WHAT S NEW in 7.9 RELEASE NOTES

Transcription

1 7.9 RELEASE NOTES January 2015

2 Table of Contents Session Usability...3 Smarter Bookmarks... 3 Multi-Tabbed Browsing... 3 Session Time Out Pop Up... 4 Batch No Show Processing...5 Selecting a Guarantee Type... 6 No Show Guest Information... 6 Batch No Show Process... 8 Batch No Show... 8 Batch Post No Show Charge... 9 Batch Post Payment No Show Processing Processing for Properties using Shift Processing for Properties with Stand Alone Credit Card Terminals Property chooses not to Record Authorization Status for Arrivals and No Shows Hotel chooses to Record Authorization for Arrivals and No Shows Property chooses to Record Authorization during No Show Process No Show Processing Previous Day No Show Postings and Payments Room Moves and Room Move Report Performing a Room Move A Refresher Viewing the Room Move Report Enhanced Welcome Screen Tool Bar Steps General Managers may take to edit links Adding a link within the system Adding a link outside of the system

3 Session Usability How many times have you typed in reservation information, only to press Continue and be sent to the login page? Wouldn t it be better if the system notified you when it was going to time out? What about the ability to run choiceadvantage in a tabbed window instead of the fullscreen view? All of this and more will be possible with the Session Usability feature! Smarter Bookmarks Multi-Tabbed Browsing Session Timeout Pop Up Smarter Bookmarks Sometimes it is easier to click a browser favorite to get back to a page you want to in a website. ChoiceADVANTAGE is no exception we love bookmarks! Until now, if you had the login page bookmarked, the system was unable to tell if you had an existing active session. Introducing Smarter Bookmarks, an easier way to get exactly where you want in choiceadvantage: If you have a bookmark directed to the login page, the system will know whether or not you are logged in and direct you to the home page If you have a bookmark directed to another area of the system, such as Housekeeping Center or Find Group Master, the bookmark will bring you to that page as long as your session is active, and you have appropriate permissions Multi-Tabbed Browsing ChoiceADVANTAGE will no longer pop up as a full-screen page. This will allow you to have multiple tabs open at once. For example, as long as you have the appropriate permissions, you can have the In House List; Create a Reservation page, Create a Group Master page and Find Reservation screen open in multiple tabs. You are able to switch back and forth between the tabs, as needed. 3

4 Multi-Tabbed Browsing Use of multiple tabs while navigating choiceadvantage You will no longer see the blank tab in Internet Explorer after printing and closing a report Session Time Out Pop Up We have added a pop up timer that will notify you one-minute before logging you out. The pop up will allow you to stay signed in, or to sign out. If you do not select an option, the system will automatically log you out once the timer reaches zero. If you are using multi-tabbed browsing as described above, the pop up will be seen in all tabs. For example, if you select YES, KEEP ME SIGNED IN on the In House tab, this will apply to all other tabs and ensure they stay logged in as well You will no longer experience the frustration of entering a guest reservation, and clicking the Continue button and being directed to the login screen. 4

5 Batch No Show Processing The new Batch No Show process allows the posting of a No Show charge and payment with only a few simple clicks. This process allows you to no show all reservations before the night audit process and actualize the charge and payment before, or after audit. Batch No Show can be accessed from your tool bar through selecting: Manage > No Show Some of the new functionality includes: Selecting a date (can be today or past dates) Selecting by guarantee type Viewing Reservation details No Show reservations in a batch Posting No Show Charges in a batch Posting No Show Payments in a batch 5

6 Selecting a Guarantee Type A list of active property guarantees has been added to the No Show page. A filter allows your property to manage all no shows together or filter reservations from the list; either by a single guarantee type, or multiple criteria. After filtering your results for no shows, key information will display for only the guarantee methods selected. No Show Guest Information After choosing the guarantee methods and selecting the UPDATE button, the page populates information for each reservation that meets the selected guarantee criteria. Reservation order will default to reservation status followed by confirmation number. Ten columns of guest information will display. Each column is sortable to assist you in finding and selecting the needed reservations. 6

7 No Show Guest Information Guest Name - This will display the guest s Last Name, First Name. The name will be a clickable link that will take you to the guest reservation. This will allow you to reference the guest account quickly and review details or view notes that may be on the reservation. Selecting Back while in the reservation will bring you back to the No Show page. Rate Plan - The Rate plan will display the rate plan associated to the reservation. Room Rate - The Room Rate column will display the Rate Plan associated to the reservation and will display the room rate for the 1 st night of the reservation. Guarantee - This column will display the guarantee method for the reservation. If the guarantee method is credit card the column will list the card type associated to the reservation. # Nights - This column will display the number of nights for the reservation. Auth Status - Auth Status column will display results only for reservations that have used a credit card for a guarantee method. This column will display the latest status of the credit card authorization. Balance - If the guest s folio has a current credit or balance, it will appear in this column. This will allow the user to be able to determine if a pre-paid deposit has been taken for this reservation. Company Profile Name - This column will display the name of the company profile associated to the reservation. If the reservation has no company profile associated, the column will be blank. Group Name - This column will display the name of the Group associated to the reservation, if there is no group associated, the column will be blank. Conf # - This column will display the confirmation number for the reservation. 7

