Zones
Partners can separate their service request and agreements into zones. A zone is a collection of considered providers and requests that share similar terms.
Zones are the logical boundaries via geographic areas that Octoo uses to define service areas. They are the building block for determining which agreement (and therefore which rates and terms) apply to a specific service on a request.
In Octoo, a specific location (like Main Street in Seattle, WA) belongs to a zone (e.g., "Pacific Northwest" or "Seattle Metro"). When a service is created, the system automatically determines the correct zone, which then determines which agreements can be applied, which then dictates the billing and payment rules.
Partners define their own zones
Each partner account in Octoo can define their own logical zones depending on business neeeds. Along with the zone, they also will define the zone lookup that will be used to automatically assign the zone to a service request. This allows partners to have different zones for different customers, locations, or modalities.
Automated Zone Assignment
When a request is created, Octoo uses a zone lookup to automatically assign the correct zone to the service. This ensures that the requester doesn't have to manually select a zone for every single request.
The system looks for a matching zone in the following order of priority, from most specific to least specific:
Customer-Specific & Location-Specific: Is there a special zone defined specifically for this Customer in this City/County?
Location-Specific: Is there a general zone defined for this City/County?
Customer-Specific & State-Wide: Is there a special zone defined for this Customer in this State?
State-Wide: Is there a general zone defined for this State?
Default/Nationwide: If no specific geographic matches are found, the system applies the Account's default (often "Nationwide") zone.
This hierarchy allows for granular control. For example, you can have a general "California" zone with standard rates, but a specific "San Francisco" zone with higher rates, and even a unique "Client X - LA" zone that only applies when that specific customer requests services in Los Angeles.
Zones & Agreements
Zones are the key that unlocks the correct service agreement. An agreement in Octoo is always tied to a specific zone and modality (i.e., on-site or remote).
Once the zone is assigned to a service, Octoo finds the active Customer Agreement and Provider Agreement that match that zone. These agreements define:
Rates: The hourly rate, minimum duration, and billable increments.
Travel: Mileage rates and travel time policies.
Terms: Cancellation policies (e.g., 24-hour notice) and short notice premiums.
Manually Changing a Service's Zone
While the automatic zone lookup works for 99% of cases, there are scenarios where a partner is required to override the system logic. Partners can manually update the zone on a service to force the system to use a different set of agreements.
Common Use Cases
Travel Assignments: A consumer and interpreter travel together from their home state (e.g., Texas) to a conference in Alaska. By default, the request location (Alaska) might trigger a "Nationwide" or "Alaska" zone. However, you want to pay the interpreter their local "Texas" rates. You can manually change the service zone to "Texas" to ensure local agreements apply.
Shared Account Transfers: You are creating a soft request on a shared account, but the automatic lookup doesn't match the zone required by the partner who will eventually take over the request. You can set the zone manually to ensure a smooth transfer.
How to Change a Zone
You can update the zone by using the three dots menu on the service detail. This action will:
Unbind the current agreements.
Search for agreements matching the new zone and apply them to the service if found.
Raise errors if there are assigned providers already present on the services.
⚠️ Important Caveat
You cannot update a zone on a service that already has active bids or assigned providers.
Because changing the zone fundamentally changes the contract (rates, cancellation terms, etc.), it cannot be done once a provider has been engaged. If you need to change the zone for a request that already has bids:
Clone the service (or request).
Change the zone on the new, empty service.
Re-assign the providers.
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