1. You must have a computer with a reliable internet connection, as all bookings are managed via secure internet pages (the Administration Console). Broadband is preferable, but not essential. To ensure that the online availability is always accurate, bookings taken by telephone, fax, email or post must be entered into the Admin Console as soon as they are received. Ideally, the Admin Console should be a full replacement for any paper-based bookings diary. If this is not possible for any reason, then the Admin Console must be treated as a full duplicate of the existing booking mechanism.
2. You must provide your own facilities for handling payments. If payments by Credit or Debit card are required, you must have your own Merchant ID and terminal to process such payments. The standard package does not perform online payment transactions. It stores the payment details securely so that only authorised users have access to them. The standard package can be used without taking Credit or Debit card payments. Customers can be advised that their booking is provisional and will not be confirmed until you have received and paid in a cheque.
3. You must have an existing website to which links can be added for customers to navigate to the Availability Calendar(s) and Secure Booking page. If you do not already have such a website, you can still use the EseBooking service by taking out the full EseSite package from Esekey. This provides a full website with the EseBooking service built-in. Please email us for more information.

You can use the Admin Console to reject a provisional booking. In step 5 of the online booking process, above, instead of changing the booking status from "Deposit Due" to "Deposit Paid", simply change it to "Cancelled". This will have the immediate effect of changing the dates in the Availability Calendar back to green, so that they are available for other customers to book, and can optionally create and send a cancellation email to the customer who placed the original booking. Wording on the website and in the initial booking email indicates that any online booking will remain unconfirmed until an email is sent confirming availability and indicating the owner's acceptance of the booking. This caveat gives the owner the right to accept or reject online bookings at their own discretion.

The process for taking telephone, fax, email or postal bookings is exactly the same as above, except that in step 1 the owner keys the information supplied by the customer into the New Booking form in the Admin Console.