Stayntouch PMS: Release Notes (v5.85)

Modified on: Fri, 6 Sep, 2024 at 12:27 PM

Stayntouch PMS

Release Notes (v5.85)


Effective:


TABLE OF CONTENTS



ⓘ We'd like to call out a very exciting new item that has been long-awaited and will make many of our customers happy:

  • We’ve added A/R NUMBER as a field for financial transaction custom exports! 
  • We’ve added a new BALANCE dropdown option to the Arrival, Departure, and In-House Guests Reports! By default, Bill 1 will be selected, but you can choose to show All Bills. 
  • You can now click into a linked group from an account! When a group is linked to an account, you’ll now see a group icon present on the top right corner of the account next to the company and travel agent icons.
  • For customers with Toast POS integration, based on the setup of Auto Service Charge in Toast POS, Stayntouch PMS supports the Toast Auto Service Charge feature!
  • With the release of Toast POS Auto Service Charge, we’ve made enhancements to the Toast POS settings in Stayntouch PMS. The following settings are brand new:
    • DEFAULT SERVICE CHARGE – FEE: If Auto Service Charge – Fee is not mapped under RESTAURANTS, this is the charge code Stayntouch PMS will post.
    • DEFAULT SERVICE CHARGE – GRATUITY: If Auto Service Charge – Gratuity is not mapped under RESTAURANTS, this is the charge code Stayntouch PMS will post.

 

Too Long; Didn’t Read?

 

We've got your back with this abridged version of the v5.85 product release! If you want the full details, click the linked enhancements in the Table of Contents above for a full explanation of each enhancement.


Reports/Exports

 

1. Comparison Report: Default Charge Code Sort Order: The default sort order of charge codes on the Comparison Report is now sorted under each charge code group using the charge code to sort the report. This applied to both the standard Comparison Report (Reports > New Report) and the scheduled version (Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Scheduled Reports). The report was previously sorted by internal charge code ID.



2. Group Rooms Report: Sort By Release Date: You can now sort by release date on the Group Rooms Report, so you can easily track the chronological order of group releases. When setting up the Group Rooms Report from Reports > New Report, you’ll now see a Release Date option under the HOLD STATUS dropdown. When Release Date is selected, the report will display the groups in chronological order based on release date. The option to sort by release date is also available from the scheduled version of the report under Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Scheduled Reports.




3. Arrival, Departure, & In-House Guests Reports Now Display Balance Due From All Bills: We’ve added a new BALANCE dropdown option to the Arrival, Departure, and In-House Guests Reports from Reports > New Report. By default, Bill 1 will be selected, but you can choose to show All Bills. When All Bills is selected, the balance due will reflect the total balance from all bills on a reservation. This change will also reflect from the scheduled versions of the reports under Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Scheduled Reports.




 

4. A/R Number Added To Financials Custom Export: We’ve added A/R NUMBER as a field from Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Custom Exports > + NEW EXPORT > Financial Transaction. If a financial transaction has an associated A/R number, the A/R number will be displayed when selected as a field for the Financial Transaction custom export.


 

Groups/Allotments

 

5. Click From Accounts Into A Group: You can now click into a linked group from Front Desk > Accounts. When a group is linked to an account, you’ll now see a group icon present on the top right corner of the account next to the company and travel agent icons. Upon clicking the group icon, you’ll be directed to the group attached. From the group Summary screen, you can click the << ACCOUNTS button to go back to the account.


 

6. Remove Group/Allotment Release Date After Being Set: You can now remove a group or allotment release date after one has already been set. Upon navigating to Groups > Manage Groups/Allotment > Summary Tab, you’ll now see the option to remove the release date, which will function like a release date was never set. Removing the release date from the Summary tab will only clear the Summary tab release date. The group/allotment Activity Log will record removal of the release date.

