Hospitality with a System

protel PMS

protel Front Office

User Manual

www.protel.net Unauthorized distribution not permitted

protel Front Office User Manual

© protel hotelsoftware GmbH. All rights reserved.

Editor: Martin Drenkelfort, Technical Communication and Public Relations Dept.

protel hotelsoftware and protel Front Office are proprietary and registered trademarks. Further information about protel
hotel software products can be found on our website at www.protel.net.
protel hotelsoftware GmbH
Europaplatz 8
44269 Dortmund Germany
T: +49 (0) 231 91593 0
F: +49 (0) 231 91593 999
[email protected]

The protel hotel management software and the documentation were created and verified with utmost care and to the best
of our knowledge. protel hotelsoftware GmbH does not take any responsibility, neither for eventual damage caused by the
use of the software or its documentation, nor for eventual mistakes that may be contained in the manual or in the software.
protel hotelsoftware GmbH does not provide any guarantee with regards to this documentation and rejects guarantees
regarding the fitness or suitability for a specific purpose. Moreover, no guarantee is provided, unless expressively given in
writing, for the compatibility of the software with other programs or hardware components. These conditions apply – even
without prior notice – as well on eventual updates or changes.
protel hotelsoftware GmbH reserves the right to make alterations to this document or to withdraw it at any time and without
prior notice. Product names are registered trademarks and are the property of the respective holders of the rights and are
governed by the statutory regulations. The use of common names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws
and regulations and therefore free for general use.
This documentation may not be copied partially or as a whole, nor be reproduced or distributed by any other means, without
prior written approval given by protel hotelsoftware GmbH.

Document version: 1.0 | February 20, 2014

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protel Front Office - User Manual

Table of Contents
About this manual .........................................................................................................................7
Preface ...........................................................................................................................................7
Elements and icons used ................................................................................................................7
Further information .......................................................................................................................8
Hints and tips ................................................................................................................................9
Toolbar ...........................................................................................................................................9
Function keys ...............................................................................................................................10
Working with windows ................................................................................................................11
Hotel selection .............................................................................................................................11
Standard buttons .........................................................................................................................11
Working with tables .....................................................................................................................12
Profile tabs ...................................................................................................................................14
Context menu...............................................................................................................................15
Selecting multiple items ...............................................................................................................15
Drag & Drop .................................................................................................................................16
Entering a date .............................................................................................................................16
Sticky notes ..................................................................................................................................17
Search bar ....................................................................................................................................17
Local text fields ............................................................................................................................18
The Navigator ............................................................................................................................. 19
Navigator structure ......................................................................................................................19
Pane - Guest .................................................................................................................................20
Pane - Reservation .......................................................................................................................22
Pane - Invoice ...............................................................................................................................25
Pane - Messages...........................................................................................................................28
DC Menu.......................................................................................................................................30
Reservation history ......................................................................................................................33
Reservation texts .........................................................................................................................34
Change name (assign to another guest) ......................................................................................36
Creating sharers ...........................................................................................................................36
Guest history ................................................................................................................................36
More... button ..............................................................................................................................38
Group members/Group master ...................................................................................................64
IFC settings ...................................................................................................................................66

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Reservation ................................................................................................................................. 67
The Reservation dialog box ..........................................................................................................67
Finding and creating a reservation ..............................................................................................75
Private reservation .......................................................................................................................76
Company reservation ...................................................................................................................77
Group reservation ........................................................................................................................77
Travel agent reservation ..............................................................................................................90
Source reservation .......................................................................................................................90
Sharer reservation........................................................................................................................90
Sales enquiry ................................................................................................................................95
Room allocation .........................................................................................................................100
Rooms out of service..................................................................................................................103
Block/unblock rooms .................................................................................................................104
Hurdle rates................................................................................................................................107
Rate availability ..........................................................................................................................107
Maintain Allocations ..................................................................................................................114
Overbooking ...............................................................................................................................123
HIS Wellness ...............................................................................................................................124
Distribution channel settings .....................................................................................................124
Cash register ............................................................................................................................. 125
Cash register overview ...............................................................................................................125
Logging in to a cash register.......................................................................................................126
Invoices ......................................................................................................................................127
Chance Sales...............................................................................................................................142
Posting charges ..........................................................................................................................143
Vouchers ....................................................................................................................................144
Cash Register Posting .................................................................................................................145
Check / Currency Exchange ........................................................................................................146
Exchange rates ...........................................................................................................................148
Cash Register Closure .................................................................................................................149
Deposits to be paid ....................................................................................................................151
Paid out receipts ........................................................................................................................152
Invoice History ...........................................................................................................................154
Accounts receivable ...................................................................................................................157
Batch Invoices (SQL only) ...........................................................................................................168

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Reports ..................................................................................................................................... 169

Arrivals report ............................................................................................................................169
In-house list ................................................................................................................................173
Departures report ......................................................................................................................175
Messages ....................................................................................................................................178
Traces .........................................................................................................................................180
Rentable objects ........................................................................................................................181
Phone numbers ..........................................................................................................................183
Balances .....................................................................................................................................184
Reservations ...............................................................................................................................186
No shows ....................................................................................................................................192
Meal plan ...................................................................................................................................193
Room type plan (F2) ...................................................................................................................195
Room plan (F3) ...........................................................................................................................203
Available rooms..........................................................................................................................212
Forecasting reports ....................................................................................................................213
Hotel status ................................................................................................................................214
Lost + Found ...............................................................................................................................215
External organizer ......................................................................................................................220
Housekeeping.............................................................................................................................221
Room status ...............................................................................................................................230
Room discrepancy ......................................................................................................................231
Administration of cots................................................................................................................232
Reservations on the book ..........................................................................................................234
Office ........................................................................................................................................ 235
Internal Reporting ......................................................................................................................235
Report spooler ...........................................................................................................................237
Manager spooler ........................................................................................................................237
Graphic module ..........................................................................................................................238
Commission clearing ..................................................................................................................239
Word processor..........................................................................................................................243
Editing templates .......................................................................................................................244
Internal word processor .............................................................................................................246
Information book .......................................................................................................................247
End of day...................................................................................................................................250

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Options ..................................................................................................................................... 253

Printer ........................................................................................................................................253
User logoff ..................................................................................................................................253
User settings...............................................................................................................................253
System data ................................................................................................................................254
Reload system data ....................................................................................................................254
Active sessions ...........................................................................................................................254
Wake-up call management ........................................................................................................255
PBX protocol...............................................................................................................................257
User-defined values - day/month ..............................................................................................257
Entering a move .........................................................................................................................257
MPE hotel selection ...................................................................................................................258
SQL Editor ...................................................................................................................................259
Language ....................................................................................................................................259
Guest profile ............................................................................................................................. 261
Searching guest profiles .............................................................................................................262
Guest profile tabs .......................................................................................................................265
PCI ..............................................................................................................................................297
My profiles (SPE & MPE only) ....................................................................................................298
File Export/Mail Merge ..............................................................................................................299
Mail Merge History ....................................................................................................................307
Headquarter Link........................................................................................................................307
Profile Maintenance ...................................................................................................................308
protel Match & Merge ...............................................................................................................309
MS Outlook Synchronisation......................................................................................................310
Import MS Outlook Email...........................................................................................................311
Add-Ons .................................................................................................................................... 313
Daily Rates ..................................................................................................................................313
Index ........................................................................................................................................ 319

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protel Front Office - User Manual | About this manual

About this manual

This chapter provides general information about using this manual.

Preface
Our protel hotel management systems keep evolving with the growing needs of our clients. Despite their
complexity, however, they remain highly flexible and adaptable at the core. In fact, our software solutions are as
unique and individual as the requirements of the companies that use them. This makes it extremely difficult to
provide a manual that is perfectly “tailored” to the needs of each and every hotel.
While we took great care to explain all features of the software in detail, the individual steps and workflows may
vary across hotels depending on their company structure and specific configuration of the software. It should
therefore be noted that both the online help and this manual are not intended as a replacement for
comprehensive on-site user training.
Should you notice that the described procedure does not coincide with what you see, you may not be using the
latest version of the manual. In this case please look at the version number and date of the manual. You can find
these informations in the imprint and the footers. Questions or suggestions are also always welcome: If you are
sure that you are using the latest version and still cannot find certain information or find the descriptions to be
unclear, please write to [email protected].

Elements and icons used

Icon Description

A note that provides important background information

Please note: Important!

Associated topics / additional information

Refers to available user rights

Indicates additional settings to expand or amend a feature

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Further information

protel manuals & documents

Further documents about protel can be provided upon request. Please contact your protel Partner.
Documents about software updates can be accessed directly in the protel menu “Help > About protel > Internet
Update > Read Update Information”. The online help system also includes a continuously growing amount of
additional information.