8 Batch No Show Process After filtering the guarantee, you will have the option of 3 batch no show actions: 1. No Show (sets the status of the reservation) 2. Post No Show Charge 3. Post Payment Each action will have a check box in the header as well as next to each reservation. All check boxes will default to unchecked; selecting the check box in the header will select all checkboxes in that row. Check boxes to the side of each reservation can be selected or unselected. Batch No Show The purpose of this column is to select any reservation to change from reserved status to No Show status. Clicking Submit on selected reservations will update the reservation status from Reserved to No Show. You will know the action has been completed when the Check Box changes to a Check Reserved Status 8

9 No Show Status Batch Post No Show Charge This feature will allow you to select the reservations to post a No Show charge to. The No Show charge will be equal to first night s room and tax. The only charge that will be posted is the No Show Charge. This functionality will be available for guarantee methods that are set to Credit Card or Direct Bill. Batch posting will not be available for other guarantee types. If other payment methods are used, such as check or cash, these need to be posted to the guest account manually. Note: It is up to the hotel to ensure payment is collected for any charges posted to the guest account. Selected to Post No Show Charge No Show Charge is Posted 9

10 Batch Post Payment This feature will allow you to select reservations that have appropriate guarantee types and decide to post a Payment. The No Show charge and payment will be equal to the first night s room and tax. This functionality is only available for Credit Card or Direct Bill guarantee methods. Batch Payments will not be available for other guarantee types. If other payment methods are used, such as check or cash, these need to be posted to the guest account manually. Note: Users cannot post a payment without the status of the reservation being No Show and the charge posted. Selected to Post Payment Payment is Posted 10

11 No Show Processing When the No Show, Post No Show Charge, and Post Payment options are all selected, you can click on Submit. This will update each reservation sequentially and will process in confirmation number order. Progress is represented by a blue highlighted box along with a blue loading icon to make you aware of progress. Processing for Properties using Shift 4 For Properties that utilize Shift 4 credit card processing, the Auth Status column displays the authorization status of the credit card on file, as it is communicated to your system from Shift 4. Declined cards will be noted in the auth status column. If a card is declined, the reservation will still be updated as No Show status. The charge will not post and the payment will not be received. Follow existing hotel procedures for declined cards. If errors occur while processing a credit card, the reservation will still be updated to no show status. The charge will not post and the payment will not be received. Cards that error will be noted in the auth status column in red text. A banner displaying the error message will display at the top of the screen. If the error message appears, this means the error occurred on one or more of the reservations, not on all. All reservations without Error displayed in the auth status column have processed successfully. Users can make a second attempt from this screen, or go to the individual reservation(s) to collect payment. Both Declined and Error results will be noted in the auth status column. 11

12 Processing for Properties with Stand Alone Credit Card Terminals Hotels with Stand Alone credit card processing terminals will process all credit card transactions independently of choiceadvantage credit card interface (Shift 4). choiceadvantage will allow you to record authorizations received from your Stand Alone terminals in the Authorization Center. All transactions are authorized and settled through the stand-alone unit. Authorization will remain in the Authorization Center until a payment is taken. Recording settlement status is not required by the system. Any tracking of credit card status in choiceadvantage is for information purposes only. Individual hotels can determine their own process to determine if recording authorization is required. All functionality will work the same for properties that interface with Shift 4 credit card processing, and those that do not, with the exception of the Auth Status column. For properties that use a stand-alone processing terminals, no status will be communicated to the system. The Auth Status column will reflect any Authorization Status that is manually entered into the guest reservation via the Authorization Center. Property chooses not to Record Authorization Status for Arrivals and No Shows Properties will authorize and settle payments for no shows on their stand-alone processing unit. When Settlements on the accounts are finished the user can select the appropriate reservations to No Show. Before any actions are taken, all reservations will show as No Auth in Auth Status Column. 12

13 After No Show and payment is recorded in choiceadvantage, the Auth status will change to Settled. This notifies the user that they have recorded a settled payment in choiceadvantage and the action has been completed. After refreshing or returning to the No Show page, the reservation that has been No Showed will reflect that both a charge and payment was recorded by the removal of the checkboxes. The Auth Status will return to No Auth. This reflects correct status as Auth and payment was done on the stand-alone unit and Auth was not recorded in the PM. 13

14 Hotel chooses to Record Authorization for Arrivals and No Shows Properties will authorize credit cards for the reservations on their stand-alone processing unit. User will record Authorization Amount and Auth Code for each arrival. Some properties may complete this step earlier in the day to ensure all arrivals have valid forms of payment. User will process payments on each reservation, on the stand-alone unit, before no showing them. When Settlements on the accounts are finished the user can select the appropriate reservations to No Show. Authorization received from the Stand Alone authorization unit can be entered into the reservation from: Guest Folio > View Authorization Center. Before any actions are taken, any reservation that has had an Auth Amount and Auth Code entered will show as Authorized in the Auth Status column. 14

