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Zaui Operator Connection

How to connect your products in Ventrata to operator using Zaui booking system to resell their products

Dominic Martinkevic avatar
Written by Dominic Martinkevic
Updated over 2 months ago

Zaui is a cloud-based booking software designed for the tour and transportation companies, particularly popular with small to medium-sized businesses in Canada and Norway.

This operator connection (also referred to as backend) allows you to connect with other operators using Zaui as their booking system to resell their products through Ventrata more efficiently and automatically. The capabilities of this connection include:

  • Syncing availability and pricing from your operator's Zaui system.

  • Posting bookings, updates, and cancellations from Ventrata to Zaui.

  • Receiving vouchers/tickets from your operator's Zaui system and issuing them to your customers.

To connect with resellers using Zaui as their ticketing system for them to sell your products, see Zaui Reseller Connection and related articles.


Configuring Operator Backend

Before You Begin:

  1. Contact your operator using Zaui and request the "OCTO API Key" for you to resell their products through Ventrata. Operators have access to setup the connection (channel) and obtain this information in their Zaui system by navigating to Resellers → Channel Partners and selecting Ventrata.

  2. In the Ventrata Dashboard, navigate to Products → Operators, and select the Zaui-powered operator for which you would like to set up the connection.

  3. In the Backend Partner section, choose Zaui from the list of available connections and enter the OCTO API Key provided to you by your operator. Unless otherwise instructed by the operator or Zaui, leave the OCTO Endpoint field with the default pre-filled value for Zaui https://api.zaui.io/octo

    In the Backend Partner section, choose Zaui from the list of available connections and enter the OCTO API Key provided to you by your operator. Unless otherwise instructed by the operator or Zaui, leave the OCTO Endpoint field with the default pre-filled value for Zaui <a href="https://api.zaui.io/octo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://api.zaui.io/octo</a>

  4. Click Update Operator to save the configuration.


Mapping Products

Once the operator has been configured with its backend, you can proceed to Product Mapping—the process of connecting your Ventrata products and options with the corresponding products and options from the operator's Zaui system:

  1. In the Ventrata Dashboard, navigate to Products → Products and select the product you would like to map to the operator's Zaui system.

  2. Edit the product and ensure the Operator is set to the correct operator to which this product belongs, where you have already configured the backend.

  3. Check Backend Connected for this product to use the API connection (backend). To pull availability from Zaui, ensure Backend Availability is checked; to pull pricing, check Backend Pricing. If you do not check Backend Availability and/or Backend Pricing, the product will use the availability and/or pricing configured in Ventrata but will still post bookings to Zaui. Click Update Product to save.

    Check Backend Connected for this product to use the API connection (backend). To pull availability from Expian, ensure Backend Availability is checked; to pull pricing, check Backend Pricing. If you do not check Backend Availability and/or Backend Pricing, the product will use the availability and/or pricing configured in Ventrata but will still post bookings to Expian. Click Update Product to save.

  4. The product page will now display a Mappings tab. Navigate to this tab and map your Ventrata product, option(s), and units by selecting the corresponding products, options, and units from the dropdown lists as received from Zaui. Ensure that no fields are left empty (unmapped), and click Save Changes.

    The product page will now display a Mappings tab. Navigate to this tab and map your Ventrata product, option(s), and units by selecting the corresponding products, options, and units from the dropdown lists as received from Expian. Ensure that no fields are left empty (unmapped), and click Save Changes.


Supported Capabilities (Detailed)

Availability

When Backend Availability is enabled Ventrata will pull availability from Zaui.

This works as follows:

  • Availability Check. When a user interacts with the availability calendar in Ventrata (e.g., selects units and clicks through the dates in the dashboard, web checkout, terminal, etc.), Ventrata will make a live request to Zaui to retrieve availability for the given dates. This is usually done in 7-day ranges or for a specific day.

  • The calendar may display cached (non-live) data from the previous time it was requested before the user interacts with the calendar.

Pricing

When Backend Pricing is enabled Ventrata will pull both retail and net (wholesale) pricing from Zaui.

This works as follows:

  • Availability Check (Pricing Capability). When a user interacts with the availability calendar in Ventrata (e.g., selects units and clicks through the dates in the dashboard, web checkout, terminal, etc.), Ventrata will make a live request to Zaui to retrieve availability along with the pricing for the given dates. This is usually done in 7-day ranges or for a specific day. Pricing will shown to the user and cached / stored in Ventrata as API generated fares.

  • Net (wholesale) pricing returned via the API from Zaui will be recorded as cost pricing, regardless of your cost percentage settings on the operator, when using Backend Pricing.

Booking

Bookings, booking changes and cancellation made in Ventrata for the Backend Connected product will be automatically sent to Zaui.

This work as follows:

  • Booking Reservation. When a product is added to the cart in Ventrata, a request will be made to reserve the availability.

  • Booking Confirmation. After the payment step, a request to confirm the booking will be made, along with any customer contact information sent at this point. The voucher/ticket provided by Zaui will be ingested as a voucher/ticket in Ventrata (except for PDF_FILE, which Ventrata currently does not support).

  • Booking Update. When a booking is changed, an API request to update the booking will be made to Zaui.

  • Booking Cancellation. When a booking is cancelled, an API request to cancel the booking will be made to Zaui.

Redemption

Booking status from Zaui (for example if booking is Redeemed) is not currently communicated back to Ventrata after booking is confirmed.

Pickups

Pickups are not currently supported.

Promotions

Promotions are not currently supported.

Extras

Extras are not currently supported.


Troubleshooting

Issue

Possible Solutions

Error when updating operator to save backend configuration.

Likely OCTO API Key or OCTO Endpoint are incorrect. Double-check these details with your operator. If issue persists, contact us for support.

No Backend Connected checkbox in product settings.

Likely operator selected for the product doesn't have backend configured, check backend configuration and try again. If issue persists, contact us for support.

The product/option/unit I want to map is not on the dropdown.

Dropdown list is pulled from Zaui based on products/options/units operator made available to you. Double-check these details with your operator. If issue persists, contact us for support.


Partner Information

Zaui Software Ltd.

Suite 423 – 119 Pender Street West

Vancouver, BC V6B 1S5, Canada

Partner ID e67349dd-5231-4c91-9996-1abfea2a2b93

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