Support
Please note that this manual will not be able to answer all of your questions thoroughly. If you need any support,
please feel free to contact your local protel Partner or [email protected].

protel Academy
protel’s property management software is a powerful tool with an enormous range of functions. As with every
software, the more you are familiar with it, the more you will benefit from it. Although hotel software from protel
is fairly self-explanatory, a training session is recommended to get the most out of the hospitality system,
regardless if you are working with protel online or protel on-premises solution or if you are a beginner or an
advanced protel user.
protel training programs for hospitality industry members cover the entire spectrum of your daily routine at the
front office including tips and tricks to get things done more efficiently.

protel Individualized Training

protel offers training sessions to suit your every need. If you are interested in an individualized training for you or
your team, please contact us at [email protected] or your local protel Partner.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Hints and tips

Hints and tips

Toolbar

The toolbar provides quick access to the most frequently used features. Click a toolbar icon to open the
respective function. All commands that are accessible through an icon can also be selected using the
corresponding menu items.
Shows the interface status.
Opens the Room type plan.
Opens the Room plan.
Opens the List of available rooms.
If room plan is open: Checks in the highlighted reservations.
Otherwise: Opens the Arrivals list.
If room plan is open: Checks out the highlighted reservations.
Otherwise: Opens the Arrivals list.
Opens the Arrivals list (green).
Opens the Departures list (red).
Opens the In-house list (yellow).
Opens the Reservations list (blue).
Opens the Add-on modules (SQL only).
Opens the notepad.
Opens the external calendar.
Assigns a printer.
Opens the Log in dialog box.
Disables the cash register.
Opens the Information book.
Deletes a (temporary) reservation.
Completes a booking in room plan and room type plan.
Opens a manual SQL query (SQL only).
protel on Twitter: Opens the protel Twitter page.
protel on Facebook: Opens the protel Facebook fan page.

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NOTE:
You can create additional shortcuts underneath the toolbar to quickly access other frequently used features.
If you need help with setting up a customized menu and toolbar, please do not hesitate to contact our support
team.

Function keys
You can use the function keys to open the following windows and dialog boxes at any time during your work:

F1 Accesses the help for the current dialog box.

F2 Opens the Room type plan.
F3 Opens the Room plan.
SHIFT+F3 Opens the event plan (only if Banquet module is active).
F4 If room plan is open: Checks in the reservations highlighted in the room plan.
Otherwise: Opens the Arrivals list for the current day.
F5 If room plan is open: Checks out the reservations highlighted in the room plan.
Otherwise: Open the departures list for the current day.
SHIFT+F5 Opens the Information book.
F6 Opens the Arrivals list.
SHIFT+F6 Opens the “Traces overview.”
F7 Opens the Departures list.
SHIFT+F7 Opens the media overview for the day that corresponds to the system date.
(Only if Banquet module is active.)
F8 Opens the In-house list.
SHIFT+F8 Opens the banquet enquiry dialog box.
(Only if Banquet module is active.)
SHIFT+F9 Opens the Reservation list.
F10 Highlights the Reservation option on the menu bar. You can now use the arrow keys to browse
through the menus.
F11 Opens the Sales enquiry screen.
F12 Opens the Room type plan in view-only mode.
Note: Reservations cannot be made in view-only mode.
SHIFT+F12 Opens the list of available rooms.
CTRL+F5 Logs off the current user (for version 2008.12.201 and higher).

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Working with windows

The Window menu provides the following options:

Cascade Arrange all open protel windows (e.g. Room type and Room plan) so they overlap.
Tile horizontally Arrange all open protel windows as non-overlapping tiles.
Tile vertically Arrange all open protel windows as non-overlapping tiles.
Arrange icons Arrange icons at the bottom left of the screen.
Close all Close all open windows.
Minimize all Minimize all open windows and reduce them to icons.
Close PROTEL Exit protel HMS.
session

Hotel selection
You are likely to come across the Hotel pull-down list frequently during your work:

This dialog box assigns the respective feature to a specific hotel. It is only active in protel MPE.

Standard buttons
The following standard buttons appear in most dialog boxes. They always have the same functions and are
therefore not explained separately in the individual help topics.

[OK] Click [OK] to save any changes and close the current window.
[Cancel] Click [Cancel] to close the current window without saving any changes that you have made.
[Help] Click [Help] to open the help topic associated with this dialog box.
[Print] Click [Print] to send the open help topic to the Windows default printer.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Hints and tips

Working with tables

Sorting by columns
All tables are automatically sorted upon opening. You can, however, change the sort order at any time:
Click the header of the column by which you want to sort the table. This sorts the table content in
ascending order based on this column.
Click the column header again to revert the sort order.
A small arrow in the header indicates the column by which the table is sorted. The direction of the arrow
(pointing up or down) indicates if the table is sorted in ascending or descending order, respectively.

= Ascending order (A-Z, 1-100, ...).

= Descending order (A-Z, 100-1, ...).

Changing the column width

If a column is not wide enough to display the entire content, you can easily adjust the width of individual
columns:
1. Hover the cursor over the vertical separator between two column headers until the mouse pointer is
displayed as a double-pointed arrow .
2. Click and hold the mouse button and drag left or right until the column has the required width. Then
release the mouse button.
You can double-click the vertical separator between two column headers to automatically adjust the width of the
left of these columns to its content.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Hints and tips

You can also right-click the table header to automatically adjust the column width using the context menu. Select
the “Autofit columns” or the “Column width according to tab header” option as required to adjust the width
depending on the column content or column header, respectively.

Printing and exporting

The table header context menu provides additional options to edit the table and its content.

For example, you can print the table in various sizes or export the data to an Excel spreadsheet or HTML table for
further processing.
From Version 2013.17.222: The report export can be regulated by the User Right No. 422. If you revoke this right,
the export functions will be disabled.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Hints and tips

You can also search the table content for specific text (“Search” and “Continue search”). Enter the search text in
the “Text” box and select the column you want to search.

Select the Exact match check box to only finds strings that match the search text exactly. Otherwise, the
system also returns matching parts of words.
If you select the Case sensitive search check box, the case of the text must match the search string.
Select the Mark search results check box to highlight all rows that contain the search string. If you clear this
check box, the system shows the first match only. Click “Continue search” to find the next match.

Available User Rights

422 FO Active reports export Regulates the ability to export reports to an Excel format file or an HTML file.

Profile tabs
Profile tabs offer a great way to enter a lot of information in the same window in a structured manner. This is
particularly useful for guest profiles. To switch to a different tab, just click the respective tab heading.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Hints and tips

Context menu
The context menu is a useful tool that is widely available in protel HMS.

Right-click an item to show a context menu with editing options for the item or the corresponding list. Left-click
an option from the context menu to select it.

Selecting multiple items

The CTRL key allows you to select multiple items from any of the lists. Press and hold the CTRL key and left-click
the items that you want to select. The example below shows how to check in multiple guests simultaneously.

The SHIFT key provides an even easier method to select multiple consecutive items from a list.
To do so, left-click the topmost item first. Then press and hold the SHIFT key and click the last item in the list you
want to select. This selects the first and the last item and all items in between.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Hints and tips

Drag & Drop

You can easily drag & drop items from one window area or panel to another, e.g. when assigning features to
rooms or distributing charges to various partial invoices.
Select the item you want to move, hold down the mouse button and drag it to the target position. Release the
mouse button to drop the item to the new position.

Entering a date
Many windows provide date entry fields that allow you to enter the arrival and departure dates for a reservation,
for example.

TIP!
You can use the [+] and [-] keys on your keyboard to change the dates in these fields:
Press the [+] key or [-] key to increment or decrement the date by one day, respectively.

Using the calendar to select a date

The following button appears next to some date entry fields:
Click this button to open a small calendar and select the required date using the mouse. Use the arrow buttons to
browse forward or backward through the months and then click the day you want to select.

NOTE:
As an alternative, you can right-click any date entry field to open the calendar.

Entering a date manually

Double-click the date entry field (the figures are now highlighted in color), and enter the required date using the
keyboard. Make sure to enter the date as eight digits in dd.mm.yy format, e.g. 01.08.12.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Hints and tips

Sticky notes
The protel HMS main window (background screen) allows you to create small yellow “sticky notes” that are only
visible to the logged on user. You can post these notes as reminders for the next shift, for example.
Proceed as follows:
Right-click the background screen (all windows and dialog boxes should be closed or minimized). The following
window appears:

Click the window to open a text editor and enter any comments or notes you want to post.

Search bar
If required, you can ask the protel support team to configure a search bar that will allow you enter (part of) a
guest's name to search for the guest. The search will return all reservations and guest profiles that match the
search string. Alternatively, you can enter room numbers, reservation numbers or confirmation numbers to
search for any matching records.

Supported commands
In addition, the search bar allows you to enter specific commands:
Command Description Example
$nav #param1 Opens the protel Navigator window for a specific reservation. $nav #108
param1 stands for an internal protel reservation number, a Shows a reservation for room
confirmation number or a room number. 108.
$ci #param1 Checks in param1. param1 stands for an internal protel $ci #502
reservation number, a confirmation number or a room Checks in the reservation for
number. If a check-in cannot be completed, protel opens the room 502.
Navigator window.
$co #param1 Checks out param1. param1 stands for an internal protel $co #116
reservation number, a confirmation number or a room Checks out the reservation for
number. If a direct check-out cannot be completed, protel room 116.
opens the invoice window.

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Command Description Example

$bqt #param1 Opens the dialog box for banquet reservations. param1 $bqt #PB5145A229LX
(only if a valid
stands for an internal protel banquet reservation number, a Opens the banquet reservation
license for the banquet confirmation number or a room name preceded by a dialog box for an event that has
Banquet module hash sign (#). the confirmation number
has been PB5145A229LX assigned to it.
purchased)

The protel search bar requires a certain setting to be activated. For more information, please contact your
protel distributor or the protel support team.

