Event Packages and Options

Packages and options define what a customer can book for an event.

The event itself contains the overall information such as the event name, venue, dates and total attendee capacity.

Packages and options provide the individual choices that Cognivox can offer to customers.

For example, a conference could have:

Package

Conference and Accommodation

Options

• Single Room
• Double Room
• Twin Room

Another package for the same event could be:

Package

Conference Only

with its own booking options and prices.

Packages

A package represents a particular way of attending or booking an event.

Examples include:

• Conference Only
• Conference and Accommodation
• Residential Weekend
• Day Delegate
• Dinner Package
• Standard Admission
• Premium Admission

An event can contain multiple packages.

This allows Cognivox to explain the available choices to a caller and determine which package they want before checking availability.

Adding a Package

Open the required event from Booking Events.

In the Packages section, select:

Add Package

A new package is added to the event.

Configure the package before saving the event.

Package Name

Enter a clear customer-facing name for the package.

For example:

Conference and Accommodation

or:

Conference Only

The package name may be used by Cognivox when explaining the available choices to a caller.

Use terminology that customers are likely to understand.

Package Description

The package description provides additional information about what the package contains.

For example:

Conference attendance with accommodation included.

The description should explain the package rather than individual options within it.

Option-specific information should be entered against the relevant option.

Package Active

Each package has an Active setting.

An active package can be offered as part of the event.

A package can be made inactive when it should remain configured but should not currently be offered.

This can be useful when:

• A package is temporarily unavailable
• A package is being prepared
• A particular type of booking has been withdrawn
• You want to retain the configuration for future use

Package Options

Each package can contain one or more options.

Options represent the actual choices available within the package.

For example, the package:

Conference and Accommodation

could contain:

• Single Room
• Double Room
• Twin Room

The package:

Conference Only

might instead contain an option such as:

• Conference Delegate

Options have their own price, pricing basis and capacity.

Adding an Option

Within the required package, select:

Add Option

A new option is added to the package.

You can then configure:

• Option name
• Description
• Price
• Currency
• Price basis
• Capacity
• Active status

Option Name

The option name should clearly describe the choice being offered.

Examples include:

• Single Room
• Double Room
• Twin Room
• Adult Delegate
• Child Delegate
• Standard Admission
• Premium Admission

Cognivox may use the option name when explaining choices and confirming what the customer wants to book.

Option Description

Use the Description field for information specific to the option.

For example:

Option

Single Room

Description

Room with a single bed for one guest.

Another example might be:

Option

Double Room

Description

Double room suitable for two guests.

Descriptions should help Cognivox and the customer understand what the option represents.

Price

Enter the price associated with the option.

For example:

275.00

The meaning of this price depends on the selected Price Basis.

Do not include the currency symbol in the price itself. Select the appropriate currency separately.

Currency

Select the currency used for the option.

Supported currencies currently include:

• GBP
• EUR
• USD

For example:

GBP

allows Cognivox to present a price naturally as pounds sterling.

Price Basis

The Price Basis determines how the configured option price applies to a booking.

The available pricing bases are:

• PerPerson
• PerUnit
• PerBooking

Choosing the correct pricing basis is important because it determines how the booking total is established.

PerPerson

Use PerPerson when the configured price applies separately to each attendee.

For example:

Price: £100
Price Basis: PerPerson

For two attendees, the booking is based on two people at the configured per-person rate.

This is appropriate for options such as:

• Conference delegates
• Admission tickets
• Meals charged per attendee
• Training places

PerUnit

Use PerUnit when the configured price applies to a unit rather than directly to each attendee.

A unit could represent:

• A room
• A table
• A pitch
• Another separately allocated item

For example:

Double Room
Price: £275
Price Basis: PerUnit

If two people are sharing one Double Room, the booking can contain:

Attendees: 2
Units: 1

The attendee count and unit count serve different purposes.

The two attendees consume two places from the overall event capacity, while the room consumes one unit from the Double Room option capacity.

PerBooking

Use PerBooking when the configured price applies once to the entire booking.

