the accommodation himself/herself. Any time periods that are only available upon request and cannot be booked directly online. This means that the accommodation is available, but that any booking must first be checked, for example with the owner. All other time periods are available for online booking.

2 LOGGING IN TO THE I-RENT SYSTEM

Your I-Rent account is coupled to a personal login that you received from us or the manager.

2.1 LOGGING IN
Open your internet browser and go to sys.i-rent.net.

Figure 1. Logging in

You can also log in via I-Rent Developments main website: www.i-rent.net, by clicking on Log In. To get access to the system, you must fill in the blank fields with your login credentials. Fill in your given username in the Login field and your personal password in the field labelled Password. After that, click Sign In, and you will enter the system, where you will see the following screen:

Figure 2. I-Rent Home Screen

2.2 IN CASE YOU FORGET YOUR PASSWORD

If you forget your password, you can fill in your username, then click on Reset Password. A new password will be sent to the e-mail address that you used to register with us.

2.3 LOGGING OUT

If you want to log out, simply click on the icon Close Session in the top right-hand corner. For security reasons, you will be logged out automatically if your session is idle for more than 20 minutes, and you will be asked to login again. You will then return where you left off. It is important to make sure that you save regularly!

3 FILL IN ADMINISTRATOR DATA

To fill in your companys data, go to the menu Administrator. The following menu will appear: User Information Administrator Information I-Rent Credit POS Information Particularities Rental Conditions Presentation Parameters Agents Collaborations Agents Commissions Chart Season Definition GAP Control Definitions Special Offers

3.1 USER INFORMATION

Under User Information you will find your login information. Here you can change your e-mail address and password if you wish. To change your password, fill in your new password in the field New Password, and repeat in Retype Password. Finally, click Change Password, and the new password will be saved. It will take effect the next time you log in to I-Rent.

Figure 3. User Info

3.2 ADMINISTRATOR INFORMATION

Under Administrator Information, you can fill in company data, including address, bank data, your logo, geographic coordinates (for driving directions to and from your office).

Figure 4. Administrator Information

When filling in your data, please bear in mind the following: 1. Your logo must adhere to the following limitations: - The logo must be in GIF format with a white background. - The logo cannot exceed 20 KB in file size. - The logo cannot exceed dimensions of 90 mm x 20 mm (255 pixels by 57 pixels at 72 dpi) 2. Fill in geographic coordinates using degrees, minutes, and decimal minutes (hdddmm.mmm'). (Caution: DO NOT use degrees, minutes, and seconds) The geographic coordinates will always contain: 3 digits for degrees, 2 digits for minutes, and 3 degrees for decimal minutes. This means that if your location is 38, it should be entered as 038, and if your location is 7 minutes, it should be entered as 07. The encoding is always preceded by N (for north), S (for south), E (for east), or W (for west). Examples of how to enter geographic coordinates in I-Rent: Latitude: N03847.308' Longitude: E00007.230' It is possible to complete the coordinates automatically, by indicating the location of your office on the map. To do so: click on the globe behind Latitude and a map appears. Place the red balloon on the right location and the coordinates are automatically filled out.

3.3 I-RENT CREDIT

Some parts of the system require payment, such as: uploading an accommodation, publishing an accommodation on certain websites, translations, sms service, the use of specific icons and there is a small fee for each booking made. These payments are automatically deducted from your I-Rent Credit. So before continuing you first need to upload credit.

Figure 5. I-Rent Credit

If you wish to add credit, click on New Credit. The following screen will appear:

Figure 6. Add credit

Next, you can choose which amount you wish to add, then click Continue. You will be redirected to our secure bank environment, where you can select the preferred method of payment and pay directly online. In the overview (Figure 5) you can check the status of your balance and theres an overview of the depreciations. To examine depreciation, click on the magnifying glass. To view the invoice for the credited balance, click on the .pdf icon.

3.4 POS INFORMATION

It is possible for the customer to pay with credit card. Should you wish to allow this, the POS (Point of Sale) information must be filled in first. Contact your bank for the correct details and determine which credit card provider your bank works with. The information should be filled in here:

Figure 7. POS Information

In the field opposite the flag, you can give a name to this service. For example: rent vacation home. By clicking on the Google icon, you can automatically translate the text to different languages using Google Translate.

3.5 PARTICULARITIES
Under Particularities you can fill in a description regarding the particularities of your accommodations and your office details. Caution: these are NOT the reservation terms (chapter 3.6), only general terms of the accommodations and of the office with which the customer rents the accommodation. For example, you can clarify that the accommodations are furnished for a given maximum occupancy, standard amenities, whats included in the price, what is not included, any applicable extras, arrival and departure days, business hours, and sum/deadline of the safety deposit (if any). 9

Figure 8. Particularities List

This general text applies to all accommodations that are linked to this account and will automatically be placed alongside every accommodation published to the website. It is also possible to have a number of different Particularities for groups of similar accommodations, such as villas and apartments. Which particularities belong to which accommodations can be entered in the Accommodation Infosheet (see 4.2.1).

Figure 9. Particularities Text

The menu works as a word processing program. At the top right, you can change languages and enter multiple language versions of your text. You can save your text by clicking the disc icon .

3.6 RENTAL CONDITIONS

Every rental agreement requires rental conditions that a customer should accept before he commits to a booking. These terms are highly important, because they clearly delineate the rights and responsibilities of you and the customer as letter and tenant, respectively. This menu works as a word processing program too. Once again, by selecting in the top right corner, you can enter your terms in several languages. Click on the disc symbol to save the text.

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The General Rental Conditions are automatically added to each contract or reservation form in the customers language of choice.

Figure 10. Rental conditions

Note:
In case you already have your General Rental Conditions in a Word-document or on your website, you can copy and paste the text into the form. We recommend you keep the following in mind: copy and paste the text without formatting(!) by, for example, first placing the text in the Notepad and then copying and pasting it into the I-Rent form. This is necessary because the I-Rent word processor will not accept text size, colours, or other formatting from Word. The text could be parsed incorrectly, making it unintelligible when published to the web. You can also use the . The text will be copied without layout formatting, and you can style it at will using the appropriate Tools:

3.7 PRESENTATION
You will also want to put something about your company on the website. You can think of a short description, such as how long you have been in business, the history, or other marketing texts. In short, a presentation. This component works as a word processing program, and you can place text in the languages that your website allows. You can also add photos directly in the text to make everything visually appealing.

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3.8 PARAMETERS
The Parameters consists of 8 submenus: Airco Seasons Heating Seasons High Season Commission Intervals Payment Calendars Users Spoken Languages Company Extras Accommodation Extras

3.8.1 Airco Seasons, Heating seasons, High Season Commission Intervals

It is possible that customers must pay extra for heat or air conditioning (if the accommodation has these available). Should this be the case, you can enter this here. Determine ahead of time in which time periods and add the starting and ending dates during which payment for the appropriate option is applicable. All 3 menus work the same. To fill in new data, click on Add new Interval. You can edit symbols by clicking on , and you can save using . To delete an interval, click .

Figure 11. Airco Season

Airco seasons Here you can fill in periods during which customers pay extra for the use of air conditioning. The system automatically calculates the costs for airco per booking, as determined by the accommodation under Extras (see 4.2.5). Heating seasons Here you can fill in periods during which customers pay extra for heating. The system automatically calculates the costs for heating per booking, as determined by the accommodation under Extras (see 4.2.5). High season commission intervals If you work with agents on a variable commission rate basis, you can define high season here, depending on the season (low season or high season). The rest of the year is automatically classified as low season. Fill in an agent and the appropriate commissions for high and low season using Agents (see 3.9) and Collaborations (see 3.10). 12

3.8.2 Payment Calendars

You only have to enter once, how and when a customer should pay. Define a method of payment and when each percentage must be paid by, after which the payments will automatically be calculated per booking and placed in the contract. An overview of these payments can be found in the menu under Management => Payments.