Local text fields

Many hotel groups and chains have hotels and resorts in many different locations all over Europe and/or the
globe. The greater the variety of locations, the greater the variety of languages and character sets that are used in
the individual countries.
protel allows you to enter specific information in a second language (e.g. Chinese) that is maintained in addition
to the active system language (e.g. English). You can enter this information in user-defined fields of the “Unicode”
data type. Some windows also provide an additional field named “Text (local)” for this purpose.
Example: Entering traces in a local language:

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protel Front Office - User Manual | The Navigator

The Navigator
Navigator structure
The navigator is an important component of the protel philosophy. It serves as a control center and provides
direct access to all information that is associated with a guest. You can open the navigator at any time. Simply
right-click a guest name from any of the interactive lists, the room plan or one of the many dialog boxes the
software offers.
The navigator provides direct access to:
Personal guest information
All reservation details
All invoice details
All notes regarding specific guest requirements

The Navigator is the control center for direct access to guest information. It comprises four main sections:

Guest
Reservation
Invoice
Messages and notes

Right-click any of these sections to open the relevant window: the guest profile, the reservation screen, the
invoice or the input screen for notes.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | The Navigator

You can make changes directly on the navigator interface. Any changes that you make are immediately reflected
in the profile records and in the occupancy details.
The buttons on the right-hand side provide access to information on reservations or guests. They also allow you
to write reservation texts and enter specific reservation details (More..., IFC info) or edit the reservation (Change
name, Create sharer).

TIP!
If you need to make changes to an existing reservation, you should always access it using the navigator. The
navigator normally provides access to all necessary data.

Pane - Guest
[Navigator > Guest]

This pane shows information that was stored in the guest profile.
Name: Last name from the guest profile (Address tab).
First name: First name from the guest profile (Address tab).
Company: Company 1 from the guest profile (Pers. Data tab). The company name is for information purposes
only. The reservation is not assigned to a company profile.
Street: Address 1 from the guest profile (Address tab).
Zip/City: Zip code and city from the guest profile (Address tab).
Birthdate: Birthdate from the guest profile (Pers. Data tab).
Remarks: Remarks from the guest profile (Requests tab).
VIP: VIP status from the guest profile (Marketing tab / Sales Data tab).

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protel Front Office - User Manual | The Navigator

NOTE:
Any data that is modified here will also be modified in the guest profile!
If you need to assign a reservation to a different guest, do NOT overwrite the name on this pane! To assign a
reservation for a different guest, click the [Change name button] in the list on the right.

Available user rights

This right is required to be able to edit the guest data within the navigator
FO Navigator (edit
201 directly. If users do not have this right, all editable guest data fields will be grayed
guest)
out.

If this right is revoked, the user will be informed that the name cannot be
overwritten. Users that do have this right have to confirm a confirmation prompt
FO Navigator - Replace after overwriting the name.
349
guest name
This setting works only in conjunction with XSetup “Overwrite name in guest
profile”. Ask the Support team about implementation.

FO Change reservation
239 This right controls access to the “Traces” transaction in the tree view.
colors in room plan

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protel Front Office - User Manual | The Navigator

Pane - Reservation
[Navigator > Reservation]

In this pane, you can view and edit information about the reservation. Right-click anywhere within this pane to
open the detailed Reservation form.
Certain, potentially conflicting data will not be displayed for reservations with a move. Details about the move will
be displayed in the “Guest messages” pane, so no Note boxes will be displayed.
Arr/Dep Arrival/departure date
For reservations with a move, the entire stay will be displayed irrespective of which part of the
room plan was clicked.
Res. status Displays the reservation status. You can also choose a different status here.
Room type The selected room type
As soon as the category is changed, a new number appears in the “Room-No.” box.
Room-No. Shows only room numbers of the room type posted that are available for the reservation period
selected. To choose a room of a different type, you first have to change the type.
Adults/children Number of adults and children (Child 1 and Child 2 from the Reservation form)

Rate New You must select this check box if you want to change the amount, but not the rate code. The
amount field is then no longer grayed out, and you can amend the rate as required.
If the check box is selected and the rate code is changed, the rate will not be updated with the
rate for the new rate code.
Rate code The currently selected rate code
Change rate to Use this option to change the rate code. The rate will then be updated accordingly. Choose a new
rate code from the drop-down list and click Yes to confirm the prompt.
If the Rate New check box is selected, the manually entered rate will remain unchanged.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | The Navigator

Next RC Next Rate code

(available from version The field displays the rate code for the upcoming night – this is especially useful when another
2013.17.066) rate code has been set via the “rate by day grid”.

Co., Grp., TA, Sc Names for company, TA, source and group reservations will be displayed as buttons. Click these
buttons to display the profile assigned to the reservation.
RBD If the reservation covers multiple season periods, clicking this button opens the Rate by day grid.

Rate info Click this button for information about how the displayed rate has been calculated.

Change rate code ???

Note 1 / Note 2 If any notes were entered during the reservation, you can display these by clicking the Note 1
and Note 2 buttons. You can also use this option to modify notes or create new ones.
Room info box Displays additional information about the reservation: reservation period (from / to), room
number, room type. Note that if a move exists for the reservation, this is indicated in this info box
as follows:

Available user rights

325 FO Rate Alteration Required for users to be able to modify rates.

326 FO Rate code alteration Required for users to be able to modify rate codes.

200 FO Navigator (edit notes) Controls access to the Note boxes in the “Reservation” pane.

Rate code information

Right-click the “Change rate to” drop-down list ( ) to open the following window:

This shows a list of all rate codes and room types together with their associated rates. Rate codes that are not
valid for the period selected will be included in the list, but no rate will be shown.

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If the arrival and departure dates are changed, the rate could also change; for instance, if the daily rate is reduced
for stays exceeding three nights. The rate will also change (based on the rate information stored in the system
data) if the number of adults, children or additional beds is changed.
To do this, simply change the number in the “Adults” box or the arrival or departure date and press the Tab key to
confirm (do NOT press Enter because this will apply the entries to the reservation!). You will then be able to see
immediately how the rate changes when certain reservation parameters are changed.
Display net rates: Select the “Display net rates” check box to display all the rates as net rates.
For room type: The “for room type” drop-down list is connected to the [Total cost of stay] button. Select a rate
code, choose the room type, and click the [Total cost of stay] button. You will then be shown a breakdown of the
total cost that would apply for this stay, taking into account the rate by day and room type selected. Weekend
days are displayed in red. Select the Net Rates check box in this case too to display all the rates as net rates.

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Pane - Invoice
[Navigator > Invoice]

This Navigator pane contains a tree view for displaying information about the guest’s invoice and additional
reservation information. Clicking the individual entries within this list will open the associated dialog boxes.
Right-clicking anywhere within this pane opens the Invoice window.

Total
Charged The total charged for the invoice. The amount shown here cannot be overwritten; it
changes when postings are made to the invoice.
Payments Total of payments made for the invoice. The amount shown here cannot be overwritten;
it changes when payments are made for the invoice. Right-click to open the invoice
dialog box.

Invoices A-F
A, B, C... F Invoices are only displayed if they have an assigned invoice address. Invoices will not be
displayed if a company has not been assigned or there are no postings for B-F.
Routing If a routing exists, this will be indicated by a blue dot and the letter i “Routing
instructions instructions”. Click this row to open payment/routing instructions that provide additional
information about the routing (see “More... button, Payment/Routing instructions”).

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Category types
Booked Shows the originally posted category. This can be changed/corrected. Right-click the
category to display a list of all categories. Double-click a new category to select it.
Rate Code Shows the originally posted rate code.

Fixed charges An exclamation point indicates charges that protel has additionally posted to the room
rate at end of day.

Additional reservation information

Confirmation This is assigned by protel and can be modified in the Reservation dialog box.
number
Child 3/4 Number of children, 3 or 4
Add. beds Number of additional beds required
Cots Number of cots required
Room plan color Click this option to assign a different color to the reservation.
Packages Shows any arrangements that are assigned to the reservations. You can also change
these here.
CC The credit card information that has been stored for the reservation.
CC Token From version 2013.17.000
If an EFT interface is used, the interface returns a credit card token to protel upon
authorization of the payment request. This token can be displayed in the Navigator under
the sub tree "Additional reservation information". The token stands for the successful
authorization of a credit card payment (=result of a positive check).
By clicking the credit card token, it can be copied to another reservation if the required
user right (419) is set. When a token is copied, protel automatically creates an entry in
the action log; so the copy process can be traced at any time.
From version 2013.17.547
If desired, you can also display the credit card number instead of the Token ID. Being able
to copy the token to another reservation remains unaffected by this.
Displaying and copying Credit Card Tokens requires special system settings. Ask your
protel partner or contact the protel Support Team, to learn more!

Route planner Shown only if this add-on is being used. Launches Microsoft MapPoint (version 2004,
2009)
Sharer Shown if the reservation is a sharer reservation.
Click “+” to view the list of sharers and double-click one to open the Navigator for this
sharer.
Memo For storing additional information about the reservation where there is not enough space
available in the Note boxes.

