Escapia Training Guide 3: Reservations

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Class Prerequisites: Completion of setup Training Session 2: Business Rules, and full configuration of all deposit policies, charge templates, seasons and rates.

Table of Contents Escapia Training Guide 3: Reservations

Create Customer Contacts …………………………………………………………….…… 3 Reservation Grid Overview ………………………………………………………………... 3 Quick Quote ……………………………………………………………………………… 6 Create Reservation ………………………………………………………………………….. 8 Quick Quote ……………………………………………………………………………… 8 New Reservation (Res Grid) …………………………………………………………. 10 New Reservation Wizard ……………………………………………………………… 13

Find Reservation ……………………………………………………………………………. 15 Reservation Grid ……………………………………………………………………….. 15 Find Reservation Screen ……………………………………………………………… 17 Open Reservation …………………………………………………………………………... 18 Reservation Tab ………………………………………………………………………... 18 Booking(s) Tab ………………………………………………………………………….. 20 Folio Tab …………………………………………………………………………………. 23 Correspondence Tab ………………………………………………………………….. 27 Transactions Tab ……………………………………………………………………….. 28 History Tab ………………………………………………………………………………. 30

Completion Tasks …………………………………………………………………………… 31

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Reservations In this session, all of the information covered in the previous two sessions comes together. You will learn to retrieve a Quick Quoote, create reservations, take payments, and gain an understanding of the Reservation Grid.

IMPORTANT: Class Prerequisites: Completion of setup training session 2 and 3, and full configuration of all deposit policies, charge templates, seasons and rates.

Part 1. Enter Customers There are 3 main ways to enter Customer Contacts. Entering contacts is covered in depth in the Session 1 setup guide in the Owner Contact Record section. The process for adding and/or importing Customers is very much the same. You will find a very brief overview of each method for entering Customers below: Overview of the three methods:

1. With new Reservation: When entering a reservation (steps in following sections) you will have the opportunity to create a new Customer Contact, or associate the Reservation with an existing Contact Record.

2. Bulk Upload: To download the Customer Bulk Upload spreadsheet, go to:

Contacts> Upload Contacts> Upload Customers. Fill in the required fields on the spreadsheet, designated in bold type, save the spreadsheet (keeping its name), and once the spreadsheet is filled out, return to the Bulk Upload screen to import the spreadsheet.

3. New Contact: Go to: Contacts> New Contacts> New Customer, follow the steps in the New

Contact Wizard to enter Customer Details and create a new Contact Record. Part 2. Reservation Grid Overview The Reservation Grid is where you can go to see unit availability at a glance. Existing Reservations and Holds show on the Reservation Grid as dates that are blocked out in different colors, depending on their payment status.Use the Year, Month, and Week links at the bottom of the screen to view availability during different dates. To view the Reservation Grid go to: Reservations> Reservation Grid

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When you first navigate to the Reservation Grid, you will see a list of units you have entered, and an empty calendar.

We will discuss the top, gray, area that is used to perform searches first. The filter options at the top of the Reservation Grid allow you to locate specific units based on your search criteria.

Below is a list of Reservation Grid Filters and their explanations.

Office: If you have Units organized into multiple Offices, you can choose an office from

the Office dropdown to return only units in the specified office in your search results. .

Bedrooms: You can search for a specific number of bedrooms, or filter out units that have less than, or greater than a specific number of bedrooms by adjusting the less than/ greater than/ equal to filter.

Bathrooms: You have the ability to search for units with a specific number of baths, or to

filter out units that have less than or greater than a specific number of bedrooms.

Category 1: (Area, in the example above) This corresponds to Category 1, setup in the Locations portion of Session 1. Selecting an Option from Category 1 will return only units that have the chosen Option selected under the Unit Details tab.

Category 2: (View, in this example) Corresponds to Location Category 2.

Category 3: (Hot Tub, in the above example) Corresponds to Location Category 3.

First Night: Select a date in this field to filter by availability on a given date. Use

independently if stay dates are flexible, or use in conjunction with Nights and Last Night filters.

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Nights: Number of nights of the guest’s requested stay.

Last Night: Last night of the stay. Use independently if stays dates are flexible, or in conjunction with Nights and First Night.

Housekeeping Status: If you use Housekeeping, you can search by Housekeeping

Status (example: Clean, Not Clean, Inspected, etc).

Tip: If you do not see a filter that you wish to use in Reservation Grid searches, you may want to considercreating custom Amenity Groups. Amenity Groups allow you to create search filters for use on theReservation Grid. This session will not cover this option, however, you can learn more by clicking here to view the Advanced Grid Filter documentation. Next, we will discuss the blue portion situated just below the Search Filters.

