Guest Reservations Enhanced

We wanted to inform you of an upcoming release of Reservation Nexus this Thursday, August 23rd, 2007. This release has a lot of your wonderful feature requests and polish items. It was also time to enhance online guest reservations. Please read this newsletter as you have time. If you have any questions please contact your Red Carpet Professional.

What's Been Enhanced?

• Online Guest Reservations
• Auto-Add Fees
• Minimum Nights In Rooms Grid
• Occupancy Comparison Report
• Front Desk / Housekeeping Polish
• Room Removal History
• Add Multiple Nights On "Add Room"

ONLINE GUEST RESERVATIONS

Quick List:

• New appearance options
• Simplified the "Next" buttons
• Improved flow
• Must See
• Remove individual items
• Refined calendar and "Your Reservations" areas
• Phone numbers more visible
• Room randomizer
• Minimum night notices
• Saturday + Sunday

With the release of Internet Explorer 7 and other Internet browser versions, some compatibility issues needed to be addresses. We took that opportunity to take online guest reservations to yet another level. We tripled the appearance options so that matching Reservation Nexus to your website is even better than before through Settings -> Appearance.

Our biggest challenge has been the "Next" button and we have simplified it down to one large "Next" button that is only visible once guests have selected one or more rooms. You can even set the color on the button to make it stand out more. The navigational flow on all pages is now smoother and more intuitive.

You can now add an extra step using the "Must See" option on your tabs. This is great for showing off your amenities; offering early check-in fees, roses, or for Auto Pilot users, your specials and packages. To configure, go to Settings -> Guest Reservations -> Tabs (top right) and make one of your tabs have the "Must See" option. Only one tab can be a "Must See" tab.

Guests can now remove rooms and retail items individually without clicking "Clear" and having to start all over.

We cleaned up the calendar and "Your Reservations" areas. When guests select multiple nights, they are combined into one item under "Your Reservations". Retail items are also now grouped together.

Your toll-free and direct phone numbers are now in the top right and are easier to find.

You can display your rooms in random order through Settings -> Guest Reservations. Check "Randomize the rooms".

Some guests have become confused with minimum night requirements. Minimum night notices now inform guests of any minimum nights. You can customize the color of this area to make it stand out even more.

Reservation Nexus now remembers guests up to 24 hours. This should increase your success rate and reduce the quantity of reservation numbers that are used. We also made it so that you are not logged out when you click "View Online Reservation System".

There is now a Saturday + Sunday book option that requires guests to stay both Saturday and Sunday.

When tabs such as "Gift Shop" are selected, the name of the tab is now displayed in large text to the guest.

AUTO-ADD FEES

Good For:

• Pet fee for pet friendly rooms
• Breakfast charge
• Cleaning fee
• Parking fee
• Fixed tax amount
• Booking fee

You can now automatically add fees to reservations when rooms are booked. You do so in the Settings -> Retail area. Retail items now have a tab called "Auto-Add". Call to receive training on auto-add fees.

MINIMUM NIGHTS IN ROOMS GRID

In your rooms grid you will now see your minimum night requirements. The number in red that appears above a given day is the minimum night number. So lets say that you have a three-night minimum next Monday. A "3" would appear over the Monday and you would book phone reservations so that they stayed Monday thru Wednesday. During months where you have not minimum nights, nothing is displayed. The minimum night notice only informs you, not enforces, so that you have complete control.

OCCUPANCY COMPARISON REPORT

For those on Reservation Nexus more than a year, you can now compare your occupancy year to year. The report is found in Reports -> Occupancy -> Comparison. On all occupancy reports, you can now exclude rooms. Find the room under Settings -> Rooms and uncheck "Include this room in reports".

FRONT DESK / HOUSEKEEPING POLISH

Departures, New Arrivals and Staying Over in Housekeeping are now all sorted by room # and name. In Front Desk, Departures and Staying Over are sorted by room # and name while New Arrivals is sorted by estimated arrival time.

Front Desk now shows what time guests arrive as well as depart. It also indicates whether they have paid and if not, a "Pay Now" link to record payment quickly.

We will be phasing out Checking In and Checking Out. If you still want to view them, under Settings -> Staff, check "Legacy".

In an upcoming release, we will have a week grid version for quick viewing of what guests are in what rooms.

ROOM REMOVAL HISTORY

The "Rooms" tab on reservations now records when and who removed rooms. Only reservations made after the release record this information.

ADD MULTIPLE NIGHTS ON "ADD ROOM"

You can now check availability and add multiple nights on reservations through the Rooms -> Add Room page. Select the number of "Nights" you wish to add. This is great for creating lengthy reservations. For example, you can book one night and then add 29 more nights.

OTHER COMPLETED FEATURE REQUESTS

• The Print Version on reservation information now matches the normal page.
• For reporting purposes, we can now line up past comp discounts to the appropriate room. Call your Red Carpet Professional for details.
• You can now enter the [Date] label in Auto Pilot templates.
• There is now a total at the bottom of Outstanding Balances.
• Outstanding Balances now displays cancellations.
• We bolded the total on the reservation summary.
• Check-ins can now occur during any time of day and night.
• Discounts are now sorted by date on the reservation summary.
• You can now change your starting page under Settings -> Staff.
• Cancellation notes are now added to notes automatically.
• The text entered on blocked, or call or repair now appears as you hover over them in the reservation grid. This is wonderful for holding rooms.

FIXES

• Gift shop links now consistently work on all browser versions.
• Unblock All now works again.
• Spaces were allowed in the mobile # field.
• Comped rooms with "Do not automatically include sales tax on rooms" were adding the retail tax to the discount.
• Credit card numbers that are 14 digits long are now displayed correctly.

50 STATES

We are working hard for Reservation Nexus to be in all 50 states by the end of this year. If you know any innkeepers in the following states, please contact us:

• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Nebraska
• Minnesota
• Rhode Island
• Massachusetts
• West Virginia

HOW DO I PERFORM A BASIC NIGHT AUDIT?

We've had a few innkeepers ask about how to perform a night audit. The two key reports for performing a night audit are "Outstanding Balances" and "Payments" found under Accounting in Reports.

The Outstanding Balances report displays reservations where what is due does not match what has been paid. Most of the time, it is a payment that has not been recorded. It can also be that you owe the customer a refund due to a change in the reservation, which lowered the reservation amount. As you resolve these issues, they disappear from the report.

The Payments report is used to verify the payments received each day. Cash and checks received should match the report. Your credit card batch summary should match what is in this report. If not, drill down and find the discrepancy.

We'd also recommend using Front Desk to make sure that everyone has been checked in. The reason is that if you have any no shows, you want to make sure that you collect the associated fee by charging their card. You can also use Front Desk to look a few days ahead and review any special needs or preferences and order any retail items such as roses, etc.

If there is nothing in Outstanding Balances, Payments matches what you received and all guests have been checked in/checked out you are good to go!

UPCOMING ENHANCEMENTS

• The login page is changing so that it remembers your website so you only have to enter your email address and password.
• Tasks and reminders
• Front Desk: Week View
• Room search for large properties
• Option for breaking down taxes on the reservation summary and receipt
• Auto Pilot: Gift Certificates - creating, tracking, reports...
• Special event rates and special event minimum nights that don't repeat each year

THANK YOU!

As summer comes to a close we hope that all is well and that you enjoy a much-deserved break. Thank you for choosing Reservation Nexus! If you have any questions, please contact your Red Carpet Professional.

Sincerely,

- The Reservation Nexus Team