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Traces If there are any traces due for a reservation, this item will be preceded by a red
exclamation point. Click to display or edit these traces or store new traces. For more
information about creating traces, see “More... button, Traces”.
Attached profiles If there are any other guest profiles attached to this one, you can display and edit these
by clicking “+”. You can also attach new profiles (for more information about creating
attached profiles, see “More... button, Attached profiles").
Rentable objects Rentable objects are items that are available for renting out to guests, such as bikes, skis,
tennis courts, and tennis rackets for example. This item is for information purposes only;
no revenues are posted in association with this.
You can assign rentable objects to a reservation either for a specific period or for a
specific time/duration. Click New to add this object to the reservation.

To access the overview of available objects, click the Overview button. This overview
provides a list of the number of objects still available and the associated timescale (day
or hour, for example).

Available user rights

This right controls access to the “Rentable objects > Modify objects”
214 FO Rentable objects
transaction in the tree view.

This right controls access to the “Additional reservation information > Room
223 FO Traces history
plan color” transaction in the tree view.

FO Change reservation
239 This right controls access to the “Traces” transaction in the tree view.
colors in room plan

419 FO Navigator (copy token) Enables the user to copy a displayed credit card token to another reservation.

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Available Settings

 Add additional functions to tree structure. Upon request, the rate by day grid, deposit, credit card tokens
and payment instructions can be connected as a separate sub-tree in the tree-view.
 Additional guest information can be displayed as a separate sub-tree. As a result, you can decide whether
the sub-tree should expand or not when opening the Navigator.
 Upon request, the already existing sub-tree “Additional reservation information” automatically expands
when the Navigator is opened.
 If required, the “Category types“ menu automatically appears expanded in the tree view of the Navigator.
Alternatively, you can adjust to have the “Category types” sub-tree open only when the booked category
deviates from the current one. If you want, the sub-tree can even be tagged with an exclamation mark.
 If desired, a notification pops up when opening the Navigator if the same reservation is being accessed by
another user in the Navigator. This prevents the reservation being simultaneously edited in the Navigator
by several users.

Pane - Messages
[Navigator > Messages]

This pane shows all saved messages for this guest.

These saved messages can be forwarded to different interfaces, Pay TV for example. If no such interface exists,
information about existing messages is provided at check in or check out. If you are unable to forward the
message directly to the guest, it can be left with the status unread. You will then see a message reminder at check
out. To view a list of all open messages, go to “Reports > Messages”.
Right-click to add or delete messages or set them to read or unread.
To enter a message, go to the context menu (right click) and choose “Add”.

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Date and User: protel automatically records the date and time of creation and the user name. This information is
displayed in the top part of this dialog box.
Priority: Assign a priority to this message by entering a letter or number.
Mess. Text: Enter the message text in this box.
Send short message to no: You can also choose to send the message by SMS. To do this, check this box and enter
the required cellphone number.
immediately using the above text: Sends the text entered above immediately.
after room has been cleaned using default text: Automatically sends a default text to the guest once
the room has been cleaned (room status = cleaned).

From Version 2013.17.222

The ability to send text messages can be regulated by a number of new User Rights (see Available User
Rights).

To send messages by SMS, you need the protel Messenger add-on. For more information, please contact your
protel distributor or the protel support team.

Setting the message to read

If the message has been read, select the Read check box. protel will then save the date, time and user name
and display this information in the lower part of this dialog box. Messages that have been successfully passed on
are shown in black font while unread messages are shown in red.

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Internal FO Message
If the Internal FO Message check box is selected, the message in question is an internal front office message.
This check box can prove particularly useful if you are able to forward messages to Pay TV.

Available Settings

From Version 2013.17.222

By default, any message will be deleted after checking out the respective reservation and running the end-of-
day routine.
If requested, protel can keep older messages, e.g. for reasons of traceability. To prevent old messages from
being edited, they will be opened in read-only mode.
Ask your protel Support Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help!

Available User Rights

FO Navigator: Modify
355 This right controls creating and modifying messages within the Navigator.
messages

From Version 2013.17.222

FO Messages send/edit
415 This right controls sending short messages within the Navigator.
SMS

FO Messages (ad hoc This right controls ability to send messages immediately (option "immediately
417
SMS) using the above text")

FO Messages (SMS This right controls ability to send messages after room clean service (option
418
after room cleaned) "after room has been cleaned using default text")

DC Menu

To open the DC (double-click) menu:

Click the [DC Menu] button in the Navigator
Double-click a reservation in the Room Plan or
Double-click a reservation in the reservation list.
The double-click menu lists all the actions that are also available within the room plan plus additional functions.
Always use this function for modifying reservation data because changes made here are also queried for any
group members of a reservation.

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The pane on the right displays the current reservation data.

The pane on the left contains the editable settings for the reservation. Simply select the relevant action and click
OK to confirm and run the transaction.
Check In Performs check in.
Check Out / Select this check box on the guest’s date of departure to access the guest’s invoice.
Invoice
If you try to complete this transaction before the date of departure, you will receive an error
message advising you that the guest is not departing today. For an advanced invoice, interim
invoice, or early departure, go to “Cash register - Invoice” or, if you are in the Navigator,
choose Invoice.
Alter Arrival Change the arrival date (departure date remains unchanged). Select the check box, double-
click in the date box and enter a new date. For group reservations, if you complete this
function for the Group Master you can execute it for all group members in one go.
Alter Departure Select this check box to change the departure date, following the same procedure as the
Alter Arrival check box. Double-click the date and enter a new departure date. For group
reservations, if you complete this function for the Group Master you can execute it for all
group members in one go.
Shift Select this check box to move the reservation
reservation
To a different room by selecting the “Shift reservation” option and choosing a
different room in the box to the lower right
To a different period (a few days in the future, for example) by selecting the “Shift
reservation” option and changing the arrival date in the box to the lower right. In
this case, the date of departure will also be changed accordingly.
To a different period and room by selecting the check box and choosing a different
room and arrival date in the subsequent fields:

Move If the guest moves to a different room during their stay, you need to select this check box,
select the new room number from the drop-down list, and enter the move date in the date
box.

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Move and If the guest wishes to extend their stay, and has to move to a different room as a result of
extend this, you need to select this check box, enter the new room number and the new date of
departure. The stay will be extended until the date of departure given; the move will take
place on the original date of departure.
Cancel Select this check box to cancel a reservation. In the subsequent dialog box, choose a reason
reservation for cancellation (created in the system data) and enter supplementary text, if required.
Void CI status Select this check box to remove the checked in (CI) status for a guest. This option is not
possible if charges have already been posted to the invoice.
Delete blocking Select this check box to remove a block from a room.
reservation
You can also go to “Reservation”, “Block/Unblock Rooms” to block a room.
Copy If you have regularly recurring reservations, you can use this function to copy over the
details, so that you do not need to enter the same data again. Click “Copy” and choose [OK]
to confirm.

Copy frequency: How often is the reservation to be copied? Example: “Monthly” would
create a copy every month in the copy period selected below; for example, from day 11-14
of every month
Quantity: Quantity of copies to be created (usually 1)
Copy period: The period for which the copies are to be created. If you want protel to create
copies for the rest of the year, you would enter today’s date in the first box and 31.12. in the
second.
Options: The right window pane lists the options (information) that you can choose to
include in the copy/ies.
Once you have made your selection, click [Create copy data].
The created copies are shown in the left pane with the arrival date and weekday. Right-
click one of these days to open the context menu from where you can edit the list. Use the
“All” or “None” functions to select or deselect all the entries in the list. Choose “Add” to add
additional reservations to the list (a dialog box appears for you to enter the arrival date).
You can also use the “Edit” function to edit the arrival date for individual reservations.

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Click [OK] to complete the process. Confirm the subsequent prompt to view all the created
reservations. Select the “Show reservation list after copy process” if you want the
reservation list for this profile to be opened immediately afterward.
You can only copy reservations allocated to a specific room. You cannot copy reservations
that have been split across more than one room (due to a move for example).

TIP!
Go to “Options > Enter moves” to view a list of all pending moves for today’s date. In this list, you can flag a
move as complete; for example, to block the phone line in the old room and activate it in the new room.

Available user rights

309 FO Double click menu Controls access to the DC menu.

84 FO Alter date of Arrival/Dprt Required for users to be able to modify the arrival or departure date.

85 FO Shift reservation Controls access to the “Shift reservation” function.

86 FO Move Required for users to be able to move a reservation to a different room.

87 FO Cancellation Required for users to be able to cancel a reservation.

88 FO Cancel Check In Status Required for users to be able to remove the checked in status for a guest.

330 FO Void CI Required to be able remove the checked in status.

228 FO Copy reservation Controls access to the “Copy” function in the DC menu.

Reservation history

The reservation history lists all changes and activities relating to a given reservation.

It shows the date, time, user, protel workstation number (networks only), the room number, the name of the
guest and any text that was entered for the reservation.

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Available user rights

78 FO History of Reservation Controls access to the reservation history.

Reservation texts

Click this button to access reservation-related correspondence with the guest. This is useful, for example, if you
want to check which charges have been confirmed with the guest. The button takes you to the Letters tab, from
where you can view, edit, and create reservation-related correspondence for the guest.
NOTE:
The “Letters” tab only lists reservation-related correspondence that was defined as such (RTXT) in the system
data!

If different profiles are stored for a reservation (guest, company, and travel agent, for example), you will be asked
to choose the intended recipient after clicking the button:

Once you have confirmed this, you will have access to all correspondence for the associated profile. When a letter
is created, the associated address will be inserted automatically.

