ExpansionsAdditional services in the central booking office system
Time reservation functions
The central booking office system can be expanded by taking into account times of the day. Accommodation reservations are made on a day-level, and no capacity is reserved for the day of departure. Everyone in the company knows what time check-out must occur on the day of departure, and new customers coming in on the same day to the same room are known. Handling based on times of the day is therefore not completely necessary.
With time reservation functions, two factors can be managed:
- Unusual arrival or departure times
- Reservation of additional services on a per hour-basis
If it has been agreed with the customer that instead of the normal check-out time of 12, check-out will take place at 3 PM, then this information will be included with the reservation. When making a new reservation for the same room, the system gives a warning about the unusual check-out time, and suitable arrangements can be made with the newly arriving customer.
Additional services such as conference rooms and sauna times can be reserved on a per-hour basis with the time reservation function. If the conference room is reserved for 9AM – 3PM, another reservation can be made for 5 PM – 8PM. A number of sauna times can be reserved for the same evening, for example 4PM – 6PM and 7PM – 9PM, and Winres warns if overlapping bookings are being made.
Check-in and check-out
Check-ins and check-outs can also be managed with Winres. The system displays a list of arriving customers, from which the customer checking in is selected. The list also displays those who have already arrived, and their arrival times. At the end of the day, possible “no-shows” are thus visible. Check-out functions work in a similar way: all departing customers are given a departure time, so you can constantly see which customers have not yet departed.
Check-ins and check-outs can also be marked on paper. Arriving and departing customer lists are printed from Winres. At the end of the day, this information must be entered into the system, so it knows the customers who have started their stay at various accommodation facilities. This information is also always viewable on the accommodated list.
Managing maintenance and repairs
This function opens a maintenance log book for each accommodation location. If a deficiency or problem is found, an entry is made into the log. This is used to monitor repairs, and includes repair start time and completion time.
The maintenance log book function produces reports that show pending repairs, repairs currently underway, and completed repairs. These entries also include expenses, which are used to invoice the owner of the property.
Automatic e-mails and text messages to owners and caretakers
Normally, owners and caretakers follow the status of reservations using the Internet application made for them. If access to the Internet is not available, paper reports are sent to them regularly or if there are any changes to reservations. A third option for reservation change reports (new, changed, or cancelled reservation) is to send an automatic e-mail for each item. The function can also be utilized on the Internet or with paper reports for normal situations, but with e-mails and text messages to inform of late / sudden changes.
Internet systems
The central booking office can be expanded with the Intres system so that consumers and retailers / agents can reserve accommodation and related services on their own accord. For details, please see Intres for central booking offices. A retailer can also make use of the so-called "secret agent" concept (affiliate office), and link the reservation system to their own website. Owners can have their own Internet connection through which they can follow the reservations made for their own properties.