 

Groups


 

Allotments

 

 

7. Improvements To Allotments Module: We’ve made the following enhancements to the allotments module:

  • Rolling release days will be hidden if the release date is configured from the Summary tab.
  • The release date on the Summary tab will be hidden if a rolling release date is configured for the allotment.
  • For existing allotments, if both the release date and rolling release dates are configured, rolling release dates will be hidden.
  • The business date will be hidden from the Summary tab release date picker, and the PMS will only allow you to update the release date to a future date for allotments.
  • Rolling release days configuration will only allow entries that calculate the business date + 1 or future dates.
  • For hotels that previously set the release date to the current business date to avoid auto-releasing the room block at any point prior to the stay (so that the release of unsold rooms could be handled manually), we recommend that you set the release date to the departure date which will achieve the same result.

 

Housekeeping

 

8. Rooms Activity Log: Seconds Added To Timestamp: From the Housekeeping > Room Status, the room Activity Log timestamp now shows seconds in addition to hours and minutes. The actions on the Activity Log will display in the correct order according to timestamps, and the order defaults to display the newest action first.


 

Guest Card

 

9. Gender Configuration: You can now configure multiple genders to be displayed on the Guest Card from Settings > Cards > Genders. On the new Genders screen, the options Female, Male, and Other are listed and toggled ON by default, without the option to toggle OFF. The following system-defined genders are also listed and can be toggled ON or OFF as desired (set to OFF by default):

  • Non-Binary
  • Diverse
  • Open
  • Inter
  • No Information
  • Agender
  • Two-Spirit


 

Once configured, the enabled gender options will be available for selection on the Guest Card.


 

Reservations

 

10. Restrict Check-In Functionality Logic: The restrict check-in logic is only actioned on the last check-in action and not as part of the check-in action on the stay card. The reservation will no longer be restricted on the stay card check-in level, which will allow the user to still perform the credit card check-in authorization as part of the check-in process, and only if the authorization is not approved, will the restriction be applied.





11. All Available Rooms Displayed On Rooms & Rates Screen: During the reservation creation process, all available rooms will be displayed on the Rooms & Rates screen, eliminating the need for users to choose to view additional room types.

 

 

12. Today’s Overdue Actions Shown As Overdue: Actions due today with a due time in the past are now marked as overdue on the stay card. The number of hours overdue are shown on the stay card if the action was due today.




Integrations

 

11. Connect APIs: New PUT API To Support Hotel Loyalty Member Level Updates: Connect API vendors can now update member levels in the guest card using the PUT/memberships/{id}/level API endpoint. This API is supported by GET/guests/{id}/memberships and GET//hotels/{id}/memberships endpoints where vendors need to obtain the necessary data first.

 

12. Connect APIs: Add-Ons Supported In POST/groups & PUT/groups/{id}: The POST/groups and PUT/groups/{id} API endpoints can now post add-ons for custom groups only. Add-ons can be included or added to the custom group rate—the inclusion is defined by the included_in_rate boolean.

 

PUT/groups/{id} request supports adding or removing add-ons. Please note, if a custom group has an existing add-on attached, and an additional add-on is attached, the PUT/groups/{id} request must include the original add-on as well as the additional add-on.

 

13. Connect APIs: New GET/groups/{id}/custom_group_addons Endpoint: We’ve added a new get/groups/{id}/custom_group_addons endpoint. If GET/groups and GET/groups/{id} endpoints respond with “addons” = true use the GET/groups/{id}/custom_group_addons to obtain the detailed add-on data. This API supports custom groups only.

 

14. Toast POS: Auto Service Charge: For customers with Toast POS integration, based on the setup of Auto Service Charge in Toast POS, Stayntouch PMS supports the Toast Auto Service Charge feature. Depending on a hotel’s setup, Toast POS offers two types of Auto Service Charge—Gratuity or Fee (No Gratuity). Stayntouch PMS supports both types. Please note, this is for residential charges only. Support for non-residential charges will be added soon.