Figure 12. Payment Calendars List

Example: If you would like 30% of payment to be rendered immediately and the remaining 70% a month before arrival, you must define 2 calendars: one for customers who book more than a month before arrival, and one for customers who will be arriving within a month. The latter group will then be required to pay the entire sum at once. Calendar 1. Customers who book more than a month before arrival

Figure 13. Payment Calendar 1 opened for editing

Click on New Calendar => a new line appears. You can name the calendar. This name is only for internal use. Weve used More than 30 days in the example. 13

Click on to open and edit the new calendar (Figure 13). You can enter up to 4 payments. In our example, we will use 2: the 30% payment and the 70% payment. Check on Payment N 1, after which you can choose between: When Booking .... Days Before Arrival Upon Arrival In our example, we will click on When Booking and fill in a percentage for initial payment: 30. Now, check Payment N 2 and click Days Before Arrival, and fill it in with the number of days: 30 (the second and last payment should thus be paid 30 days before arrival). Finally, fill in the remaining percentage: 70. Click Save to store these settings. Calendar 2. Customers booking within a month of arrival Click on New Calendar and edit it. You can specify your own name for the calendar. This name is only for internal use. In the example, weve used Less than 30 days. Under days, you can determine how far in advance of arrival this calendar is valid. In this case, it is 30 days. Click on to enter percentages. The following screen will appear:

Figure 14. Payment Calendar 2 opened for editing

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In this example, whenever a customer books within 30 days of arrival, he or she will be required to pay the entirety of the sum. Therefore, there is only 1 payment. Click on Payment N1, When Booking, and fill in the percentage: 100. Click Save to save this calendar.

3.8.3 Users
All employees in your organization will receive their own login. However, there are usually only one or two people who administer the logins. Not all employees receive the same access rights for the system. To create a login for an employee, click on New User and fill in the fields. After filling in all fields, click on Save to save the new users details. After this, click on Refresh list to see the new user in the overview list of all users.

Figure 15. New User

Not all employees have the same access rights. To change these rights, click on the magnifying glass next to the name of the user and click on the components which the user has access to and is allowed to use. If you dont specify any of these, the user will have no access at all! Only users with Administrator rights can manage and administer logins.

Note: It is important to give everyone a unique login. All actions for each user are logged, the web forms
are signed by the person who filled them in, and in the event of an option or a booking, the user is registered as the contact person. In short, who did what is logged. This is valuable not only to your organization, but also to the customer.

Note: you can never remove a login, since certain information is linked to the account of the person
who used the system. You can, however, deactivate a login. To do this, uncheck the box Active .

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3.8.4 Spoken Languages

In this menu, you can check which languages are spoken in your office. The customer can see which languages he can speak if he wants to make a booking or wants to contact the office.

Figure 16. Spoken Languages

3.8.5 Company Extras

In addition to a rental price for the hiring of a holiday accommodation, there are often also extra costs. Some are mandatory, and others are optional. In addition, there are costs that apply to all, while others are dependent based on the type of accommodation or rental period. This section is designed to make the calculation of extras easier at the time of booking. You can specify extras that are calculated per day, per person, per booking, or even per season, so that it is clear to the customer which cost obligations, if any, are applicable, in addition to which optional extras the customer might wish to add. These extras are subsequently added directly online to the final price. There are 2 types of Extras. It is important to determine ahead of time where you will enter each Extra: o Company Extras chapter 3.8.5 (found under Administrator => Parameters => Company Extras) Company Extras are those general extra costs for your company that are passed on to the customer and that are always the same price. These (may) apply to all accommodations/bookings, such as for example the reservation costs, the hire of a child bed, airport service, etc. o Extras chapter 4.2.5 (found under the accommodation itself; highlight the name of the accommodation and right click => Extras) Extras are those extra costs that are linked to the accommodation. These costs are entered specifically for the accommodation itself because the sum depends on the size and type of accommodation, such as for example the final cleaning service, airco/heating costs, as well as placing an extra bed, surcharges for pets (as not every accommodation will by default allow extra beds or pets).

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Company Extras For Company Extras, go to Administrator => Parameters => Company Extras. The following screen will appear:

Figure 17. Company Extras

Here you see the overview of the Company Extras. You can edit the information by clicking on you wish to remove a Company Extra, click on .

. Should

New Company Extra To add a Company Extra, click on New Extra. The following screen will appear:

Figure 18. New Extra

You can choose: Use Systems Template Blank Extra

An extra that is already present in the I-Rent system. Create a new extra

Once you have made your selection, click Create!, and you will be able to adjust the extra according to your needs. If your browser is behaving as if nothing is happening, check to see if this screen hasnt been blocked by your browser, any toolbar you might have installed, or a popup blocker. Sometimes you will get a message alerting you to this fact on the top of your screen. Usually, it is enough to add I-Rent to your white-listed pages, under Internet Explorers settings.

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Figure 19. Blank Company Extra

1. Name 2. Type 3. Obligatory 4. Calculation

Name of the extra The type of the extra Check this box if the extra is obligatory for every booking The method of calculation of the extra: o Per Booking The extra is calculated on a per-booking basis. o Per Day The sum is calculated based on the number of days booked. 18

o o o

o 5. Payable

Per People The sum is calculated based on the number of people that will be occupying the accommodation for that reservation. Per Person and Day The sum is calculated per person and per day. % of the Rental Amount The extra is calculated as a percentage of the total booking price. Per Accommodation people The sum is calculated based on the maximum occupancy of the accommodation, irrespective of how many people will actually be staying. Per Week The sum is calculated per week.

Payment is due: o When Booking o Upon Arrival o Upon Departure Here you can indicate which function is applicable: Agent - the extra is applicable to bookings for which you are the agent, irrespective of who manages the property; for example, the reservations costs. Whether you make a booking for one of your own accommodations or as an agent for another accommodation under the management of a cooperative third party, the reservations must still be paid. Administrator - the extra is only applicable to accommodations that are under your management. Irrespective of who makes the booking, your accommodations will have this extra cost; for example, a child bed. The price of a child bed as an extra can be more expensive or cheaper at another company. The maximum quantity that can be ordered. For example: a maximum of 3 childrens beds. The amount of the extra. Keep in mind that this sum includes any applicable VAT. You can determine the VAT under item 9. If you calculate VAT for the extras, you can indicate the percentage of that VAT that is included in the price in item 8, here.

6. Apply when Im

7. Maximum Quantity 8. Amount () 9. Percentage of VAT included (%)

3.8.6 Accommodation Extras

Here you will see an overview of the saved extras that you have created, or that have been created as part of a template (see 4.2.5). You therefore only have to make one extra to continue using in the future.

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3.9 AGENTS
Here you can fill in the details of agents with whom you collaborate. These agents receive a commission for the rental of your accommodations. Below is a description of how this works and how you can automate this process using the I-Rent system.

Figure 20. Agents

We differentiate between 2 types of Agents: those agents who work with the I-Rent system, and those who do not. To add an agent who also works with I-Rent, click on Add Agent. The following screen will appear:

Figure 21. Add Agent

All you have to do is ask the agent for his Key or Code, fill it in, and hit Enter. The rest of the details will automatically be filled in, including the agents logo. Click on Save and Refresh List, and the agent will appear in your list.

