16 ELECTRONIC FRONT OFFICE

S. Thilagamani

epgp books

 

 

 

Objectives:

 

The module on Electronic Front Office will enable the learners to

 

1.      Understand the computerised systems adopted at the front desk and other areas

2.      Forecast reservations, expenditure and revenue of the hotel periodically

3.      Enable the use of  customised software for all vital guest services

 

Introduction

 

Hotels use a variety of computer systems to manage the operations of their front office called a property management system (PMS), these computer system manage a variety of tasks. A hotel PMS manages guest’s check-in and checkout, cash transactional at the front desk, outlet, ancillary transactions, reservations, housekeeping, night audit, and other tasks.

 

The fully automated system at the hotels especially at luxury hotels, business hotels where the hotel is fully computerised with updated versions so as to enable the guests at all phases.

 

Pre- arrival Phase

 

Under this stage, the reservation department is equipped with the software package which is interfaced and connected with one or more central reservation office. Moreover, the reservation department can automatically generate letters of confirmation, produce requests for guest deposits and handle pre-registration activities for all types of guest and generate daily expected arrival list, occupancy and revenue forecast list…

 

Arrival Phase

 

At this stage various reservation records can be transferred to front office department. Moreover, hotels might be equipped with an online credit authorizations terminals for timely credit card approval, self check-in /check-out terminals. Lastly, all guest charges and payments are saved in electronic guest folios.

 

As far as walk-inns are concerned , all the registration activities should be initiated from the very beginning

 

Occupancy Phase

 

Under this very stage, guest purchases at different revenue outlets are electronically transferred and posted to appropriate guest accounts. Moreover, the front office department can run and process continuous trial balances and therefore eliminate the tedious work for the night auditors.

 

Departure Phase

 

At this very stage Cashiers can automatically produce bills to be send to various guest with direct billing privileges and create electronic guest history records and is updated

 

Selecting the PMS

 

PMS’s by nature, differ greatly. Due to the wide variety of hotels currently in the market place, PMS’s have a evolved to meet the differing array of needs. Each hotel must consider several factors that influence the type of PMS they use before finding one that best fits their needs. The first step in deciding on the right PMS is to conduct a needs analysis. A needs analysis is a process where hotel owners and senior managers determine the required scope of their PMS needs. The needs analysis documents exactly what process a particular hotel will require from its PMS. Factors such as hotel size, product type, location, and target market affect this analysis.

 

Guest Account

 

Most PMS’s are organized based on a series of menus. Within the PMS , the guest account tracks all the data that pertains to an individual guest. The guest account contains two separate menus. The guest registration menu contains all the pertinent information garnered from the initial reservation and during stay. The guest accounting menu will be used to track all credit/debit transactions related to the guest’s stay.

 

Guest Registration Menu

 

The data contained within the guest registration menu helps track all the information pertinent to the guest’s stay. Each PMS will contain this information in some format. Though the order and verbiage may differ, the following list of information contained within the registration menu: Guest name, Arrival date, Departure date, Address, Phone, Reservation status, Required field- room number, room rate, room status, method of payment, billing method, guest loyalty, frequent flier, special request, comments, market code.

 

Guest Accounting Menu

 

The guest accounting menu will contain a limited amount of information relating to the guest’s reservation, its primary purpose is to document every financial transaction relating to the guest. Each time a charge is posted, a credit issued, or a payment made, it will be reflected in this display. Though the order and verbiage may differ, the following lists the information contained within the accounting menu: Guest name, Arrival date, Departure date, Room number, Payment method, Reservation status. The remainder of the accounting menu summarized the financial transaction of the guest.

 

Check-in

 

For the front desk, the PMS is used continuously to check guests in and out of the hotel. This process, as has been reviewed, is crucial in effectively managing room inventory. It also a very good way to illustrate the operation of a PMS. This section illustrates the check-in of a walk-in guest, that is, a guest with no prior reservation.

 

The mechanism of checking in a walk-in guest is very similar to making an advance reservation. The information needed is nearly identical. Therefore, a front desk agent must be cognizant of all the details needed in any reservation. Most reservation agent can assist in checking guests in because of this similarity.

 

Front Desk Checkout

 

When a guest comes to the front desk to check out, many of the same principles involved in check-in apply. Once the guest has approached the desk, the employee should greet him/her with a smile. In the course of their conversation, the guest’s name should be used at least twice, again continuously reinforcing the commitment to guest satisfaction. The guest’s name is verified, to include correct spelling. This is a time some employees make the mistake of associating a guest’s name with a room number.

 

 

The front desk employee should inquire about the stay. Any outstanding service issues should be resolved at this point. Allowing a guest to depart with unresolved issues invariably leads to guest who will not return.

 

Guest-Directed Computer Checkout

 

The guest-directed computer checkout (also referred to as video checkout) is available at most hotels. The in-room television acts as a video display terminal for hotel guests. Guests can review their accounts at any point during their stay using this system. This system also allows for visual display of text messages as reviewed earlier. Once the guest has reviewed the folio and decided to check out, he/she would input the appropriate commands on the computer keyboard connected to the television.

 

Automated Checkout

 

The automated checkout system (also called “expressed checkout”) is implemented by the hotel, on behalf of the guest. Because the departure date was verified upon check-in, the hotel knows what a guest’s scheduled checkout date is. Using automated system, the hotel would print out a folio for all guests that are to depart. This is usually done by the night audit staff. The actual folios are then delivered to each room and slid under the door. Night shift bell staff or security personnel typically deliver the folios. The departing guest simply reviews the folio for accuracy and can depart without ever having to stop at the desk.

