Vertical Booking is a central reservation system solution for independent hotels and chains. With an interface connected to RoomKeyPMS, hoteliers can take advantage of the following Vertical Booking offerings:
- Booking Engine
- Channel Manager
- GDS Connectivity
STEP #1 Contact Vertical Booking to Setup or Modify an Account
The purpose of this first step is to generate a Mapping Spreadsheet that is sent to the RoomKeyPMS Interface Specialist.
Click below for more information:
-
Contact Vertical Booking to create an Account
- CLICK HERE to complete the Information and Prices online questionnaire to receive information and a quotation to suit your specific requirements
- During sign up, advise that you will be using RoomKeyPMS as your PMS provider
- Setup your Room Types and Rate Plans on your new Vertical Booking platform
-
Request a Testing/Installation Date to be scheduled on the same day as your RoomKeyPMS Cutover/Go-Live date
- if you are already using RoomKeyPMS, the Trainer will schedule this date following your conference call in Step #2 below
- Contact your Vertical Booking account manager and advise that you will be changing your PMS provider to RoomKeyPMS
- Review the setup of your Room Types and Rate Plans on your Vertical Booking platform
-
Request a Testing/Installation Date to be scheduled on the same day as your RoomKeyPMS Cutover/Go-Live date
- if you are already using RoomKeyPMS, the Trainer will schedule this date following your conference call in Step #2 below
STEP #2 Mapping Spreadsheet Review: Conference Call with RoomKeyPMS Trainer
The purpose of this call will be to review the Mapping Spreadsheet, begin integration setup in RoomKeyPMS and complete missing items in the Mapping Spreadsheet.
Click below for more information:
In RoomKeyPMS, go to System Configuration | Room Inventory
- Select the GDS tab
- Select the Linking tab
- Select the Add button
- Complete the following fields:
- Room Type: this is the room type code in RoomKeyPMS
- GDS Type: Vertical Booking this is where the integration will be applied
- GDS Code: this is the room type code setup on your Vertical Booking platform
- Select the Post button
Repeat steps 3-5 for each room type setup on your Vertical Booking platform
- House Accounts should NOT be added
- Inventory & Rates are only sent for Room Types that are added here
- Room Type and GDS Room Code are case-sensitive and must be EXACTLY as found in your Vertical Booking platform
- a maximum of 20 alpha-numeric characters is accepted
- Bed Configuration should not be included in the Room Type or GDS Room Code
Once all room types have been added within the Linking tab, go to your Mapping Spreadsheet | Room Types tab and complete Column C
- A Rate Code must be attached to every Rate Plan in Rate Wizard
- The GDS distribution channel must be enabled to integrate with Vertical Booking
- A Market Segment must be attached to every Rate Plan in Rate Wizard
- A Client Type must be attached to the GDS distribution channel to integrate with Vertical Booking
- Package rate plans integrated with Vertical Booking can only be connected to one package in the Packages & Inclusions module; please see item (3) in BLUE in the screenshot below
- If a package base rate is connected to two or more packages, you must create a new package base rate in the Rate Wizard for each package in the Packages & Inclusions module; for more information about connecting a rate plan to a package, please review the Room Type & Rates tab section of the Packages & Inclusions support article
- Rate Plans setup as Corporate in Vertical Booking are considered Private Rates and cannot be displayed under Special Offers. If you wish to map a Vertical Booking Rate Plan to a Corporate Account in RoomKey - it does not necessarily have to be setup as a Corporate Rate in Vertical Booking, any type of Vertical Booking Rate Plan can be mapped to a Corporate Account in RoomKey. Being mapped to a Corporate Account in RoomKey does not affect how the Rate Plan is displayed or setup in Vertical Booking.
In RoomKeyPMS, go to System Configuration | Rate Wizard | select the Rate Plan to be integrated with Vertical Booking | select the EDIT button (pen & paper symbol)
- Select the Integration tab, you should see a line item for the Vertical Booking integration with the Rate Code for the rate plan selected
- Click the <Not Mapped> cell and use the drop-down list to select the applicable Client Type
- (Optional) If the applicable Client Type is has a corporate function; within the Corporate cell, use the drop-down list to select the applicable Corporate Account
- Select the Update Integrations button
Repeat steps 1-3 for each rate plan setup on your Vertical Booking platform
Once the Integration tab has been updated for all Rate Plans integrating with Vertical Booking, go to your Mapping Spreadsheet | Rate Plan tab and complete Columns E to I
- Column E - RoomKeyPMS Rate Plan- enter the name of your RoomKeyPMS Rate Plan that corresponds with the Rate Plan found in Column A.
- Column F - Rate Plan Code - enter the RoomKeyPMS Rate Plan Code associated with the Rate Plan found in Column E.
- Column G - RoomKeyPMS Client Type - enter the name of the RoomKeyPMS Client Type that was mapped for the Rate Plan under the "GDS Intergations" tab in the Rate Wizard.
- Column H - RoomKeyPMS Corporate Account- If the Client Type used in Column G had a Corporate Function, please identify the Corporate Account that was selected for the Rate Plan under the "GDS Integrations" tab in the Rate Wizard
- Column I - RoomKeyPMS Room Types- Please identify which RoomKey Room Types (found in the Room Types tab) are to be associated with the Rate Plan found in Column E. This should be based on what you have setup in Vertical Bookings.
If Guest Services (Add-Ons) are not offered at your property, you can skip this integration setup
- For every Guest Service (Add-On) setup on your Vertical Booking platform, there must be one corresponding Guest Service setup in RoomKeyPMS
- The Guest Service Code, Repeatable pattern, and Transaction Based settings must match in RoomKeyPMS
- For more information about setting up Guest Services in RoomKeyPMS, please review the following article: How to create a Guest Service
Once all guest services have been reviewed in RoomKeyPMS, go to your Mapping Spreadsheet | Guest Services tab and complete Column E
In RoomKeyPMS, go to System Configuration | Clerks
- Select the Departments tab
- Use the drop-down list of departments to select GDS Notifications
- Use the Arrows to add/remove Clerk ID's from the GDS Notifications department and select the Post button to update the database
STEP #3 Testing and Installation: Conference Call between RoomKeyPMS and Vertical Booking Interface Specialists
The purpose of this call between the RoomKeyPMS Interface Specialist and the Vertical Booking Interface Specialist will be to activate and test the interface connection. You do not need to attend this call, but you must be aware of the date and time it will occur because once it is completed, your Vertical Booking interface will be live with RoomKeyPMS. Once the interface is live, you will see the following:
- Rates and availability appear in the Vertical Booking platform (including Booking Engine, Channel Manager and GDS Connectivity, if applicable)
- Reservations booked on the Vertical Booking platform appear in RoomKeyPMS