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Dock Categories in RMS

This article explains how to set up a Dock Category in RMS for berthing water vessels, and what each of the boat options means.

 

Overview

A Dock Category is a Category used for berthing water vessels, where each Area is an individual berth, slip or mooring. Use this Class when your property rents berthing space, either as a marina or alongside other accommodation.

Dock is one of seven Category Class options in RMS. Choosing it does two things that the other Classes do not:

  • It adds a Boat Options tab to every Area in the Category, where you record the size and type of vessel that Area can take.
  • It makes those vessel specifications available as filters, both when a staff member creates a reservation and when a guest searches on the RMS Booking Engine.

Please Note! RMS is highly configurable. Some Terminology, User Access & Permissions, Images, Labels, and Functions used in these articles may differ from your setup. CLICK HERE to find out more.

 

 

Before you begin

The Dock Category Class and the boat detail fields are available on every property, regardless of the System Type set for the property. You do not need to set the property System Type to Marina to use Dock Categories.

You will need the following before creating any Category in RMS:

Tip! Add the boat lookup values before you create the Areas. The values must exist in the lookup tables before they can be allocated to an Area.

 

Set up a Dock Category

Step 1: Add the boat lookup values

The four boat fields are driven by lookup tables. Each one is a free-type field, so you can enter set values or ranges to match how your marina measures berths.

In the side menu of RMS, go to Setup > Lookup Tables, then select each of the four boat lookup tables in turn:

Lookup table What it defines
Boat Type The types of water vessel an Area can accommodate, for example Cruiser, Yacht or Tug Boat.
Boat Draft The vessel depths an Area can accommodate. Draft is the shallowest depth a vessel can navigate in, or the minimum depth of water the vessel needs to float.
Boat Length The vessel lengths an Area can accommodate.
Boat Width The vessel widths an Area can accommodate. Width is measured at the vessel's widest point.

Tip! Because the fields are free-type, you can record either a set measurement (for example, 6ft) or a range (for example, 20-25ft). Use one approach consistently across all four tables so the guest-facing options read the same way.

 

Step 2: Create the Category

In the side menu of RMS, go to Setup > Category/Area.

  1. Select Add.
  2. Enter a Category Description/Name and a Long Description.
  3. Configure Maximum Occupants per Area and Maximum Occupants per Category as required.
  4. Select the GL Acc Code.
  5. Select Dock as the Class.
  6. Select a Booked By option.
  7. Select Save.
  8. Select the Category Access, then select Apply/Exit.

The Class you select is shown in the Classification column on the Setup Categories list, so you can sort the list to group all your Dock Categories together.

Please Note! The default Class for a new Category is Accommodation. The Class must be changed to Dock for the Boat Options tab to be available on the Category's Areas.

 

Step 3: Add the Areas

Each individual berth, slip or mooring is an Area within the Dock Category.

  1. On the Edit Category screen, select the Area tab.
  2. Select Add to create one Area, or Quick Add to create several Areas in bulk.
  3. Complete the Area details and save.

For full details on Area setup, see How to Setup Areas in RMS.

 

Step 4: Allocate the boat options to each Area

Boat options are set per Area, not per Category, because berths in the same Category can take different vessels.

  1. On the Area tab of the Edit Category screen, select Edit on an Area, or double-click the Area row.
  2. Select the Boat Options tab in the left-hand menu of the Edit Area screen.
  3. Allocate the values this Area can accommodate for Boat Length, Boat Width, Boat Type and Boat Draft.
  4. Save the Area.
    Repeat for every Area in the Dock Category.

Each of the four options is a pair of lists. The Available list on the left holds every value in that lookup table. The Allocated list on the right holds the values this Area can take. Move values between the lists using the arrows above them.

Important! An Area with nothing allocated for a given option is treated as not matching that option. If a guest or a staff member filters on a value the Area has no allocation for, that Area is left out of the results even when it is otherwise available.

 

Boat options explained

The four options describe the vessel an Area can take. They are all optional, and none of them can be made mandatory.

Option What it describes What allocating it does
Boat Length The vessel lengths this berth can take. Lets staff and guests filter to berths that fit a vessel of that length.
Boat Width The vessel widths this berth can take, measured at the widest point. Lets staff and guests filter to berths wide enough for the vessel.
Boat Type The kinds of vessel this berth suits, for example Cruiser, Yacht or Tug Boat. Lets staff and guests filter to berths that suit their type of vessel.
Boat Draft The vessel drafts this berth can take. Draft is the minimum water depth the vessel needs to float. Lets staff and guests filter out berths in water too shallow for the vessel.

Tip! Allocate every value a berth can genuinely accommodate, not only the largest. A berth allocated only 7ft under Boat Length is excluded when a guest filters for a 5ft vessel.

 

How boat options filter availability

Once allocated, boat options work as filters in two places.

RMS

When a staff member creates a reservation, the allocated boat specifications can be used to narrow the list of Areas to those that suit the guest's vessel.

RMS Booking Engine

When a guest selects the Dock filter on the Booking Engine, up to four dropdowns appear so the guest can narrow the results to berths that suit their vessel: Boat Type, Boat Draft, Boat Length and Boat Width.

A dropdown only appears when at least one Area in the Dock Category has values allocated for that option. An option with nothing allocated on any Area does not display as a dropdown. The dropdowns are optional, and a guest can continue without using them.

 

Sell Dock Categories online

Dock Categories are sold on the RMS Booking Engine alongside Accommodation and Site Categories.

  1. On the Edit Category screen, select the Online Options tab.
  2. Tick Available to RMSOnline.
  3. Save the Category.

For the other settings on this tab, see Category Online Options.

Please Note! Class filters are only shown when two or more Classes are available online. A property that sells only Dock Categories online sees no filter options, and the boat dropdowns described above depend on the Dock filter being selected.

 

Reporting on docks

The In House Dock List report lists the vessels currently berthed at the property. In the side menu of RMS, go to Reports > Daily > In House Dock List.

The report can be grouped and sorted, run as a Summary or Detailed report, and filtered by Property, Category and Rate Type. It reports the berth and reservation, the Area's maximum boat length and width, and the vessel's own type, length, width and registration number.

 

 

 

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