15 After no show and payment are recorded in the system, the auth status will change to Settled. This notifies you that a recorded and settled payment action has been completed. This status will remain as Settled. After refreshing or returning to the No Show page, the reservation that has been No Showed will reflect that both a charge and payment was recorded by the removal of the checkboxes. The Auth Status will remain Settled. This status is correct, as authorization and payment was completed on the stand-alone unit and the authorization recorded. Property chooses to Record Authorization during No Show Process If a property chooses to receive and record the authorization status during the no show process, the batch no show authorization will follow the same functionality as if the authorization was recorded for arrivals. Steps to streamline recording authorization from the no show screen. 1) From the No Show Reservations screen a. Select the No-Show Date b. Choose the filters you want to no-show example: CC c. Click Update d. Go into each reservation to be no showed and perform the following: i. Select Guest Folio ii. Select View Authorization iii. Manually enter the Auth Code then click Save iv. Select Back from the Actions menu of the Folio screen v. Select Back from the Actions menu of the Reservation Information screen vi. Select the reservation to authorize from the No Show Reservation screen e. By clicking the No Show check box for each authorized guest, the Post No Show and Post Payment check boxes will automatically be populated. f. Once all authorized guest are selected click Submit 15

16 No Show Processing Should you need to leave the No Show screen while processing takes place, progress will pause until you return and finish. A confirmation message will prompt users before leaving the screen. The time to complete this process will vary depending on the number of no shows to process or hotel internet connection. Previous Day No Show Postings and Payments This functionality will allow the user to manage No Shows for past dates. When selecting a past date, if a no show has not been charged or a payment taken, the user will be allowed to post the no show charge and payment from this Arrivals screen. 16

17 Room Moves and Room Move Report When an in house guest is moved to a new room there is now an option to identify the reason for the move, such as; was the room dirty, does the guest want a different room type, do they want a different view, etc. The reason the room move occurred will display on the new Room Move Report. It is recommended that a reason be entered but is not required. Entering a reason for the move will help your tracking of such moves. Performing a Room Move A Refresher A room move may be performed only on existing In-House guests, by performing the following steps: 1. Click on the room number or click on Change Stay on the Reservation Information screen 2. Select new room number and/or room type 3. Enter in a reason for the room move (optional). Then answer the question if the guest has been to the room. This is a free form field with a limit of 80 characters. Yes will mark the first room as dirty, No will put the room to a clean or ready status depending on your property configuration The Reason for move field is new for this release. The reasons you enter during the room move process, will display on your report and give recognition to the conditions encountered to trigger the guest room move. 17

18 Viewing the Room Move Report The Room Move Report shows activity for any room moves that have occurred for a date or range of dates. It is important to be able to see the changes for a guest if they were moved to a different room or rooms in case items were left behind. It helps to give information to housekeeping as to why a room is suddenly a dirty vacant room or why a room that is clean but shows up as dirty in the system. The report may be used for tracking of guest s during their stay and in conjunction with guest complaints that can be used with the Guest Reimbursement form. Follow these steps to view the report: 1. Hover over Run located on your tool bar, select Reports from the drop down menu 2. Click on Room Move Report from the Front Desk section of the reports menu 3. Enter your range of dates (required) and set a sort order (optional) for the report 4. Click Submit 18

19 Enhanced Welcome Screen Tool Bar The Welcome Screen Tool Bar has been enhanced to provide the General Manager the ability to configure the screen in a way that is most relevant to the staff. With the addition of more shortcut buttons, you can create shortcuts to areas of the system as well as external sites such as Yelp and online documents that you create, such as Google documents, your employee schedule, Hotel Journal or Red Book. Steps General Managers may take to edit links 1. Click on the Edit button below the favorites bar 2. Begin to edit the section you would like to modify 19

20 Adding a link within the system a. Click the drop down arrow and select from the list on the screen an item you would like to have quick access to. Options available are displayed below. The GM user account may customize the links in the blue bar to meet the specific needs of the hotel. These are the available internal applications available to link in the blue favorites bar: Accu Weather Arrivals List Cashier Shift Create Direct Bill Account Create Group Master Create House Account Create Reservation Departures List Find Company Profile Find Direct Bill Account Find Direct Bill Invoice Find Group Master Find Guest Find House Account Find Reservation Future Availability Hotel Configuration House Accounts Housekeeping Center In House List Map Quest On line Help Packages Quick Statistics Room Blocking Run Night Audit Run Reports Tape Chart View Forecast View Night Audit View Performance Statistics View Recent Accounts View Today's Checked Out Guests Walk In 20

21 b. You may edit the Title field if you wish to customize it c. Choose an Icon from the preloaded icon list Adding a link outside of the system Here are several examples of the external links you can add! Trip Advisor Google Yelp URL Links to external sites Document links to release notes or shortcuts to Word or Excel files 21

22 Perform these steps to add your external link. a. Select the Custom Link Box b. Enter the URL Address into the Link box c. Edit the Title d. Choose an Icon from the preloaded icon list e. Click SAVE to retain your changes 3. Adding and Removing buttons: a. Clicking on will remove the section b. Clicking on will allow you to add a new link c. Click SAVE to retain your changes 22