Bulk bookings

Creating the Bulk Booking Shell

Need rooms for >1? Make a bulk booking - Bulk bookings can only be made by base staff with specific access or by DHA Contact Centre staff in accordance with the Base’s Allocation Rules.

When to create – Early creation of course requirements is recommended as it provides visibility of the future demand for beds.

Attendee Rank; Gender and Name Details - The actual names of attendees may not be known when creating the shell booking however; the rank/gender mix possibly are. On creation attendees are all ‘anonymous’. Noting that it is a Defence requirement and many base contractors will not issue keys without names; adding names needs to occur immediately once they are known.

Creation - Select ‘Create Bulk Booking’ under the ‘LIA Administration’ menu option.

Type – Defines the purpose of your booking. If base authorities need to de-conflict bookings this is a decision making factor. If unsure; select ‘Course’. Options include:

  • Course - Pre-defined ’codes’ may exist which ensures allocation into defined buildings as determined by the Base’s Allocation Rules.

Example: The base uses building A for course ‘ALPHA’, the course code ‘ALPHA’ is defined in the base’s allocation rules and the code is displayed for selection when creating a bulk booking. Selection of ‘ALPHA’ sees the course booking allocated into building A.

  • ADF Sporting Group
  • Non-Duty – not all bases accept non-duty bookings
  • Transit – identifies that if necessary the group can occupy transit rooms
  • Conference
  • DACC
  • Cadets – indicates ‘minors’ and cadet rules should be applied – refer to tips below.

Start and end dates = When rooms are needed, not the start/end of the activity. Individual attendees can have different dates within a bulk booking.

Number of attendees = Total number of beds actually required. Must be modified if changed. Use caution when entering the attendee #, as this directly impacts overall base room availability.

Number of Sole occupant attendees = Do not populate unless the base has buildings with >1bed in each room and your attendees must not share.

Point of contact = This person can add attendee names or cancel – accessing the Bulk Booking via a link on the booking confirmation email.

Allocation - Bulk bookings will allocate to buildings as defined in the Base Allocation Rules. Bulk Bookings will not automatically allocate across multiple buildings, where a single building cannot accommodate the attendee #, the booking will be set as unallocated.

If a booking is unallocated or if the allocated building(s) are not ideal, untick allocated building(s) and manually select the building/s and/or rooms to be allocated (where available).

Email Notifications - A Reminder email is sent automatically 14,7 and 5 days prior to the booking start date to remind the POC to add names or to cancel the booking if it is no longer required. If all names have been added, the email will only be sent at 7 days as a reminder to cancel the booking if it is no longer required, If allocated rooms/buildings are unallocated an email will be sent to the POC to advise – you will need to select buildings and/or rooms to be allocated or contact DHA for assistance.

Adding attendees

Why add the names? It is a Defence requirement that attendee names be added to the booking prior to check-in. This assists with accurate key to room issue, room damage ownership, health and safety issues, contact details and contribution management.

Contributions - Can only be started if names are added to rooms. This must occur by no later than 4 days post start date (with base contractor awareness of delayed entry).

Who adds the names? The booking creator or identified POC is responsible to add all names. If the POC is not the creator, they usually cannot change buildings/rooms.

Attendee/s arriving or departing on different dates? After adding their name; tick the attendee/s and click the ‘modify selected’ button to enter their dates. Note: If the Bookings dates change all unique attendee dates will revert to the bulk booking dates.

How are names added? Enter the employee id/s (PMKeys) into the attendee box. Hint: Enter bulk attendees employee ids at once by copying from another source e.g excel. . If adding attendees without and employee id, select ‘other’, you can still add these attendees in bulk by copying the relevant fields from another source, e.g. excel. Sole Occupancy - If the booking has ‘sole’ occupancy indicated – you will need to indicate ‘yes’ for the attendees who cannot share – noting this might be all the attendees or some.

No Employee ID? Select attended type of ‘Other’. If they are from a foreign country it is important to indicate their country of origin. Noting foreign nationals usually require base sponsorship for security purposes.

Hint: You can still add these attendees in bulk by copying the relevant fields from another source, e.g. excel.

Attendees did not allocate? This is usually caused my mis-matching rank or gender.  Unallocated attendees will be placed into the unallocated attendee box in the bottom right corner of the screen. You can then change the rooms assigned to the booking for rooms that meet attendee requirements. If the rooms are suitable despite any rank or gender conflicts and you have the appropriate authority, select the ‘override’ button. If the rooms are not suitable, change them by ticking other rooms. If you are unable to allocate alternate rooms – contact DHA on 139 342 for assistance.

Attendees have not gone into the right rooms? If you want your attendees to occupy particular rooms; you can swap the attendees one by one using the ‘switch rooms’ button on the right of the attendees name OR you can bulk swap rooms by selecting some/all attendees and then selecting the ‘Reallocate Rooms button. This option will allow you make multiple changes by dragging and dropping attendees into the desired room.

Note: In the reallocate room screen, you will not be advised of any conflicts when changing rooms so you should only use this if you know that the attendees can occupy the other rooms and if they are arriving on the same date.

The room reallocate function is only available prior to check-in. If you need to switch rooms after check in, you need to request the service provider to undo the check in first. This will ensure that any contributions are amended correctly.

Changes to Bookings

What causes a booking to be changed?

  • Dates change for whole booking or individual attendees
  • Attendee Numbers change
  • Booking needs to be cancelled
  • Buildings need to be allocated i.e. 1 building couldn’t fit in all the attendees so multiple buildings need to be used,
  • Different building needs to be allocated i.e. Building allocated but; doesn’t suit activity, rank or gender requirements

Yellow colouring on a building = another booking exists that will cause a back to back to occur on a weekend or public holiday. Important: Back to back bookings can only be made with base management approval because cleaners may not be available to make rooms ready for occupation.

Need to select or change buildings? First un-tick any allocated building (green ticked), then click on the building(s) you want. Confirm by clicking on the ‘change building’ button.

Buildings you want are not displayed? This is because they are not identified in the base rules for bulk or course use. If you have base management approval to use alternative buildings; click the link to expand your view to other non-leap buildings.

Need to select or change Rooms for the booking? First ensure the right building has been selected. Refer to the ‘Manual room selection’ tab to un-tick and tick rooms – you will also see room restrictions (rank or gender) that may apply. Confirm by clicking on the ‘change allocations’ button. Note: The system will not allow genders to mix in rooms.

Tips for Cadets (minors)

There are specific requirements for booking rooms for minors. If booking a room for a minor you must be aware of the base allocation rules and inform the local base authority before making the booking.

These factors may also apply:

  • Ensure the booking type = ‘ADF Cadets’
  • The allocated building must not have any other bookings (booking out the entire building).
  • Check by filtering on the base calendar for any allocated rooms within the building that don’t belong to the cadet booking.
    • If no other bookings; book out the entire building by making your attendee number match the building room count.
    • If another booking exists; contact the Base management or DHA on 139342 to discuss.
  • Gender must be kept separate and
  • Adult and minor bookings should be made as separate bookings.