Choosing a new reservation software

[swirt]

Hi Knkbnb,
Let me know if there are any specifics about RezOvation I can answer as we'd hate to lose anyone as a customer. We do have an extra charge per machine if you do a network setup, but that is really there because it is a lot more work to setup a network. Overall if you look at our fees, we include quite a bit in them that a Resnexus only includes in their "autopilot" level - so even with an extra few dollars for extra terminals, you wind up saving money.
You can see a comparison here: http://www.rezovation.com/resnexus.html. But for instance, we include the functionality to do automatic birthday, anniversary, and special event reminders in our pricing, where you have to pay extra for someone like Resnexus. We include a number of features like this - the ability to process credit cards (in a full lodging-certified gateway), automatic payment processing for online reservations, group functionality, and a connection to Webervations (with all Webervations fees paid). Again - none of these cost any extra.
Our philosophy has been to have one price for the product, and have it include all the features - but when it can be much harder to support (i.e supporting a home network setup which can be prone to problems outside our control) we charge a little more.
We also include a lot of features like a connection to Quickbooks, full booking engine customization, Verisign seals on every customer's web pages, daily hacker scanning seals on every customer's pages, and onward distribution to sites like BedandBreakfast.com, Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Sidestep, Nextag and others.
Hope that helps to explain it better,
John.

Geez - I typed in this whole long resonse and somehow deleted it.
The short of it is:
We bought the software prior to the new business model. We invested in the credit card machine. We tried to pay for help but couldn't get any. We like the ability to connect from any computer instead of lugging our laptop to South America, We think it is a fine product, but the cost for a small business using three computer- two at home and one on the road - is a heck of a lot more than we pay now, and I will look into the extra costs you mentioned.
Aloha
Kenny
.

Hi KnKBnb,
I just started using RezovationGT in the past month but might have a solution that has been working quite well for me. Keep in mind that I just stopped using Superinn, what I liked was that I could access Superinn from anywhere, but it was a slow system to use (pros and cons in all directions) but lots of clicks to get anything done and they currently have no advertised methods for accepting guest deposits automatically. (they have some on the side that they will set you up with if you complain, but it does not seem to be into full production).
Anyway, back to your concern of using multiple computers. I have RezovationGT installed on my main computer at home. Then I use ultraVNC to remotely control that computer when I am away from it. (This is similar to Remote Desktop (built into Windows professional), PC Anywhere, or Logmein. When I run ultrVNC on my laptop while traveling I see the desktop of my home computer so I can run RezovationGT and any other program using my home machine....makes it great for checking email too as any reply I make is on my home machine instead of having some replies on my laptop and some on my home and some on webmail. Everything is all in one spot. My desktop computer is in my basement office, but if someone calls for a reservation while I am upstairs, I simply grab the upstairs laptop and use ultravnc and am ready to go. One installation, multiple machines. The connection is encrypted in both directions.
.

How are you finding Rez GT compared to SuperInns? I am considering switching to Rez GT over the slow season, since I'm already on the Webervations 2.0.
.

Well let me put it this way, of the three reservations that have come in online since putting the availability online Jan 3rd here is the involvement with the system compared to what it would have been with SuperInn.
RezovationGT + Booking Engine (not sure if it would work the same using it webervations or not ...John can fill in that detail)

1. receive email of first reservation (email includes who is coming and when): (smile) Deposit was charged automatically and confirmation sentautomatically.
2. receive email of second reservation: Deposit charged automatically and confirmation sent automatically
3. receive email of third reservation: Deposit charges automatically and confirmation sent automatically
4. Had to adjust third reservation as it was a return guest so I applied our 5% return guest discount to the reservation
5. Send out updated confirmation to reflect the discount.

The same process with SuperInn would have looked like this.

1. receive email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
2. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
3. punch in payment data into superinn
4. send confirmation email through superinn.
5. receive second email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
6. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
7. punch in payment data into superinn
8. send confirmation email through superinn.
9. receive third email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
10. adjust superinn to reflect discount for return guest
11. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
12. punch in payment data into superinn
13. send confirmation email through superinn.

So needless to say 5 steps vs 13 was pretty nice. And actually I was on vacation during this time so there would have been more steps with superinn. Sure I could get to it from any computer, but I couldn't get to my credit card terminal so I would have had to send temporary confirmations while away, then when I get home, run the three charges for the credit cards, then send a second set of confirmations to reflect the deposits being made.
I think at checkout it would be a similar kind of comparison. With Rezovation I swipe the card at whatever computer I am using and all the payment data is made. click a few things and type in any notes to make up for my bad memory. Then the credit card data will automatically delete itself after the transaction is completed (I have options on when). In Superinn I would have to swipe the card at my CC terminal, then enter the payment data into Superinn by hand, then delete all the cc data in superinn by hand in two different places and record any guest notes.
All in all there is a HUGE savings in innkeeper time just from these three reservations.....multiply that by the number of reservations you get in a year and it could be pretty significant ... I hope

 

[JBanczak]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!

