Stayntouch PMS: Release Notes (v5.80) : Helpdesk Stayntouch

Stayntouch PMS

Release Notes (v5.80)

Effective:

16 April 2024 (3pm EST) for customers using https://pms.eu.stayntouch.com
18 April 2024 (6am EST) for customers using https://pms.stayntouch.com
23 April 2024 (6am EST) for customers using https://pms.us.stayntouch.com

ⓘ We'd like to call out a few special items that have been long-awaited and will make many of our customers happy:

Built-in Rate Strategy functionality! Stayntouch PMS now offers Rate Strategy as an add-on to the PMS. Rate Strategy will automatically update rate price or availability based on occupancy.
Company, Travel Agent, and guest card notes can now be shared to reservations! Profile notes will now automatically be added to each reservation when flagged as a reservation note or alert.

AT A GLANCE

Too long; didn't read? We've got your back with this abridged version of the v5.80 product release! If you want the full details, click the linked enhancements directly below for a full explanation of each enhancement.

1. Rate Strategy: Stayntouch PMS now offers Rate Strategy as an add-on to the PMS. Rate Strategy will automatically update rate price or availability based on occupancy. Rate Strategy cannot be used in conjunction with any of the Revenue Management Systems (RMS) that integrate with Stayntouch PMS. This is meant to be a small RMS directly in Stayntouch PMS.

This functionality needs to be enabled by Stayntouch Admin, so please contact Customer Support if you are interested in using this functionality.

2. Company/Travel Agent & Guest Card Notes Sharable To Reservations: Company, Travel Agent, and guest card notes can now be shared to reservations similar to group shared notes. Please note, as of now, this functionality is only available for customers with the new notes and actions enabled. This functionality needs to be enabled by Stayntouch Admin, so please contact Customer Support if you are interested to accelerate using this functionality. This feature will be rolled out to all customers by the end of May, 2024.

Company/Travel Agent and guest card shared notes allow users to create a note from the Notes tab (or Notes & Files tab if file attachment is enabled for your property) of the Company, Travel Agent, or guest card and have the note added to all reservations under the Company/Travel Agent or guest card. A Company/Travel Agent or guest card note can be marked as POST TO ALL RESERVATIONS. When a Company/Travel Agent or guest card note is marked as POST TO ALL RESERVATIONS, the note will be visible from the stay card notes section of the reservations associated with the Company/Travel Agent or guest card. Moreover, you can also choose to indicate that THIS IS AN ALERT.

Check out these dedicated articles for Company/Travel Agent and guest card shared notes!

3. Company/Travel Agent Notes Sharable To Reservations For Global Company/Travel Agent Cards: Global (Multi-Property) Company and Travel Agent notes can now be shared similar to group shared notes. Please note, as of now, this functionality is only available for customers with the new notes and actions enabled. This functionality needs to be enabled by Stayntouch Admin, so please contact Customer Support if you are interested in using this functionality. This feature will be rolled out to all customers by the end of May, 2024.

Company/Travel Agent shared notes allow users to create a note from the Notes tab (or Notes & Files tab if file attachment is enabled for your property) of the Company/Travel Agent Card and have the note added to all reservations under the Company/Travel Agent. A Company/Travel Agent note can be marked as IN PROPERTY or ACROSS CHAIN. When a Company/Travel Agent note is marked as IN PROPERTY, the note will be visible from the stay card notes section of the reservations associated with the Company/Travel Agent for that property. However, when a Company/Travel Agent note is marked as ACROSS CHAIN, the note will be visible from the stay card notes section of the reservations associated with the Company/Travel Agent across the chain. Moreover, you can also choose to indicate that THIS IS AN ALERT. If you select ACROSS CHAIN, the system will confirm with the message, “Post note across entire chain? This note will be posted to all reservations associated with [Company/Travel Agent Name] in every property across the [Chain Name] chain.”

4. Alternate Hotel Names: For Multi-Property users, you can now set an alternate hotel name for hotels to make it easier to select from different properties in the Multi-Property menu or from the Multi-Property dashboard. This functionality can be enabled by a Hotel Admin user from Settings > Hotel & Staff > Hotel Details. Please note, the alternative hotel name will only be displayed in the PMS and on the Multi-Property dashboard and will not appear on any guest-facing screens, print-outs, or communications.

5. Files Clickable From Stay Card: If file attachment is enabled for your property, you can now directly click on a file from the stay card and open a file preview window.