For example:

Price: £250
Price Basis: PerBooking

The price is associated with the booking rather than being applied separately to every attendee or unit.

This can be useful for fixed-price booking arrangements.

Attendees and Units

It is important to distinguish between attendees and units.

Attendees represent the number of people attending the event.

Units represent the number of option-specific items required.

For example:

2 attendees sharing 1 Double Room

means:

Attendees: 2
Units: 1

The overall event capacity is reduced by two attendee places.

The Double Room option capacity is reduced by one unit.

Cognivox does not assume that the number of attendees and units are always the same.

Option Capacity

Each option has its own Capacity.

This controls how much of that particular option can be allocated.

For example:

Single Room Capacity: 10

means a maximum of ten Single Room units can be allocated.

Option capacity is separate from overall Event Capacity.

Overall Capacity vs Option Capacity

Consider an event configured as:

Event Capacity: 100

with:

Single Room Capacity: 10

and:

Double Room Capacity: 20

The event capacity represents the maximum number of people who can attend.

The room capacities represent the available room units.

It is therefore possible for:

Event Available: 50

while:

Single Room Available: 0

In this situation the event still has attendee capacity, but no more Single Rooms can be booked.

Cognivox must therefore check both event capacity and option capacity before creating a reservation.

Reserved Occupancy

Reserved Occupancy represents option capacity currently being held by reservations awaiting payment.

For example:

Single Room Capacity: 10
Reserved Occupancy: 2

means two Single Room units are currently being held for customers whose reservations have not yet been fully confirmed.

Reserved units cannot be offered to another customer while the reservation remains valid.

Confirmed Occupancy

Confirmed Occupancy represents option capacity belonging to confirmed bookings.

For example:

Single Room Capacity: 10
Confirmed Occupancy: 6

means six Single Room units have been allocated to confirmed bookings.

If another two are currently reserved:

Capacity: 10
Confirmed: 6
Reserved: 2
Available: 2

Only two Single Room units remain available.

Option Availability

Option availability is determined from:

Option Capacity - Reserved Occupancy - Confirmed Occupancy

For example:

Cognivox uses the current occupancy when checking whether the requested option can be booked.

Option Active

Each option has an Active setting.

An inactive option remains configured but should not normally be offered for new bookings.

This is useful when:

• An option is temporarily unavailable
• A room type is no longer available
• A particular ticket type has been withdrawn
• Configuration should be retained without allowing new bookings

Removing an Option

An option can be removed from the package while configuring an event.

Take care when changing or removing options associated with existing bookings.

Where booking history already exists, retaining the option and making it inactive may be more appropriate than removing it.

Removing a Package

Packages can also be removed from an event.

As with options, care should be taken when a package has already been used for existing bookings.

Where historical bookings exist, making the package inactive may be preferable.

Example Configuration

A residential conference could be configured as follows:

Package: Conference and Accommodation

Option: Single Room

Price: £300
Currency: GBP
Price Basis: PerUnit
Capacity: 10

Option: Double Room

Price: £450
Currency: GBP
Price Basis: PerUnit
Capacity: 15

Option: Twin Room

Price: £450
Currency: GBP
Price Basis: PerUnit
Capacity: 5

Package: Conference Only

Option: Delegate

Price: £100
Currency: GBP
Price Basis: PerPerson
Capacity: 100

This allows Cognivox to identify the package the customer wants, determine the appropriate option, establish the number of attendees and units required, and check both event and option availability.

Saving Package Changes

Packages and options are saved when you select:

Save Event

Before saving, check:

• Package names are clear
• Package descriptions are correct
• Required packages are active
• Option names are clear
• Prices are correct
• Currency is correct
• Price Basis matches how the option is sold
• Option capacities reflect the actual inventory
• Required options are active

Cognivox preserves booking-managed Reserved and Confirmed occupancy when normal event configuration changes are saved.

Next Step

Once the event, packages, options and capacities have been configured, Cognivox has the information required to determine what can be offered to a customer.

The next help article explains Event Capacity and Availability in more detail, including how overall attendee capacity and option capacity work together and how Cognivox prevents overbooking.