Welcome to the Spring issue of OnLine Pulse – Autumn for our northern hemisphere friends! Learn how our hospitality software can ease your business challenges – through our latest developments, offers and useful tips!
Interfaces = $returns + happy guests
Software that works with your existing systems
You’ll be wanting your business software to talk to existing software and hardware. The Charts Property Management System can be seamlessly integrated with practically any software or device you can think of! So what does this mean for your business?
Charts can talk to your website – confirming booking immediately
Internet bargain rate providers like Wotif, Quickbeds, and Standbyrates have broadened your distribution sources. When a guest finds your property in this way, give them the choice of booking direct from your website, direct from your inventory of rooms with minimal or no commissions! With our Charts Web interface, your web site becomes an immediate, remote booking engine for your hotel. Your guests, corporate clients, or travel agents can access their own rates and reserve your rooms 24 hours a day from anywhere in the world! Enable the fastest growing business source to increase your yield with Charts Web!
Charts can talk to key card lock systems
Security and guest satisfaction are increased by interfacing key card lock systems with Charts. And it’s easy to do! At check-in time, swipe the guest’s card in the encoder and Charts handles the rest. We commonly work with key systems such as Vingcard, Onity, Salto and Saflock.
Charts can talk to your PABX
When software talks to software, there is no typing involved. The job just gets done. The moment a guest is checked in, Charts talks to the PABX and registers the guest's extension so the guest can make calls. If a guest makes a call, all the charge information is immediately recorded in the guest account. If a guest receives a message or requests a wake up call, Charts will take care of everything!
Novotel Palm Cove Resort uses many Charts interfaces, including a PABX, MovieLink, Key Lock (with in-room safe access), POS, Web Bookings, Enterprise
Charts can talk to your POS
Reduce the risk of accounting errors by interfacing your POS with Charts. Guest charges from the restaurant or bar are instantly posted to their account, and account information such as guest name is at your fingertips to address security concerns. We commonly implement interfaces to systems like Micros, H&L, Quest and Uniwell, as well as minibar systems such as BarTech. Substantial losses and inconveniences can be avoided with such an interface, and this means better business outcomes for you.
Next steps with interfaces
We’re actively developing exciting new interfaces, with a focus on harnessing internet power, saving you time, increasing your revenue and exceeding customer expectations. We’re pioneering an internet based credit card settlement facility on the 3C network in Europe, and web portal interfaces that automate property interaction with portals such as Wotif and Hostelworld. For more information on our interfaces, or to discuss how a new Charts interface might improve your business, please call us today!
Charting the future with YHA
OnLine Systems has a longstanding relationship with YHA in Australia – Charts has been installed in their ‘Gateway’ Hostels for many years. Proven reliability and ease of use of Charts, coupled with the efficiency and cost effectiveness of both the web bookings interface, and point to point reservations, convinced YHA that more of their properties would benefit from having Charts installed. A long term contract was signed in November 2004 to roll out Charts to all the YHA hostels.
YHA makes use of the Charts Enterprise module, enabling powerful features such as the ability for properties to view each other's availability and make point-to-point bookings, the daily consolidation of financials across all properties, and integration with Crystal Reports to provide highly accurate statistical analysis of marketing and financial data. Additionally, each property's web interface is hotwired into the YHA portal http://www.yha.com.au offering visitors real-time booking across every YHA.
Tips & tricks
Did you know that the Charts Room Spreadsheet feature enables you to paint an immediate picture of your occupancy – showing which rooms are: vacant, in-house, allocated to a reservation, out-of-order, or blocked?
Navigate to the Room Spreadsheet via [1] Reservations, [9] Room Spreadsheet. Hit F4 to sort by room number or room type.
Move your cursor over a day, and hit F1 to:
- check a walk-in into that room on that day
- make a reservation in that room on that dayview the details of that room on that day eg in-house guest details, reservation details, out-of-order details, blocked details
ReservHOTEL global reservation system
Special offer if you sign up by 30 November 2005!
- Sells your hotel to over 500,000 travel agents around the world
- Links to all GDS systems (airline reservation systems) – Amadeus/System One, Galileo/Apollo, Sabre/Abacus/Axcess/Fantasia, Worldspan
- Exposure to internet portals, including Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com
- No set up fees - GDS booking fee applies
- Only 6% commission on realised bookings
ReservHotel is an international company based in Atlanta, USA, with affiliated offices in Australia, Germany, Brazil and Canada. OnLine International ReservHotel is the affiliated office in Australia.
HotelMeasure interactive benchmarking
OnLine's related company, HotelMeasure, has developed a benchmarking system especially designed for the Hotel/Motel industry. Get involved. See how you compare! Try out a demo at http://www.hotelmeasure.com.au/
- HotelMeasure software was developed in consultation with the Hotel Motel and Accommodation Association (HMAA) and other industry representatives, to ensure it met industry needs and standards
- It allows you to instantly compare your key performance indicators with other properties in the scheme
- Monthly data includes: average % occupancy, average room rate, and number of arrivals
- It can provide reports and charts for average room rate, % occupancy and RevPAR based on, for example, star rating, tourist region or number of rooms
Your needs – we're listening
Our product development is driven by your business needs. Keep talking to us about those, and we’ll continue to listen. And if you have any suggestions or interesting experiences you would like to share, please send them to info@online-int.com.au, or phone us on (02) 9906 3900.