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Creating a reservation confirmation

1. Open the reservation in the Navigator.
2. Click [Res. texts].
3. Choose the intended recipient, if applicable (required only for group or company reservations).
4. Click [New letter].
5. Double-click the appropriate confirmation form to select.
6. Make any necessary changes to the Word file.
7. Save the Word file and print.

PLEASE NOTE
Starting from version 2013.17.222, the date format day-month-year (e.g. "21 June 2013") will be used by
default on reservation confirmations. If you would like continue using the former date format, please ask your
protel Support Team to set up your protel system accordingly. We’re happy to help.

Sending the confirmation of reservation by e-mail as a PDF

1. Create the confirmation as described above.
2. Save the opened confirmation as a PDF (Office 2007 and later: Save as > PDF).
Enter a descriptive name for the file and note where it has been saved!
3. Close the confirmation.
4. Right-click within the Letters tab to open the context menu.
5. Click “Add file”.
6. In the “Open” dialog box, locate the folder containing the PDF file (e.g. \PROTEL\GUESTS\LETTERS).
7. Select the PDF file and click [Open].
8. Select the PDF file within Letters and click [E-Mail].
Special settings are required in protel to be able to send e-mails from the Letters tab.
For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

NOTE:
Exception for group confirmation: If you confirm the [Res. texts] button from the Navigator of a group
master, you can create a group confirmation because in this case all the group members are included in the
confirmation (provided an appropriate form has been created in the system data).

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Tips & Tricks (Reservation texts)

Exporting the total number of booked rooms
From version 2013.17.400
For reservations involving numerous rooms, it is practical to export the total number of reserved rooms into the
confirmation of reservation. The $y100 replacement code makes this possible.
Your protel Support Team will gladly provide you with more information about the new code and how you link
it into the new confirmation of reservation form. Just get in touch – we’re happy to help!

Change name (assign to another guest)

Click this button to assign the reservation to another guest. This empties all guest information fields in the
navigator. Enter a guest name to create a new profile or select an existing profile to assign to the reservation.
Strictly speaking, you don't change the name but assign the reservation to another guest.

Available user rights

FO Assign profile to reservation

222 This right allows a user to assign a reservation to another guest.
(change name)

Creating sharers

If several guests plan to share a room but want to keep the reservation separate, you can create “sharers.”
Please refer to the Sharer reservations topic for instructions on how to do this.

Available user rights

321 FO Sharer input This right allows a user to enter a sharer for a reservation.

Guest history

Click this button to show the guest history (see also Guest profile, “History” tab).
If different profiles are stored for a reservation (guest, company, and travel agent, for example), you will be asked
to choose the intended guest after clicking the button:

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Once you have confirmed this, you will have access to the guest history for the associated profile. When a letter is
created, the associated address will be inserted automatically.
The history shows detailed information on all of the guest's stays. For example, you can see which room the guest
booked for their previous stay.

Click the “Display” pull-down list to selectively list reservations, cancellations or no shows and click the date boxes
to indicate a period.

Click the [View] button to refresh the view.

Available user rights

306 FO Guest history This right allows a user to access the guest history.

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More... button

The More... dialog box

Click the [More] button to access additional options for modifying the reservation.

Available user rights

264 FO More dialogue Controls access to the “More...” dialog box.

Delete reservation

If you select the “Delete reservation” check box and then click [OK], the reservation will be deleted after
confirming a prompt. Reservations can be deleted only if you have the relevant user rights, if no revenue or
payments have yet been posted for the reservation, and provided that no end of day has been carried out within
the reservation period.

Available user rights (delete reservation)

79 FO Delete Reservation Required to be able to delete a reservation from the “More...” dialog box.

More...

Payment/routing instructions
Navigator [More...] button Payment/routing instructions

Payment and routing instructions govern the automatic transfer of charges within different guest accounts.
This feature is particularly useful when invoicing group reservations as these usually involve both a collective
invoice and separate individual invoices to which part of the revenue needs to be assigned. For instance, this
applies to company reservations where the company assumes all costs for board and lodging but the employees
pay for individual costs (such as extras). The invoices are therefore perfectly prepared for check-out because all
revenue is posted in accordance with the rules stored in the payment/routing instructions.

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CREATING A PAYMENT/ROUTING INSTRUCTION

1. Open the reservation in the Navigator and click [More...] > Payment/Routing instructions.
2. Create a payment/routing instruction: Click [New]. This opens the detailed dialog box for creating a new
payment or routing instruction.
3. Open the transaction accounts list: Click [New] again to access the transaction accounts list.

This lists all the transaction accounts as well as the routing codes that have been set up for frequently used
payment/routing instructions. Transactions marked with an asterisk* are default transaction accounts that
are defined in the system:
*All Accounts Transfers all transaction accounts.
*Extras Transfers all accounts from the “Extras” statistic group
(statistics groups are assigned by means of transaction accounts within the system data).
*FB Transfers all accounts from the “FB” statistic group.
*Accommodation Transfers all accounts from the “Accommodation” statistic group.
*Accounts not Transfers all accounts that have not yet been routed.
routed

Accounts marked with a “+” are user-defined routing codes.

The transactions stored in the system data are listed at the end.
4. Select a transaction account: Double-click an account to select it. Multiple accounts can be selected and
accepted by clicking [OK].
All revenue for the accounts selected here will be posted to the routing target that is selected in the
lower pane.
Keyboard entry: You can also enter transaction accounts
manually in the “Keyboard entry” box. Use a comma

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separator to enter additional transaction account numbers. Click the [Add] button to add these accounts
to the list.
5. Define routing validity: Use the following options to further restrict the validity of the payment/routing
instructions. This allows you to define the precise routing time.
During whole stay Transfers all the accounts listed during the whole stay.

From date / To date The transaction accounts listed will be transferred for the period selected.

On following days Here, you can select the weekdays on which you want the transaction accounts
displayed in the list to be transferred. Routing will only take place on the days selected.

6. Define routing target:

Within the folio to Choose the part of the invoice to which the transaction accounts selected within the
reservation are to be transferred.

Do not route to Choose this option if charges are to be routed within the reservation (for example, to
different reservation Invoice B of the same guest account)

Route to different Select this option if you want postings for the selected transaction account to be
reservation transferred to a different guest invoice. Click ... to browse to the reservation.

Route to group If the reservation is assigned to a group, the third option is available for selection. If
master selected, the transaction accounts selected will be transferred to the group master.
Click ... to browse to the reservation.

7. Apply settings: Click [OK] to apply all the settings and show these in the routing instructions:

Day = weekday; Target invoice = the target invoice details (A-F for internal, Standard for external routings)
Route to: Do not route = revenue is routed within the reservation.
For external routings: details of the recipient of the respective reservation.

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INVOICE RECIPIENT AND DEFAULT METHOD OF PAYMENT

The lower pane of the “Routing instructions” window shows the invoice recipient and assigned methods of
payment stored. If a company or travel agent profile is assigned to the reservation, this will be included on part B
of the invoice. Part A of the invoice is always assigned to the guest profile. This cannot be changed.

Changing the method of payment: If a method of payment is selected for the reservation, this is used for part A
of the invoice. To change the method of payment for part of the invoice, select it and click [Method of Paym.].
Then choose the new method of payment required from the list.
Address: The [Address] button opens the profile search dialog box, in which you can select a new invoice recipient
for the partial invoice.
Secondary address: If an alternative address to the main address has been stored in the profile (e.g. a company
address), this can also be selected as the “Secondary address”.

FREQUENTLY USED INSTRUCTIONS

Click the [Frequently Used Instructions] button to access a list of freely definable and default routing codes.
Default routing codes are routings that are predefined in the system and would typically be required by most
hotels; company reservations for example. In this case, the accommodation costs to be charged to the company’s
account would be posted to invoice B.
It is also possible to create custom routing codes; for example, if different revenues from entirely different
accounts (accommodation, spa treatments, and parking for example) are to be grouped within a single routing
code. Once these have been created, they can be reused for your payment/routing instructions.
For more information about creating routing codes, see the protel system data manual.
Instructions “100” - “205” are the default instructions provided by the system.

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Available user rights (payment instructions)

72 FO Instruction of Payment Controls access to payment/routing instructions in the More... dialog box.

Fixed charges
Navigator [More...] button Fixed charges

Use this option to enter charges that are to be additionally posted to the room rate at end of day. Example: An
additional daily charge of two euro is to be posted for a daily newspaper.
You enter or select the accounts in the lower pane.

Click [Y] to select an account from the list of all the accounts available in the system.

Click [New] to use the selected account/article as a fixed charge.

TAA Number of the transaction account to which the additional charge is to be posted.
You can enter the transaction account number directly or click the input box to open a drop-down list
and select the required account. As you start entering the transaction account number, you will see
that the account beginning with these numbers is highlighted in the list.
Text The description associated with the transaction account number. This can be overwritten and will be
printed on the invoice.
Amount The number of units to be posted
Currency If you want to use the multi-currency function, you can change the posting currency here.
Price If a fixed price has been assigned to the transaction account, this will be proposed here. You can
overwrite this price for any posting. If no price is entered, you can define one for this posting.
Total The total from the amount multiplied by the price
Inv. Drop-down list for choosing the detailed invoice (A-F) on which this fixed charge is to appear (default =
A)
Pattern Drop-down list for the posting pattern (default = Daily).
from Date from which the posting (in accordance with the chosen posting pattern) is to commence. The
arrival date is displayed by default.