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To add an agent who does not use I-Rent, click New Agent The following screen will appear:

Figure 22. New Agent

Here you fill in the details of the Agent. Only the red fields are required, but as you will see it is best to fill in all fields. Under Key, choose an abbreviation for the name of the agent, as a reference code for, among others, the commissions overview in the Agents Commission Chart (see chapter 3.11). For example: the company Poolvillas has a Key PV. The Code does not have to be filled in; this will be handled automatically. Click Save, and you will be returned to the list of agents. Click Refresh to refresh the page. The Agent is now published in the list. You can also create logins for your agents, with which they gain access to accommodation information and planning, so that they can check the availability of the accommodations themselves. Not to worry: they can only view the information, not change it. Even in this limited access, they will have no access to bookings, customers, or company details. This option is impeccably handy, because agents will not lose time when trying to find answers for customers by first contacting you. This speeds up the process and makes dealing with customers fast and easy. 21

A login for an agents can be done by clicking the magnifying glass . A screen will appear with a list of all users that are currently in the system. Click on New User, and the following screen will appear:

Figure 23. New User Agent

Create a login and password and fill in the relevant details. Click Save to store these details. You will be returned to the list of users. Click on Refresh to refresh the page and the new user will be added to the list. Now, click on the magnifying glass next to the name and check Bookings. The agent now has access to Individual Planning, the Accommodation Infosheet, and can create bookings in the accommodations that they have access to (see chapter 3.10). If you wish to grant more access rights to your agents, then check Agents. Now the agent will have access to Earned Commission and the Arrival and Departure list, both of which can be found under the menu Management.

Figure 24. Group Name (manage access rights to agents)

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3.10 COLLABORATIONS
In this section you can determine the commissions that you have agreed upon with your agents. These commissions can be revised or adapted per agent and per accommodation. You can also add commission for, e.g., high and low season (which you defined in the High Season Interval in chapter 3.8.1). Click on Collaborations. The following screen will appear:

Figure 25. Collaborations

You will see an overview of the agents with whom you collaborate, as well as the commissions agreement that you have made for the high and low seasons. Adding new agents can be done by clicking Add Collaborator to the list and selecting the newly added agent. Under that, in the field Default Commission of, put the appropriate commission that you have agreed upon with the agent. Should you have a different commission for high season, fill it in under Default High Season Commission of. In the example above, the new agent receives a commission of 15% for both the high as well as the low season. Now click on Add New Collaboration. Your collaboration is now added to the list.

3.11 AGENTS COMMISSION CHART

After you have defined a collaboration and entered the commissions agreement (3.1.09 and 3.1.10), you will find here an overview of all of your agents and the corresponding percentages that they will receive for your accommodations. You can also open and print this overview in Excel. Click on Excel Version. In the left column (Figure 26), in blue, are all the accommodations. You can click these and view/adjust commissions per accommodations and per agent individually. You can also click on an agent in the column header and make adjustments or create exceptions.

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Figure 26. Agents Commission Chart

Above the agents, you can select whether you wish to display the high season or low season commissions. In the overview, percentages that differ from the norm (the standard percentages as filled in under the agents) will be displayed in green so that they will be difficult to miss.

3.12 SEASON DEFINITION

The rental price depends on the period during which the accommodation is rented. These rental periods must be defined and entered in a schedule. To avoid entering all the season data for each accommodation, we will take advantage of this menu to create standard tables and schedules. We differentiate between rental seasons: For the tenant: Sales-season (what the tenant pays) For the owner: Purchase-season (what the owner receives) In the management menu, you can later find the balance of the rental and purchase, under which you will see an overview of your income, the owners profits, and the results. Multiple season definitions can be created for multiple groups of accommodations. Under each season definition, you must indicate if there are fixed arrival and departure days, and whether or not prices are quoted per day or per week.

Attention:

you only fill in the season data here. Actual rental prices are filled in under the accommodation itself (see 4.2.4). Those will appear on the website(s) and will be calculated upon a customers request for a quote on the total rental price.

Creating a season: Make sure you know in advance on which dates the rental prices change. Write them down first to avoid any confusion while entering the data. Give a name for the season definition and enter it in the Season Name field. For example, Houses Ibiza and indicate whether the season is a Purchase season (dates for 24

the purchase prices, for the owner) or a Sales season (dates for prices for the customer). You will make both a Purchase as well as a Sales version for each season you create.

Figure 27. New Season

Now, indicate if you will fill in the price per day, per week, or per month in the accommodation, and whether or not there is an obligatory arrival/departure day (changeover day), and if so, which day. You can also elect to use GAP control (see chapter 3.13). Click on Save. The newly created season definition appears in the list.

Figure 28. Season Definition

Click here to edit dates. Click here to enter seasons, edit them, or fill them in. Sales seasons have this additional icon: Edit changeover day. This menu works the same as that of the airco and heating menus (see chapter 3.8.1). Click here to determine time periods within which an obligatory arrival/departure day is in effect. Outside this day, any arrival/departure can be elected at will. For example, if you wish to have Saturday as your arrival/departure day for the entire year, enter the entire year. It can also be that you only wish to have an obligatory arrival/departure day during the high season, leaving more flexibility during the rest of the year. If a customer now wants to place an option or a booking via the internet in a period during which an obligatory arrival/departure day is in effect, and the customer chooses a different day, the system will show a message informing the customer which day is the obligatory arrival/departure day for that period. The customer can now adjust his dates or choose from the options that the system presents. 25

 Note: In case you do not fill in any dates here, the customer can book online during any given day.
Filling in season intervals: Click on , which will open a window. Here you fill in the dates for the various seasons (see Figure 29 for an example). Click on New Interval, and a new line will appear with a beginning and ending date. Click on to adjust the dates and choose which season this change will apply to, with T1 being the highest season, anddepending on the number of different seasons/prices you have determinedT10 being the lowest. In the example, you will see a schedule with 5 seasons. In the same line, you also indicate how many days the minimum rental period is for this season. Click on to save the data. Now click on New Interval and repeat the previous steps. This way, you can create a year-long calendar based on time periods to which prices are coupled. Figure 29 is an example of a Sales season definition, with a total of 5 different price categories:

Figure 29. Season Intervals

If the season intervals for Purchase are the same as those for Sales, you can make everything easier by simply copying and pasting. As shown in the overview of the Seasons (Figure 28), Copy Season Intervals is listed in the top right of the screen. Click this, choose the season you wish to copy, and then select which destination season you wish to copy to. Click on COPY to confirm this operation.

Note:
Always maintain a minimum of one year, and avoid gaps in the year. Gaps mean no prices, and if there are no prices, online booking becomes impossible. A price on an accommodation is a prerequisite for publication. Start on the day you begin using I-Rent and go as far as possible into the future. A season schedule has no limit. The next rental season, you can continue adding data without limit. So, you dont have to make a new Season Definition every year/season. All accommodations linked to this season are directly up-to-date. The date listed under End is ALWAYS the beginning date for the next interval. This is because the date a tenant leaves can also be the date a new tenant arrives and moves in. 26

3.13 GAP CONTROL DEFINITIONS

GAP Control is a new feature of I-Rent that is still in testing. GAP Control will eventually give you the ability to manage gaps in the rental calendar. The goal of any rental business is to ensure as many back-to-back bookings as possible while at the same time giving the customer as much flexibility as possible without creating any gaps in your schedule. This new module will allow you to do just that. As soon as this option goes live, you will receive a message from us with instructions.

3.14 SPECIAL OFFERS

Here you can define special offers for certain periods, per accommodation or for a group of accommodations, as well as for specific websites. Click on New Discount for a new Special Offer. A new window will appear (see Figure 30. New Discount). Fill in the fields as follows: Name Name the offer. This is only for internal use. Discount type Choose: Based on a Percentage Based on the booking length Here you fill in the begin and end dates of the period during which you wish to publish this offer. If you leave these fields blank, the offer will apply all year. For example: Book before the end of March and receive a discount in May. This means that until the end of March is the Publishing date, and the month of May is the Discount Period. Fill in the period during which the offer applies. This period is indicated by the arrival dates. First, fill in the first and last days for which this offer is valid. For example: Book before the end of March and receive a discount in May. This means that until the end of March is the Publishing date, and the month of May is the Discount Period. The criteria for the discount period: Applies if at least one day of the booking is within the Discount Period = in any case, at least one of the booking days must fall within the discount period in order for the discount to apply. Applies if whole booking is within the Discount Period = the entire booking date must fall within the discount period in order for the discount to apply. Calculate the discount for all the days of the Booking = the discount is applied over the entire booking period Calculate the discount only for the days within the Discount Period = the discount is applied only to those days that fall within the discount period.

