Add Services to a PCM

This screen enables Products (also known as Services when used in PCMs) from the Tourplan NX Product Database to be added to a PCM in order to create and cost it. There is no limit to the number of services that can be added to a PCM.

NOTE: It is normal practice to insert products into a PCM in the order in which they occur (i.e. date and time order). For example, Arrival Transfer / Coach Charter / Accommodation / Sightseeing and so on. Tourplan NX orders the services in the PCM based on the Day Number, with the Base Travel Date being Day 1. Within each Day, services are ordered by Sequence Number.

For the purposes of providing meaningful examples in this document, specific details are used to illustrate each step in a procedure. These examples, including the information and selections available, will almost certainly be different in your environment. For example, the procedure below uses a specific transportation service type (Transport). In your environment, you will need to substitute the relevant transportation service type by making the appropriate selection from the Service Category list (headed up by All Services). Furthermore, a transport product does not really expose the depth and flexibility of the Tourplan NX system, so for the examples in this document, a Transport product is followed by an Accommodation product.

The following procedures show how to add additional types of product:

Transport
Accommodation
Sightseeing

Insert a Transport Service

Services are added from the PCM Quotes > Itinerary menu.
NOTE: If there are no products yet added to the PCM, the list of services will be empty.
Select menu PCMs > Itinerary to show the itinerary for the PCM.
1. Click the PCM Quotes menu to expand it:
2. Click the Itinerary menu option to show the itinerary for this PCM:
From the Service Line Insert screen (Selection tab), select the appropriate transfer type from the Service Category list (e.g. Transport) and in the Location drop-down field, select the location where the service is provided (e.g. AKL - Auckland). You can also enter other search criteria to reduce the number of results returned (e.g. SCEN01 - Johnstons Scenic Coachlines).

NOTE: Fields and selections available on this screen are described fully in About the Service Line Insert Fields (Selection Tab).
Click Find Products.
Products matching the Service Type and Location are returned in the Results tab. Find the product to add and click Book or Hold as required.

Services cannot be "Booked" as such in PCMs, so use of the term BKG, Booking or Book in some of the PCM screens is irrelevant (some screens are common to both PCMs and Bookings). What is effectively happening is the service has been selected for the PCM.

NOTE:
- Filter Selections can be used to refine a search. All of the Filter Selections fields can be attached to services in the Product Database so, if being used, they automatically display in this screen.
- Clicking Hold will 'tag' and hold the product until it is formally booked. For example, multiple products for a particular location can be tagged as held and then all held products can be booked in one step.
- Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in About the Service Line Insert Fields (Results Tab).
Use the Filter button to open the Filter Selections screen to further reduce the list of results returned.

Any products that are held appear under the Held tab.

NOTE: Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in About the Service Line Insert Fields (Held Tab).
Go back to the Results tab and click Book beside a product to show full Service Line Details of that product.

NOTE:
- If you don't need to examine a product's details, or there are multiple Held products to book, you can stay on the Held tab and click Book Held Services.
- Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in Service Line Insert Fields (Booked).
A product is not actually selected for the PCM until you click Save.
1. If known, Pick Up and Drop Off details can be inserted for this service, click the Pick Up button to add times and remarks. Information can be inserted at a later date from the Itinerary Menu Pickup / Dropoff.
2. If used, Voucher Text can be inserted for this service. click the Voucher button to add Service or Rate Voucher Text.
Click Save to keep the changes.
Click Exit to discard any changes.
Once you click Save, the service is saved and the Itinerary view of the PCM is displayed.

NOTE: You can now add another service (see Add Services to a PCM) or manage other parts of the PCM (see Managing Existing PCMs) .

NOTE: Some services may require manual pricing - if this is the case, the Service rate requires manual pricing entry screen appears and you will need to manually add pricing information (see Manual/Edited Pricing).

All Service Types

An alphabetic list of services types to choose from when searching the product database. Click on a service type to highlight it (i.e. to select it). One or more service types can be selected and all matching products found will be returned in the Results tab.

Day/Seq.

For the first service to be entered into the PCM, this defaults to Day 1, Sequence 10. As services are added within each day of the PCM itinerary, Tourplan increases the sequence number by 10. The day and sequence number can be used to change the order of service lines within a PCM.

NOTE: Incrementing the Sequence number in 10s, allows new services to be inserted in-between existing services on the same day as those that have already been added to the PCM.A drop-down arrow next to the sequence field when selected provides a list of existing services allowing users to locate the point within the PCM that they may want to insert the new service. The system will then allocate the correct day sequence number.

