RezNEWS HOT TIP
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Property photos and detailed descriptions help increase the “look to book” ratio in the RezStream Booking Engine!
Did you know that you could add multiple photos and detailed unit or rate plan descriptions within the RezStream Booking Engine to create a more visual and informational reservation experience for your potential guests? This month’s HOT TIP will illustrate how to add photos to the RezStream Booking Engine, how to include descriptions for individual units or unit types (rate plans), and will contain a bonus section explaining how to customize the reservation pages with your website branding.
Adding Photos
If you want to display images of your overall property, general unit types, or specific individual rooms when a guest checks availability on your website, you must digitize these images into high quality .jpg or .gif files no larger than 200 pixels x 300 pixels. These photos can then be used to help entice Internet guests to book reservations at your property. Images are uploaded to the RezStream Booking Engine and assigned to one of the categories listed in the table below.
CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS
| No Category | A photo that has been uploaded, but is not be currently in use. |
| Property Only | A photo of the property, a room type, or a common guest area. |
| Unit Only | A photo of a specific accommodation. |
| Point of Sale Only | A photo of a point of sale item. |
Use the following steps to upload images in the RezStream Booking Engine Online Administrative Interface.
Add a New Photo
1. Click the Account > Account Information > Photos/Images/Media link.
2. The Account Information > Images form is displayed. Click the Add New Photo button.
3. The Photo Details form is displayed. Enter a description for the image (A) and click the Browse button to locate the image on your local drive or network (B). Use the “This Photo Applies Only to This Category” drop-down field to specify a photo category (C). Categories include No Category, Property Only, Unit Only, and Point of Sale Only.
4. Click the Upload Photo button.
5. The photo is now listed in the Account > Account Information > Photos/Images/Media > Images table. Click the Add New Photo button again to upload any other photos.
Assigning Previously Uploaded Photos
If an image is uploaded (steps 1-5 in Adding Photos above) to the Unit Only category, use the following steps to assign the photo to a specific unit at your property.
1. From the RezStream Booking Engine Online Administrative Interface, click Property > Units/Rooms > Administration.
2. A list of units is displayed. Click the edit icon (
) associated with a specific room, in our example, 103 – Suite.
3. Click the Photos tab.
4. Enter a checkmark next to the photo(s) that apply to the selected room
(103 – Suite) and click the Save Unit Photos button.
5. Click the list all units link to continue with the next room.
Using Descriptions for Reservation Availability Options
From the RezStream Booking Engine Online Administrative Interface, select Property > Booking Engine Settings and click the Reservation Behavior tab. The reservation behavior settings control several RezStream Booking Engine settings including how availability will be returned to online guests. Under the Availability Options listing, there are three options that define how the RezStream Booking Engine can display availability.
The RezStream Booking Engine default setting is to display availability “By Individual Unit.” With this option selected, the Internet guest first enters arrival and departure dates. Next, a list of specific available individual rooms is displayed. With the second option selected, “By Unit Type (Rate Plan),” a form displaying a list of available unit types, like a King unit type, not a specific room number or room name, is displayed after the guest enters arrival and departure dates. The third option allows the Internet guest to choose between either of these two options. Whether you have the RezStream Booking Engine display availability by individual unit or unit types, you can utilize descriptions to further explain lodging choice details to the potential guest.
Creating Descriptions for Individual Units
1. From the top toolbar in RezStream Professional, go to Tools > Unit and Rate Setup. Select the third tab labeled Individual Units.
2. From the Pick Unit list on the left side of the screen, choose a specific unit, unit 115 in our example, and type the description on the right side of the screen in the Standard Description box. Add checkmarks in the boxes to make this a “Booking Engine Bookable Unit” and to “Include in Online Availability.” This individual unit description will now display to online customers using the RezStream Booking Engine.
3. Once you’ve updated all applicable individual unit descriptions to be included as RezStream Booking Engine Bookable Units, close out of the Unit and Rate Setup screen and go to File > Online Availability Update > RezStream Booking Engine 3.0 > Auto Update. Auto Update must be turned off (no checkmark in the box) in order to run the verify configuration data procedure.
4. Next, go to File > Online Availability Update > RezStream Booking Engine 3.0 > Verify Configuration Data. This will upload all the updated rate plan/unit type descriptions to the RezStream Booking Engine.
5. Once you’ve completed the verify configuration data procedure, go to File > Online Availability Update > RezStream Booking Engine 3.0 > Auto Update. This will turn on the sync to the RezStream Booking Engine back to “active.”
6. When an Internet guest now enters arrival and departure dates in the RezStream Booking Engine Check Availability screen, a list of available individual rooms is displayed with unit descriptions.
Example of Availability by Individual Unit:
Creating Descriptions for Unit Types (Rate Plans)
If your property intends to return availability to customers using the RezStream Booking Engine “By Unit Type (Rate Plan),” you can also use these steps to add unit type/rate plan descriptions to the RezStream Booking Engine. With descriptive rate plans, an Internet guest making a reservation via the RezStream Booking Engine will be able to easily identify the types of accommodations available at your property.
1. From the top toolbar in RezStream Professional, go to Tools > Unit and Rate Setup. On the Unit Groups tab, select GDS/ODS Settings.
2. On the GDS/ODS Settings screen, select the first rate plan/unit type and enter a general description about that type of rate plan/unit type (Queen in our example) on the right side of the screen.
3. Once you’ve updated all the rate plan/unit type descriptions, close out of the Unit and Rate Setup screen, go to File > Online Availability Update > RezStream Booking Engine 3.0 > Auto Update. Auto Update must be turned off (no checkmark in the box) in order to run the verify configuration data procedure.
4. Next, go to File > Online Availability Update > RezStream Booking Engine 3.0 > Verify Configuration Data. This will upload all the updated rate plan/unit type descriptions to the RezStream Booking Engine.
5. Once you’ve run the verify configuration data procedure, go to File > Online Availability Update > RezStream Booking Engine 3.0 > Auto Update. This will turn the sync to the RezStream Booking Engine back to “active.”
Example of Availability by Unit Type:
Build Trust by Customizing the Booking Engine Pages
The number one concern of website visitors is trust, especially when making an online reservation that requires credit card information. If the booking engine process of making a reservation matches the overall design and confidence factor of your website, the potential visitor will likely continue with a booking as the trust level that your website has already established follows through on your booking engine pages. If your property employs a web design company, consult with them to create a header section that can be used with the RezStream Booking Engine. If your property manages its own website, make sure the website manager knows that your property is able to customize the look and feel of the RezStream Booking Engine through the RezStream software.
Design Header
A customized header section can be configured for the RezStream Booking Engine under the Property > Booking Engine Settings > Design Header tab. The header is displayed throughout the online booking process.
Design Footer
A customized footer section can be configured for the RezStream Booking Engine under the Property > Booking Engine Settings > Design Footer tab. The footer is displayed throughout the online booking process.
Additional Resources:
For more information on any of these topics in this article, please refer to the table of contents in the RezStream Professional Booking Engine User’s Guide available for a FREE download on the RezStream website documentation download
page found at: http://www.rezstream.com/documentation_rezstream_booking_engine.htm
