Top 10 Things to Look for in a Reservation Software
Top 10 Things to Look for in a Reservation Software
There are many types of reservation software systems on the market. Many are specifically designed for a particular market vertical such as Bed and Breakfasts, Small boutique hotels, campgrounds, even dog kennels.
Which business category are you? Search for reservation systems specific to your market. When you do this you are less likely to be disappointed with your purchase and the system will make more sense to you as you use it.
Features
Depending on your market vertical will depend on the features you will need in the reservation software. For instance
Campground managers will need a range of features not found in they typical reservation software such as:
Length sensitivity to cater for various size tents RV's and trailers.
Utility charging features many campground clients bring an RV which needs power, water and sewage. Many campgrounds charge for these amenities, which are often governed by strict laws on the amounts which can be charged.
Mapping Many campgrounds are spread over a wide area of land. Different areas of the campground are hard to visualize, so a good campground system should allow the user to book from an interactive map of the resort. The top reservation systems in this market offer this facility.
Hotel Managers will typically need property management features, these will include:
Call accounting link many guests like to call from their hotel rooms and the hotel charges a premium for this. To charge appropriately they need to have software to track each call, calculate the tariff and automatically post it to the clients room charges.
In- Room Entertainment - Many hotels provide cable and movie channels. Some of these services can be charged to a clients room. The reservation software should be able to link and charge these services directly to the clients room.
Boutique hotels These typically have luxury services and facilities such as private dining areas for groups or spa facilities. Guests typically order these services and would like them added to their bill when they leave. The reservation software should be able to accommodate this.
Online reservation connection with the rapid rise in internet bookings, the latest software products have an Internet booking module. This module links to the resorts own website and downloads any bookings made online directly to the reservation system. Relevant rates, availability and cancellation policies are also synchronized with the corresponding data online. This is a very important feature in today ever changing business environment. Websites are becoming the number one area that resorts market their business. So it is only natural that online reservation taking is available from their website.
Accounting
Some business verticals in the accommodation and travel sector use a cash accounting process, but many use an accrual system. The accrual system mean that payments are not realized as revenue until the day the service is consumed (when the client arrives and stays each day).
This means that a "night audit feature" needs to be available in the system. It also means that daily rates should be used. Many small business in this sector like to use a variety of rates, from daily, weekly and monthly. This becomes increasingly difficult to calculate daily revenue especially if rates are used that are not easily divided by the number of days it is calculating. Monthly makes it even more difficult because of the variable days in any given month.
Conclusion
These are the major things to consider before purchasing a reservation software system for your business. Make notes of all of the points for your business before investigating any system. Ensure that all points are met before proceeding with the purchase
Time Tracking Software To Track And Manage Your Time Optical Character Recognition Software —The Proficient Mean For Conversion Must-have Basic Features on Live Chat Software iTunes Duplicate Song Removal Software xvidcore.dll error fix – How to fix xvidcore.dll error without paying for a technician? Five Reasons Time and Attendance Tracking Software Implementations exceed budget Database Software - Giving You the Power to Organize Creating a Lean Maintenance Management Culture through Group and User-Specific Software Interfaces Fleet Management in Latin America: community4you includes specific functions in its software comm.fleet Resolving Lotus Notes error message "An Error Occurred While Opening a Window." Shlwapi Error In XP - Fix with the Following ! Email Extractor, Bulk Email Extractor, Email Extracting Tools, Email Extraction Software Lead Generation Software, Lead Generation Tools, Lead Building Tool