Overview
This article explains what Places are and how to create them via the Dashboard and/ or the Webbooker. This feature allows Admins and Customers to create and save an address for future use, which shows up as a suggested location and pre-fills information when adding a stop.
What are Places used for?
Creating bookings
We allow creating a stop from a Place, regardless of a Hub. When creating bookings in the Webbooker, Places will appear as a suggestion when adding a stop. When creating a booking via API, a stop can be created by mentioning the place_id of a validated Place instead of an address.
Filtering bookings
Places help in filtering for bookings in the dashboard. The Pplaces filter currently only supports filtering for Places that are saved on the Admin level, but not for Places that are saved on the Customer level.
The Places filter can be enabled via the Display settings in the dashboard.
Creating packages
When importing Packages, an Admin can make use of the account’s Places (’Own Hubs’) to create packages at the hub/ warehouse to plan for drop-off tours directly. See: Bulk create packages with a CSV file via the Packages importer. Customer-Places can also be used to create packages which will land in the ‘Created’ status. Learn more about Package statuses here.
Automatic planning for Package tours
The account’s Places (marked as hub) will be used to identify which packages will be considered for automatic tour planning. For more information about this feature, please read Automatic planning for Package tours.
Auto-merging into tours
The Auto-merger feature is designed to increase driver force utilization by building optimized tours from incoming bookings. The Auto-merger works per Place: it merges bookings that start from the same location.
Creating Places
In the Settings page
Go to the Settings page in the dashboard.
Click on Places from the side menu in the Settings page.
Click on Add new place to add a single address as a Place. Alternatively, you can import multiple addresses with a CSV file via the Import places button.
In the Webbooker
A frequent location (not a Hub) can also be saved directly from the Webbooker. When creating a booking, provide the location name on the stop and put a checkmark on ‘Save this location for future reuse’.
Note: The new location will be saved upon booking creation.
Managing Places
Places are managed on 2 levels: On the account (Admin) level and on the Customer level. Customers can create and manage Places only in their profile, whereas Admins can create and manage Places on both the Customer’s profile, as well as on the account level.
Customers that have Places in their profile can easily pre-fill a stop’s details when creating a booking. Admins who are creating bookings on a customer’s behalf, can choose to use the Customer’s saved place and/ or the Place in the account.
FAQ
Under what circumstances should I be marking a place as a ‘Hub’?
Marking a place as a ‘Hub’ allows Admins to create and/ or import packages directly at the their warehouse. This means that these packages would only need to be planned for drop-off tours, as opposed to planning the pickup tour if they were created at Customer’s places.