Available user rights (fixed charges)

74 FO Fixed Charges Controls access to the fixed charges option in the More... dialog box.

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Available settings (fixed charges)

 The default value for the posting pattern of fixed charges can be changed, if required. The default value
is “Daily”
 Deviating from the default, fixed charges can also be posted on the departure date, if required. This
setting causes fixed charges to be posted automatically at check-out on the departure date. The setting
can be applied for day use reservations only, if required.

Commission Recipients
Navigator [More...] button Commission recipient

You use this function to assign a reservation to multiple commission recipients of the same profile type.
Commission recipients through profile assignment
This pane lists the commission recipients that are assigned to the reservation automatically from the linked guest
profile (4 max.: travel agent, company, source, and group). The account number, name, and assigned commission
code are displayed.
Additional commission recipients
To add additional commission recipients, click [New]. Click [Delete] to remove a selected profile assignment for
this reservation.

Available user rights (commission recipient)

FO Commission
122 Controls access to the commission recipient option in the More... dialog box.
recipient

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Deposit
Navigator [More...] button Deposit

The deposit function allows you to manage deposits and advance payments.
From Version 2013.17.672
The deposit will be marked as “used” in the balance check already during the check-in; in doing so, the deposit’s
booking status changes to “in use”.

The upper section of the dialog box is divided into two panes, the left showing the deposit due and the right the
deposit received.

ENTERING A DEPOSIT (LEFT PANE)

In the left pane, enter the payment due date:

1. Currency: The deposit currency.
2. Date: The deposit due date (the date by which the deposit needs to be paid)?
3. Amount: Enter the required deposit amount.
4. [New]: Click [New] to accept your entries.
You can follow the above procedure to enter multiple receivables.

Print payment form (possible only if a data exchange license is installed!)

Guest deposits can be transmitted to the protel HMS automatically by means of a bank transfer via data exchange
(using MultiCash e-banking software, for example), where they can then be stored as payments. Click the [Print
payment form] to create the payment/transfer form required by the guest for making the payment.
Select the deposit that is to be paid in the upper pane and click [Payment form].

A data exchange license is required in order to be able to print out payment forms. For more information,
please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

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Changing the deposit

If you need to change the amount or payment deadline, select the row in the upper pane, enter the changes, and
click [Change].

TIP!
Include the deposit information on the reservation letter
To insert the deposit details into the reservation letter, use the following text codes:
$DepBe1, $DepBe2... Amount of deposit 1, 2, and so on

$depcr1 Deposit currency

$DepDa1, $DepDa2... Due date of deposit 1, 2, and so on

$depdebr1, $depdebr2... Document number of deposit 1, 2, and so on

POSTING A DEPOSIT (RIGHT-HAND PANE)

1. Click the [Payment] button on the right-hand side of the window.

2. Enter the method of payment (important for ensuring that the deposit is posted correctly) and the
amount paid. If you need to add more than one received deposit payment, click the [Add] button to
calculate the total.
3. Click [OK] to post the deposit payment entered.
The system also accepts credit card payments. Click [Read CC] or [CC from Profile] to do this.
Once the deposit has been posted, the guest now has a credit balance corresponding to the amount posted. Any
charges to be applied will then be posted against this credit.

Print deposit invoice

If the guest requires a receipt for the deposit, you can print out a deposit invoice for payments received. Be sure
to select the appropriate deposit form for this printout.

To make the [Print] & [Void] buttons available for selection, a special setting must be made in protel to give
the deposit a unique deposit invoice number. Additional customizing settings are also required to be able to use
the full scope of deposit invoice functions. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the
protel support team.

TIP!
For an overview of outstanding invoices, go to “Cash Register > Deposits to be paid”, where you can view a
list of the deposits due for a specific cut-off date. Any partial payments that are received will be posted, but will
still be shown on this list as due deposits!

Available user rights (deposit)

122 FO Deposit Controls access to the deposit option in the More... dialog box.

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Available settings (deposit)

From version 2013.17.547 onwards
The “Deposit:” addition appears by default in the additional text of the booking. This text can be arbitrarily
adjusted. You can additionally add another text to the already existing booking text, when desired.

Rate by day grid (RBD grid)

Navigator [More...] button Rate by day grid

You use the RBD grid to define different rates or rate codes for specific days of the stay (e.g., if a guest has booked
a package for a single day or is entitled to a special rate for one night). You can also use it to change the number
of persons for specific days of the reservation.
More examples:
A conference speaker is arriving one day early and receiving a discount for this day
A guest books for his wife to join him for the weekend at half-board (instead of the usual bed and
breakfast)
The RBD grid easily accommodates changes such as these. protel posts the information stored here automatically
for the specifically scheduled days.

The upper pane shows each day of the stay on a different row. Once guests have checked in, protel shows only
the days still to be posted.

CHANGING DATA

Select the row of the day of the stay that you wish to change, select the check box adjacent to the entry you want
to change, and enter the required values.
Click the [Save Data] button to apply your changes.

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Changing the number of persons or number of additional beds/cribs

Adults Select the check box and enter the new number of persons. The price will be updated accordingly
based on the rate code.

Children 1/2/3/4 Select the check box and enter the number of children in the appropriate category box.

Add.beds/cribs Select the check box and enter the number of additional beds/cribs required.

Changing the rate

NOTE: If an amount has already been changed manually in the Navigator or when entering the reservation, no
change will be made here because manual rates are fixed.
Special rate If you need to change the rate, select the Special rate check box and enter the new rate for
the room night. If the check box is selected, the rate has already been changed manually.

New rate code To assign a new rate code, first select the day for which the rate code is to be changed; then
select a different rate code.

You can define a starting date for the application of this rate code. If you do not want the rate
code to apply directly from the date of arrival, select the Use rate avail. of check box and enter
the required date.

Other
Market code Set market code

Source code Set source code

If there are any packages stored for a rate code in the system data, you can use the [ Assign
Packages
Packages] button to assign these to specific days.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Right-click a date to view the associated rate information or price information per person. Select the required
information from the context menu.

NOTE
The RBD grid only shows days that have not yet been posted. Therefore, if reservations have already been
posted using the “Advanced invoice” function, no information will be shown for these.

Available user rights (RDB grid)

95 FO Rate by day table Controls access to the “Rate by day grid” option in the More... dialog box.

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Companion
Navigator [More...] button Companion

Registration laws in some countries stipulate that guests have to fill out a registration card when they arrive at
the hotel. All data associated with this can be stored using the “Companion” function, where you can enter all
accompanying persons and persons subject to this registration requirement (for example, the reservation was
booked by Mr. Smith and his companions are his wife and his son, who is subject to the registration requirement).
Ideally, you would enter the companion details at the time of reservation since this will allow for preparation of
the registration cards prior to the guests’ arrival.

NOTE:
Alternatively, companion details can also be stored using the “Attached profiles” option!
>> More information...

ENTERING A NEW COMPANION

Open the reservation in the Navigator and click [More...] > Companion.
1. In the “Companion” tab, enter the details of the companion, including their name, date of birth, and
passport number.
Information such as nationality and language is transferred directly from the profile assigned to the
reservation. If the nationality or language is different from that of the guest making the booking, you can
change it here.
2. Click [OK] to apply the companion settings.

THE [FAMILY] BUTTON

You can enter family members in the guest profile and then add these to the reservation as companions. This
saves having to re-enter their names and dates of birth the next time this guest stays at the hotel with the family.
1. Click the [Family] button. If family members have been entered in the guest profile, click the relevant
entries to add them to this reservation.

THE STAYS TAB

The “Stays” tab is required if companions will be staying for a different period. The relevant dates can be entered
here.

Available user rights (companion)

FO
76 Controls access to the “Companion” option in the More... dialog box.
Companion

Phone calls
Navigator [More...] button Phone calls

If the system has a PBX interface, this option takes you to a log of all calls made by the guest. It shows the date
and time of the calls, the number of units, the amount charged, and the phone number called. Use the drop-down
list to choose whether to show telephone charges for all invoices or a specific invoice window.

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Click the [Print] button to print the list. A list of all calls might be required by the guest, for example, to settle up
with his or her company.

Available user rights (PBX IFC)

77 FO Telephone Protocol Guest Controls access to the “Phone calls” option in the More... dialog box.

Wake up calls
Navigator [More...] button Wake up calls

This option is particularly useful for hotels that have an appropriately configured PABX interface. Any wake-up
calls that you enter in this dialog box are communicated to the PABX and processed automatically. The wake-up
call management feature can also be useful even if you don’t have a PABX interface since you can print out wake-
up call lists from Reporting that you can use to make and monitor the calls manually. The process steps are the
same either way.

You are only shown the days reserved for the guest’s stay. You can enter up to four different wake-up times per
day.

As soon as protel receives confirmation from PABX that a wake-up call has been made, it selects the relevant
check box.

The [Rem.] button takes you to information that is used exclusively by the PABX interface. This information
cannot be modified. These entries are made by the interface and relate to the wake-up call.
Click [Delete all] to clear all entered wake-up calls.
If you wish to delete only one wake-up call, double-click the entry and press the “Delete” key.

