ARTICLE:
What's the Buzz ?
In April innkeepers from all over
the U.S., Canada and
even from Europe attended the International
PAII conferencein Chicago, IL. This
bi-annual conference is always a good
venue for checking out the latest trends
and to learn from other innkeepers.
In this article I'm going to share with
you the latest technology questions
that innkeepers asked us at our exhibit
booth and workshops.
IS
THERE AN EASIER WAY TO MANAGE ONLINE
AVAILABILITY?
Some innkeepers
who are making regular use of online
availability systems, express interest
in tracking all their reservations online.
Currently, the innkeeper manages a desktop
reservation software program, e-mail,
an online availability system and travel
agent bookings in order
to handle all the reservations that
come from their web site, walk-ins,
phone and fax. Innkeepers would ideally
prefer to deal with one simple application
that could handle all of their reservations
- no matter when or by which method
they are received.
AN
ONLINE SOLUTION
An ideal
solution to the various methods a single
reservation reaches the front desk -
is to operate from an online application.Instead
of purchasing software upfront, the
innkeeper would pay monthly to maintain
a reservation calendar, reports etc.
on a secure server. A few companies
have added some reservation software
features into their online availability
services, such as guest billing, reporting,
and confirmation letters. However, generation
of large amounts of report data and
printing don’t always operate smoothly
from the Internet.
DREAM
ON...
The technology for providing a robust
online reservation program is available,
but still rather costly to implement.
In short, the innkeeper’s needs
are a bit ahead of technology. Certainly,
an application that could automatically
consolidate all sources of reservations
for the innkeeper would be a dream come
true! As some
traditional desktop functions such as
complex printing jobs (e.g. mailing
labels) become readily available and
affordable via the Internet, the dream
will be getting closer to reality.
WHICH PROGRAMS INTERFACE WITH RESERVATION
SOFTWARE?
Innkeepers who are making good use of
their reservation software want more
integration capability! Many reservation
software vendors already provide an
interface with QuickBooks and other
small business accounting
software. For those Internet savvy properties,
a link with an e-mail listing product
or service is also very useful for managing
e-mail promotions and newsletters. Integration
with email programs like Outlook eliminates
the need to re-enter valuable e-mail
address information.
WHEN
WILL I BE ABLE TO SYNC MY PALM WITH
RESERVATION SOFTWARE?
Innkeepers would also like to integrate
their reservation program with a Palm
pilot or other PDA systems. No software
vendor, as of yet, has introduced this
highly desirable portable interface.
If the demand is sufficient, perhaps
we can anticipate reservations in the
"palm of your hand" sometime
soon!
AHEAD
OF THE CURVE
Looks like innkeepers are full of ideas
to keep software vendors like ourselves
busy! Stay tuned for future developments
from GraceSoft -straight from the drawing
board of innkeepers like yourselves!
