Event Bookings and Reservations
Once an event, its packages, options and capacities have been configured, Cognivox can begin taking event reservations.
An event reservation records:
- The event being booked
- The selected package
- The selected option
- The customer
- The number of attendees
- The number of units where applicable
- The booking price
- The booking reference
- The booking status
- The reservation expiry time
- Payment information when payment is received
Cognivox checks availability before creating the reservation.
The Booking Process
A typical event booking follows this sequence:
- Identify the event the customer wants to attend.
- Identify the required package.
- Identify the required option.
- Establish the number of attendees.
- Establish the number of units where the option requires units.
- Check current event and option availability.
- Establish the authoritative booking total.
- Collect the required customer details.
- Create the reservation.
- Reserve the required capacity.
- Generate a booking reference.
- Send a reservation email where an email address has been supplied.
- Await payment.
- Confirm the booking when the required payment has been received.
Identifying the Event
Cognivox must first establish which event the customer wants to book.
If the customer names an event, Cognivox can search for the matching booking event.
If the customer asks what events are available, Cognivox can provide the currently available events.
Cognivox should not assume that an event exists or invent event information.
Selecting a Package
Once the event has been identified, the customer can choose from the packages configured for that event.
For example:
Conference Only
or:
Conference and Accommodation
Only packages configured for the event should be offered.
Selecting an Option
The customer may then need to choose an option within the selected package.
For example:
Package: Conference and Accommodation
might offer:
- Single Room
- Double Room
- Twin Room
Cognivox uses the configured option when checking availability and establishing the booking price.
Number of Attendees
Every event booking records the number of attendees.
The attendee count represents the number of people attending the event.
For example:
Attendees: 2
means that the booking consumes two places from the overall Event Capacity.
The attendee count is important even when the selected option is priced or allocated by unit.
Number of Units
Some options also require a Unit Count.
This is particularly relevant for options using the PerUnit pricing basis.
For example:
Attendees: 2
Option: Double Room
Units: 1
This means two people are attending but only one Double Room is required.
The reservation therefore consumes:
- 2 places from overall Event Capacity
- 1 unit from Double Room option capacity
Cognivox does not assume that the attendee count and unit count are always identical.
Checking Availability
Before creating a reservation, Cognivox checks whether sufficient capacity is currently available.
This includes:
- Overall Event Capacity
- Selected option capacity
For example, if a customer requests:
2 attendees
1 Double Room
Cognivox must establish that:
- At least two overall attendee places remain
- At least one Double Room remains
Both checks must succeed.
Availability Can Change
An earlier availability result does not permanently reserve capacity.
Another customer may make a reservation after an availability check has been performed.
For this reason, Cognivox also protects capacity when the reservation itself is created.
If the requested capacity is no longer available, the booking must not be allowed to overbook the event or option.
Booking Price
The booking total is determined from the configured event booking information.
The total depends on factors such as:
- Selected option
- Price
- Pricing basis
- Number of attendees
- Number of units
Cognivox uses the authoritative total produced by the booking process.
The total should not be manually altered during the booking conversation.
If the customer changes:
- Package
- Option
- Attendee count
- Unit count
availability and price should be checked again.
Customer Details
A reservation needs sufficient customer information to identify and contact the person making the booking.
This can include:
- Customer name
- Email address
- Telephone number
Accurate customer details are particularly important while payment remains outstanding.
Customer Name
The booking records the name of the customer responsible for the reservation.
This name appears against the booking and can also be used in customer correspondence.
Email Address
Where an email address is supplied, it is stored against the reservation.
Cognivox can use this address to send:
- Reservation information
- Booking reference
- Payment-required information
- Payment confirmation
Check that the email address supplied by the customer is accurate.
Telephone Number
The customer's telephone number can also be stored against the booking.
This provides another means of identifying or contacting the customer in relation to the reservation.
Creating the Reservation
When all required information has been collected and sufficient capacity remains, Cognivox can create the reservation.
The reservation records a snapshot of the selected booking information.
This includes details such as:
- Event
- Package
- Option
- Attendees
- Units
- Price
- Currency
- Customer information
The required capacity is acquired as part of the reservation process.
Booking Reference
Each booking receives a Booking Reference.
For example:
EVT-XXXXXXXX
The exact reference is generated by Cognivox.
The booking reference provides a convenient customer-facing identifier for the reservation.
Customers should retain this reference when contacting the business about their booking.
Awaiting Payment
A newly created chargeable reservation initially has the status:
Awaiting Payment
This means the reservation has been created and the required capacity is being held, but the booking has not yet been fully confirmed by payment.
It is important to distinguish between:
Reserved
and:
Confirmed
An Awaiting Payment booking should not be described as fully confirmed.
