Certificate IV in Front Office
FOF403 – Front Office Software Systems
Front Office Computer Applications
All front office computer systems do not operate identically. The Property Management
Systems (PMS) may illustrate the nature of the front office computer applications. PMS
contains sets of computer software packages capable of supporting a variety of activities
in front office areas. Common front office software packages are designed to help front
office employees perform functions related to:
Reservations Management
Rooms Management
Guest Account Management
General Management
Reservations Management Software: Enables a hotel to rapidly process room requests
and generate timely and accurate rooms, revenue, and forecasting reports. Central
reservations system timely and accurate rooms, revenue and forecasting reports.
Computerised in-house reservations records, files and revenue forecasts are immediately
updated as reservation are immediately updated as reservation data are received at the
hotel. It is through electronic file updating that the computer system remains current and
in control of reservations activities. Various reservation management reports, containing
a summary of reservation data and guest account status information can also be
generated. Current reservations management also includes upgraded rate control features,
guest history modules and more detailed property information such as bed types,
guestroom views and special features. Reservation management software can also track
deposits due, requests deposits and record deposit payments made.
Rooms Management Software: maintains current information on status of rooms
provides information on room rates, assists in room assignment during registration and
help front office in coordinating guest services. Can also be used to provide rapid access
to room availability data during the reservation process. This information is useful in
short term reservation confirmation and room revenue forecasting.
-also provides a summary on each room status
Guest Account Management Software: increases the hotel’s control over guest
accounts and significantly modifies the traditional night audit role. Guest accounts are
maintained electronically, thereby eliminating much of the need for folio cards, folio
trays and account posting machines. The guest accounting module monitors
predetermined guest credit limits and provides flexibility through multiple folio formats.
When hotel revenue outlets are connected to the front office computer system, remote
electronic cash registers can be used to communicate guest charges to the front office.
These charges can then be automatically posted to the appropriate electronic guest folios
which reduces the chances of late charges.
General Management Software: This software cannot operate independently of other
front office software packages. It is report generating which means that it will depend on
data collected through the reservation management, room’s management and guest
account management programs. Reports include days expected arrivals, and number of
rooms available for occupancy etc. It also serves as a link between front office and back
office computer system interface applications.
PMS Interface’s applications are available in a fully automated environment.
Non-Guest Operated Interfaces. Common interfaces that are not initiated guest activity
include:
*Point-of-Sale (POS) system allows guest account transactions to be quickly transmitted
from remote revenue centers to the PMS for automatic posting to electronic folios.
POS systems can reduce time to post charge purchases to guest folios, number of times
each piece of data must be handled, the number of posting errors and after departure late
charges. POS must provide some basic information when posting a charge through
remote terminal or submitting a voucher to the front office. Information include: amount
of the charge, name of the POS outlet, room number, name of guest and brief description
of the charge.
*Call accounting system (CAS) directs prices and tracks telephone use for relsale and
automatic posting to electronic posting
*An electronic locking system (ELS) may interface with the room’s management
application to provide enhanced guest security and service.
*An energy management system (EMS) can automatically control the temperature.
Humidity and air movement in both public spaces and guestrooms through a management
interface.
Guest – Operated Interfaces: (Discuss in class)
Front office Computer Applications
Reservation Management
Module
Availability/ forecasting
Reservation records
Reservation confirmation
Room pricing
Yield Management
Room Management Module
Room status
Registration General Management
Room assignments Module
Room rate information Revenue Analysis
Operating Statistics
Financial Analysis
Guest History
Guest Accounting Module
Folio management
Credit monitoring
Transaction tracking
Systems Interfaces
A variety of property management system interface application is available in an
automated environment.
Non-Guest-Operated Interfaces- common interfaces that are not initiated by guest activity
include:
A point of sale system[POS]
A call accounting system[CAS]
An electronic locking system[ELS]
An energy management system [EMS]
An EMS is a computer based control system designed to automatically manage the
operation of mechanical equipment in a lodging property. An EMS interfaced to a
property management system offers a number of opportunities for energy control. For
example, assume 50 percent occupancy is forecasted for tonight a room hotel.
Minimizing the hotel’s energy consumption on this night becomes factor in determining
which rooms to sell. One approach would be to assign guests only to the lower floors and
significantly reduce the energy demands of rooms on the upper floors. By interfacing an
EMS to a front office room’s management system, it is possible to automatically control
room assignments and achieve desired energy cost savings.
Guest Operated Interfaces. Hotels can provide automated convenience and services by
installing a variety of guest-operated devices. In some properties, guests may inquire
about in-house events and local activities through automated information kiosks in public
areas, or through the television or portable communication device in their guestrooms.
Connecting a printer to an information terminal enables guests to print out customized
information.