6. IATA Number Label Changed To Travel Agent ID: The IATA Number field on Travel Agent Cards has been changed to Travel Agent ID, and the text within the space to enter the ID now reads, Enter Travel Agent #. This update has been made to the following screens:

Travel Agent Card
Travel Agent Card view from the stay card
Card search field/screen from the stay card
Card search field/screen from Revenue Management > Company & TA Cards
A/R search bar from Financials > Accounts Receivables

7. Add Reservation Number When Transactions Are Moved: The Originator Reservation Number and Recipient Reservation Number will now be added to the Activity Log of the reservation FROM which the transaction was moved as well as the reservation TO which the reservation was moved. The user that moved the transaction will also be recorded. These details will also be recorded when a transaction is moved from a reservation to an account bill or vice versa.

8. Enhancements To Deposit Invoice Functionality: Deposit Invoices pertain to specific customers using Deposit Invoices in Europe. Learn more about the latest enhancements to Deposit Invoices, including deposit type charge codes, updating deposit rule amount when deposit type charge codes are excluded, updating financial transactions when deposit type charge codes are excluded, linking different entities to deposit bills, and linking different entities to deposit policy screens.

PRODUCT ENHANCEMENTS

For all those interested in the unabridged version of the v5.80 product release, you can read the full details below.

Rate Strategy

Stayntouch PMS now offers Rate Strategy as an add-on to the PMS. Rate Strategy will automatically update rate price or availability based on occupancy. Rate Strategy cannot be used in conjunction with any of the Revenue Management Systems (RMS) that integrate with Stayntouch PMS. This is meant to be a small RMS directly in Stayntouch PMS.

This functionality needs to be enabled by Stayntouch Admin, so please contact Customer Support if you are interested in using this functionality. The below explanation is a summary of the Rate Strategy functionality, you can see a complete guide here.

Once Rate Strategy is activated by Stayntouch Admin, any user that has the Update rate price permission assigned to the user role from Settings > Hotel & Staff > Permissions will see a new menu item under Revenue Management called Rate Strategy.

Once you click into the Rate Strategy section, Rate Strategy is divided into two separate areas—CONFIGURE and APPLY. When configuring a Rate Strategy, you choose a number of thresholds (maximum of 10) in which you want to make changes to a given rate. Once that is complete, you can apply it to rates over a certain date range by toggling from CONFIGURE to APPLY.

Back on the CONFIGURE screen, you’ll see the different Rate Strategies show the following:

NAME
PARAMETER(S): The OCCUPANCY, which will be ALL at this point in time.
THRESHOLD(S): The number of thresholds set on a given Rate Strategy.
ACTIVE: Whether or not the Rate Strategy is active. When a Rate Strategy is deactivated, any rates associated with that Rate Strategy will revert to their configured rate in Settings > Rates > Rates.

When you create a new Rate Strategy by clicking + NEW CONFIGURATION or click into an existing Rate Strategy, you’ll see the NAME and TYPE. Please note, the NAME and TYPE need to be entered, as this is the name of the Rate Strategy, and without this information, you cannot save it.

There are two different types of Rate Strategies—percentage or currency. For hotels that utilize Multi Currency, we currently only support the main currency of the hotel. Please note, when the type is set to a currency, and one of the parameters requires the system to decrease the rate by a certain amount, if the amount is less than the configured amount, it will default to zero.

From this screen you’ll also see the following areas:

PARAMETER: Currently, occupancy is the only parameter supported.
THRESHOLD: This is the threshold at which you wish to implement a rate update. This can be greater than or less than a certain occupancy percentage.
OCCUPANCY PERCENTAGE: This is the percent occupancy of the hotel at which you wish to implement a rate update.
ACTION: This is the action you wish to perform on the rate. You can increase, decrease, or close the rate.
AMOUNT: This is always based on the configured rate and is reflective of the TYPE selected (percentage or currency).
RED X: This allows you to delete a threshold.

Once you’ve finished everything in the CONFIGURE section, which comprises the thresholds that you want to implement, you can move into the APPLY section to actually implement the thresholds. From this section, you’ll see the names of the Rate Strategies, the date ranges, and the rates associated with the Rate Strategies. You can also sort by the following:

DATE RANGE: A date starting from the current business date all the way up to three years in the future.
APPLIED TO: Select which individual rates the Rate Strategies apply to, or select All Rates.
PARAMETER(S): Right now, Occupancy is the only parameter that can be selected.