Capacity Is Reserved Immediately
When an Awaiting Payment reservation is successfully created, Cognivox immediately holds the required capacity.
For example, suppose the event currently shows:
Reserved Attendees: 3
and a new reservation is created for two attendees.
The event becomes:
Reserved Attendees: 5
The corresponding option Reserved Occupancy is also increased by the required quantity.
This prevents the same capacity from being allocated to another customer.
Reservation Expiry
Awaiting Payment reservations have an expiry time.
The expiry defines how long the required capacity should be held while payment remains outstanding.
The reservation record contains the time at which that reservation is due to expire.
If payment is completed before expiry, the booking can progress to Confirmed.
If payment is not completed, the reservation can expire and its capacity can be released.
Why Reservations Expire
Without reservation expiry, an unpaid customer could permanently consume event or option capacity.
For example:
Single Room Capacity: 10
If all ten rooms were placed into unpaid reservations indefinitely, no further customers could book those rooms even if the original customers never completed payment.
Reservation expiry prevents this situation.
Automatic Reservation Expiry
Cognivox periodically checks for reservations that have:
- Awaiting Payment status
- Reached their reservation expiry time
When an eligible reservation expires, Cognivox releases the capacity that was being held.
This includes:
- Overall attendee capacity
- Option capacity
The released capacity can then become available for another booking.
Example of Reservation Expiry
Suppose an event has:
Capacity: 100
Confirmed: 70
Reserved: 5
External: 10
Available: 15
A reservation for two attendees then expires.
After releasing those two places:
Capacity: 100
Confirmed: 70
Reserved: 3
External: 10
Available: 17
The two attendee places have become available again.
The corresponding option capacity is also released.
Reservation Email
Where the booking contains a customer email address, Cognivox can send a reservation confirmation email after the reservation has been created.
The email can contain information such as:
- Customer name
- Event name
- Package
- Option
- Number of attendees
- Number of units where applicable
- Total amount
- Booking reference
- Reservation expiry
- Notification that payment is still required
The reservation email does not mean that payment has been received.
It confirms that the reservation exists and explains that payment is still outstanding.
Viewing Event Bookings
Event reservations can be viewed from the Event Bookings area.
The booking information allows administrators to review the current state of a reservation.
Information can include:
- Booking reference
- Customer
- Event
- Package
- Option
- Attendees
- Units
- Total price
- Amount paid
- Balance remaining
- Booking status
- Reservation expiry
- Payment history
Booking Status
The booking status indicates where the booking is in its lifecycle.
A reservation awaiting payment is shown as:
Awaiting Payment
Once the required payment has been recorded, it can become:
Confirmed
An unpaid reservation that reaches its expiry can become:
Expired
These statuses should not be treated as interchangeable.
Awaiting Payment
Awaiting Payment means:
- The reservation exists
- Capacity is currently being held
- Payment remains outstanding
- The booking is not yet fully confirmed
Confirmed
Confirmed means the required payment has been recorded and the booking has progressed from reservation to confirmed booking.
Its capacity remains occupied.
The occupancy moves from Reserved to Confirmed rather than being allocated again.
Expired
Expired means the reservation was not confirmed within its reservation period.
The capacity previously held by the reservation is released.
An expired reservation should not continue to block availability.
Do Not Create Duplicate Reservations
If a customer already has a reservation, care should be taken before creating another booking for the same requirement.
The existing booking reference should be used to identify and review the reservation where appropriate.
Creating unnecessary duplicate reservations can temporarily consume additional event and option capacity.
Booking Information Is a Snapshot
The booking stores information about the event, package and option selected at the time the reservation was created.
This is important because event configuration may later change.
For example:
- An option name might be changed
- A price might be changed
- A package might later become inactive
Existing booking records should continue to represent what the customer actually reserved.
Reservations and External Attendees
A Cognivox reservation should not also be entered as an External Attendee.
These represent different sources of occupancy.
Cognivox bookings automatically contribute to:
- Reserved Attendees
- Confirmed Attendees
External Attendees should represent places allocated outside the Cognivox booking records.
Entering the same customer in both would count the attendee twice.
What Happens After Reservation?
Once the reservation has been created, the next stage is payment.
Until sufficient payment has been recorded, the booking remains Awaiting Payment.
When the required payment is received:
- The payment is recorded against the booking.
- The amount paid is updated.
- The remaining balance is determined.
- When fully paid, the booking becomes Confirmed.
- Reserved occupancy moves to Confirmed occupancy.
- A payment confirmation email can be sent to the customer.
Next Step
The next help article explains Event Booking Payments, including recording payments received by telephone or another source, payment methods, references, balances, confirmation and the transition from Awaiting Payment to Confirmed.