The fields in this section correspond to the fields you will see in Quick Quote, you will receive more information on the Quick Quote feature in Part 2. By entering a filter here, you are effectively changing the quotes you will receive when highlighting dates on the Reservation Grid.

Definitions and explanations:

Plan: Pricing Plan that is to be used to determine the rate that is quoted. The default will be your Baseline Pricing Plan. Some companies also elect to create an “In House” Pricing Plan that allows their reservationists to give a discounted rate to guests who call or walk in.

Discount: If you wish to apply a discount to the rate quote, you have the option to enter a

discount in this field using either $ or % for the calculation.

Type: Reservation Type. Your rates may vary by Reservation Type. If you select a specific Reservation Type here, only the rate rules corresponding to that type will apply.

Adults, Children, Free: If your rates change based on the number of guests, you can

enter a number of guests here for the quote to take into consideration.

Pets: If your rate rules change based on number of pets, you can add pets here, for the quote to update based on number of pets.

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Part 2. Quick Quote To retrieve a Quick Quote, click on a date (the start date) on the Reservation Grid and drag your cursor to the end date. The date range will be highlighted in blue.

Right click and choose Quick Quote from the pop­up menu.

This will open the Quick Quote dialog box.

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The Quick Quote window has a great deal of information. The top portion contains all of the pricing information covered in the previous section, please see the definitions in the previous section for more details. You will also see the Unit Code and Friendly Name in the upper portion. From here, you can choose to enter a discount, update the number of guests, change number of nights, or select a different Reservation Type. Once you perform any of these actions, click the Recalculate button to retrieve a new total based on the changes. The Estimates section shows the total of Rent and all charges. By clicking on any of the blue links, you can view a list of itemized charges.

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FAQ: Can you send out Quick Quotes in an email? It is not possible to email Quick Quotes. However, if you elect to use the Lead Management System(LMS), you can retrieve and email out quotes via LMS. If you wish to learn more about the free Escapia Lead Management System, click here for an overview. There are several other documentson Customer Home that cover Lead Management as well.

Part 3. Enter a Reservation Now that you have set up Units, Owner Contracts, and Rates, and have a basic familiarity with the Reservation Grid, it’s time to enter Reservations. There are a few ways to enter Reservations; we will look at 3 different methods here: Method 1: Quick Quote

Follow the steps to generate a Quick Quote and verify that the Charges and Rate are accurate. Next, click the Reserve button at the bottom of the Quick Quote window. This will take you to the Customer Search. Type in a Customer name and click Find. The Customer Search will look for similar contacts, if none exist with the name you enter, you will have the option to create a new contact.

If you wish to select an existing Customer, click the Select button next to their record. If you wish to create a new Customer Contact, click the New button at the bottom of the list, which will take you through the steps to input a new Customer Contact.

After clicking Select, or entering a New Contact, you will have the opportunity to verify and update the Customer Details. Click the + sign next to Customer Payment account to expand the section. This is where you will enter Credit Card information. Highlight “add new payment account” and enter the card details.

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If you wish to enter any internal notes that will be saved to the Contact Record, click on Customer Notes, and enter notes in this field.

Click on the + sign next to Reservation Details to select a Source Category and Subcategory (both of which are required in order to complete the Reservation).

Verify that the information you have entered is accurate and click Save & Complete.

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On the next screen, you will see a success message, and have the opportunity to open the Reservation (we will cover the Open Reservation section in Part 5).

Method 2: Reservation Grid

Highlight the desired dates next to the appropriate Unit on the Reservation Grid, right click and choose New Reservation Wizard, followed by selecting the Reservation Type you wish to input.

This will take you to step 1 of the New Reservation Wizard. As before, type in the guest name and click Find.

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If the contact already exists in your system, you will again have the option to Select the contact from a list.

After you click Select, or enter a new contact name, you will be taken to Step 2 of the New Reservation Wizard, where you verify the Booking Dates, Unit and Rate.

Click Next, to move on to Step 3 where you will verify Reservation Details.

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Click Next again, to verify and/or update the Customer Details in Step 4.

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And, finally, click Save and Complete to confirm the Reservation. This, again, will take you to a Success message, where you have the option to open and view the Reservation.

Method 3: New Reservation Wizard

Navigate to Reservations> New Reservation As with the other 2 methods, enter a Name and Reservation Type in Step 1.

In Step 2, you have the opportunity to select Search Filters and Specific Dates.

Once you have filled in all Search Fields as needed, click Search, to bring up a list of available Units.

Click Select next to the desired Unit, to move on to Step 3.

On the next page, you have the opportunity to confirm the chosen Dates, Unit, and Rate. Click Next to continue to Step 3.

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Once again, click Next.