 

[JBanczak]

Hi Knkbnb,
Let me know if there are any specifics about RezOvation I can answer as we'd hate to lose anyone as a customer. We do have an extra charge per machine if you do a network setup, but that is really there because it is a lot more work to setup a network. Overall if you look at our fees, we include quite a bit in them that a Resnexus only includes in their "autopilot" level - so even with an extra few dollars for extra terminals, you wind up saving money.
You can see a comparison here: http://www.rezovation.com/resnexus.html. But for instance, we include the functionality to do automatic birthday, anniversary, and special event reminders in our pricing, where you have to pay extra for someone like Resnexus. We include a number of features like this - the ability to process credit cards (in a full lodging-certified gateway), automatic payment processing for online reservations, group functionality, and a connection to Webervations (with all Webervations fees paid). Again - none of these cost any extra.
Our philosophy has been to have one price for the product, and have it include all the features - but when it can be much harder to support (i.e supporting a home network setup which can be prone to problems outside our control) we charge a little more.
We also include a lot of features like a connection to Quickbooks, full booking engine customization, Verisign seals on every customer's web pages, daily hacker scanning seals on every customer's pages, and onward distribution to sites like BedandBreakfast.com, Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Sidestep, Nextag and others.
Hope that helps to explain it better,
John.

Geez - I typed in this whole long resonse and somehow deleted it.
The short of it is:
We bought the software prior to the new business model. We invested in the credit card machine. We tried to pay for help but couldn't get any. We like the ability to connect from any computer instead of lugging our laptop to South America, We think it is a fine product, but the cost for a small business using three computer- two at home and one on the road - is a heck of a lot more than we pay now, and I will look into the extra costs you mentioned.
Aloha
Kenny
.

Hi KnKBnb,
I just started using RezovationGT in the past month but might have a solution that has been working quite well for me. Keep in mind that I just stopped using Superinn, what I liked was that I could access Superinn from anywhere, but it was a slow system to use (pros and cons in all directions) but lots of clicks to get anything done and they currently have no advertised methods for accepting guest deposits automatically. (they have some on the side that they will set you up with if you complain, but it does not seem to be into full production).
Anyway, back to your concern of using multiple computers. I have RezovationGT installed on my main computer at home. Then I use ultraVNC to remotely control that computer when I am away from it. (This is similar to Remote Desktop (built into Windows professional), PC Anywhere, or Logmein. When I run ultrVNC on my laptop while traveling I see the desktop of my home computer so I can run RezovationGT and any other program using my home machine....makes it great for checking email too as any reply I make is on my home machine instead of having some replies on my laptop and some on my home and some on webmail. Everything is all in one spot. My desktop computer is in my basement office, but if someone calls for a reservation while I am upstairs, I simply grab the upstairs laptop and use ultravnc and am ready to go. One installation, multiple machines. The connection is encrypted in both directions.
.

How are you finding Rez GT compared to SuperInns? I am considering switching to Rez GT over the slow season, since I'm already on the Webervations 2.0.
.

Well let me put it this way, of the three reservations that have come in online since putting the availability online Jan 3rd here is the involvement with the system compared to what it would have been with SuperInn.
RezovationGT + Booking Engine (not sure if it would work the same using it webervations or not ...John can fill in that detail)

1. receive email of first reservation (email includes who is coming and when): (smile) Deposit was charged automatically and confirmation sentautomatically.
2. receive email of second reservation: Deposit charged automatically and confirmation sent automatically
3. receive email of third reservation: Deposit charges automatically and confirmation sent automatically
4. Had to adjust third reservation as it was a return guest so I applied our 5% return guest discount to the reservation
5. Send out updated confirmation to reflect the discount.

The same process with SuperInn would have looked like this.

1. receive email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
2. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
3. punch in payment data into superinn
4. send confirmation email through superinn.
5. receive second email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
6. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
7. punch in payment data into superinn
8. send confirmation email through superinn.
9. receive third email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
10. adjust superinn to reflect discount for return guest
11. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
12. punch in payment data into superinn
13. send confirmation email through superinn.

So needless to say 5 steps vs 13 was pretty nice. And actually I was on vacation during this time so there would have been more steps with superinn. Sure I could get to it from any computer, but I couldn't get to my credit card terminal so I would have had to send temporary confirmations while away, then when I get home, run the three charges for the credit cards, then send a second set of confirmations to reflect the deposits being made.
I think at checkout it would be a similar kind of comparison. With Rezovation I swipe the card at whatever computer I am using and all the payment data is made. click a few things and type in any notes to make up for my bad memory. Then the credit card data will automatically delete itself after the transaction is completed (I have options on when). In Superinn I would have to swipe the card at my CC terminal, then enter the payment data into Superinn by hand, then delete all the cc data in superinn by hand in two different places and record any guest notes.
All in all there is a HUGE savings in innkeeper time just from these three reservations.....multiply that by the number of reservations you get in a year and it could be pretty significant ... I hope
.

That's a great recap of the process - thanks for laying it all out. I'll be honest, I'm a little less clear on exactly how Webervations works with GT - I'll know more shortly - we change Webervations over to our servers tonight...
There are a few notable exceptions though that I do know of...
1) No automatic cc processing with Webervations through GT for online transactions. It just can't physically happen right now since this data cannot be passed from the Weber domain to us dynamically to be charged, and Weber doesn't have the capability to run it. I don't think that can ever change. You can use GT with CC processing at your property to get the easier embedded swiping/processing/etc. and still have Weber on your website, but the web transactions would not have it built-in.
2) In general, Webervations is request-based (unless the auto-accept is on), so there is the extra step of accepting/confirming - but that is actually what a lot of folks prefer and a reason to use Webervations, so I think that it actually makes sense and that will not change either.
3) The confirmation emails actually come from Webervations (although you can send one in addition from GT), so a little different in terms of where is the history tracked, what customization options exist, etc.
4) There are pretty big differences in customization and tracking, with our BE having a number of additional options but that is really more cosmetics and keeping track of the business rather than procedural things.
I think there are a couple other little things, like arrival time is an option in our BE, and not passing through Weber, source of rez (you can ask where they heard of you) is also an option, but that is more in the bells and whistles.