Service Date

The date being entered here is the date of the service to be selected and inserted into the PCM. The date can be changed for each service by typing a new date or using the drop-down calendar. Changing the date will automatically change the Day number. Alternatively, the Day number can be used to change the date. The day of the week will automatically update to reflect any change in the date.

Time: If a time of arrival is known, it can be entered here. If entered here, the time will transfer into the Pickup field when selecting the Pickup Button.

NOTE: Once the service is saved editing or updating a time can occur within the service line Pickup/Dropoff tab within the service details or from the Itinerary Menu > Pickup/Dropoff.

SCU

The value in this field quantifies the number of product Second Charge Units.

Once a product is selected, the SCU gets a label, which comes from the Second Charge Unit description in the Product Database.

For example, the supplier SCEN01 - Johnstons Scenic Coachlines, out of AKL - Auckland has two product offerings; a charter service and an intercity service. These are found in the Product Database via Home > Products > Product Setup (Price Rules tab).

For the charter service, the First Charge Unit is Coach and the Second Charge Unit is Tour, so this service will have an SCU label of Tour on the Service Line Insert screen when it is selected.

Conversely, the intercity service will have an SCU label of Trip, which is how the service is charged.

NOTE:

Accommodation - the FCU is Room, and the SCU is Night, so the SCU is the number of Nights required.
Non-accommodation - e.g. for Charter Coach, the FCU is Coach, the SCU is Day or Tour, so the quantity required is either (a) the number of days hire (e.g. 10, in which case the costs are on a daily basis), or (b) the number of tours (e.g. 1, meaning the charter is for one tour and the price is the total charter cost. The system knows (from the product setup) how many people the coach can take and, if the number of people exceeds the available size, the system will automatically adjust the number of FCUs (Coaches) to suit so, in this example, the charter is per Tour, so the quantity is 1.

Country

The Country where the service takes place or originates. Not all users will see this field, this is determined by each user company's procedures as to if this field is required.

Destination

The Destination where the service takes place or originates. Not all users will see this field. It will depend if user company's requirements.

Location

The location where the service takes place or originates.

Supplier

Used in conjunction with Service Type, Location and Code fields to search the product database.

Code

Used in conjunction with Service Type, Supplier and Location fields to search the product database.

NOTE: In addition to Service Type (which defaults to All Service Types), with any one of either Location, Supplier or Code, the Find Products green button is highlighted. The more codes that are filled in when searching for products in this screen, the more accurate and filtered the results.

Price Code (+ to expand)

Price Code selection allows searching of products based on specific Price Codes, which may or may not be attached to the agent. The default setting of the radio buttons is controlled by the INI (System) setting OPTIONSCROLLPCRADIODEF.

There are 4 selections available each of which defines how the system will handle rate retrieval and possible re-calculations for this service.

System Price Code - this selection allows the system to handle selection of the price code using previously defined fields such as the hierarchy of price codes attached to the agent, or the pre-defined booking level price codes. This means that if the booking agent or booking price code is changed for any reason, the service price code may be re-evaluated applying an alternative price code.

The remaining selections are:

All Price Codes
Applicable Price Codes
Selected Price Codes - where a nominated price code can be selected

Selecting one of the remaining three options, will override the agent and booking level price code selections for this service. If the price code is not available for any reason then the next available price code assigned in the agent hierarchy will be used.

NOTE: The significance of selecting an option other than the System Price Code is that if the agent is changed or the booking is recalculated for any reason, the selected price code will take precedence over the agent price code defaulting logic.

Held Services

A list of held services will show in the Held Tab. This function allows users to hold multiple services and view more information pages for the services held.

The Results tab shows a list of all products found that match the selection criteria. Products are presented in list form under the following columns.

NOTE: All scrollable lists can have columns added or removed per user (i.e. you can change the default columns that appear in your view of the list). Click on a space in between two column labels (if you click on the label itself, the scroll will re-sort based on the column clicked on). The list of available column names will display and they can be check-box selected/deselected. The width can also be set, as can normal or bold font.

Filter Button

The results tab provides users with an additional filter option, products and services can be filtered by class, locality or attached amenities.

NOTE: This is dependant on if user company's procedures have selected to use these fields in their product setup.

Consultants can also define a rate price range for results to return based on minimum and maximum agent values.

Book

A button labelled Book and a button labelled Hold, allowing the service to be either selected now or held (for later selection).

Location Name

Full name of the location where the service is provided.

Service Name

Full name of the service (from the Selection tab under All Services).

Name

Full name of the service supplier.

Description

A drill-down link to further information about the service, including Rates and Notes. Book and Hold buttons are also available on the drill-down screen (albeit coloured blue, rather than green and grey).