Available user rights (wake up calls)

324 FO General view of wake up calls Controls access to the “Wake up calls” option in the More... dialog box.

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Interface information
Navigator [More...] button Interface information

Use the protel.ini to activate this feature.

If various interfaces are available, you can use this feature to define guest-specific settings for each interface, e.g.
for Internet access, for connected access control systems, telephone settings, Pay TV etc.

Available user rights (IFC)

FO Additional IFC
287 Controls access to the “Interface information” option in the More... dialog box.
features

Traces
Navigator [More...] button Traces

In protel PMS, traces are important internal guest-related messages or tasks for different hotel departments. For
example, a trace can be created for the kitchen if a birthday cake needs to be prepared for a guest, or for
housekeeping if a bouquet of flowers is required in a room.
For an overview of traces, go to the trace report (“Reports > Traces”), where you can view all the traces by date.
You can also generate a trace report when you complete the end-of-day routine.

The “Traces” dialog box lists all the traces stored for a reservation. This provides a clear overview of the dates and
times of the required traces, the departments affected, the name of the users who entered the traces, the times
the traces were entered, the respective tasks, the task status, and, the name of the user who completed the task
if it has been completed already.

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Traces can also be saved in the guest History. This is indicated by an “X” in the “History” column.

THE CONTEXT MENU

To access the edit function of the Traces dialog box, right-click to open the context menu:
New Opens the Traces dialog box, in which you can create new traces (see below)
Alter Opens the Traces dialog box, in which you can change traces (see below)
Delete Deletes the selected entry.
Add trace package If trace packages have been stored for departments in the system data, these can be accessed here
(see protel system data manual). In this case, there is no need to enter any additional information
because the traces will be transferred from the trace package automatically.
Cleared Sets the trace entry to “Cleared”. A check mark will then be shown adjacent to the trace in the
Navigator:

Not cleared Sets a trace marked as “Cleared” to “Not cleared”.

Traces History Opens the Traces History in the guest profile.
View document Opens a document that is associated with the trace entry.
Delete document Removes a document that is associated with the trace entry.
assignment

CREATING/ALTERING TRACES

The dialog box for creating/altering traces is divided into several panes:
From / To / Time: You enter the date or period and time the trace must be completed here.
Reservation info: Displays the reservation period booked.
Weekdays (as of version 2013.16.690 of Jan. 22, 2013): You can define specific weekdays on which you want the
trace to appear for a period. The period must be entered from the first trace to the last trace. This cannot be
transferred to the Auto Trace; it applies only for unique traces.

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Traces History: If you select this check box, the trace will also be saved in the Traces History of the guest
profile.
Auto Trace: If you select this option, the trace entry will be saved after reservation check-out and set
automatically each time the guest makes a new reservation.
Show at: Causes a trace to be shown in association with a specific action (reservation, check-in, and check-out).
If required, you can set “All events” as the default value for the new trace. This causes the trace to be
displayed independently of the action performed. For more information, please contact your protel
distributor or the protel support team.

Department: Select the department responsible from the drop-down list. The table below lists the predefined
traces for the respective department. Double-click to insert traces listed here in the text box.
Text: If you choose not to insert any traces from the table (see above), you can enter your own text here.
Text (local): In this box, you can enter text in a local language that uses a different character code (e.g. Arabic).
For more information about local text boxes, see: Hints and tips > Local text boxes.
Document (as of version 2007.11.395 ): Click the [...] button to store a document associated with the trace entry.
This could be a menu, for example, if the guest has reserved a table for the restaurant, or a greetings card that
can be accessed and printed out for a birthday trace, or even detailed trace-related instructions for employees,
and so on. Documents stored here are saved centrally at path <protel>\TRACEDOC, which can be accessed from
any workstation.

A special setting must be made in protel in order to be able to link documents with traces. For more
information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

Click [OK] to save the trace entry.

If at least one open trace exists, an exclamation point will appear in the Navigator:

Available user rights (traces)

Controls access to the “Traces History” option in the context menu (More > Traces >
223 FO Traces history
right-click > Traces History)
230 FO Delete traces Determines whether or not traces can be deleted
Controls access to the “Trace cleared” option in the context menu (More > Traces >
231 FO Clear traces
right-click > Cleared)
232 FO Modify traces Users not assigned this right will not be able to edit traces.
Controls access to the trace report. Users not assigned this right will not be able to view
233 FO Traces traces by selecting “Reports > Traces”. Access from the Navigator will be denied and the
sub tree for traces in the More dialog box will be grayed out.
FO Traces If the document linking feature for the Traces dialog box has been activated, this user
365
Document right controls access to stored trace documents.

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Attached profiles
Navigator [More...] button Attached profiles

You can attach another guest profile to a reservation. protel interprets the attached profile as an accompanying
person and uses this person’s details for registration purposes. A guest profile for the accompanying person must
exist (or be created) in protel; the companion does not then need to be entered manually from the “More” dialog
box.

Please contact protel hotelsoftware GmbH Dortmund to enable this feature.

Right-click anywhere within the dialog box to open the context menu, which contains the following editing
options:
Attach new profile Opens the Search Profiles dialog box. If the required profile already exists, double-click it to
select.
Link family profiles Opens the “Family” tab of the guest profile, where you can assign other profiles.
The profiles assigned here are saved in the guest profile (“Family” tab). Right-click to add a
family member. To insert family names, simply right-click the name box in the search form
and select "paste":

When assigning family members, you can define the guest’s relationship with individual
persons/companions. To do this, select the entry and choose the relationship from the drop-
down list at the lower edge of the dialog box. You can also enter your own text in the “Text”
box.
Note: Relationships can be stored in the system data under “Reservation” > “Guest profile
codes” > “Family Relationship Types”.
Profile linked to other Opens the reservation list containing all the reservations that fall within the posting period of
reservation this reservation. Double-clicking one of these reservations deletes the link with the original
reservation and creates a new link.
Delete attachment Deletes the attachment. The formerly attached profile is retained.
View profile Opens the attached profile.

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Change additional You can enter more information about the attached profiles in this dialog box.
information

You can enter deviating data for accompanying persons or family members here and choose
the type of person from the drop-down list.
Move up / Move down: If multiple profiles have been attached, you can sort these in the list to gain a clearer
overview.

Available user rights (attached profiles)

227 FO Attached profiles Controls access to the “Attached profiles” option in the More... dialog box.

Deviant exchange rates

Navigator [More...] button Deviant exchange rates

You can use this option to define an individual exchange rate for a reservation. This will overwrite the global
exchange rate for this reservation.
Select the “Fix exchange rate for this reservation” check box. You can then choose to define a specific
exchange rate for a currency or select a date that is to provide the basis for the currency exchange rate.

Available user rights (deviant exchange rate)

FO Deviant exchange
227 Controls access to the “Deviant exchange rates” option in the More... dialog box.
rates

Credit card authorization

Navigator [More...] button Credit card authorization

This option can be used only in conjunction with an EFT interface and connected card reader. For more
information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

You perform credit card authorization to verify the card validity and credit limit. The amount you enter can range
from the rate for one night to the cost of the entire stay.

Available settings (credit card authorization)

If an EFT interface is used, the interface returns a token to protel upon authorization of the payment request.
This token can be displayed in the Navigator under the sub tree "Additional reservation information". The token
stands for the successful authorization of a credit card payment (=result of a positive check)... For more
information, see section Navigator > Invoice pane > CC Token.

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Available user rights (credit card authorization)

FO Credit card Controls access to the “Credit card authorization” option in the More... dialog
194
authorization box.

Edit invoice
Navigator [More] button Edit invoice

A number of additional invoice processing options are offered here. You can also access the options listed here by
clicking the [Edit] button from within the invoice form.

Information invoice
Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Information invoice

Print out of an invoice that shows all registered charges up to now (can be used as a receipt for payment
receipts).

Available user rights

FO Info Sample Bill /
83 Controls access to the “Information invoice” option in the More... dialog box.
Invoice

Invoice print mode

Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Invoice print mode

Summarization and sorting of items

The following different options are available for printing out the guest invoice:
 Detailed invoice: If you select this option, every individual posting is printed; nothing is summarized.
 TAA summarized by day: Causes postings for the same transaction account to be summarized by day.
 TAA summarized by stay: This option is chosen by default. Postings for the same transaction account will be
summarized by stay (one row for accommodation, one for telephone, one for minibar etc.).
 TAA summarized by guest names: This option is particularly recommended for group invoices because the
individual charges are assigned to each guest.
 TAA summarized per rooms: This setting can also be useful for group invoices.
 Summarize EOD charges only: With this option, all postings that are posted as part of the end-of-day routine
(room rates and other fixed charges) are summarized and any additional postings are printed out in detail.
 Summarize TAAs to total package: Same as “TAA summarized by stay”, but also summarizes all accounts as
total packages; in other words quantity = 1. This is useful for weekend arrangements that involve daily
posting at different daily rates.
 Summarize EOD charges to total packages only: With this option, only EOD postings are summarized as total
packages; all other postings will be printed in detail.
 TAA summarized by guest, sorted by res. no.: This setting can be useful for group invoices. The charges are
assigned per guest and sorted by the guest reservation numbers.
 Detailed invoice, sorted by TAA main groups: With this option, the postings are not summarized, but sorted
by the main groups defined in the system data; for example, accommodation, hotel bar, spa treatment, and
so on.