 

[JBanczak]

Hi Knkbnb,
Let me know if there are any specifics about RezOvation I can answer as we'd hate to lose anyone as a customer. We do have an extra charge per machine if you do a network setup, but that is really there because it is a lot more work to setup a network. Overall if you look at our fees, we include quite a bit in them that a Resnexus only includes in their "autopilot" level - so even with an extra few dollars for extra terminals, you wind up saving money.
You can see a comparison here: http://www.rezovation.com/resnexus.html. But for instance, we include the functionality to do automatic birthday, anniversary, and special event reminders in our pricing, where you have to pay extra for someone like Resnexus. We include a number of features like this - the ability to process credit cards (in a full lodging-certified gateway), automatic payment processing for online reservations, group functionality, and a connection to Webervations (with all Webervations fees paid). Again - none of these cost any extra.
Our philosophy has been to have one price for the product, and have it include all the features - but when it can be much harder to support (i.e supporting a home network setup which can be prone to problems outside our control) we charge a little more.
We also include a lot of features like a connection to Quickbooks, full booking engine customization, Verisign seals on every customer's web pages, daily hacker scanning seals on every customer's pages, and onward distribution to sites like BedandBreakfast.com, Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Sidestep, Nextag and others.
Hope that helps to explain it better,
John.

Geez - I typed in this whole long resonse and somehow deleted it.
The short of it is:
We bought the software prior to the new business model. We invested in the credit card machine. We tried to pay for help but couldn't get any. We like the ability to connect from any computer instead of lugging our laptop to South America, We think it is a fine product, but the cost for a small business using three computer- two at home and one on the road - is a heck of a lot more than we pay now, and I will look into the extra costs you mentioned.
Aloha
Kenny
.

Hi KnKBnb,
I just started using RezovationGT in the past month but might have a solution that has been working quite well for me. Keep in mind that I just stopped using Superinn, what I liked was that I could access Superinn from anywhere, but it was a slow system to use (pros and cons in all directions) but lots of clicks to get anything done and they currently have no advertised methods for accepting guest deposits automatically. (they have some on the side that they will set you up with if you complain, but it does not seem to be into full production).
Anyway, back to your concern of using multiple computers. I have RezovationGT installed on my main computer at home. Then I use ultraVNC to remotely control that computer when I am away from it. (This is similar to Remote Desktop (built into Windows professional), PC Anywhere, or Logmein. When I run ultrVNC on my laptop while traveling I see the desktop of my home computer so I can run RezovationGT and any other program using my home machine....makes it great for checking email too as any reply I make is on my home machine instead of having some replies on my laptop and some on my home and some on webmail. Everything is all in one spot. My desktop computer is in my basement office, but if someone calls for a reservation while I am upstairs, I simply grab the upstairs laptop and use ultravnc and am ready to go. One installation, multiple machines. The connection is encrypted in both directions.
.

How are you finding Rez GT compared to SuperInns? I am considering switching to Rez GT over the slow season, since I'm already on the Webervations 2.0.
.

Well let me put it this way, of the three reservations that have come in online since putting the availability online Jan 3rd here is the involvement with the system compared to what it would have been with SuperInn.
RezovationGT + Booking Engine (not sure if it would work the same using it webervations or not ...John can fill in that detail)

1. receive email of first reservation (email includes who is coming and when): (smile) Deposit was charged automatically and confirmation sentautomatically.
2. receive email of second reservation: Deposit charged automatically and confirmation sent automatically
3. receive email of third reservation: Deposit charges automatically and confirmation sent automatically
4. Had to adjust third reservation as it was a return guest so I applied our 5% return guest discount to the reservation
5. Send out updated confirmation to reflect the discount.

The same process with SuperInn would have looked like this.

1. receive email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
2. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
3. punch in payment data into superinn
4. send confirmation email through superinn.
5. receive second email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
6. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
7. punch in payment data into superinn
8. send confirmation email through superinn.
9. receive third email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
10. adjust superinn to reflect discount for return guest
11. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
12. punch in payment data into superinn
13. send confirmation email through superinn.

So needless to say 5 steps vs 13 was pretty nice. And actually I was on vacation during this time so there would have been more steps with superinn. Sure I could get to it from any computer, but I couldn't get to my credit card terminal so I would have had to send temporary confirmations while away, then when I get home, run the three charges for the credit cards, then send a second set of confirmations to reflect the deposits being made.
I think at checkout it would be a similar kind of comparison. With Rezovation I swipe the card at whatever computer I am using and all the payment data is made. click a few things and type in any notes to make up for my bad memory. Then the credit card data will automatically delete itself after the transaction is completed (I have options on when). In Superinn I would have to swipe the card at my CC terminal, then enter the payment data into Superinn by hand, then delete all the cc data in superinn by hand in two different places and record any guest notes.
All in all there is a HUGE savings in innkeeper time just from these three reservations.....multiply that by the number of reservations you get in a year and it could be pretty significant ... I hope
.