 

15. Toast POS: Service Charge Setting & Mapping: With the release of Toast POS Auto Service Charge, we’ve made enhancements to the Toast POS settings in Stayntouch PMS. To set up the default values in Stayntouch PMS, navigate to Settings > Integrations > POS Integrations > Toast. The following settings are brand new:

  • DEFAULT SERVICE CHARGE – FEE: If Auto Service Charge – Fee is not mapped under RESTAURANTS, this is the charge code Stayntouch PMS will post.
  • DEFAULT SERVICE CHARGE – GRATUITY: If Auto Service Charge – Gratuity is not mapped under RESTAURANTS, this is the charge code Stayntouch PMS will post.

 

Multi-Property Configuration

 

16. Multi-Property Configuration: Reservation Type Templates: Multi-Property users can toggle ON or OFF the following predefined reservation type templates from Configuration > Reservations > Reservation Types:

  • 4pm Hold
  • 6pm Hold
  • Company Guaranteed
  • Credit Card Guaranteed
  • Deposit Received
  • Deposit Requested
  • House Use
  • Not Guaranteed
  • Payment Guaranteed
  • Travel Agent Guaranteed


 

17. Multi-Property Configuration: Room Type Templates: Multi-Property users can configure room type templates from Configuration > Rooms > Room Types.



Reports/Exports

Comparison Report: Default Charge Code Sort Order

 

The default sort order of charge codes on the Comparison Report is now sorted under each charge code group using the charge code to sort the report. This applied to both the standard Comparison Report (Reports > New Report) and the scheduled version (Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Scheduled Reports). The report was previously sorted by internal charge code ID.


Group Rooms Report: Sort By Release Date

 

You can now sort by release date on the Group Rooms Report, so you can easily track the chronological order of group releases. When setting up the Group Rooms Report from Reports > New Report, you’ll now see a Release Date option under the HOLD STATUS dropdown. When Release Date is selected, the report will display the groups in chronological order based on release date. The option to sort by release date is also available from the scheduled version of the report under Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Scheduled Reports.




Arrival, Departure, & In-House Guests Reports Now Display Balance Due From All Bills

 

We’ve added a new BALANCE dropdown option to the Arrival, Departure, and In-House Guests Reports from Reports > New Report. By default, Bill 1 will be selected, but you can choose to show All Bills. When All Bills is selected, the balance due will reflect the total balance from all bills on a reservation. This change will also reflect from the scheduled versions of the reports under Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Scheduled Reports.





A/R Number Added To Financials Custom Export

 

We’ve added A/R NUMBER as a field from Reports > Schedule a Report/Export > Custom Exports > + NEW EXPORT > Financial Transaction. If a financial transaction has an associated A/R number, the A/R number will be displayed when selected as a field for the Financial Transaction custom export.


 

Groups/Allotments

Click From Accounts Into A Group

 

You can now click into a linked group from Front Desk > Accounts. When a group is linked to an account, you’ll now see a group icon present on the top right corner of the account next to the company and travel agent icons. Upon clicking the group icon, you’ll be directed to the group attached. From the group Summary screen, you can click the << ACCOUNTS button to go back to the account.



Remove Group/Allotment Release Date After Being Set

 

You can now remove a group or allotment release date after one has already been set. Upon navigating to Groups > Manage Groups/Allotment > Summary Tab, you’ll now see the option to remove the release date, which will function like a release date was never set. Removing the release date from the Summary tab will only clear the Summary tab release date. The group/allotment Activity Log will record removal of the release date.

 

Groups

 



 

Allotments




Improvements To Allotments Module
 

We’ve made the following enhancements to the allotments module:

  • Rolling release days will be hidden if the release date is configured from the Summary tab.
  • The release date on the Summary tab will be hidden if a rolling release date is configured for the allotment.
  • For existing allotments, if both the release date and rolling release dates are configured, rolling release dates will be hidden.
  • The business date will be hidden from the Summary tab release date picker, and the PMS will only allow you to update the release date to a future date for allotments.
  • Rolling release days configuration will only allow entries that calculate the business date + 1 or future dates.
  • For hotels that previously set the release date to the current business date to avoid auto-releasing the room block at any point prior to the stay (so that the release of unsold rooms could be handled manually), we recommend that you set the release date to the departure date which will achieve the same result.