 

Quantifiable analyses

 

Rev-par

 

Rev-par is defined as revenue per available room. This analysis allows hotels of different size to compare the revenue generate by the sale of sleeping rooms. Rev-par divides the total sleeping room revenue generate for a predetermined time frame by the total number of hotel rooms. Rev-par goes beyond occupancy analysis because it factors in average daily rate. Rev-par is unique to hospitality. Because of the differing size of hotels, the need to compare performance on an even playing field arose. Factoring in the size of a hotel allows any hotel in a specific market mix to compare itself to another. It will be help full to review again the common hotel-size classification.

 

Market share

 

Market share is defined as a hotel’s occupancy performance in relation to other hotels within a predetermine competitive set. Market share analysis reveals how a hotel performed based on how it “should have done”. It also reveals how much business a hotel “took” from competitors. Once the competitive set is determined, the total market potential is calculated. The total market potential is the total number of available hotel rooms with in the competitive set. Adding all the sleeping rooms that each member of the set has will determined potential.

 

Qualifiable analyses

 

Qualifiable analyses are based on the goals of hotel managers. What path they will take down the road to prosperity can differ. That road to prosperity will fork, one path goes down the road of rate driven and the other goes down the path of occupancy driven.

 

 

Rate driven management goals many forgo occupancy levels for a higher average rate. The occupancy driven goals are simply the opposite; they forgo a higher average rate for grater occupancy.

 

The rate driven managers will use rev-par to show how the higher rates are making better use of each sold room. They will forgo full occupancy for a better overall revenue picture. Occupancy driven managers claim that due to opportunity cost, an unsold room costs the hotel money. Any room sold above room cost generates some profit.

 

UPDATING FRONT OFFICE RECORDS:

 

When a guest has checked out, the front office is responsible for updating all records as soon as possible

 

ROOM STATUS AND FRONT OFFICE RECORDS:

 

After the checkout , the rooms will become vacant and available for letting to other guest . consequently, the guest is no longer a resident of the hotel , therefore , the room status information and front office records must be changed immediately to keep them current .

 

In large hotel with computerised front office system , the updating process is automatically done by the computer . after the guest has been recorded as having check out , the system will automatically change the room status from occupied to vacant or dirty. The name of the guest will be removed from the residence list and transferred to the checked out guest list and the guests account will be transferred into a past guest file in the computer , however , it must be remembered that the registration card must be stored for the legal required 12 months.

 

GUEST HISTORY RECORDS

 

In some hotels a guest history record is kept. This is a record of the guests room and rate charged , their likes and dislike if known as well as the amount which they spent in the hotel. One member of the front office staff will be given the duty of the daily updating of the guest history record that is stored in the computer

 

 

When creating and updating the guest history record , a hotel will need to decide which the guests should be added to the guest history records .in hotels with a computerised front office system , the computer will automatically open a new guest history record for guest who stayed in the hotel for the first time.

 

 

Apart from creating and updating guest history records are an annual review at all guest history record is needed. Some records may have to be discarded in smaller hotels, guest history cards may not be kept but this is very much up to the policy of each property.

 

Electronic Accounting Cycle

 

Another important function of the front office accounting systems is to maintain an accurate and up-to-date record of all the financial transactions between hotel and a guest so that all outstanding accounts are settled without delay. From this, it can be seen that the front office accounting process can be divided into three main phases

 

1.   Creation of accounts

2.   Maintenance of accounts

3.   Settlement of accounts

 

1.   CREATION OF ACCOUNTS

 

A guest account or folio is usually created immediately after the guest checks in. Part of check-in-procedure is to enter the guest details into the computer which automatically opens an account or to open a guest account manually. Credit limits or house limits are often set which means the guests may not go beyond a pre-set amount to their accounts.

  1. MAINTENANCE OF ACCOUNTS

Once the guest account has been opened, all financial transactions between the hotel and the guest will be recorded on the account. The act of recording the transactions onto the guest account is called posting.

  1. SETTLEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

The accounts are settled by cash and credit settlements. Cash settlements include settlement by local currency, foreign currency, traveller’s cheques, personal cheques and bank cards. Credit settlements include corporate or travel agent settlements.

 

EXPRESS CHECK OUT:

 

In most hotels guests tend to check out at approximately the same time, and consequently the cashier’s desk becomes very busy during that period. Hotels therefore offer and express check out service which allows guests to check out without having queue at the cashier’s desk. This also helps the cashiers by reducing the pressure of work at busy time in hotels with express check out services special forms are placed in guest – rooms as well as being available from the front office. By signing the express check out form, The guest agree to have the account finalized by the front office cashier after they have left the hotel

 

CONCLUSION

 

Computerised activities at the hotels the electronic way, will be beneficial in many ways to the guest and the hotel. It enables quick, precise and accurate ways of handling guest data. Therefore the front office department has to function round the clock with effective service for the guests. The commitment of the staffs will directly benefit to the success of the hotel and gain a good repute among the people. Customising and updating the software at the hotel property frequently and training the employees on the effective use will enable speedy service to the guest with great satisfaction.

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Web references

 

 

Book References

  1. Aggarwal, R. Hotel Front office – Systems and Procedure, Sublime Publications, Jaipur, 2002.
  2. Bhatnagar, S.K. Front Office Management, Frank Bros, New Delhi, 2004.
  3. Andrew, S. Text book of Front Office Management and Operation, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Ltd, New Delhi, 2008.
  4. Ismail, S.A. Front Office Operation and Management, Thomson Asia Pvt Ltd, 2004.