I also should have been more clear on Webervations 1.0 vs. 2.0.
Webervations 1.0 is a complimentary product to GT, not really an alternative. There can be a compelling reason to use GT as your PMS, Webervations 1.0 as your website availability calendar/distribution if you so choose. However, that is not the case with 2.0. Webervations 2.0 is really meant to be a stand-alone product, not used along-side of GT. I can't think of a scenario where you would want to do that.
For starters - it would be expensive. We are planning on lowering the price of 2.0, but at its current retail - if you add-up that price plus GT, it just doesn't make sense when you can get GT on a basic service package and pay nothing to have Webervations 1.0 work with it... Second, 2.0 and GT have a lot of overlapping features that could get a little confusing and may not play nice together.
So essentially, you end up paying more for something that really doesn't get you any extra benefits and might end up causing some real headaches in the way the systems work. Our products are basically going to be structured like this:
Webervations 1.0 Stand-alone: same as you've always known it with greatly enhanced security protocols, data redundancy, some extra features
Webervations 1.0 + GT: same as above, but using GT as your PMS
Webervations 2.0: online PMS intended to be a full-fledged alternative to the Superinn's/Resnexus of the world (but is not there yet)
GT w/Rezo BE: nothing really changes - same as it is today - full-fledged pms/best of breed online booking engine/features/etc.

 

[geminixo]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.

 

[JBanczak]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.

 

[geminixo]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?

 

[JBanczak]

Ah - I see. Hmmm... we have an iphone here somewhere, let me take a look. Rendering that much info might be tough - let me check how well ours does.

 

[muirford]

Hi Knkbnb,
Let me know if there are any specifics about RezOvation I can answer as we'd hate to lose anyone as a customer. We do have an extra charge per machine if you do a network setup, but that is really there because it is a lot more work to setup a network. Overall if you look at our fees, we include quite a bit in them that a Resnexus only includes in their "autopilot" level - so even with an extra few dollars for extra terminals, you wind up saving money.
You can see a comparison here: http://www.rezovation.com/resnexus.html. But for instance, we include the functionality to do automatic birthday, anniversary, and special event reminders in our pricing, where you have to pay extra for someone like Resnexus. We include a number of features like this - the ability to process credit cards (in a full lodging-certified gateway), automatic payment processing for online reservations, group functionality, and a connection to Webervations (with all Webervations fees paid). Again - none of these cost any extra.
Our philosophy has been to have one price for the product, and have it include all the features - but when it can be much harder to support (i.e supporting a home network setup which can be prone to problems outside our control) we charge a little more.
We also include a lot of features like a connection to Quickbooks, full booking engine customization, Verisign seals on every customer's web pages, daily hacker scanning seals on every customer's pages, and onward distribution to sites like BedandBreakfast.com, Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Sidestep, Nextag and others.
Hope that helps to explain it better,
John.

Geez - I typed in this whole long resonse and somehow deleted it.
The short of it is:
We bought the software prior to the new business model. We invested in the credit card machine. We tried to pay for help but couldn't get any. We like the ability to connect from any computer instead of lugging our laptop to South America, We think it is a fine product, but the cost for a small business using three computer- two at home and one on the road - is a heck of a lot more than we pay now, and I will look into the extra costs you mentioned.
Aloha
Kenny
.

Hi KnKBnb,
I just started using RezovationGT in the past month but might have a solution that has been working quite well for me. Keep in mind that I just stopped using Superinn, what I liked was that I could access Superinn from anywhere, but it was a slow system to use (pros and cons in all directions) but lots of clicks to get anything done and they currently have no advertised methods for accepting guest deposits automatically. (they have some on the side that they will set you up with if you complain, but it does not seem to be into full production).
Anyway, back to your concern of using multiple computers. I have RezovationGT installed on my main computer at home. Then I use ultraVNC to remotely control that computer when I am away from it. (This is similar to Remote Desktop (built into Windows professional), PC Anywhere, or Logmein. When I run ultrVNC on my laptop while traveling I see the desktop of my home computer so I can run RezovationGT and any other program using my home machine....makes it great for checking email too as any reply I make is on my home machine instead of having some replies on my laptop and some on my home and some on webmail. Everything is all in one spot. My desktop computer is in my basement office, but if someone calls for a reservation while I am upstairs, I simply grab the upstairs laptop and use ultravnc and am ready to go. One installation, multiple machines. The connection is encrypted in both directions.
.

How are you finding Rez GT compared to SuperInns? I am considering switching to Rez GT over the slow season, since I'm already on the Webervations 2.0.
.

Well let me put it this way, of the three reservations that have come in online since putting the availability online Jan 3rd here is the involvement with the system compared to what it would have been with SuperInn.
RezovationGT + Booking Engine (not sure if it would work the same using it webervations or not ...John can fill in that detail)

1. receive email of first reservation (email includes who is coming and when): (smile) Deposit was charged automatically and confirmation sentautomatically.
2. receive email of second reservation: Deposit charged automatically and confirmation sent automatically
3. receive email of third reservation: Deposit charges automatically and confirmation sent automatically
4. Had to adjust third reservation as it was a return guest so I applied our 5% return guest discount to the reservation
5. Send out updated confirmation to reflect the discount.

The same process with SuperInn would have looked like this.

1. receive email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
2. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
3. punch in payment data into superinn
4. send confirmation email through superinn.
5. receive second email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
6. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
7. punch in payment data into superinn
8. send confirmation email through superinn.
9. receive third email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
10. adjust superinn to reflect discount for return guest
11. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
12. punch in payment data into superinn
13. send confirmation email through superinn.

So needless to say 5 steps vs 13 was pretty nice. And actually I was on vacation during this time so there would have been more steps with superinn. Sure I could get to it from any computer, but I couldn't get to my credit card terminal so I would have had to send temporary confirmations while away, then when I get home, run the three charges for the credit cards, then send a second set of confirmations to reflect the deposits being made.
I think at checkout it would be a similar kind of comparison. With Rezovation I swipe the card at whatever computer I am using and all the payment data is made. click a few things and type in any notes to make up for my bad memory. Then the credit card data will automatically delete itself after the transaction is completed (I have options on when). In Superinn I would have to swipe the card at my CC terminal, then enter the payment data into Superinn by hand, then delete all the cc data in superinn by hand in two different places and record any guest notes.
All in all there is a HUGE savings in innkeeper time just from these three reservations.....multiply that by the number of reservations you get in a year and it could be pretty significant ... I hope
.