Publishing Begin/ End Dates

Arrival Dates (Discount Period)

Applying Criteria

Calculate Method

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Figure 30. New Discount

Min/Max [days]

Here you can define any applicable minimum or maximum rental period (in days) that are associated with this discount. Fill in the applicable discount under % Admin, and the discount will automatically be applied to the Sales price for the customer. It is also possible that you have an arrangement with the owner to offer a joint discount. In this case, you can enter the owners percentage of the discount. Note: this percentage is calculated based on the Purchase price! Under Management, you will find the balance for who bears which part of the discount and which days it applies to. This is calculated automatically. Next to the flags, you can give a short description of the discount, which will be published online. This text can be translated into multiple languages.

% Admin

% Owner

Descriptions

Click on Save to store the discount. 28

The discount is now visible in the overview:

Figure 31. Discount List

remove the discount. edit the discount. define which accommodations this discount applies to. define on which websites (own/I-Rent/external websites) your wish to display the offer.

Note:

It is not possible to show discounts on websites of collaborating agents, but the discount remains valid! Under you can select the websites where the discount will get special attention. On the websites that are not selected, the discount is not displayed, but here too the discount remains valid! In other words, a tenant will always receive the same rental price, no matter where he books.

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4. UPLOADING AN ACCOMMODATION TO I-RENT

We are now at the most important component of the system: the accommodations. It is very important that you fill in the data as detailed as possible from the beginning. Every component has a purpose that will lead to a more efficient rental, which will result in more bookings. We therefore advise you to read through Chapter 4 before getting started.

4.1 ADDING A NEW ACCOMMODATION

First make sure you have added credit to your I-Rent account (chapter 3.3) since a small fee will be charged for each accommodation you upload. Then go to Accommodations and choose List Accommodations. In the top-left, click: . The following screen will appear:

Figure 32. New Accommodation

Fill in the fields as follows: Name - Name of the accommodation Type - Type of accommodation Country - Country where the accommodation is located Area - Name of the zone, neighbourhood, or community within the location. Not to be confused with Touristic Area, such as for example Costa Blanca. Location - City/Place name Urbanization - Name of the urbanization where the accommodation is located People - The accommodations stated maximum occupancy Floors - The number of floors in the accommodation Share planning with: - This component can be used in the case that the accommodation is to be rented using more than one profile. For example, the entire accommodation or also a smaller number of people (and thus for a different price), but also if the accommodation is to be rented using weekly or monthly prices. In reality, there is 30

only one accommodation, but you can offer this accommodation for rent in different ways for different reasons. The calendar/planner must therefore indeed be split and shared in order to prevent double bookings. In the case you wish to share the accommodation, first create the original. The next time(s) you create the same accommodation, check Share planning with and always choose the original (the first upload) of this accommodation, with which the calendar will be shared. Fill in all details and click Create!. The accommodation is in the system and you will return to the overview: List accommodations. The accommodation is automatically listed under Show visible properties only. The term visible means that the accommodation is visible in the system, and not (yet) on the websites.

Note:

In case the location or zone of your accommodation is not in the list, get in contact with us as quickly as possible so that we can add it for you.

4.2 FILLING IN ACCOMMODATION DETAILS

Highlight the name of the accommodation and right-click. The following screen will appear. Enter each component and fill in the required details:

Figure 33. Accommodation Menu

4.2.1 Accommodation Information Here, all the details about the accommodation are to be filled in; from the contract information with the owner to the number of available beds per room and who will clean the swimming pool. The more details you fill in, the better your accommodation can be let through the website(s), given that the fields automatically generate symbols that will be placed next to the accommodation on the website. These symbols will also be used by the search engines, by customers, and by agents. Agents can access this 31

information with their own login (see chapter 3.9), so that they can provide clear, complete answers to any customer questions.

Figure 34. Accommodation Information

As you can see in the figure above, the information is subdivided into different categories. You can click Show All or Hide All to expand the whole document or to collapse it. You can also open individual sections via the button on each section header.

GENERAL INFORMATION Here you fill in general details. Under Particularities you can choose the unique properties that you added in chapter 3.5 that are applicable to this accommodation. Check Novelty if it is a new accommodation. You can, if you wish, also create a referral code or alias for your accommodation by filling it in under Accommodation Reference.

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Figure 35. General Information Accommodation

CONTRACT DATA This component contains the applicable details of the rental agreement that you have made with the owner of the accommodation.

Figure 36a. Contract Data

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Figure 36b. Contract Data

Visible in I-Rent System It is important to select Yes under Visible in I-Rent System. Only then your accommodation is shown in List accommodations and under Show visible properties only. Visible does not mean that the accommodation is visible on the websites; rather, it means that the accommodation is visible in the system: the calendar/planner, the booking assistant, the list of bookings, etc. and all the tools that are available for use during your day-to-day rental operations. To show the accommodation on the websites, see: Publishing on the websites, chapters 4.2.9 to 4.2.12. Accounting Code It is possible that your bookkeeping may rely on using codes for the accommodations. Should this be the case, you can enter an appropriate accounting code here. Accommodation Owner / Key Holder The following icons are visible while entering the details of the accommodation owner or key holder (the address of the person or company who will give the customer the keys on the day of arrival. It is very well possible that it is your company): append or edit the entered data add a new person search for the data of a person already in the system remove the person data from this component copy the person data to the Keyholder Contract begins / Contract Ends Here you can state the expiration date of the contract you have with the owner with regard to the accommodation. This is only for internal use and has no impact in the system.

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Professional Management I-Rent has a number of icons that can be placed next to the accommodation on the website and that ensure a certain sense of guarantee for the customer. Professional Management is one of these. The potential tenant knows that if he rents an accommodation with this icon, that a professional organisation is managing it. By clicking Professional Management, you automatically agree to the following terms and conditions: You are responsible for the management of the accommodation. You will provide an address where the tenant can pick up his keys on arrival. You will provide a reception that the tenant can visit if there are questions or problems, but also to phone, for mail, fax, or internet. You will provide cleaning services. You are responsible for contractual items, such as linen, laundry service, etc. To receive this exclusive icon, we ask a small annual fee. Best Price Guarantee I-Rent has a number of icons that can be placed next to the accommodation on the website and that ensure a certain sense of guarantee for the customer. Best Price Guarantee is one of these. The potential tenant knows that if he rents an accommodation with this icon, that he is guaranteed not to find this accommodation for less anywhere else. By clicking Best Price Guarantee, you guarantee that the accommodation is not published anywhere else for a lower price. To receive this exclusive icon, we ask a small annual fee. Terms and conditions for the customer:
Because prices of vacation accommodations on the internet can frequently change, we require you to e-mail us immediately within 24 hours after reserving your accommodation if you find this accommodation anywhere else for a lower price. Your e-mail should include the following information: your name, your reservation number, and the website where the accommodation is published for a lower price. Incomplete or inaccurate information will disqualify your request from being considered. This guarantee is not applicable to bookings that are made on the same day. This guarantee is only applicable for prices published on the website. The lower online price must be available at the time of your claim, within the 24-hour period. Screenshots will not be considered valid proof. The lower price must be available online for the same accommodation, the same arrival and departure days, and the same reservation conditions. The lower price must be listed in the same currency. We will only refund the difference between our price and the lower price if you actually use the booking and dont cancel. If there is a restitution that does not adhere to the above terms and conditions, our general rental conditions will still apply.

Sales Season (client part) and Purchase Season (owner part) Under Sales Season and Purchase Season choose the appropriate season definition that you created in chapter 3.12. Minimum Stay Here you can choose a fixed minimum stay or for the days as entered in the Season Definition (see chapter 3.12).