Please note, rates cannot be part of more than one Rate Strategy over the same date range. Moreover, rates available for selection will only be those for which the rate type is set to PUBLIC in your rate configuration. Rates with a CORPORATE and GROUP rate type cannot be selected. Moreover, any child rates that you have will not be applicable, as whenever a parent rate is updated, the child rates will be updated, as well.

To apply a Rate Strategy, click + APPLY STRATEGY, at which point you can then select a START DATE and END DATE for the Rate Strategy.

You will then see a list of all of your Rate Strategies, and you can click one to proceed.

After selecting a Rate Strategy, you’ll see a list of rates to which you can apply the Rate Strategy. Please note, as mentioned earlier, any rates associated with a Rate Strategy for the same date range will not display on the list of rates to which you can apply the Rate Strategy. Once you select the rates to apply to this Rate Strategy, click APPLY RATE STRATEGY to continue.

You can then go ahead and expand the new Rate Strategy to see what the parameters are going to be without having to navigate into the CONFIGURE screen.

If you want to check on the Rate Strategy changes, all changes will be reflected in Revenue Management > Rate Manager. From here, you can select the date range as well as the rates applied to the Rate Strategy, and then click SHOW SELECTED RATES.

You’ll then see the rates selected for the date range, and if you click into a rate, you’ll see that there has been a change to the rate.

Whereas other integrated Rate Strategy solutions require you to complete counter conversions, the Stayntouch Rate Strategy solution does not require that. Any time a Rate Strategy is no longer relevant, it will no longer be applied to the selected rates.

All changes to a rate as part of a Rate Strategy will be reflected in the Activity Log for the rate from Settings > Rates > Rates > Select Rate > Rate Details > ACTIVITY LOG.

Company/Travel Agent & Guest Card Notes Sharable To Reservations

Company, Travel Agent, and guest card notes can now be shared to reservations similar to group shared notes. Please note, as of now, this functionality is only available for customers with the new notes and actions enabled. This functionality needs to be enabled by Stayntouch Admin, so please contact Customer Support if you are interested to accelerate using this functionality. This feature will be rolled out to all customers by the end of May, 2024.

The note will be posted from the Notes tab of the Company/Travel Agent or guest card. The note will have an indicator if the note was shared, reading, SHARED NOTE. You can edit the note by clicking on it, which will allow you to select/deselect UPDATE IN ALL RESERVATIONS and THIS IS AN ALERT, or delete the note.

If the note was marked as an alert, it will appear in yellow as illustrated below.

You can also delete a note by clicking the red trash can button on the far right of the note.

When shared to stay cards, Company/Travel Agent or guest card notes can be viewed on all of the stay cards of reservations within the Company/Travel Agent or guest card. The note will be marked as a Company/Travel Agent or guest card note on the stay card, indicating that the note originated from the Company/Travel Agent or guest card.

Additionally, with the next release of v5.81, when a Company/Travel Agent or guest card reservation is created, Stayntouch PMS will check to see if the Company/Travel Agent or guest card has any shared notes, and Stayntouch PMS will automatically add the shared note to the guest’s stay card as a Company/Travel Agent or guest card note. Users cannot edit or delete the Company/Travel Agent or guest card note from the stay card.

If a note is deleted or edited from the Notes tab of the Company/Travel Agent or guest card, then the note will be updated on all the stay cards to which it has been shared.

If a user edits the shared note and deselects the POST TO ALL RESERVATIONS checkbox, then the note will no longer be shared with or visible from any stay card in the Company/Travel Agent or guest card. Any stay card that was displaying the note will no longer display the Company/Travel Agent or guest card note.

If a reservation is removed from a Company/Travel Agent or guest card, then the stay card will no longer display any shared notes from the Company/Travel Agent or guest card.

Company/Travel Agent or guest card note sharing will be recorded in the Company/Travel Agent or guest card Activity Log.

Company/Travel Agent Notes Sharable To Reservations For Global Company/Travel Agent Cards

Global (Multi-Property) Company and Travel Agent notes can now be shared similar to group shared notes. Please note, as of now, this functionality is only available for customers with the new notes and actions enabled. This functionality needs to be enabled by Stayntouch Admin, so please contact Customer Support if you are interested in using this functionality. This feature will be rolled out to all customers by the end of May, 2024.