I also should have been more clear on Webervations 1.0 vs. 2.0.
Webervations 1.0 is a complimentary product to GT, not really an alternative. There can be a compelling reason to use GT as your PMS, Webervations 1.0 as your website availability calendar/distribution if you so choose. However, that is not the case with 2.0. Webervations 2.0 is really meant to be a stand-alone product, not used along-side of GT. I can't think of a scenario where you would want to do that.
For starters - it would be expensive. We are planning on lowering the price of 2.0, but at its current retail - if you add-up that price plus GT, it just doesn't make sense when you can get GT on a basic service package and pay nothing to have Webervations 1.0 work with it... Second, 2.0 and GT have a lot of overlapping features that could get a little confusing and may not play nice together.
So essentially, you end up paying more for something that really doesn't get you any extra benefits and might end up causing some real headaches in the way the systems work. Our products are basically going to be structured like this:
Webervations 1.0 Stand-alone: same as you've always known it with greatly enhanced security protocols, data redundancy, some extra features
Webervations 1.0 + GT: same as above, but using GT as your PMS
Webervations 2.0: online PMS intended to be a full-fledged alternative to the Superinn's/Resnexus of the world (but is not there yet)
GT w/Rezo BE: nothing really changes - same as it is today - full-fledged pms/best of breed online booking engine/features/etc.
.

I think I understood that as well - that my choice is between Weberv 2.0 and GT/Weberv BE, not to use GT with Weberv 2.0. That, at least, is the choice I am weighing. Do you know if I go that route will all of my Weberv 2.0 data convert to GT? Sorry, if I should be asking this offline I will, but since we have a lot of Weberv users here it might be helpful information.

 

[JBanczak]

Hi Knkbnb,
Let me know if there are any specifics about RezOvation I can answer as we'd hate to lose anyone as a customer. We do have an extra charge per machine if you do a network setup, but that is really there because it is a lot more work to setup a network. Overall if you look at our fees, we include quite a bit in them that a Resnexus only includes in their "autopilot" level - so even with an extra few dollars for extra terminals, you wind up saving money.
You can see a comparison here: http://www.rezovation.com/resnexus.html. But for instance, we include the functionality to do automatic birthday, anniversary, and special event reminders in our pricing, where you have to pay extra for someone like Resnexus. We include a number of features like this - the ability to process credit cards (in a full lodging-certified gateway), automatic payment processing for online reservations, group functionality, and a connection to Webervations (with all Webervations fees paid). Again - none of these cost any extra.
Our philosophy has been to have one price for the product, and have it include all the features - but when it can be much harder to support (i.e supporting a home network setup which can be prone to problems outside our control) we charge a little more.
We also include a lot of features like a connection to Quickbooks, full booking engine customization, Verisign seals on every customer's web pages, daily hacker scanning seals on every customer's pages, and onward distribution to sites like BedandBreakfast.com, Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Sidestep, Nextag and others.
Hope that helps to explain it better,
John.

Geez - I typed in this whole long resonse and somehow deleted it.
The short of it is:
We bought the software prior to the new business model. We invested in the credit card machine. We tried to pay for help but couldn't get any. We like the ability to connect from any computer instead of lugging our laptop to South America, We think it is a fine product, but the cost for a small business using three computer- two at home and one on the road - is a heck of a lot more than we pay now, and I will look into the extra costs you mentioned.
Aloha
Kenny
.

Hi KnKBnb,
I just started using RezovationGT in the past month but might have a solution that has been working quite well for me. Keep in mind that I just stopped using Superinn, what I liked was that I could access Superinn from anywhere, but it was a slow system to use (pros and cons in all directions) but lots of clicks to get anything done and they currently have no advertised methods for accepting guest deposits automatically. (they have some on the side that they will set you up with if you complain, but it does not seem to be into full production).
Anyway, back to your concern of using multiple computers. I have RezovationGT installed on my main computer at home. Then I use ultraVNC to remotely control that computer when I am away from it. (This is similar to Remote Desktop (built into Windows professional), PC Anywhere, or Logmein. When I run ultrVNC on my laptop while traveling I see the desktop of my home computer so I can run RezovationGT and any other program using my home machine....makes it great for checking email too as any reply I make is on my home machine instead of having some replies on my laptop and some on my home and some on webmail. Everything is all in one spot. My desktop computer is in my basement office, but if someone calls for a reservation while I am upstairs, I simply grab the upstairs laptop and use ultravnc and am ready to go. One installation, multiple machines. The connection is encrypted in both directions.
.

How are you finding Rez GT compared to SuperInns? I am considering switching to Rez GT over the slow season, since I'm already on the Webervations 2.0.
.

Well let me put it this way, of the three reservations that have come in online since putting the availability online Jan 3rd here is the involvement with the system compared to what it would have been with SuperInn.
RezovationGT + Booking Engine (not sure if it would work the same using it webervations or not ...John can fill in that detail)

1. receive email of first reservation (email includes who is coming and when): (smile) Deposit was charged automatically and confirmation sentautomatically.
2. receive email of second reservation: Deposit charged automatically and confirmation sent automatically
3. receive email of third reservation: Deposit charges automatically and confirmation sent automatically
4. Had to adjust third reservation as it was a return guest so I applied our 5% return guest discount to the reservation
5. Send out updated confirmation to reflect the discount.

