Comtrol Integrations Troubleshooting Guide

COMTROL OVERVIEW

Comtrol’s Lodging Link products provide streamlined integration systems for the hospitality industry and create seamless communications between a hotel’s property management system and its guest service systems. Their hospitality products division supplies Lodging Link technology to PMS vendors for hotel device connectivity and the integration of disparate hotel systems.

YOUR COMTROL INTERFACE PC

Comtrol’s software is installed on your Interface PC along with our Rover Interface Controller (RIC) software. On one side, the PC will communicate with your interfaces via serial or IP/TCP (left side of the diagram), and on the other side, it will communicate with Stayntouch PMS via the internet to our cloud servers. It is important that firewall rules are in place to prevent communication issues between the interfaces and the Comtrol Interface PC as well as Stayntouch PMS and the Interface PC. This can be a common cause of communication failure.

COMTROL INTERFACE PC RECOMMENDED MAINTENANCE

We recommend deleting Comtrol log files for the previous month on a monthly basis (shown below).
We recommend disabling Windows automatic updates on the Comtrol Interface PC and having this be done on a regularly scheduled basis to prevent the computer from restarting unexpectedly and interrupting services.

How to Find Where Your Log Files Are Stored

Navigate to LLPTS Monitor on the desktop or search for it in the start bar and run as administrator with a right click.
On the program screen go to Logging then select Configure as shown below.

If Use Default Location is selected you can find the logs under Program Files > Comtrol > Logs.
If another directory is selected, you will see the file path listed.

RESTARTING SERVICES

Using Windows Services

Search for Services in the Windows search bar.
In the list of services, search for and select Lodging Link LLPTS. On the left hand side of the screen, select Restart.
In the list of services, search for and select Rover Interface Controller. On the left hand side of the screen, select Restart.

Using the Lodging Link LLPTS Monitor Running as an Administrator

Run LLPTS Monitor as an administrator.
At the top of the application, select the red stop sign icon to stop the services.
Alternatively, you can select the icon to the right of the stop sign, which will stop and restart the services concurrently.
If you receive an error message, it is likely because you are not running LLPTS Monitor as administrator. Please reopen the application as an administrator.

Using Restart IFC.bat File

Search for the Restart IFC.bat file on your desktop (this should have been left on the desktop during installation, but it may have been moved to another folder by your IT team).
Double click the file to restart both the Lodging Link LLPTS service and the Rover Interface Controller Service.

COMTROL MAPPINGS IN STAYNTOUCH PMS

If required, please navigate to Settings > Integrations > Comtrol to make any changes to mappings.

SETTINGS TAB

The SETTINGS tab contains essential integration information:

Properties should never need to make changes to information on the SETTINGS tab.

ROOM MAPPING

Room mapping is used to set up telephone extensions that are different from the room number – such as adding a 7 before a 3-digit room number, as well as setting other external systems that may be used for the room. You can also set phone connection levels upon checking in the room. The most common is “0 – All Allowed”:

Here, we see rooms with leading zeros that are removed for external systems as well as where extra digits are added for phone extensions:

REVENUE CENTERS

If you are connected to a Point Of Sale or other item that sends revenue centers, the data added here is what the external system (interface) is sending to the PMS (from the inbound message):

The CODE is sent by the interface through Comtrol.
You can enter whatever NAME you want and is what will appear on the guest invoice.

CHARGE CODES

Charge codes are mostly used for Point of Sale mappings and now have the ability to accept meal periods. They are not mandatory, however.

REVENUE CENTER is derived from the Revenue Centers created above.
CHARGE CODE is the charge code from Stayntouch PMS that should be used for items coming over.
The CATEGORY NAME is the category number found as part of the 59 type messages that make up the details of the charge. (You can get this information from the interface vendor or from the LLPTS data.)
- Generally, for most POS, we use Sales Category 1 to 4, Tax Category 1 to 4, Discount 1, or Service Charge 1 and 2.
The MEAL PERIOD is determined by the POS and is a freeform item that must be found in the messages. This is not a mandatory item.
One CHARGE CODE can be set as the default for a Revenue Center if desired. Unmapped items coming from that Revenue Center will go to the default CHARGE CODE.

GENERIC MAPPINGS TAB

This tab is where you can map items for other systems that will post charges, such as PBX/Call Accounting. You will again see the information about room mapping for phone level access.

The EXTERNAL VALUE allows the system to look for specific data in the messages to determine which mapping it should use. This is a default list.
Some of these values, like Call Accounting, have preset external codes, but others will default to an open text box.

HELPDESK

For further information, please see our Helpdesk or reach out to Customer Support with any questions.