Guest can review their folios and complete the check-out process from the comfort and
privacy of their guestrooms. In-room televisions or other communication devices
interfaced with a guest accounting module enable guests to simultaneously access folio
data and to approve and settle their accounts by selecting a pre-approved method of
settlement. Guestroom telephones interfaced with the property management system may
also be used for this purpose. In-room specialty devices linked to external information
services allow guests to access a e-mail Internet Web sites, transportation schedules, local
restaurant and entertainment guides, stock market reports, news and sports updates,
shopping catalogue, and video games.
An in-room entertainment system can be interfaced with a front office accounting
module or can function as an independent system. In-room entertainment systems allow
guests to access various forms of entertainment through their guest room televisions. If
there is a charge for the service, such as a pay-per-view movie, a video game, or Internet
access, the charge can be automatically calculated and posted to the guest’s electronic
folio. To keep guests from inadvertently tuning to a pay channel, the television is usually
preset to a non-pay channel or preview channel. Incorporating a preview channel can
significantly reduce the number of guest disputes about the validity of pay TV or movie
charges. In room entertainment systems may even require the guest to dial and in-house
department to request that the adult-content channel be activated. In addition, a preview
channel provides the hotel with advertising opportunities. The preview channel can
display attractions, thereby creating a new revenue source.
There are two types of in-room vending systems. Non automated honor bars consist of
beverage and snack items in both dry and cold storage areas within a guestroom. The
bar’s beginning inventory level is recorded, and hotel employees on a daily basis note
changes in inventory. Appropriate charges for missing or consumed items are noted for
later posting to the guest’s folio. Since honor bars are available at all times, this system
often results in an unusually high volume of late charge postings.
Automated honor bars or in-room vending equipment may contain fiber-optic sensors
that record the removal of stored products from designated compartments. When a sensor
is triggered, these devices assume a sale and transmit point-of-purchase information to a
POS microprocessor that, in turn, communicates to the front office accounting module for
electronic folio posting.
Other technology-based guest amenities include the in-room fax and centralized
printer/server. Faxes can be sent directly to and from the guestroom without hotel staff
intervention. This amenity is popular in hotels serving meeting, convention, and business
travelers, and may link with the hotel’s telephone system, which automatically calculates
the cost of the fax and forwards the charge for folio posting. With a centralized printer,
guest upload their documents through an Internet connection, then leave their guestrooms
and go to the hotel’s business center to download and print their documents.
Sales Automation Systems
PMS and sales automation systems are usually implemented in tandem. Once viewed as a
way to manage group reservations blocks and meeting-room space availability, sales
automation software should be viewed as a strategic tool that maximizes revenues while
tracking the monetary value of group business relationships.
For the front office, this can be vitally important. By entering group guestroom
allocations into a sales automation application, a hotel salesperson can evaluate the
number of available rooms on a continuous basis. Similar to a front office reservation
module, group allocations are expected to decrease with each group room reservation
commitment. The group allocation will increase when groups give room reservations
back to the hotel. Or management allocates more rooms to a particular group.
Maintaining accurate and consistent information about the status of group rooms
reservations (whether they’re available or blocked) in both property management and
sales automation systems is critical. The hotel reservations staff may actually have rooms
available to sell but be unaware of them, since they may incorrectly appear allocated to a
group in the sales automation system even though the group has yet to commit to those
rooms. Conversely, group salespersons may oversell group allocations, thereby resulting
in no rooms available. To avoid conflicts between these two systems, one salesperson
should be responsible for ensuring that the information is properly balance in each
system. Advanced PMS often provide a direct interface to link the sales automation
function. Interfacing gives group sales managers a clear view of rooms inventory in the
property management system, since both systems rely on a single data source. In
addition, when group room reservations are returned to the hotel, the rooms will be made
immediately available for sale.
Sales automation systems collect sufficient data to identify booking trends and have
sufficient memory to track group histories. Most group tracking systems store actual
group guestroom usage (called group pickup), room’s rates, and non room (food and
beverage, facilities, amenities, etc.) rates. The next time group books at the hotel,
management will know the group’s history and thereby be better able to allocate a group
block. Some chains provide affiliate properties access to centralized group history files
through a database system. This allows a hotel in Los Angeles, say to research a group
that stayed earlier at an affiliate hotel in Fiji. Group history files store information on
group sales and revenues and the number of rooms blocked (allocated) and booked
(reserved). In addition, banquet menus, meeting space usage, VIPs, billing history, and
many other pieces of important information may also be available. Such information can
be important to the front office. For example, knowing the check-in and check-out pattern
of group members may prove helpful for front office staffing. Knowing the groups’s
history regarding its number of no-shows, early departures, suites reserved, and rooms
with two beds reserved may also be helpful.