The same process with SuperInn would have looked like this.

1. receive email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
2. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
3. punch in payment data into superinn
4. send confirmation email through superinn.
5. receive second email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
6. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
7. punch in payment data into superinn
8. send confirmation email through superinn.
9. receive third email notification of reservation received. email contains no details so I would have to login to Superinn
10. adjust superinn to reflect discount for return guest
11. punch in credit card info into credit card terminal
12. punch in payment data into superinn
13. send confirmation email through superinn.

So needless to say 5 steps vs 13 was pretty nice. And actually I was on vacation during this time so there would have been more steps with superinn. Sure I could get to it from any computer, but I couldn't get to my credit card terminal so I would have had to send temporary confirmations while away, then when I get home, run the three charges for the credit cards, then send a second set of confirmations to reflect the deposits being made.
I think at checkout it would be a similar kind of comparison. With Rezovation I swipe the card at whatever computer I am using and all the payment data is made. click a few things and type in any notes to make up for my bad memory. Then the credit card data will automatically delete itself after the transaction is completed (I have options on when). In Superinn I would have to swipe the card at my CC terminal, then enter the payment data into Superinn by hand, then delete all the cc data in superinn by hand in two different places and record any guest notes.
All in all there is a HUGE savings in innkeeper time just from these three reservations.....multiply that by the number of reservations you get in a year and it could be pretty significant ... I hope
.

I also should have been more clear on Webervations 1.0 vs. 2.0.
Webervations 1.0 is a complimentary product to GT, not really an alternative. There can be a compelling reason to use GT as your PMS, Webervations 1.0 as your website availability calendar/distribution if you so choose. However, that is not the case with 2.0. Webervations 2.0 is really meant to be a stand-alone product, not used along-side of GT. I can't think of a scenario where you would want to do that.
For starters - it would be expensive. We are planning on lowering the price of 2.0, but at its current retail - if you add-up that price plus GT, it just doesn't make sense when you can get GT on a basic service package and pay nothing to have Webervations 1.0 work with it... Second, 2.0 and GT have a lot of overlapping features that could get a little confusing and may not play nice together.
So essentially, you end up paying more for something that really doesn't get you any extra benefits and might end up causing some real headaches in the way the systems work. Our products are basically going to be structured like this:
Webervations 1.0 Stand-alone: same as you've always known it with greatly enhanced security protocols, data redundancy, some extra features
Webervations 1.0 + GT: same as above, but using GT as your PMS
Webervations 2.0: online PMS intended to be a full-fledged alternative to the Superinn's/Resnexus of the world (but is not there yet)
GT w/Rezo BE: nothing really changes - same as it is today - full-fledged pms/best of breed online booking engine/features/etc.
.

I think I understood that as well - that my choice is between Weberv 2.0 and GT/Weberv BE, not to use GT with Weberv 2.0. That, at least, is the choice I am weighing. Do you know if I go that route will all of my Weberv 2.0 data convert to GT? Sorry, if I should be asking this offline I will, but since we have a lot of Weberv users here it might be helpful information.
.

Honestly, I do not know at this point. I do know that we can get contact information on your guests (names, phone numbers, emails, all that stuff) - it is the rates/availability/past invoices/reservations that can cause problems. We have plans to put together what we are dubbing a "universal import tool..." but until we get some more comfort with it, I can't promise anything.

 

[JBanczak]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

 

[geminixo]

Ah - I see. Hmmm... we have an iphone here somewhere, let me take a look. Rendering that much info might be tough - let me check how well ours does..

Wow....that looks impressive!!! Does that mobile interface come with the 30 day demo, because I may be inclined to try it if it does!

 

[swirt]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

.

Wow, that's impressive. Especially from a potential guest point of view.
So to recap, you can view your own availability calendar in the same way a guest can. Guests can book online or you can book for them using that other interface.

 

[geminixo]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

.

Wow, that's impressive. Especially from a potential guest point of view.
So to recap, you can view your own availability calendar in the same way a guest can. Guests can book online or you can book for them using that other interface.
.

I am hoping though, that this interface can be strictly for admistrative purposes, right?...I am not confortable with online bookings for my establishment just yet. Just the ability to view my availability calendar through my iphone or other mobile device, and perhaps make a booking.
Rezovation seems to fit the bill though...I am very impressed. However, I noticed on your pictures that I can't see the reservations themselves (just the X's.) It would be helpful to be able to review the reservation to see if it could be moved to a similar (or upgraded,) to accomodate another booking. (For example, if I have a couple in a room with a queen for two nights, but I have a potential customer who needs that particular room for a week, I move the couple to one of my suites to accomodate the new booking. It's hard to make those judgement calls by looking only at those X's.

 

[swirt]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

.

Wow, that's impressive. Especially from a potential guest point of view.
So to recap, you can view your own availability calendar in the same way a guest can. Guests can book online or you can book for them using that other interface.
.

I am hoping though, that this interface can be strictly for admistrative purposes, right?...I am not confortable with online bookings for my establishment just yet. Just the ability to view my availability calendar through my iphone or other mobile device, and perhaps make a booking.
Rezovation seems to fit the bill though...I am very impressed. However, I noticed on your pictures that I can't see the reservations themselves (just the X's.) It would be helpful to be able to review the reservation to see if it could be moved to a similar (or upgraded,) to accomodate another booking. (For example, if I have a couple in a room with a queen for two nights, but I have a potential customer who needs that particular room for a week, I move the couple to one of my suites to accomodate the new booking. It's hard to make those judgement calls by looking only at those X's.
.