 

Housekeeping

Rooms Activity Log: Seconds Added To Timestamp

 

From the Housekeeping > Room Status, the room Activity Log timestamp now shows seconds in addition to hours and minutes. The actions on the Activity Log will display in the correct order according to timestamps, and the order defaults to display the newest action first.



Guest Card

Gender Configuration

 

You can now configure multiple genders to be displayed on the Guest Card from Settings > Cards > Genders. On the new Genders screen, the options Female, Male, and Other are listed and toggled ON by default, without the option to toggle OFF. The following system-defined genders are also listed and can be toggled ON or OFF as desired (set to OFF by default):

  • Non-Binary
  • Diverse
  • Open
  • Inter
  • No Information
  • Agender
  • Two-Spirit

 



 

Once configured, the enabled gender options will be available for selection on the Guest Card.


 

Reservations

Restrict Check-In Functionality Logic

 

The restrict check-in logic is only actioned on the last check-in action and not as part of the check-in action on the stay card. The reservation will no longer be restricted on the stay card check-in level, which will allow the user to still perform the credit card check-in authorization as part of the check-in process, and only if the authorization is not approved, will the restriction be applied.




All Available Rooms Displayed On Rooms & Rates Screen

 

During the reservation creation process, all available rooms will be displayed on the Rooms & Rates screen, eliminating the need for users to choose to view additional room types.


Today’s Overdue Actions Shown As Overdue

 

Actions due today with a due time in the past are now marked as overdue on the stay card. The number of hours overdue are shown on the stay card if the action was due today. This will be calculated as follows:

  • 0-59 minutes = 0 hours overdue
  • 60-119 minutes = 1 hour overdue
  • And so on…

 

Actions due today with a due time in the past will be shown in red, and the due times are shown in the hotel time zone.




Integrations

Connect APIs: New PUT API To Support Hotel Loyalty Member Level Updates

 

Connect API vendors can now update member levels in the guest card using the PUT/memberships/{id}/level API endpoint. This API is supported by GET/guests/{id}/memberships and GET//hotels/{id}/memberships endpoints where vendors need to obtain the necessary data first.

 

Items to Note:

  • Vendors can update hotel loyalty type only.
  • Vendors can update member level to a pre-existing PMS hotel loyalty level only.

Connect APIs: Add-Ons Supported In POST/groups & PUT/groups/{id}

 

The POST/groups and PUT/groups/{id} API endpoints can now post add-ons for custom groups only. Add-ons can be included or added to the custom group rate—the inclusion is defined by the included_in_rate boolean.

 

PUT/groups/{id} request supports adding or removing add-ons. Please note, if a custom group has an existing add-on attached, and an additional add-on is attached, the PUT/groups/{id} request must include the original add-on as well as the additional add-on.

Connect APIs: New GET/groups/{id}/custom_group_addons Endpoint

 

We’ve added a new get/groups/{id}/custom_group_addons endpoint. If GET/groups and GET/groups/{id} endpoints respond with “addons” = true use the GET/groups/{id}/custom_group_addons to obtain the detailed add-on data. This API supports custom groups only.

Toast POS: Auto Service Charge

 

For customers with Toast POS integration, based on the setup of Auto Service Charge in Toast POS, Stayntouch PMS supports the Toast Auto Service Charge feature.

 

Depending on a hotel’s setup, Toast POS offers two types of Auto Service Charge—Gratuity or Fee (No Gratuity). Stayntouch PMS supports both types. Auto Service Charge will display on the Guest Bill as well as house accounts as a separate item. If mapped in Stayntouch PMS with a dedicated charge code, it can be reported easily. Please note, this is for residential charges only. Support for non-residential charges will be added soon.