This example shows a property that has FYI message information, and shows the amenities available at the property. Clicking on the other tabs within this screen will allow users to see further detail.

Comment

A further field that is sometimes used as an extra descriptive field for product, or for an internal note. An example could be for accommodation services, where this organisation uses the comment field to show meal inclusions - Includes light continental breakfast.

Class

For accommodation services, this label identifies the class of accommodation; e.g. 4-Star, 5-Star, Backpackers, Luxury Boutique etc.

Sell

The cost price in the Product Database, plus markups (regardless of source), less agent commission.

NOTE: It is possible that the same product displays multiple times. This is because of INI settings that determine what is to display by default. Where the same product is displayed multiple times, it is once for each price code that has been set up against the date range for the product.

"Booked" is not Saved

It is important to remember that, when viewing a list of results (or any aspect of a service within these tabs), the service has not yet been inserted into the PCM, even if "Book" has been clicked. The tabs are available to refine selections and to inquire on various aspects of a service. Services are not saved into the PCM until the Insert New Service process is complete, which requires each service being selected by clicking the Book button and then the Save button when it displays.

A full list of field columns available within the Results tab is available Service Line Insert (Service Scroll Headings).

This tab shows any services that have been "held" and not yet selected for the service list. If multiple services for a particular location are going to be inserted into the PCM, they can be tagged and held as they are selected, and then a list of all currently held services can be viewed in this tab. This is a convenient method of inserting a number of services for the same location.

Products are presented in list form under the following columns:

Release

A green button labelled Release, which allows unwanted services to be "released" back into the pool of available products (i.e. no longer held).

Date

The date for which the service will be booked once Book Held Services is clicked.

Location

Full name of the location where the service is provided.

Service

Full name of the service (from the Selection tab under All Services).

Name

Full name of the service supplier. A drill-down link provides information on Rates and Notes, as described below under Description.

Description

A drill-down link to further information about the service, including Rates and Notes. Book and Hold buttons are also available on the drill-down screen (albeit coloured blue, rather than green and grey).

Comment

A further drill-down link that shows the same information as Description.

NOTE: The link goes to the "More Info" pages of the product. The columns in the select service scroll are customisable per site/per user, and not all users will have the default column headings. The link is common to the (product) Code, Description and Comment fields.

Class

For accommodation services, this label identifies the class of accommodation; e.g. 4-Star, 5-Star, Backpackers, Luxury Boutique etc.

Sell

The cost price in the Product Database, plus markups (regardless of source), less agent commission.

Product Selected

Read-only fields, showing full product code and description.

The three dots that follow the product code allow users to view the product more information pages, rates including age policies and room capacities, as well as allocation availability and notes for the selected product.

Messages

Displays any messages associated with the product.

Service Information

Day/Seq

The day number / sequence number (within the day) of the service line.

In Date

The date of the service. For services on one date only; e.g. Transfers, Meals, Sightseeing etc., this is the actual date of the service. For services spanning dates; e.g. Accommodation, Rental Vehicles etc., this is the In / Start date.

SCU - Second Charge Unit

The label of this field shows the SCU in use for the service shown. The value indicates the quantity of SCUs (e.g. 1 Trip, 2 Rental Cars, 5 Nights etc.).

Service Status

Service status can dictate such things as whether vouchers can be issued or allocation held etc, the system is set to default and will insert the initial service status set in System Settings - the service status can be manually amended if required.

Service Statuses do not mean much in PCMs. Unlike Bookings where the service status can dictate such things as whether vouchers can be issued or allocation held etc., in PCMs these functions are not available – after all, a PCM is either a Quote, a repository of services used as a Package or a Master that can be copied into bookings. The main use of Service Statuses in PCMs is to determine whether a service is to be included in the cost, or is an "Optional" (or Alternate) service.

Extras

A list of bookable extras attached to the product will display in the column on the left under service information. The value required depends on the Extra listed.

Costing Options

Apply (Product) Database Markup (Check-box)

This controls whether the price being brought into the PCM is the product Cost Price, or whether the Product Database Markup (if any) should be applied for this service.

Default Driver / Guide (Checkbox)

These check-boxes control whether the Service Database defaults that have been set for Drivers and/or Guides should be adhered to when the service is being brought into the PCM. If the box(es) are unchecked, the numbers of Drivers and/or Guides are set to 0. These check-boxes are only obeyed when there are driver(s) and/or Guide(s) set in the PCM Header.

Voucher button (grey)

Displays service-based voucher text that may be associated with the product.

Pickup button (green)

Enables Pickup/Dropoff (i.e. Arrive/Depart) details to be entered for the service.