The views that John showed are from the potential guest view. They are the guest's side of the Booking Engine. If you didn't take reservations online that display would not exist.
SuperInn might be more along the line of what you are looking for, I know it is inaccessible from a Palm Treo ... not sure if it works from an iphone. However, it would be silly to pay all the monthly fee for superinn and then not take online reservations which is what it is primarilly built to do.

 

[swirt]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

.

Wow, that's impressive. Especially from a potential guest point of view.
So to recap, you can view your own availability calendar in the same way a guest can. Guests can book online or you can book for them using that other interface.
.

I am hoping though, that this interface can be strictly for admistrative purposes, right?...I am not confortable with online bookings for my establishment just yet. Just the ability to view my availability calendar through my iphone or other mobile device, and perhaps make a booking.
Rezovation seems to fit the bill though...I am very impressed. However, I noticed on your pictures that I can't see the reservations themselves (just the X's.) It would be helpful to be able to review the reservation to see if it could be moved to a similar (or upgraded,) to accomodate another booking. (For example, if I have a couple in a room with a queen for two nights, but I have a potential customer who needs that particular room for a week, I move the couple to one of my suites to accomodate the new booking. It's hard to make those judgement calls by looking only at those X's.
.

I don't have an iphone but I know there is VNC client for the iphone that apparently allows you to see and control your windows pc (where RezovationGT would be running). this might give you the access you need without having to pay for the booking engine.

 

[JBanczak]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

.

Wow, that's impressive. Especially from a potential guest point of view.
So to recap, you can view your own availability calendar in the same way a guest can. Guests can book online or you can book for them using that other interface.
.

I am hoping though, that this interface can be strictly for admistrative purposes, right?...I am not confortable with online bookings for my establishment just yet. Just the ability to view my availability calendar through my iphone or other mobile device, and perhaps make a booking.
Rezovation seems to fit the bill though...I am very impressed. However, I noticed on your pictures that I can't see the reservations themselves (just the X's.) It would be helpful to be able to review the reservation to see if it could be moved to a similar (or upgraded,) to accomodate another booking. (For example, if I have a couple in a room with a queen for two nights, but I have a potential customer who needs that particular room for a week, I move the couple to one of my suites to accomodate the new booking. It's hard to make those judgement calls by looking only at those X's.
.

Yes, you can make this available only for yourself if you are not comfortable with online reservations. You get a link to this availability calendar - but you do not have to put this link on your website. What you are seeing here is as Swirt described - it is what a consumer would see also.
In terms of seeing the actual reservations, then no, we don't have anything designed for the mobile application.
The use case we designed our original mobile app for, and the one that I think applies the most... is the case where you are not in front of a pc, and you get a phone call asking to make a reservation. You need to check availability, and easily book. That may not solve all of the things one may want to do via a mobile application, but it seemed to be the use case we heard from 99% of innkeepers that were interested in it.
The use case you mention, moving someone, is definitely an interesting one. I think a lot of that would depend on your knowledge of the room and of the guest. To design a mobile app where you could see that type of detail on guests, in a quick/easy booking screen that could be viewed while another guest is on the line would be challenging. Not that it wouldn't be handy, but from a design point of view that could be tricky.
Maybe there is somewhere in between though.... perhaps we could show a display where instead of the X, it just shows a number... and that is the number of guests? Perhaps even something that says 2/4 - where 2 is guests, 4 is capacity... Or perhaps even in the room column, we could put the number of beds (i.e. 2Q) and instead of the X, we put the number of guests in the rez? You would still likely have to book the "wrong" room via the handheld, and correct it all when you got in front of a pc... but at least you would have more information.
Just thinking out loud.

 

[JBanczak]

Ah - I see. Hmmm... we have an iphone here somewhere, let me take a look. Rendering that much info might be tough - let me check how well ours does..

Wow....that looks impressive!!! Does that mobile interface come with the 30 day demo, because I may be inclined to try it if it does!
.

Yes, it does. In fact, we have a special right now - 90 days, fully functionaly product, booking engine, etc. - you don't pay us until after 90 days if you decide you want to keep going, and of course after that it is only monthly fee, no software purchase.

 

[swirt]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

.

Wow, that's impressive. Especially from a potential guest point of view.
So to recap, you can view your own availability calendar in the same way a guest can. Guests can book online or you can book for them using that other interface.
.

I am hoping though, that this interface can be strictly for admistrative purposes, right?...I am not confortable with online bookings for my establishment just yet. Just the ability to view my availability calendar through my iphone or other mobile device, and perhaps make a booking.
Rezovation seems to fit the bill though...I am very impressed. However, I noticed on your pictures that I can't see the reservations themselves (just the X's.) It would be helpful to be able to review the reservation to see if it could be moved to a similar (or upgraded,) to accomodate another booking. (For example, if I have a couple in a room with a queen for two nights, but I have a potential customer who needs that particular room for a week, I move the couple to one of my suites to accomodate the new booking. It's hard to make those judgement calls by looking only at those X's.
.

