A description of the features, interfaces, integrations and defects for release 8.20.0.1
Group Block Modification - If your property uses Group Block please review these significant modifications:
- The Cut Off Date is currently calculated based on the Block Dates of a group, which takes into account any “Days Before” set in the Group Wizard. This release will see the calculation based on the Arrival Date of the group
- Currently when the “Cutoff Days” is set to zero, RoomKey does not release rooms from block. In this release, RoomKey will now respect cutoff date even in relation to zero days set for cutoff
These changes will especially affect those hotels that use a Group over the span of a month or more to hold rooms. We strongly recommend for properties that use Groups, to review the following document that discusses the difference between using the “Whole Block” Cut-Off Type as opposed to the “1 Day” Cut-Off Type. For more information on the changes to Croup Block - CLICK HERE
New Features and Improvements:
Guest Folio Credit Limit Pop up
For properties that use a Credit Card Interface with RoomKey (Shift 4, Heartland, or Sage) and authorize Credit Card upon arrival, the following enhancement is meant to be a reminder to the Front Desk agent to increase the Credit Card Authorization on a room that is extending their stay. For more information on the Guest Folio Credit Limit Pop up - CLICK HERE
Corporate/Wholesale/Group Address Auto-fill
One of the top rated items from the Aha Ideas Portal, there will be an option to pull in the address from the company when making a reservation for a Corporate/Wholesale/Group account. For more information on the Address Auto-Fill - CLICK HERE
GDS Confirmation Number - City Ledger Payment Screen
For properties that deal with third party OTAs where billing is done through the City Ledger, the GDS Confirmation # field has been added to the payment screen for easier sorting and reconciliation. For more information on the addition of the GDS Confirmation # field - CLICK HERE
Rate Tiering Modification
For properties that use tiering on Restrictions on Rate Plan but not tiering Rate off the Master, if the dependant Rate Plan has no Rate setup on a particular date and the restrictions on the Master Rate Plan are updated on those same dates, the restrictions do not get saved on the dependant rate. In this release, when rates are added to the Dependant Rate Plans, RoomKey will look at the Master Rate for any Restrictions on those dates and copy to the Dependant Rate Plan, if Restriction Tiering is set up.
RoomKey Reports
Rate Restriction Override Reports
In Release 8.19, Rate Restriction Overriding was introduced. In this release, the reporting is now available for when the Restriction Overriding is used.
Rate Restriction Override - by Booking Date - CLICK HERE
Rate Restriction Override - by Arrival Date - CLICK HERE
Abandonment - Regrets and Denials Reports - by booking Date Modification
Several new fields were added to the report along with an improvement to capturing lost revenue from Abandoned bookings. For more information on the Modifications to the Regrets and Denials Report - CLICK HERE
Corporate/Wholesale Statistics Reports Modification
The Corporate/Wholesale Reports will now have the option to show "0" producing accounts. To learn more about the modification to the Corporate/Wholesale Reports - CLICK HERE
Integrations and Interfaces
Shift 4 - EMV/Chip and Pin - Debit/Interac Cards
For properties using the EMV/Chip and Pin interface with Shift 4, there is a change to how Canadian Interac Cards or American Credit Cards that allow Debit transactions are handled; for properties that typically authorize the Credit Card on check in and settle on check out, the Debit/Interac cards go straight through as a settle of Shift 4; thus RoomKey will now be handling these transactions as a "post payment" instead of an authorize hold. For more information on EMV Debit/Interac Cards - CLICK HERE
Shift 4 - i4Go Version 2
For properties using Shift 4 for deposits on eRes, Shift 4 is updating to a new version of I4Go. RoomKey has completed the Certification process and over the course of the next month, will be working with Shift 4 to switch the properties. There is no expected downtime and no changes are required on the properties side. Shift 4 will be requesting a Dollars on the Net setting from the properties and will be contacting you with the steps that need to be taken. Shift 4 will be sending out information on the version change and any questions about the change should be directed to Shift 4.
Tweaks and Defects Fixes:
We have also fixed a number of defects in RoomKeyPMS including:
- When using the Merge Profiles feature in one RoomKey shell within a chain, the other properties within the chain will also have the same profiles merged
- Issue with PACE in BI comparing number for where the property is today compared to where the property finished, corrected so that the report is comparing where the property is today to where the property was at the same time last year.
- Activity Log was displaying time logs based on Pacific Time, will not display based on property time and time zone.
- On post charge, bug existed where "OK/Exit" needed to be clicked twice for the charge to post
- The Rate Code label on Reports => Reservations => Reservations by Check in Date was sometimes cutting off part of the Rate Name
- Issue on Tier Level 3 Rate Plans where the Extra Field and the Child Field were getting switched
- Group Rooms Control was missing data for past dates
- For properties with a Credit Card Interface, when posting a Cash/Cheque in City Ledger, the CC posting screen was coming up
- For chain properties using Force Search feature, there was a Guest Service Error popping up
- Edit Rate box was appearing in old Rates Area on Rate Wizard Rate plans, when switching between Active and Inactive Rate Plans
- Adjustments on Payments on Canceled Reservations was causing an Accounting Imbalance
- In Groups, when using the "Use Address" from the City Ledger Account, American States were not filling in properly
- For properties not using Display Restricted Rates, Closed out Rate Plans on existing reservations were showing in red, when the reservation was modified
- For Shift 4 EMV Clients processing Debit Cards, the address at the top of the receipt was not displaying properly
Release Update 8.20.0.2 - February 7th, 2016
- Updated login tokens for RezGo integration
Hotfix 8.20.0.3 - March 3, 2016
- For properties with Credit Card interface, there was an issue where the Credit Card processing reference was overwriting and reference the user put in RoomKey; this fix will now display both Credit Card Interface note and the user note (i.e. VISA - for half payment of bill)
- For properties that had currency set to "Indonesian rupiah", when exiting the Rate Wizard, the currency display would switch to "$" until user logged out and back in.
- For properties using the RezGo integration, there was an issue where after printing Confirmation/Reservation/Reg Card/Guest Folio, RoomKey would jump back to the reservation screen instead of staying on the reservation
Interface Update
Added to the Lodgenet/GuestTek Interface, is now the ability to do Express Checkout. In preparation for the release on March 30th, we have added a new check box for "Express Checkout" to the Payment Transaction code screen. Full release information will be provided with the next release of RoomKeyPMS 8.21.0.1. If your property is using the Lodgenet or Guestek Movie interface and are interested in learning more about this functionality, please reach out to [email protected]
Release Update 8.20.0.4 - March 11, 2016
- For properties using the Heartland interface, there was an updated backend link the needed to be switched as per Heartland