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Guarantee amount It is possible that you have agreed on a guarantee amount with the owner. Fixed rental income that you guarantee the owner, for the entire year or for a part of the year. Here you can establish such an agreement. Fill in the agreed-upon amount and for which period it is valid (start and ending dates). For Long Term Rental Flag this box if this specific accommodation is for long-term rental only. For example: you rent the accommodation per month during the winter or per month during the entire year. Your accommodation will then be placed in the list of Long Term Rentals, available under the List Accommodations if you click Show Long Term Rentals in the top right-hand corner. Online Booking Check Online Booking so that potential customers can place options or book via the internet. You can also add an On Demand Period later, should there be a period that is upon request (see chapter 5.5). If you do not check the box, no options can be placed. Package It is possible that you do not wish to offer all of your accommodations to specific tour operators or agents, but rather a fixed group of accommodations. For example, only all 5-star villas, or a group of accommodations in a specific region, etc. You can give such a group a number, after which you can indicate to which package number the accommodation belongs. Safety Deposit Here you fill in the sum of the safety deposit that applies for this accommodation. If the deposit is the same for all accommodations, fill this in under Administrator Information under Default Caution (chapter 3.2). In short, fill in this field only if the safety deposit for this accommodation is different from the standard deposit.

ACCOMMODATION ADDRESS AND GEOGRAPHIC SITUATION This component contains information about the location and situation of the accommodation.

Figure 37. Accommodation Address and Geographic Situation

Under Latitude and Longitude, you can fill in the geographic coordinates of the accommodation, which will be shown using Google Maps on the websites. Not to worry, there is a maximum zoom-level; on the websites, zooming in is limited for security as there is so much information available online, such as photos of the house and interior and the online availability. For internal use you can zoom in further. 36

The coordinates also help you generate automatic driving directions. The coordinates must be entered in degrees, minutes, and decimals (not seconds!) in the format (hdddmm.mmm'). It is possible to complete the coordinates automatically, by indicating the location on the map. To do so: click on the globe behind Latitude and a map appears. Place the red balloon on the right location and the coordinates are automatically filled out. See also chapter 3.2, Administrator Information.

MAINTENANCE TEAM AND CONTACT Enter the contact information of all persons or organisations associated with the accommodations here. These can be important should there be problems that must be handled by maintenance personnel or other third parties.

Figure 38. Maintenance and Contact

ACCOMMODATION EVALUATION IN STARS Each accommodation receives a valuation in terms of stars, where luxurious accommodations receive a minimum of 2 stars and a maximum of 5 stars. The 6-star rating under General Evaluation is only applicable to VIP accommodations with service personnel.

Figure 39. Accommodation Evaluation in Stars

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DISTANCES AND SURROUNDINGS OF THE ACCOMMODATION This component gives information about the distances to various facilities, the area wherein the accommodation is located, and the view from the accommodation. Next to the fields you will see symbols that will be placed on the websites (powered by I-Rent). For the fields requiring distance, the symbol will only be placed next to the accommodation if it is within a specific distance.

Figure 40. Distances and Surroundings of the Accommodation

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OUTDOOR OF THE ACCOMMODATION Information about the exterior of the accommodation can be entered here. Next to the fields, you will see the symbols that will be placed on the websites (powered by I-Rent).

Figure 41. Outdoor of the Accommodation

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INDOOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Here you can indicate what the accommodations have to offer on the interior. Next to the fields you will see the symbols that will be placed on the websites (powered by I-Rent).

Figure 42. Indoor Additional Information

FLOORS You can enter information about the interior and the number of rooms per floor. Every floor requires a name, though we recommend you use Main Floor as the base, although this does not necessarily indicate the ground floor. Other floors can easily be above or below the main floor. You indicated the number of floors at time of creation. Should it be different, you can always add or remove floors.

Figure 43a. Floor

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Figure 43b. Floor

In the above figure, there are 3 bedrooms (that can be created by clicking Add New Bedroom): A bedroom with a king size bed, an ensuite bathroom, air conditioning and TV A bedroom with a double bed and air conditioning A bedroom with 2 single beds

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EXTRA SERVICES For the accommodations that are in a resort or similar location, there are other extras. These can be indicated here. The symbols for these extra services and facilities will automatically be added to the website next to the accommodation.

Figure 44. Extra Services

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ADDITIONAL NOTES In this section, you can add additional information for the accommodation. There are 4 boxes: one for the fuse box, one for the electricity service, one for the water service, and a general textbox.

Figure 45. Additional notes

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4.2.2 Descriptions Here you can enter the accommodation description in different languages through the use of a wordprocessing program. There are 2 ways to enter a description: you can either enter a description manually or you can use the automated description of the I-Rent system: AutoDesc.

Figure 46. Descriptions

Manual Description Click on in the right box, next to the language of your choice. Then, enter the description in the textbox at the left-bottom. To save the entered text, click on .

Note: If you already have an accommodation description in a Word document or on a website, you can copy and paste it in the textbox for the description. We kindly urge you to copy the text without formatting. This can be accomplished by first copying and pasting the text to the Notepad, and then transferring it to the textbox in the I-Rent system. This is necessary because the I-Rent word processing system doesnt accept font size, colours, or other options from Word. The text could be parsed incorrectly and become unreadable on the web. You can also use the symbol . The text will then be copied without formatting, after which you can once more adjust it using the provided Tools:

Automated Description (AutoDesc) The AutoDesc automated description is a unique tool that creates a naturally readable text from the public data gathered on the Accommodation Infosheet. It is developed to present all the information about the accommodation in a clear, even-handed, and professional manner to the customer, and at the same time it uses the right vocabulary for search engines. 44

Using the AutoDesc tool : - you will not have to write descriptions yourself or have them written by the owner or copy-writer - you will not have to translate the description. AutoDesc can translate into several languages, saving you time and money - you can always update the automated version of the descriptions by updating the Accommodation Infosheets - you can also combine the automated version with a manual version you might have available; you can load the texts, copy and paste (parts of) them and save the result as a manual version How to create an automated text: Go to Descriptions, click on in the right box, next to the language of your choice and afterwards on to create the automated text. If you dont see the AutoDesc symbol, return to the Accommodation Infosheet and save it again. This will generate the automated text. The automated text will appear in the textbox at the left. Save this text by clicking on a text placed, the system will first ask you if you would like to replace it. . If you already had

Note:

You should bear in mind that the quality of the Automated Description relies on the input of the Accommodation Infosheet; the more complete and accurate it is entered, the better the quality of the description, since the Infosheet is the source for creating the automated text!

If you would like to enter some of your own text in the automated text, you can do so by opening the text again, edit it as desired and saving it again. General information about the descriptions: Above the descriptions, you can choose between different colours: Blue (Original text) Blue indicates that this is the original text as it was entered. Always choose one language as a base language, so that it is always known which language the description was original written in. The translation of the original (blue) text was approved. This colour indicates that the text has been made using AutoDesc. The translated text is still awaiting approval. Text needs reviewing: it hasnt been translated, or something is wrong.

Green Yellow Orange Red

(Text is OK) (Automated Texts) (Awaiting approval) (Must be reviewed)

If you dont want to use the AutoDesc, but prefer to have your own description translated professionally, you can request a translation by clicking Request translation. The following screen appears:

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Figure 47. Request Translation

First choose who is going to translate the text. There are 3 options: I-Rent translator A professional I-Rent translator (you will pay for the translation using your I-Rent Credit) One of my colleagues One of your colleagues who also has a login to the system (see chapter 3.8.3 Users) Other Translator (E-Mail) A person who is not registered in the system. Enter the persons e-mail address and the translation request will be e-mailed by the system Now choose the origin and destination languages: Translate from: - the language from which the text is to be translated To: - the language to which you wish to translate In the textbox you can also add any applicable comments or directions for the recipient (i.e., not the actual text! The text will be sent alongside the message automatically!) After you are done, click Request translation to send the request. Note: I-Rent Translators and Other Translators will not receive access to the system, only the ability to translate the text!

