Checking Rental Availability

You can check the availability of a piece of equipment or inventory item, model, or category before or during the creation of a rental booking or agreement. You can check availability from a variety of locations within the Advanced Rental module or from Customer Center, including the Rental Availability Inquiry window, the Rental Availability Summary Inquiry window, or while entering an agreement or booking line.

• To check availability for a variety of pieces of equipment, models, or categories or several dates, see:
  • Checking general availability from the Inquiry menu
  • Checking general availability from Customer Center
• To perform a quick availability check on a piece of equipment, model, or category for a specific date range when in the process of entering an agreement or booking line, see Performing a quick availability check.

• Rental availability checks are available for only equipment line types, not for non-equipment line types, such as inventory items.
• It is recommended that you do not leave the date range fields empty. Without a date range, the system will assume the beginning of time to the end of time.

Checking general availability from the Inquiry menu

If you need to check the availability of equipment before entering a booking or agreement, or without having to open agreement or booking lines, you can do so directly from the menu. You also can create a new or add on to an existing booking or agreement from the window. For more information see Creating a rental booking or agreement from inquiry.

Rental Equipment Availability Inquiry Window

1. Select Inquiry > Equipment > Rental Availability Inquiry.
2. Use the following fields to filter records:
   • Filter
     Select the appropriate radio button to filter by Equipment or Model/Category.
   • Equipment ID
     If you chose the equipment filter, select the equipment ID.
   • Model
     If you chose the model/category filter, select the model.
   • Category
     If you chose the model/category filter, select the category.
   • From Date
     Enter the start date for the date range that you want to rent the equipment.
   • To Date
     Enter the end date for the date range that you want to rent the equipment.
   • Mark the appropriate checkboxes to select which status you want displayed on the list. The system automatically enables all three:
   • Available
     Displays available equipment or model/category items not currently on any agreement or booking document.
   • Available * (asterisk)
     Displays available equipment or model/category items that are on an agreement or booking document, but that do not conflict with the date range specified.
   • Reserved
     Displays equipment or model/categories that are reserved for the date range given, meaning a rental booking has been created.
   • Operating Lease
     Displays available items that are on an operating lease, but that do not conflict with the date specified.

   • One Way
     Displays available items that are on a one way lease. 

     

     Each time you change the criteria, select Redisplay to refresh the window. You can change search criteria as many times as you like.

3. Select OK to close the window. To print a Rental Equipment Availability report, select the printer button on the upper right portion of the window.

Rental Availability Summary Inquiry window

This window will display a summary of the model or category within a specified date range. The information displayed shows the model/category, the total, reserved, and available amounts.

1. Select Inquiry > Equipment > Rental Availability Summary Inquiry.
2. Use the following fields to filter records:
   • Show By
     Select the appropriate radio button to filter by model or category.
   • From Date
     Enter the start date for the date range that you want to rent the equipment.
   • To Date
     Enter the end date for the date range that you want to rent the equipment.
   • Model
     If you chose to show by model, select the model.
   • Category
     If you chose to show by category, select the category.

Checking general availability from Customer Center

If you need to check the availability of equipment before entering a booking or agreement, or without having to open agreement or booking lines, you can do so from Customer Center. (For more information about Customer Center, see Customer Center.) You also can create a new or add on to an existing booking or agreement from the window. For more information see Creating a rental booking or agreement from inquiry.

1. Open the Customer Center window.
2. Select the Availability right arrow button to open the Rental Availability Inquiry window. The Rental Availability Inquiry will display the availability status for every piece of equipment, just as if you had selected Rental Availability Inquiry from the Inquiry menu. See Checking general availability from the Inquiry menu for more information on this window.
3. Select OK to close the window.

Performing a quick availability check

From the Rental Agreement Line Entry and Rental Booking Line Entry windows, you can perform a quick availability check on a piece of equipment or a summary availability model/category.

1. Open an existing rental agreement line or rental booking line, as you normally would.
2. Enter a date range in the Rental From and Rental To fields. The system uses these dates to check for availability.
3. Select the checkmark next to the Equipment ID field to determine availability.
4. You will receive one of three messages:
   • This equipment is available. - The equipment is available for rent within the date range specified. Select OK.
   • Equipment availability cannot be verified without rental from and rental to dates. - No date range is entered in the Rental From and Rental To fields. Select OK, and make corrections to the line, as necessary.
   • This equipment is not available for this rental period. - The equipment is not available for rent within the date range specified. Select OK, and make corrections to the line, as necessary.
5. Select the checkmark next to the Model field to view the model summary availability.
6. Select the checkmark next to the Equipment Category field to view the category summary availability.
7. Proceed with completing the Rental Agreement Line Entry or Rental Booking Line Entry window.