Yes, you can make this available only for yourself if you are not comfortable with online reservations. You get a link to this availability calendar - but you do not have to put this link on your website. What you are seeing here is as Swirt described - it is what a consumer would see also.
In terms of seeing the actual reservations, then no, we don't have anything designed for the mobile application.
The use case we designed our original mobile app for, and the one that I think applies the most... is the case where you are not in front of a pc, and you get a phone call asking to make a reservation. You need to check availability, and easily book. That may not solve all of the things one may want to do via a mobile application, but it seemed to be the use case we heard from 99% of innkeepers that were interested in it.
The use case you mention, moving someone, is definitely an interesting one. I think a lot of that would depend on your knowledge of the room and of the guest. To design a mobile app where you could see that type of detail on guests, in a quick/easy booking screen that could be viewed while another guest is on the line would be challenging. Not that it wouldn't be handy, but from a design point of view that could be tricky.
Maybe there is somewhere in between though.... perhaps we could show a display where instead of the X, it just shows a number... and that is the number of guests? Perhaps even something that says 2/4 - where 2 is guests, 4 is capacity... Or perhaps even in the room column, we could put the number of beds (i.e. 2Q) and instead of the X, we put the number of guests in the rez? You would still likely have to book the "wrong" room via the handheld, and correct it all when you got in front of a pc... but at least you would have more information.
Just thinking out loud.
.

Probably more important than showing how many in the rooms would be to show by use of colored blocks to show weather the same person has it for 3 days or if there are 3 1-nighters.

 

[geminixo]

Thanks, I appreciate that feedback. I know I get a little over-zealous sometimes. I really do believe in the product and am proud of the work people have done here - so sometimes it is hard to hold back!.

I wonder with this whole mobile phone, and iphone craze....is anyone releasing booking software for them?
I pondered this the other day as I was looking at my iPhone.....wouldn't it be great if I could look a my reservation calender while on the road?
I don't think I would like the phone to do anything else (reports or POS,) but simply the ability to sync with my reservation database over 3G and view the calendar for some quick bookings....that would be my dream...an absolute dream.
.

We've had that for two years actually. Comes with every package we have at no extra charge. It is the Reo Mobile BE. You can see info here:
http://www.rezovation.com/booking_engine_mobile.html
I'm happy to go into more details here as well. It can be very handy. Allows the innkeeper to see availability, rates, book rez from most mobile phones. It can even be setup for consumers to book off your website if you have that type of sophistication.
.

I saw that a while ago actually....but it seems as though I can only poll for a date, and see the rooms available.
Is there a way to see a calendar on the iphone with that software?
.

Actually, the iphone works shockingly well with the existing software - both the availability calendar and the entire booking process (our AC leads right into a booking). I just tried it out, even took a screen shot of the availability calendar. Checked it on a Google Android phone and it worked well, I'm guessing it should be fine on a Blackberry Storm and the Samsung device as well since they are similar screen size and resolution. In fact, the entire booking process including packaging worked pretty easily. I actually feel rather stupid for not trying this and knowing it already.
I have some screen shots right from the iphone - see below. They are not fuzzy like this on the iphone screen. I took a screenshot of the ipod and emailed it to my work about, then another screenshot of that and then uploaded it here:

.

Wow, that's impressive. Especially from a potential guest point of view.
So to recap, you can view your own availability calendar in the same way a guest can. Guests can book online or you can book for them using that other interface.
.

I am hoping though, that this interface can be strictly for admistrative purposes, right?...I am not confortable with online bookings for my establishment just yet. Just the ability to view my availability calendar through my iphone or other mobile device, and perhaps make a booking.
Rezovation seems to fit the bill though...I am very impressed. However, I noticed on your pictures that I can't see the reservations themselves (just the X's.) It would be helpful to be able to review the reservation to see if it could be moved to a similar (or upgraded,) to accomodate another booking. (For example, if I have a couple in a room with a queen for two nights, but I have a potential customer who needs that particular room for a week, I move the couple to one of my suites to accomodate the new booking. It's hard to make those judgement calls by looking only at those X's.
.

Yes, you can make this available only for yourself if you are not comfortable with online reservations. You get a link to this availability calendar - but you do not have to put this link on your website. What you are seeing here is as Swirt described - it is what a consumer would see also.
In terms of seeing the actual reservations, then no, we don't have anything designed for the mobile application.
The use case we designed our original mobile app for, and the one that I think applies the most... is the case where you are not in front of a pc, and you get a phone call asking to make a reservation. You need to check availability, and easily book. That may not solve all of the things one may want to do via a mobile application, but it seemed to be the use case we heard from 99% of innkeepers that were interested in it.
The use case you mention, moving someone, is definitely an interesting one. I think a lot of that would depend on your knowledge of the room and of the guest. To design a mobile app where you could see that type of detail on guests, in a quick/easy booking screen that could be viewed while another guest is on the line would be challenging. Not that it wouldn't be handy, but from a design point of view that could be tricky.
Maybe there is somewhere in between though.... perhaps we could show a display where instead of the X, it just shows a number... and that is the number of guests? Perhaps even something that says 2/4 - where 2 is guests, 4 is capacity... Or perhaps even in the room column, we could put the number of beds (i.e. 2Q) and instead of the X, we put the number of guests in the rez? You would still likely have to book the "wrong" room via the handheld, and correct it all when you got in front of a pc... but at least you would have more information.
Just thinking out loud.
.

Probably more important than showing how many in the rooms would be to show by use of colored blocks to show weather the same person has it for 3 days or if there are 3 1-nighters.
.

Swirt has is bang on. At least, if we could see that a trail of 5 X's meant one 3 night reservation and a two nighter...or a 4 nighter and a 1 nighter...at least the administrator would be able to see the difference.
I am not going to pretend to be a programmer, but if you managed to figure out how to divide the Xs into different reservation pieces...then couldn't you link those divisions to the reservations? It order to divide the Xs, you're going to have to make another query to the Database anyways. If the user taps a reservation piece, you simply query the reservation table and take out the appropriate data.