4.2.3 Pictures To upload photos to the accommodation, you must adhere to the following guidelines: Your computer should have Java installed. The photos must be in .JPG format with RGB colours (never CMYK). You can upload photos directly from your camera. Keep in mind that uploading photos from cameras of 3 megapixels or more will take more time. The photos can have any dimension, although photos wider than 800px will be reduced to 560px, with the height scaled accordingly. If the photo has a width less than 531px, it will be adjusted so that it has a height of 372px, with the width scaled accordingly. 46

Upload the photos by browsing for them on your computer, selecting them, and clicking Send. Between 12-18 appears to be ideal. You can always change the order by simply dragging them into the proper order with the mouse. The photo in position 1 is the main photo. To remove a photo, click on the trash icon.

Figure 48. Pictures

4.2.4 Prices When you click on Prices, the seasons that you chose in Rental Client Sales Season under Contract Data will appear automatically (see chapter 4.2.1 Accommodation Information Contract Data). The menu opens to Sale Season, where you can enter the rental prices of this accommodation. On the next page you will see that this is the season that we defined in chapter 3.12. Round Auto fill - Automatically rounds off the prices - Automatically fills in the prices from a previous period in later/future periods (only bottom to top, into the future!) - Save the pricing info - Cancel the operation

Save Cancel

Figure 49. Prices

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Store your changes by clicking Save. Next, go to Purchase to enter the purchase prices, by clicking on Purchase Prices at the top. Enter all the purchase prices here in the same manner and click Save to store your changes. If you do not see any season data in which you can enter the prices, check under Contract Data in the Accommodation Infosheet (see chapter 4.2.1) to verify that you have chosen the (correct) season. 4.2.5 Extras When renting a holiday accommodation, there are often additional costs; some are required and others are optional. In addition, there are costs that apply to everyone, while others are dependent on the type of accommodation of the period during which it is rented. This feature has been included in the system to simplify the calculation of these extras at the time of booking. It is possible to define extras that are calculated per day, per person, per booking, or even per season, so that it is clear to customer from the beginning not only which applicable required costs will be added on, but also which optional extras the customer may wish to add to his reservation. These are all included in the online calculation of the final price. We differentiate between 2 types of Extras. It is important to determine in which category your extra belongs: o Company Extras chapter 3.8.5 (can be found under Administrator => Parameters => Company Extras) Company Extras are the extra and general costs of your company that are passed on to the customer and are always the same price. These (can) apply for all accommodations/bookings, such as for example the reservation costs, the rental of a child bed, airport service, etc. o Extras chapter 4.2.5 (can be found in the accommodation itself; highlight the name of the accommodation and rightclick => choose Extras) Extras are those extra costs that are bound to the accommodation. These are entered with the specific accommodation itself because the sum is dependent on the size and the type of accommodation, such as for example end cleaning, airco and heating costs, etc., but also for adding an extra bed, or a pet deposit, as not every accommodation allows pets or adding another bed. Extras For extras, go to Accommodations => List Accommodations. Highlight one of the accommodations, rightclick, and select Extras. To add an extra, click New Extra. The following screen will appear:

Figure 50. Create New Extra

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You can now choose: Use Systems Template Use Own Template

Blank Extra

An extra that is already in the I-Rent system. This includes: Airco Costs, Heating Costs, Obligatory End Cleaning. An extra that has been created by you or another person within your company. For an overview of all created templates, go to Administrator => Parameters => Accommodation Extras (see 3.8.6) A new extra. You can store this as a Template that you wish to use further and can be found later under Use Own Template.

Once you have chosen, click Create! When choosing a blank extra, the following screen will appear:

Figure 51. Edit Extra

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The fields should be entered as follows: 1. Name 2. Type 3. Obligatory 4. Calculation Name of the Extra The type of Extra Check this box if the Extra is required for each booking The method of calculation of the Extra to the customer: o Per Booking The sum is calculated per booking. o Per Day The sum is calculated according to the number of days in the booking. o Per People The sum is calculated according to the number of people that booked the accommodation and will be staying there. o Per Person and Day The sum is calculated per person and per day. o % of the Rental Amount The sum is a percentage of the rental amount. o Per Accommodation people The sum is calculated according to the maximum occupancy of the accommodation, irrespective of how many people will actually be staying there. o Per Week The sum is calculated per week. Payment is due: - When Booking - Upon Arrival - Upon Departure When this Extra applies: during the whole year, or are the costs of this Extra only applicable during a specific period? You can also enter the dates of the Air conditioning or Heating Seasons (see chapter 3.8.1) The maximum quantity that can be ordered. For example: a maximum of 3 child seats. The sum of the Extra. Keep in mind that this sum includes any applicable VAT. You can determine the VAT under item 9. If you calculate VAT on the Extra, you can indicate the percentage of the VAT that is already included in the price (from point 8) here.

5. Payable

6. Use

7. Maximum Quantity

8. Amount ()

9. Percentage of VAT included (%)

Next to the flags, you can add a description in various languages. This text will be used by the website(s). Finally, you can click on Make this Extra a template if this is an Extra that you will likely use more often in the future. This way, you dont have to enter all the above data again. Next time, you will only have to adjust, for example, the price. Click Save to store your changes. 50

Your Extra is now in the list of Extras (click Refresh if you dont see it):

Figure 52. Extras

As you can see in the example, there are 3 extras for this accommodation: There is an obligatory end cleaning charge of 180 that is calculated per booking, must be paid upon arrival, and applies all year. There are also air conditioning costs (see chapter 3.8.1) that only apply during a specific period (click Use Airco Season to see the dates). These costs are calculated per week at 40 and must be paid upon arrival. Finally, there is a pet charge that -if the tenant comes with a pet- will be charged at 35 per reservation, must be paid at the time of booking, and applies all year. By clicking you can edit the entered information.

4.2.6 Accommodation Infosheet A printable overview with the information and photos of the accommodation as you have entered them. You cannot edit anything here. This overview can be printed and used, for example, to send information to agents or to quickly reference the information yourself. This overview can also be found in the accommodations calendar in the menu Bookings and in the Bookings Assistant. This overview appears in the Individual Calendar (the annual calendar of a single accommodation) when you click Accommodation Infosheet, and highlighting and right-clicking the accommodation in the Monthly Calendar (the 2-monthly calendar of all accommodations) and selecting the Infosheet. This way, you can -if you are, for example, on the phone with a customer- quickly provide answers regarding the accommodation. The Accommodation Infosheet is also very important for the agents who work with you on the accommodation. They can retrieve this information with their login, thereby preventing the need for them to contact you for answers. This saves a lot of time. You can also receive a login for your collaboration partners for whom you act as an agent.

4.2.7 Accommodation Authorizations If you have created a login for the owner and/or keyholder of the accommodation, in the menu People => Owners or Keyholder, then you can specify which rights are granted to the login. For the Owner, you can specify whether he may give discounts and up to what percentage. For the Keyholder you can specify to which parts hell be given access. For the owner this is already determined when creating the login. Click Manage Owner's login or Mange Keyholder's login to view or modify the login credentials. You will go directly to the menu item People => Owners or People => Keyholder.

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Figure 53. Accommodation Authorizations

4.2.8 Booking Notification It is possible to notify the homeowner and/or keyholder via SMS or e-mail every time a period is booked (option, booking, owner booking, non-available period) for his accommodation, or in case there is a change or cancellation. The exception is if the owner adds such a period HIMSELF with his own login. You can activate these services by clicking Booking Notification (see Figure 54). Check which notifications the owner wishes to receive automatically and whether or not he wishes to be updated via SMS and/or email. The SMS service has a cost per message. This sum will be added to the balance of the relevant person, home owner, or keyholder. The e-mail notification service is free of charge. Caution: Double-check if you have correctly entered the correct mobile phone number and e-mail address of the owner and/or keyholder into the system. Also check if the language is set correctly, so that, for example, a German home owner also indeed receives his messages in German.