Toast POS: Service Charge Setting & Mapping

 

With the release of Toast POS Auto Service Charge, we’ve made enhancements to the Toast POS settings in Stayntouch PMS.

 

To set up the default values in Stayntouch PMS, navigate to Settings > Integrations > POS Integrations > Toast. The following settings are brand new:

  • DEFAULT SERVICE CHARGE – FEE: If Auto Service Charge – Fee is not mapped under RESTAURANTS, this is the charge code Stayntouch PMS will post.
  • DEFAULT SERVICE CHARGE – GRATUITY: If Auto Service Charge – Gratuity is not mapped under RESTAURANTS, this is the charge code Stayntouch PMS will post.

 

To set up restaurant values in Stayntouch PMS, navigate to Settings > Integrations > POS Integrations > Toast > Restaurants. Auto Service Charge – Fee and Gratuity can be mapped to a specific restaurant in SETTINGS and under the RESTAURANTS tab after selecting an existing restaurant.


Multi-Property Configuration

Multi-Property Configuration: Reservation Type Templates

 

Multi-Property users can toggle ON or OFF the following predefined reservation type templates from Configuration > Reservations > Reservation Types:

  • 4pm Hold
  • 6pm Hold
  • Company Guaranteed
  • Credit Card Guaranteed
  • Deposit Received
  • Deposit Requested
  • House Use
  • Not Guaranteed
  • Payment Guaranteed
  • Travel Agent Guaranteed

 



 

When you try to enable a reservation type template, you will be prompted with the following message:

 

“Activate reservation type. You are about to activate reservation type Company Guaranteed in all properties. This is what will happen next in properties:

  1. First, we'll check each property to make sure they have a reservation type called Company Guaranteed.
  2. We'll create it in properties that don't have it.
  3. When all properties have this reservation type, we'll activate it for all.
  4. Properties won't be able to deactivate it.

 

When you deactivate a reservation type it's no longer automatically created and activated for new properties, but it will remain active in properties that currently use it.”

 

You can either click Activate template or Cancel.



 

Items to Notes:

  • When a reservation type is activated at the Multi-Property configuration level, the reservation type is activated across all hotels in that chain.
  • Any hotel that is created within the chain automatically inherits the enabled reservation types.
  • Users cannot deactivate a reservation type from the Hotel Admin level that is active at the Multi-Property configuration level.
  • Deactivating reservation type from the Multi-Property configuration level does not automatically deactivate the reservation type at all hotels.
  • Users on the Hotel Admin level can toggle off reservation types after deactivation of the Multi-Property configuration toggle.
  • Users on the Hotel Admin level can activate a reservation type that is not active at the Multi-Property configuration level.
  • Users on the Hotel Admin level can deactivate a reservation type that is not active at the Multi-Property configuration level.

Multi-Property Configuration: Room Type Templates

 

Multi-Property users can configure room type templates from Configuration > Rooms > Room Types.




 

The following fields can be configured:

  • Name: This field is required.
  • Code: This field is required.
  • Max. Occupancy: The maximum number of guests that can stay in the room. This field is not required.
  • Description: Add a description of the room type. This field is not required.
  • Features: You can choose to mark the room as either Suite OR Day Use.
  • Select Properties: Select which properties the template should be applied to.




Once you enter the required information, you can click Create Room Type Template.

 

You will then be prompted with the following message:

 

“Send To Properties. If Room Type or Room Type Code exists in selected properties, entry will be skipped.”

 

You can either click Activate template or Cancel.


 

You can then activate the newly created room type template for the chain by clicking the checkbox to the left of the room type template and click Add to chain templates.




When applied to the chain, the template will be marked as CHAIN in orange.

 

 

Items to Note:

  • Room type template fields can be edited from the Hotel Admin level.
  • Room type template fields can be edited from the Multi-Property configuration level.
    • Updates to room types at the Multi-Property configuration level are not sent to subscribed hotels.

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