In Step 3, you have the opportunity to verify Reservation Details.

Once the Reservation Details are verified, click Next one last time to verify the Customer Details.

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Click Save and Complete to confirm the Reservation.

Part 4. Find Reservation Now that you have entered Reservations, there are a few ways locate them in the Escapia software.. Method 1: On the Reservation Grid If you know the unit and dates in which the Reservation takes place, you can locate and access the Reservation from the Reservation Grid.

Right Click on a Reservation and choose Open Reservation, to navigate to the Open Reservation screen.

Tip: You may notice, in the above screenshot, that the Reservations are different colors and are

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represented by different letters. To see examples of each color, letter and what they mean, click on the link at the top right of the grid that says Show Legend.

The Legend allows you to create different Reservation and Hold scenarios and determine what they will look like on the Reservation Grid.

The four color blocks you will see on the Reservation Grid are: Red: Unpaid Reservation

Green: Fully paid Reservation

Yellow: Partially paid Reservation

Gray: Hold

Method 2: Find Reservation Go to: Reservations> Find Reservation

Enter search criteria in as many, or as few of the search fields as you wish. Click Search

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In the below example, we have chosen to search for all Reservations that have bookings beginning in February of 2014.

The search has returned all Reservations that have any Bookings with a start date in February. Simply click on a Reservation to Open it. (You may notice that you have the option create a New Reservation here as well.) Part 5. Open Reservation From the Open Reservation screen, you can perform many tasks, such as updating charges, taking payments, sending Reservation Correspondence, etc.

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Below is an overview of each tab and the operations you can perform from each. 1. Reservation Tab:

The Reservation tab (shown in the above screenshot) contains information specific to the Reservation. In the header, you will find information on Payment Status, Reservation Type, Processing Status, who created the Reservation, Reservation Number, etc.

The next section contains Customer Details.

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You have the ability to update the Reservation Name up until Revenue is processed (Revenue Processing will be covered in your next training session).

You have the ability to change the Reservation Type, and Travel Insurance Status.

If you wish to change the Customer on the Reservation, remember to use the Change Customer search box, rather than clicking on the Customer Contact record (highlighted in blue).

Beneath the Reservation Details are the Source, Travel Agents, and Reservation Notes.

a. The Source Category and Subcategory indicate the Reservation’s origin.

b. In the Travel Agents section, you have the option to add a Travel Agent and their commission by clicking +Add Travel Agent.

c. In the Reservation Notes field, you can enter any notes specific to the Reservation.

Note that this information can be shown on Booking and Housekeeping reports, so you may not wish to save any confidential information here.

d. The 5 fields to the right have corresponding Correspondence Tags, which means

that any information entered here can be included in Guest Correspondence if the appropriate Tags are included in your Correspondence Templates. You can

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view or update Correspondence Templates under Admin> Setup> Correspondence.

2. Booking Tab:

The Booking tab contains Unit, Date and Pricing information. The top portion contains guest specific information, Check In and Check Out times, Processing and Payment status, etc.

Just beneath the header information, you will find a calendar and pricing breakdown. The highlighted dates in the Calendar are the Booking Dates.

Click on the Open button to view the Open Booking window, which contains all of the Quick Quote filters from previous steps, and much more.

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The top portion contains Unit information and Date information, as well as Pricing details. From here you can manage dates, enter a discount, change tax options, update the number of guests, and update the rate.

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Just beneath the Rate breakdown, you will find the breakdown of Charges and the Booking Total.

You can choose to update or remove any of the charges by clicking the radio button next to it and clicking Override. Click the blue Taxes link to view a list of all taxable fees and the total taxes for each.

Scroll down a little further and click the + sign next to Notes

Enter Booking specific notes into any of the Note fields at left. The two Correspondence Notes have corresponding tags available in the Correspondence Editor, so you can enter information in either field and have the ability to send it to the guest.

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The Housekeeping Note will be available in the Housekeeping Schedule Report if you are using Advanced Housekeeping Scheduling (click here to learn more about Advanced Housekeeping). Use this field if you wish to leave Booking specific notes for your Housekeepers. To the right, you will see the Deposit Schedule (setup in Session 2), which indicates when payments are due. In the next section, you can view Owner Contract charges and Guest Details.

The Contract Charges pull from the fees you setup in the Owner Contract, based on what you learned in Session 1. If the Check­In or Check­Out time for a Booking will differ from the Unit’s usual required check­in/out time, you can update this setting in the Guest Details. To enter a list of Registered Guests, click the Add button in the Guest Details section to input names and Email Addresses. After making changes in the Open Booking window, click the Save button. 3. Folio Tab:

The Folio tab contains a list of all debits and credits to a Reservation and its Deposits.