The note will be posted from the Notes tab of the Company/Travel Agent Card. The note will have an indicator if the note was shared, reading, SHARED NOTE. You can edit the note by clicking on it, which will allow you to select/deselect UPDATE IN ALL RESERVATIONS (IN PROPERTY or ACROSS CHAIN) and THIS IS AN ALERT, or delete the note.

If the note was marked as an alert, it will appear in yellow as illustrated below.

You can also delete a note by clicking the red trash can button on the far right of the note.

When shared to stay cards, Company/Travel Agent notes can be viewed on all of the stay cards of reservations within the Company/Travel Agent. The note will be marked as a Company/Travel Agent note on the stay card, indicating that the note originated from the Company/Travel Agent.

Additionally, with the next release of v5.81, when a Company/Travel Agent reservation is created, Stayntouch PMS will check to see if the Company/Travel Agent has any shared notes, and Stayntouch PMS will automatically add the shared note to the guest’s stay card as a Company/Travel Agent note. Users cannot edit or delete the Company/Travel Agent note from the stay card.

If a note is deleted or edited from the Notes tab of the Company/Travel Agent Card, then the note will be updated on all the stay cards across the properties if the note/alert was shared across the chain.

If a user edits the shared note and deselects the POST TO ALL RESERVATIONS checkbox, then the note will no longer be shared with or visible from any stay card in the Company/Travel Agent. Any stay card that was displaying the note will no longer display the Company/Travel Agent note.

If a reservation is removed from a Company/Travel Agent, then the stay card will no longer display any shared notes from the Company/Travel Agent.

Company/Travel Agent note sharing will be recorded in the Company/Travel Agent Activity Log.

Alternate Hotel Names

For Multi-Property users, you can now set an alternate hotel name for hotels to make it easier to select from different properties in the Multi-Property menu or from the Multi-Property dashboard.

This functionality can be enabled by a Hotel Admin user from Settings > Hotel & Staff > Hotel Details.

Please note, the alternative hotel name will only be displayed in the PMS and on the Multi-Property dashboard and will not appear on any guest-facing screens, print-outs, or communications.

This enhancement entails the following:

The Multi-Property menu will display the new short name instead of the configured hotel name and will use the hotel configured name if the alternate name is blank.

The Multi-Property dashboard will display the new short hotel name instead of the configured hotel name, use hotel configured name if alternate name is blank

When an entire chain or individual property group is selected from the Availability screen, the system will use the alternate hotel name for hotels listed, if present. If no alternate hotel name has been set, the system will use the hotel configured name.

From the guest card Statistics tab, the hotels displayed in a chain will use the alternate hotel name, if present. If no alternate hotel name has been set, the system will use the hotel configured name.

From the Company/Travel Agent Card Statistics tab, the hotels displayed in a chain will use the alternate hotel name, if present. If no alternate hotel name has been set, the system will use the hotel configured name.

From Settings > Hotel & Staff > User Setup > ALL USERS, the hotels displayed in the hotels dropdown and under the NAME column will use the alternate hotel name, if present. If no alternate hotel name has been set, the system will use the hotel configured name.

From Settings > Hotel & Staff > User Setup > ALL USERS, the hotels displayed in the user SUBSCRIPTIONS popup window from the HOME HOTEL dropdown and HOTEL list will use the alternate hotel name, if present. If no alternate hotel name has been set, the system will use the hotel configured name.

From Settings > Chain > Property Groups, when editing or adding a new property group, the hotels displayed from HOTELS IN GROUP will use the alternate hotel name, if present. If no alternate hotel name has been set, the system will use the hotel configured name.

Files Clickable From Stay Card

If file attachment is enabled for your property, you can now directly click on a file from the stay card and open a file preview window.

You can also click the MANAGE button next to the NOTES & FILES section to view file attachments.

IATA Number Label Changed To Travel Agent ID

The IATA Number field on Travel Agent Cards has been changed to Travel Agent ID, and the text within the space to enter the ID now reads, Enter Travel Agent #. This update has been made to the following screens:

Travel Agent Card

Travel Agent Card view from the stay card

Card search field/screen from the stay card

Card search field/screen from Revenue Management > Company & TA Cards

A/R search bar from Financials > Accounts Receivables

Add Reservation Number When Transactions Are Moved

The Originator Reservation Number and Recipient Reservation Number will now be added to the Activity Log of the reservation FROM which the transaction was moved as well as the reservation TO which the reservation was moved. The user that moved the transaction will also be recorded.

These details will also be recorded when a transaction is moved from a reservation to an account bill or vice versa.