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Figure 54. Booking Notification

4.2.9 Publish on your websites The accommodation and all accompanying necessary data have now been entered. It is time to put it online. You can make an accommodation visible via this menu on your own website(s). Open the window and check the websites where you wish to publish the accommodation. Then click Save to store your changes. The accommodation will be immediately visible on your own website.

Note: all listings have 3 requirements:

The accommodation has photographs The accommodation has up-to-date prices. Caution: once your price period ends, the accommodations will no longer be visible on the website(s). For example: you have currently entered prices until September 3rd, but if you dont add any more prices, the accommodation will no longer be published after September 3rd due to missing price information. The accommodation has a description in the applicable language. In other words, if the accommodation has no description in French, it will not be published on any website(s) in French.

4.2.10 Publish on Collaborators websites You can make the accommodation visible on the website(s) of collaborating agents who also work with the I-Rent Booking System that you have added under Agents (chapter 3.9). Check Visible for those websites on which you wish to have the accommodation published and click Save to store your changes. The costs of publication are listed next to each agent. Your total balance is displayed at bottom-left under I-Rent Credit. To put your accommodations on these websites, you need a balance on your I-Rent account (see chapter 3.3 for topping up your balance).

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Image 55. Collaborators Websites

The request will stay pending until the other party approves. The other party will automatically receive an e-mail with the request to publish on their websites, and they can accept or decline it. Only once the agent accepts your request for publication will the sum be deducted from your balance.

Note: all listings have 3 requirements:

The accommodation has photographs The accommodation has up-to-date prices Caution: once your price period ends, the accommodations will no longer be visible on the website(s). For example: you have currently entered prices until September 3rd, but if you dont add any more prices, the accommodation will no longer be published after September 3rd due to missing price information The accommodation has a description in the applicable language In other words, if the accommodation has no description in French, it will not be published on any website(s) in French.

4.2.11 Publish on I-Rent websites As you know, I-Rent has a large number of underlying websites in different languages for publication of accommodations. An up-to-date overview of these websites can be found at www.i-rent.net. To place your accommodations on these websites, you require a balance on your I-Rent account. Click Publish on I-Rent websites and the following screen will appear:

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Figure 56. Publish on I-Rent Websites

Your accommodations are published according to the location and the languages for which you have made an accommodation description, being placed on those websites for which the accommodations are most appropriate. Your villa in Spain will therefore not be placed on the website www.location-maisonportugal.com. The publication is valid for one year. The expiration date is listed under the heading Expires.

Note: all listings have 3 requirements:

The accommodation has photographs The accommodation has up-to-date prices. Caution: once your price period ends, the accommodations will no longer be visible on the website(s). For example: you have currently entered prices until September 3rd, but if you dont add any more prices, the accommodation will no longer be published after September 3rd due to missing price information. The accommodation has a description in the applicable language. In other words, if the accommodation has no description in French, it will not be published on any website(s) in French.

4.2.12 Publish on External websites I-Rent gives you the option of connecting with and advertising on other websites and portals, even if they dont work with the I-Rent system. Publication is enabled through XML-feeds and ensures that you as professional rental agency who is already working with the I-Rent system can place your accommodations on external portals with a single mouse-click. This way, you dont have to be in constant contact and you dont have to upload the accommodation over and over again, as the XML-feeds send the availability and offers of a particular accommodation in real-time on your behalf. You can advertise where and how you wish. The XML-feed service is available via I-Rent for a fixed payment (to I-Rent) per advertisement on a growing number of portals. Some portals may ask a commission for the booking of your accommodation via their portals. With I-Rent, you are not charged a commission, only the small fixed payment for the advertisement service. I-Rent is constantly busy expanding its connections and the number of external portals on which you can advertise. You therefore do not have to invest any of your own time; we will handle the connection with the portals and let you know about the applicable rates. Indeed, we are open to your adding your own portal or recommending one to us. For rates and more information about external portals, visit our website: www.irent.net . 55

4.2.13 Add to Set It is also possible to publish accommodations that are identical as a group. For example, a group of apartments or identical villas in the same neighbourhood. We call this a Set. You do have to upload them all yourself, but you add them to the Set. This can only be accomplished if the accommodations are really identical to each other. Create 1 virtual accommodation (the show model) in List Sets, with which you will advertise online. In reality, you actually have (for example) 10 real accommodations that have their own availability calendars. The reason for using a Set is to keep your website tidy and browsable, so that the customer wont have to see the same accommodation 10 times in the search results - not a pretty sight. A booking that is made for the set is automatically placed on one of the calendars where it fits best. You can copy the information of the set to the individual accommodations, so you wont have to enter the same information 10 times. To create a Set, go to Accommodations => List Sets. Adding an accommodation to the Set is done through the menu of the accommodation itself. Highlight one of the accommodations, right-click, and select Add to Set. A screen appears with an overview of the Sets:

Figure 57. Add to Set

Check the set to which you wish to add the accommodation. Click Save to store your changes.

4.2.14 Map If you filled in geographic coordinates under Accommodation Information (chapter 4.2.1), in Contract Data, you can check the location on the map here. In the back office, it is possible to zoom in all the way, but on the website you can only zoom in to a specific level for safety reasons.

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Figure 58. Map

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5. FILLING AND MAINTAINING THE CALENDAR

Now that you have entered the accommodation, you should adjust the calendar. Because I-Rent works in real-time, it is important that the calendar is accurate and up-to-date at all times during the day. There are 5 methods by which to block off a period of time in the calendar: by placing an Option (5.1) by making a Booking (5.2) by making an Owner booking (5.3) by creating a Non Available period (5.4) by creating an On demand period (5.5)

5.1 OPTION
An option is a potential customers pre-booking during which the accommodation is blocked off for 3 days. In the meantime, the customer can discuss with family or friends, look for flights, etc. before he makes a definitive booking. 5.1.1 Placing an option A customer can place an option online, although you can also do this on behalf of the customer. To do so, go to Bookings => New Option, or if you are already in the calendar, go to the starting date, right-click, and select Start New Option Here. The following screen will appear:

Figure 59. New Option

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Fill in the details. The dates can be entered by hand in the format DD/MM/YYYY, or by using the calendar. Under Expires, you will find the expiration date of the option. The system will automatically set this to 3 days from the start date. You can extend it if necessary. To enter the customers data, you can: enter a new customer search for an existing customers data edit an existing customers data If the Tenant (renter) is the same person who will be paying the bill, simply click to copy the data to the Bill to field. If this is not the case, fill in the billing address and addressee separately here. Click Save to store your changes. The option has now been placed in the planner of the accommodation, and can be retrieved via Bookings => Individual Calendar or Monthly Calendar, as well as in the options list: Bookings => List Options. The applicable dates are now blocked for any further options or bookings.

Figure 60. Options List

5.1.2 Confirming an option If you wish to convert the option to a booking later, you have 2 options: 1. Open the option in the relevant accommodations planner by clicking on the period or on the option number visible in the relevant column in the overview. 2. Or you can go to List options in the Bookings menu and click on the appropriate option. Once you have opened the option, click Confirm option to convert the option to a booking. You can now retrieve this option as a booking under: Bookings => List Bookings. The customer who placed the option online can also confirm the option himself using the option code that was sent to him. The option will then also be automatically placed in the List Bookings menu. You will receive a notification if this occurs. 5.1.3 Cancelling an option An option can only be cancelled from the List Options screen (Menu Bookings => List Options). Click to the left of the option number. You will be asked to confirm that you are sure about cancelling the option. Accept, and you will see the following screen:

Figure 61. Reason Cancellation

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Fill in the reason for cancellation here and click OK. The blocked period is now free for other bookings and options. The icon indicates that the option has expired and thus requires attention. You can choose to let the option expire or to extend it. If the Reason Cancellation screen does not appear, check to see if it has not been blocked by your browser, any installed toolbars, or popup-blockers. Sometimes you will receive a notification at the top of your screen. It is usually enough to add I-Rent to your safe pages in the options of Internet Explorer.

