Response Housing

The Response Housing add-on feature is designed to provide peace of mind for your community during specific situations by streamlining and securing the booking process for temporary housing. This feature ensures a simplified booking journey, secure user management, efficient inventory handling, and comprehensive reporting. The difference between Response Housing and your standard Ripe booking engine is that it’s activated and accessed only by authorized personnel during natural disasters or when large-scale group housing is required to provide fast and efficient placement for your community.

How it can be used

The Response Housing feature can be activated during emergencies to quickly book accommodations for affected individuals. Users, such as community administrators or appointed & trained volunteers, can access the booking system securely and manage reservations seamlessly, ensuring timely and organized response efforts.

Features & Benefits

Simplified Booking Journey:

Mobile-friendly, real-time inventory visibility and streamlined booking process.
Minimal information is required for the individual being booked in a room, with as little as first and last name being the only requirement.
Billing details are pre-set and centralized, removing the need for individual payment methods by the guest. There is the option to use stored credit cards (not visible to the user) or monthly invoicing.

Secure User Management:

Authentication for users via Auth0, an industry-standard provider for enterprise-grade user authentication.
Full control over user access including streamlined provisioning and de-provissioning of users.

Efficient & Dedicated Inventory Management:

Easy management of real-time properties, inventory, rates, and reservation parameters.
Ability to show generally available inventory through specific channels like Sabre, while also controlling the maximum allowed nightly amount.

Custom Dashboard & Scheduled Reporting:

Access to robust analytics and reporting tools.
Dedicated dashboard with options for automated hourly, daily, or nightly reporting.

Requirements & Setup

Pre-Contracted Hotels

The client must have contracted hotels in place before use. We recommend these be contracted and negotiated when setting up the Response Housing feature, so once a situation arises that requirement is largely complete.

Room Block and Rates

Once contracted, room blocks and room rates must be loaded into the Ripe Central Reservation System (CRS) by the client or operating agency.

Billing

Requires direct bill coordination between client/agency and hotels

Roles and Responsibilities

Ripe

Ripe provides the client and associated agencies with a software solution that is designed to meet the needs of the response housing situation. Ripe will provide the web-based booking platform, authentication platform, and reporting.
Ripe does not provide the operational duties related to the situation such as placing bookings, facilitating individuals on the ground or end-user phone support. Ripe directly supports the client via phone and email as needed to ensure their success.
Ripe provides additional services related to facilitating contracts with hotels and properties if requested.

Client

The client is responsible for setting up and negotiating with hotels prior to an emergency situation. Ripe will support where applicable as mentioned above.
The client and/or any contracted agencies are responsible for the operational use of the software on the ground level. This includes but is not limited to placing reservations, self-serve reporting within Ripe. The client and affiliated hotels can upload and manage their own inventory or utilize Ripe staff for that.
The client is responsible for all payments to the property, including adding a backup credit card even if direct billing is chosen for invoicing.

Out-of-Scope / Not Included

Custom payment methods beyond stored credit cards and monthly invoicing.
Integration with non-approved third-party services or platforms.
Advanced customization of the user interface beyond the provided templates and options.