Insert an Accommodation Service

Services are added from the Itinerary menu:
1. Select menu PCM Quotes > Itinerary to show the itinerary for the PCM.
  1. Click the PCM Quotes menu to expand it:
  2. Click the Itinerary menu option to show the itinerary for this PCM:
2. Click Insert New Service.
NOTE: If there are no products yet added to the PCM, the list of services will be empty.
From the Service Line Insert screen (Selection tab), select Accommodation from the All Services list and in the Location drop-down field, select the location where the service is provided (e.g. AKL - Auckland). You can also enter other search criteria to reduce the number of results returned (e.g. CLAA01 - Citylife Auckland).

NOTE: Fields and selections available on this screen are described fully in About the Service Line Insert Fields (Selection Tab).
Click Find Products.
Products matching the Service Type and location are returned in the Results tab. Find the product to add and click Book or Hold as required.

NOTE:
- Clicking Hold will 'tag' and hold the product until it is formally booked. For example, multiple products for a particular location can be tagged as held and then all held products can be booked in one step.
- Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in About the Service Insert Fields (Results tab).
Any products that are held appear under the Held tab.

NOTE: Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in About the Service Line Insert Fields (Held Tab).
Go back to the Results tab and click Book beside a product to show full Service Line Details of the accommodation product selected, or select the Book Held Services button in the Held Tab. (There is still one more opportunity to exit before the service is actually saved).

NOTE:
- If you don't need to examine a product's details, or there are multiple Held products to book, you can stay on the Held tab and click Book Held Services.
- Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in Service Line Insert Fields (Booked).
Click Save to keep the changes.
Click Exit to discard any changes.
Once you click Save, the service is saved and the Itinerary View of the PCM is displayed.

NOTE: You can now add another service (see Add Services to a PCM) or manage other parts of the PCM (see Managing Existing PCMs) .

NOTE: Some services may require manual pricing - if this is the case, the Service rate requires manual pricing entry screen appears and you will need to manually add pricing information (see Manual/Edited Pricing).

Insert a Sightseeing Service

Services are added from the PCM Quotes > Itinerary menu:
1. Select menu PCM Quotes > Itinerary to show the itinerary for the PCM.
  1. Click the PCM Quotes menu to expand it:
  2. Click the Itinerary menu option to show the itinerary for this PCM:
2. Click Insert New Service.
NOTE: If there are no products yet added to the PCM, the list of service lines will be empty.
From the Service Line Insert screen (Selection tab), select Sightseeing/Day Tour from the All Services list and in the Location drop-down field, select the location where the service is provided (e.g. PIH - Paihia). You can also enter other search criteria to reduce the number of results returned (e.g. FGSB01 - Fullers Great Sights Bay of Islands...).

NOTE: Fields and selections available on this screen are described fully in About the Service Line Insert Fields (Selection Tab).
Click Find Products.
Products matching the service and location are returned in the Results tab. Find the product to add and click Book or Hold as required.

NOTE:
- Use the Filter button to open the Filter Selections screen to further reduce the list of results returned.
- Clicking Hold will 'tag' and hold the product until it is formally booked. For example, multiple products for a particular location can be tagged as held and then all held products can be booked in one step.
- Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in About the Service Line Insert Fields (Results Tab).
Any products that are held appear under the Held tab.
Go back to the Results tab and click Book beside a product to show full details of the sightseeing product selected (there is still one more opportunity to exit before the service is actually booked).

A product is not actually selected for the PCM until you click Save.

NOTE:
- If you don't need to examine a product's details, or there are multiple Held products to book, you can stay on the Held tab and click Book Held Services.
- Additional fields and selections available on this screen are described in Service Line Insert Fields (Booked).
Adjust the Day/Seq fields to show the correct values. In this example, they show 7 and 20. Also, if this is an optional service, select that option from the Service Status drop-down list.
Click Save to keep the changes.
Click Exit to discard any changes.
Once you click Save, the service is saved and the Itinerary view of the PCM is displayed.
NOTE:
- The sightseeing service (Fullers Great Sights Bay of Islands) has been added as an optional service (i.e. it has a Service Status of OP - Optional Service) and appears highlighted in the list. Other services were added to this PCM prior to the sightseeing service and one of these extras is also optional and so appears highlighted in the list (Waitangi National Trust).
- The Optional Service status is defined in Code Setup and has had a colour attached to it. When services are given that status, they display in that colour in both the Itinerary view and the Dashboard view.

NOTE: You can now add another service (see Add Services to a PCM) or manage other parts of the PCM (see Managing Existing PCMs) .

NOTE: Some services may require manual pricing - if this is the case, the Service rate requires manual pricing entry screen appears and you will need to manually add pricing information (see Manual/Edited Pricing).