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As with previous tabs, the header in the Folio contains a great deal of information.

The Payment Status is indicated by the color in the top left corner.

Red: Unpaid Green: Fully paid Yellow: Partially paid Blue: Overpaid

Column 1 shows Folio number, Reservation Name, Creation Date, and Balance Due

Column 2 shows Total Deposits due (remember the Deposit Schedule?) and the amount

that is due today.

Column 3 show payments and credits to the Folio.

Column 4 shows debits to the Folio.

Just beneath the header, you will find four Credit and Debit options:

Payment: Receive a Payment from the guest. There are 3 allowed methods:

Check, Cash, and Credit Card. Select a Payment Type, fill in the Required fields, indicated in bold, and Save.

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Credit: This is typically a credit from the owner or business. A Folio Credit type Journal Document Template must be in place in order to use this option. These can cover a variety of scenarios, from Owners reimbursing a guest for Construction on a unit, to Business reimbursing the guest, and anything in between.

Refund: Refund the amount due to the guest from the Folio (triggered by overpayment of the folio, or by a credit to the folio), or Security Deposit (on it’s refund date as defined in your Deposit Policies).

Choose a Refund Method and enter any required information for that method. Place a checkmark next to either the Folio or Security Deposit, depending on which is to be refunded. Place a checkmark next to Pay Now. Click the Generate Refund Button

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Charge: With the proper Journal Document Templates in place, you have the option to charge either the Folio or Security Deposit. (Journal Document Templates are covered in more detail in the packet for Session 2)

Select a Charge Type (either Folio or Security Deposit) Fill in the required fields, indicated in bold, and any other fields as needed. Click on Post Charge

In the below screenshot, you can see how all 4 of the Credit and Debit options will look on the Folio, and how they impact the Folio Balance:

In the Folio, Posted charges will appear in black, and a Journal Entry number will be assigned. Unposted charges will show in gray with n/a for the Journal Document.

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The Deposits section will display payments due according to your Deposit Policies (which should be setup based on the Deposit Policies portion Session 2).

You will be able to see a breakdown of which payments have been made, and which are still outstanding. 4. Correspondence Tab: The Correspondence tab displays a list of all Correspondence sent out from the Reservation, who generated the Correspondence, and which method was used. The first time you navigate to the Correspondence tab, if no Correspondence has been sent, the list will be empty.

Here, you also have the ability to Generate and send new Reservation Correspondence, by clicking on +New Correspondence.

Clicking on +New Correspondence will take you to the Send Reservation

Correspondence page.

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Choose the Delivery Method If emailing, you also have the option to enter a Subject and Message, as well as CC and BCC other recipients ­ in the Correspondence Template itself, you also have the option to set a Default Subject Line and Message.

Select a Correspondence Set and Template Place a checkmark next to Preview Before Sending

Click

Since we have selected to Preview and edit the Correspondence prior to sending, we’ll be taken to a Preview of the Correspondence the guest is receiving after clicking Save & Send.

Note: For more information on creating and managing Correspondence Templates, please click here to view our Correspondence Documentation.

5. Transactions tab:

Under the Transactions tab, you will find a history of all Transactions associated with the folio. This can include, but is not limited to: Booking Charges, Folio Charges, Booking Payments, Management Fees (once Revenue is processed), etc.

Use the search filters to locate specific transactions. This feature is particularly useful in the case that there are multiple pages of transactions.

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6. History: If you have Change Log (Audit) enabled, and have selected Reservation changes as fields to be tracked, you will see a list of all changes made to a particular Reservation under the History tab.

Change Log is a free module used for tracking changes in your software. If you do not have Change

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Log enabled, we strongly recommend enabling this feature. Please send an email to support@escapia.com, include your company name in the subject line, and in the body of the email write something like “Please enable change log.” If you would like more information on Change Log prior to having it enabled, click here to view the Change Log documentation.

This concludes the steps covered in Training Session 3: Reservations. If you have questions please contact Escapia Support at 1­877­238­2287 ext. 2, or email support@escapia.com . Once you have completed all tasks outlined on the following page, and are ready to schedule your next training session please contact implementation@escapia.com

Completion Tasks for Session 3: Reservations Prior to scheduling your next training session, it is essential that you complete all of the following items covered in this document:

Enter current and future reservations

Enter all reservation payments for a minimum of the current month

Complete setup of Correspondence Templates. Resources:

For access to an online database of frequently asked questions, technical support articles, tutorials, and videos, the Escapia Support Home is available via the Escapia Customer Home page or directly at: http://support.homeawaysoftware.com/escapia

The Escapia Support Team can be reached by phone or electronically using the Contact Us button at the bottom of the Support Home page above.

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