Delivery Routing works on its own, for any store that delivers. If you also use the Rentals & Bookings app, you can link the two, so your rental deliveries and collections are planned with the rest and the drivers check rentals out and in from their phone. The link is off until you turn it on.
Which app does what #
| Feature | Rentals & Bookings | Delivery Routing |
|---|---|---|
| What it delivers | Rentals: Delivery & pickup | Any order with local delivery, and rentals with the link on |
| Delivery areas, days and time slots | Yes: Delivery areas, slots and the Schedule | Its own, or those of Rentals & Bookings with the link on |
| A Schedule of the day’s stops | One list in route order, ordered by hand | Routes for each vehicle, on a board, a list and a week |
| Several vehicles, planned for you | No | Yes: Plan the day |
| A driver app with proof of delivery | No | Yes: The driver app |
| Customer messages about the delivery | Its own reminders | Window, on my way, running late, delivered and more: Customer emails and texts |
Without the link, the two apps don’t share anything. Rentals keep their delivery in Rentals & Bookings, and Delivery Routing plans the orders it finds for local delivery.
Turn on the link #
- In Delivery Routing, open Settings and click Rentals & Bookings. The page shows only when Rentals & Bookings is installed on the store.
- Read What Delivery Routing reads from Rentals & Bookings and What Rentals & Bookings reads from Delivery Routing.
- Click Turn on under Use my Rentals & Bookings data and plan.
“Turning this on is your OK to share this data between the two apps. We record who turned it on and when. You can turn it off at any time.”
Once it’s on, Now shows how many vehicles and drivers come from Staff & resources, and warns about staff with the driver skill who have no email address.
What changes with the link on #
Rental deliveries and collections become stops #
Rentals going out by delivery and coming back by collection join the Deliveries page, Plan the day and the Schedule, with their customer, address, items, day and time. The day follows the booking: “Change the rental’s delivery or collection day in Rentals & Bookings.” A cancelled or moved booking takes its stop with it.
Vehicles and drivers come from Staff & resources #
- Resources of type vehicle are your vehicles. Change their name, colour, location and on or off in Rentals & Bookings › Staff & resources. Loads, features and hours stay in Delivery Routing.
- Staff with the driver skill and an email address are your drivers. Change them in Staff & resources. Each driver’s usual vehicle stays in Delivery Routing. Removing the driver skill turns the driver off and signs them out.
- Vehicles you added in Delivery Routing are added to Staff & resources as resources, once, when you turn the link on.
One set of days, slots and areas #
Delivery days, time slots, cut-off and delivery areas come from Rentals & Bookings, for rentals and for things you sell. One slot counts both kinds of stop. Delivery Routing keeps its own settings for when you turn the link off, and its Settings page says so.
Rentals and bought items in one cart #
An order with a rental delivery and bought items is one stop: the bought items ride with the rental. In the cart, the delivery day picker steps aside and says “Delivered with your rental on …”.
Check-out and check-in from the driver app #
- When the driver marks a rental delivery Delivered, the rental is checked out in Rentals & Bookings.
- On a rental collection, the driver’s Collected sheet asks What came back, item by item. When the route ends, what came back is checked in.
- In the Schedule’s stop drawer, the Rental block shows Came back, Checked in and Still out. Staff can change the numbers and click Save what came back, before or after the route ends. For anything still out, click Book a follow-up collection.
The Rentals & Bookings Schedule #
The Rentals & Bookings Schedule shows each delivery’s vehicle and time window from Delivery Routing, read-only, in route order, with Open in SI Delivery Routing. Deliveries not yet planned say Not on a route yet.
One day sheet #
This app’s day sheet replaces the Rentals & Bookings day sheet, and lists the rental stops with the rest. The link page lists the addresses the Rentals & Bookings day sheet went to; add them under Settings › Messages › Day sheet. If you turn this app’s day sheet off, the Rentals & Bookings day sheet goes out as before.
The plan #
While the link is on, Rentals & Bookings Ultimate includes the Pro plan of Delivery Routing at no charge. Other Rentals & Bookings plans don’t include a Delivery Routing plan. See Plans and features.
Turn off the link #
Click Turn off and confirm. At once:
- new rental deliveries and collections, and check-out and check-in, stop;
- vehicles and drivers no longer come from Staff & resources (the ones here stay, so saved routes keep working);
- Delivery Routing’s own days, slots and areas come back.
With Rentals & Bookings Ultimate, Delivery Routing then needs its own plan again.
Good to know #
- Pick-ups, returns at the counter and transport between locations stay in Rentals & Bookings. While the link replaces its day sheet, they aren’t on either morning email: see them on the Rentals & Bookings Schedule.
- The link changes nothing in Rentals & Bookings until you turn it on.