5.2 BOOKING
A booking is a reservation made by the customer. If you have enabled this in the accommodation, a customer can book directly online. 5.2.1 Placing a booking To directly place a booking, go to Bookings => New Booking. Or, if you are already in the planner of the accommodation, go to the booking start date, right-click, and select Start New Booking Here. The following screen will appear:

Figure 62. New Booking

Fill in the details. The dates can be filled in by hand in the format DD/MM/YYYY or by using the calendar.

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To enter the customers data, you can: enter a new customer search for an existing customer edit data of an existing customer If the Tenant (renter) is the same person who will be paying the bill, simply click to copy the data to the Bill to field. If this is not the case, fill in the billing address and addressee separately here. Click Save to store your changes. The booking has now been placed in the accommodation planner, which can be retrieved under Bookings => Individual Calendar or Monthly Calendar; or in the bookings list: Bookings => List Bookings. The dates have now been blocked.

Figure 63. List Bookings

5.2.2 Cancelling a booking To cancel a booking, go to Bookings => List Bookings. Click next to the booking number that you wish to cancel. You will be asked to confirm the deletion. Once you accept, the following screen will appear:

Figure 64. Reason Cancellation

Fill in the reason for cancellation here and click OK. The period is once again free for bookings and options. The cancelled booking will remain in the list of cancelled bookings along with the reason for cancellation: Bookings => Cancellations. This way, you can always look up the reason for a particular cancellation. 5.2.3 Recovering a cancelled booking A booking that has been cancelled in error can still be restored using the booking number. This has 2 advantages: you dont have to enter again all the data, and the customer keeps his reservation number. To restore a cancelled booking, go to: Bookings => Recover! The following screen appears: 61

Figure 65. Recover Booking

Enter the booking number and click Recover. The booking is now active again and can be retrieved in the planner and under List Bookings. Recovery is only possible if the period is still free and no other bookings or options have been placed for an interfering period in the meantime.

5.3 OWNER BOOKING

An Owner booking is a (private) booking of the owner, for himself or for his friends and family. On one hand, it is not a real booking because the owner does not get paid for the stay in his own home; but on the other hand, certain arrangements must be made that are the same as a regular booking: there is an occupancy period, many owners want to have cleaning services, have the beds made, etc. The Owner Bookings also appear in arrival and departure lists so that everyone knows that the owner is currently occupying his home and the accommodation isnt empty. 5.3.1 Placing an owner booking To create an owner booking, go to Management => New Owner Booking, or if you are already in the accommodation planner, go to the start date, right-click, and select Start New Owner Booking Here. The following screen will appear:

Figure 66. New Owner Booking

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Fill in the necessary details. The dates can be entered by hand using the format DD/MM/YYYY, or you can use the calendar to choose a date. To enter the owners data or that of the person who will be occupying the accommodation: The owners details, as stated in Contract Data in Accommodation Information (chapter 3.2.2.1), will be filled in automatically. Edit a customers details Add a new customer Search for an existing customers details If the Occupant is the same as the person paying the bill (e.g., for cleaning costs), click to copy the data to the Bill to field. If not, fill in the additional bill address and addressee. If the owner is coming with a pet, click Pets. In the right-hand fields, your company can place comments and remarks, such as what must be done before arrival or after departure. If an owner has created his own Owner Booking online with his own login, you will see any remarks by the owner under Owner notes. Click update to save the entered remarks. The booking is now in the accommodation planner, which can be found via Bookings => Individual Calendar or Monthly Calendar, as well as in the list of owner bookings: Management => List Owner Bookings. 5.3.2 Removing an owner booking An owner booking can be cancelled under List Owner Bookings in the menu Management. Click beside the booking number that you wish to remove, then click accept.

5.4 NON AVAILABLE PERIOD

A Non Available Period is a period during which the accommodation is not available for rental, for whichever reason. Usually this is a period that falls outside of the contract between the owner and the rental office. During this period, the rental office has no business with the accommodation. 5.4.1 Creating a non available period To create a new period during which the accommodation is not available for rental, go to Management => New Non Available Period, or if you are already in the accommodation planner, go to the begin date of the period, right-click, and select Start New Non Available Period Here. The following screen will appear:

Figure 67. New Non Available Period

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Fill in all the details. The dates can be entered by hand in the format DD/MM/YYYY, or you can click on the calendar and choose the dates. In the Comments/Remarks field, you can make general remarks. In the fields next to it, you can make notes on what should occur before or after the period. These will be imported in the arrival and departure lists. Click Save to store your changes. The Non Available Period is now in the accommodation planner, which you can retrieve via Bookings => Individual Calendar or Monthly Calendar, as well as in the Non Available Period List: Management => List Non Available Periods. 5.4.2 Removing a non available period Removing a non available period can be done in the List Non Available Period in the menu Management. Click next to the number of the appropriate period and click accept.

5.5 ON DEMAND PERIOD

An On demand period is a period during which the accommodation can be booked, but only upon request, which means that online booking is ruled out. Often, it is possible that the owner or keyholder must first be contacted to verify that they will agree to the rental. 5.5.1 Create an on demand period To create an on demand period, go to Management => New On Demand Period. Fill in the appropriate details in the screen that appears. The dates can be entered by hand in the format DD/MM/YYYY, or you can click on the calendar and choose the dates. Click Save to store your changes. The On Demand Period is now in the accommodation planner, which can be retrieved via Bookings => Individual Calendar, wherein the dates are listed in red. In the Monthly Calendar, the dates are marked with question marks (?). You can also find this on demand period in the list of On Demand Periods in Management => List On Demand Periods.

Figure 68. New On Demand Period

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5.5.2 Options and bookings that fall within a non available period In an on demand period, no booking is allowed online, either through the customer online, or through you directly via the system. The system warns you that the period is on demand, and any attempt to place a booking will automatically result in the placing of an option. If you want to convert the option to a booking because the period is indeed available, this is only possible if the manager or the person within the company who has the appropriate user rights logs in and converts the option to a booking (see chapter 5.1.2 Confirming an option). 5.5.3 Removing an on demand period An on demand period can be removed in the List On Demand Periods in the menu Management. Click to the left of the number with the dates you wish to remove. Then click accept.

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6. REMOVING AN ACCOMMODATION FROM THE SYSTEM AND THE WEBSITE(S)

Completely removing an accommodation from the system is not possible for several reasons. One of those reasons is because the accommodation still has a lot of data linked to it, which includes bookings, customers, etc. that would be lost if the accommodation is removed. You do still want to keep track of which customers and bookings occurred in the past. It is also possible that the (new) owner may want to rent the accommodation to you in the future. Then you dont have to re-upload all the details. If the accommodation is no longer to be rented, and you wish to remove it from the list of accommodations as well as the website, do the following: Go to: Accommodations => List Accommodations. Right-click on the accommodation you wish to make invisible and select Accommodation Information. In the Accommodation Information Sheet, you will see Contract Data => Visible in I-Rent System. Set Visible from Yes to No to make the accommodation invisible. Then click Save Accommodations Info. From this moment on, the accommodation is no longer visible on any website, either. The accommodation stays stored in the system in the List Accommodations under: Show hidden properties only.

Note:
Since I-Rent is a web-based system, it is possible that whenever you make changes to a page, the changes are not reflected immediately. This happens, for example, if you are in a booking or calendar. Not to worry; all you have to do is Refresh the page by pressing F5.

More information?
Please contact our I-Rent Client Support : Telephone: +31 (0)88-2021225 +34 902 109 072 +34 965 796 741 info@i-rent.net

E-mail:

If you are logged in you can also ask for assistance, by clicking on the buoy icon corner.

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