Understanding how different usage scenarios impact locker availability of LivionKey30 and LivionKey20 is crucial for maximizing efficiency and serving the most customers.
Contract duration and locker availability
Long-term contracts: When a contract grants a customer exclusive access to a locker for an extended period (weeks, months, or indefinitely), that locker remains occupied for the contract's duration. This limits the number of customers the key automat can serve simultaneously. For instance, a LivionKey20 with 20 lockers assigned to long-term contracts can only serve 20 customers.
Short-term contracts: Contracts lasting only a few days allow for higher customer turnover. Once a short-term contract ends, the locker becomes available for a new customer. This is ideal for scenarios like providing keys to gig workers for 8-hour shifts. A LivionKey20 could potentially serve 60 gig workers daily using this approach (20 lockers x 3 shifts).
Optimizing locker usage for long-term contracts
Administrators can configure contracts to free the locker after the key is fetched to prevent long-term contracts from monopolising lockers. In the handover form, choose Release the locker after key retrieval under Key locker reservation. This means:
A customer can fetch the key using their contract.
The locker is immediately freed up for someone else to use.
The contract stays active until the date in Key must be returned by. The date is prefilled from the organization's default contract validity, and you can change or clear it. When the customer brings the key back, record the return in the Receive Key view. The key can go to any free locker.
This strategy is highly effective when key fetches and returns don't occur simultaneously, allowing a single key automat to serve a much larger customer base.
Summary
Contract length significantly impacts locker availability.
Short-term contracts maximize locker usage.
For long-term contracts, freeing the locker after key fetch optimizes locker utilization.
Releasing the locker at pickup and recording the return separately lets the same lockers serve more customers.