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 TAAs summarized per day, sorted by TAA main groups: Postings for the same transaction account are
summarized by day and sorted by the defined main groups.
 TAAs summarized per stay, sorted by TAA main groups: With this option, all postings for the same
transaction account are summarized for the entire stay and sorted by the defined main groups.
Invoice Layout
Additional invoice forms to the standard invoice can be stored in the system data. Choose the invoice form you
require from this drop-down list.
You can also define the currency to be used for this invoice. To be able to do this, the currencies and exchange
rate must have been created already (see the Exchange rates chapter).
Lease invoices for long staying guests (available only after activation)
You use this option to define the invoicing procedure for long-term guests. Please contact our support team if you
require the separate guide that explains this in more detail.

Available user rights

FO Modus Invoice
80 Controls access to the “Invoice print mode” option in the More... dialog box.
Printing

Pro forma invoice

Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Pro forma invoice

The pro forma invoice calculates the accommodation costs for a guest or group in advance and displays these on
an invoice form. These costs are calculated on the basis of the rate code, the stored fixed charges, and the stored
packages.
A special system setting is required in protel to activate this pro forma invoice feature. For more information,
please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.
Pro forma invoices can only be generated before the guest checks in.

A pro forma invoice for a group can be created from the group master. It is important that the split has already
taken place (i.e., that individual reservations exist) for group members at the time the invoice is generated.
Charges are not posted at this time. An advanced invoice is created only for charges according to rate code and
fixed charges.
1. Immediately after choosing this function, the “Invoice print mode” window (see above) appears, in which
you can then choose the required invoice mode and form.
2. A dialog box then appears, in which you choose whether to create the pro forma invoice for the entire
stay or for a specific number of days only:
Enter days: Enter the number of days and click [OK] to confirm.
3. Select the invoice window (A, B, C, etc.) for which you want to create the pro forma invoice. Routings to
other invoices/invoice windows will be taken into account here.
The pro forma invoice is not given an invoice number. If you would like pro forma invoices to have invoice
numbers, this can be configured in the system. Note that the invoice number is allocated by the final check out
for the reservation. If the invoice section on which the pro forma invoice was based is not used, the invoice form
is retained and is stored within the system.

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Invoice history
Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Invoice history

Shows all previous invoices for this guest.

The functions in the upper pane of the dialog box allow you to filter your search by specific criteria. Enter an
invoice number, a date, and/or a fiscal code, and click [Start Search]. Click the [Reset Filter] button to clear all the
filter criteria.
All of the invoices matching the entered search criteria will be displayed in the center of the window. If you do
not set any filters ([Reset Filter] + [Start Search]), all of the invoices for the guest will be listed.
You can select invoices individually or all at once (click the [All] button).
The following functions are available for the selected invoices:
View Invoice Form Opens the invoice form on screen.
Print Invoice Form Prints the invoice form.
Show Details Provides a detailed breakdown of all invoice items.
Void Invoice Opens the “Void invoice” window (see below)
Print Report Prints a list of invoices.
Check for unprinted Opens invoices that have not yet been printed for editing purposes.
Invoices

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VOID INVOICE

You use this option to void invoices retroactively. This creates a void invoice and, if only a part of the invoice is
being voided, a new, corrected invoice.

The dialog box lists all items from the invoice. The lower pane shows the total charges and the total for the
individual items selected.
Post marked items to new invoice: If only part of the invoice is to be voided, select the charges that are to be
reposted after the void (one by one or by clicking the All / None buttons) and select the Post marked items to
new invoice check box. Then click [Void invoice] and confirm the subsequent prompt to complete the procedure.
This will generate a void invoice in invoice window A and the new invoice in invoice window B. From the invoice
window, you can now check out the newly posted charges.
For more information, see also “Cash Register”, “Invoice History”!

Advanced payment
Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Advanced payment

From version 2013.17.000: This function can also be added to the Navigator's tree view. Ask your protel Support
Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help.
If the guest makes an advanced payment either at the time of or after arrival, you can enter and post the
payment here. The payment will be posted directly to the guest account. This payment will be included in the
daily balance calculation.

Guest information is shown in the upper pane of the dialog box.

Invoice: From the drop-down list, select the part of the invoice to which the advanced payment is to be posted.

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Value: Choose the date on which the credit is to be entered (if not today’s date).
Method of paym.: Select a payment method and enter the amount:

Cash payments: If the guest is paying cash, you can enter more information in the “Additional text” box. The
other boxes remain blank.
Credit card For credit card payments, you can either read the card details by clicking [Read CC] or, if
payments: the card information is already stored in the guest profile, transfer the details by clicking [ CC
from Profile]. In the latter case, the “Additional text”, “Valid”, and “Card holder” boxes will
then be populated automatically.
Alternatively, you can authorize the credit card. In this case, the amount entered is
guaranteed by the hotel, which has verified that the amount is covered by the credit card
limit. The amount entered is then transferred to the “CC-Auth.” box.
Foreign currency For payments in a foreign currency, the stored exchange rate is shown under “Ex. rate”.
payments:

Available user rights

82 FO Post deposit Controls access to the “Advanced payment” option in the More... dialog box.

Manual rate code posting

Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Manual rate code posting

This option is for posting or voiding rate codes and additional fixed charges manually (“More...” button, “Fixed
charges”).

Note that, unlike advance invoices, the postings made here are effected in addition to the rate codes/fixed
charges posted during an end-of-day routine.

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Rate code: The box in the top left shows the rate code that was entered for the reservation.
Use different rate code: If you want to post a different rate code, select the Use different rate code check box.
This makes the rate box editable, allowing you to select a different rate code.
Date: Choose a date for which the room rate is to be posted. You can enter the date directly or use the [+]- or [-]
buttons. This function is used for price determination purposes only. The posting will always be made to today’s
date. The date does not need to be within the reservation period.
Quant.: You can also enter the quantity to be posted, meaning the number of nights rather than number of
persons.
Options: The following options are available for selection:

Ignore special rates If you select this option, any special rates that were entered in the Navigator or Rate by day
grid will be ignored (for example, if a different number of persons has been specified for a
specific day). This check box will be selected automatically if you choose a different rate code to
that specified in the reservation. If you do, however, still want special rates to be taken into
account, you can clear this check box again.

Incr. date (multiple If you select this check box, the posting date is shown in the additional text for the postings and
post.) printed on the invoice.

Void (post negative) Use this check box with care. Selecting this check box and clicking [Do Posting] voids the rate
code that was set above. Note that the revenues will be voided internally in accordance with
the stored split tables.

Post fixed charges If you select this check box, the fixed charges created under “Fixed charges” will also be posted
or voided.

Use different billing text: In this box, you can enter free text that also appears on the invoice. If you leave this box
blank, protel displays the rate code text.
In the center of the window, the name of the guest for which the posting applies is highlighted. If you accessed
this function from a group master, all the guests in the group will be listed here. In this case, all the guests will be
highlighted, but not the master itself. Click individual guests or click the [All] or [None] buttons to select or
remove guests to be posted.
Test Posting: Before completing the posting, you can display in the second window a list of the postings to be
made according to the conditions entered previously. This gives you an opportunity to check the list and amend if
necessary before posting the revenue.
Do Posting: Click this button to complete the posting to the invoice. If at this point you notice that the settings are
incorrect, you can only make corrections by voiding the invoice or deleting items from it.

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Date of next rate code posting

Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Date of next rate code posting

You use this option to set the room rate posting date to an earlier or later date.
Next room rate is Shows the next room rate posting date. You can change this date.
posted:
Room rate is posted Shows the number of room rates that are still to be posted.
(nights)
[From Arrival] Resets the accommodation date to the arrival date.
[Disable Room Rate Sets the accommodation date to the date of departure and sets the number of room rates that
Posting] are still to be posted to zero.
This option can be used to make correction postings after an advanced invoice. The date of the
next room rate posting is set to the date of departure as a result of the advance invoice. If the
incorrect rate code was posted for the advance invoice, this can be rectified by resetting the
date, changing the rate codes, and reopening the advance invoice to post the correct rate to it.
This function can also be used to set the date to a later date if the room rate posting is to be
postponed for the following days.

Available user rights

FO Change date of next Controls access to the “Date of next rate code posting” option in the
116
lodgment posting More... dialog box.

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Transfer charges to another invoice

Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Transfer charges to other invoice

This offers an additional option for transferring charges (to supplement that explained in Transferring charges to
another partial invoice).
The window is divided into two panes. The left pane lists the data for the invoice containing charges to be
transferred (the source invoice). The right pane lists the invoices to which the charges are to be transferred (the
target invoice).

SOURCE INVOICE

The details (name, room number) are displayed for the guest whose charges are to be transferred.
Click [Mark all] to select all the charges listed. If you only want to transfer individual charges, click the relevant
ones to select.
If you select the Charges with posting date check box and enter a period, the system will only transfer the
charges that fall within this period. If you select The following TAAs only check box and enter the transaction
accounts, the system will only post charges for the specified accounts. Use a comma separator when entering
multiple transaction accounts.

TARGET INVOICE

Enter the room number or name of the guest account to be posted. If a group master exists, you can click the
Group Master button to post to the master account.
The individual partial invoices of the target guest account are displayed below this. If balances already exist, these
will also be listed. To post the charges to the appropriate partial invoice (A, B, C etc.), click the corresponding
button (to A, to B etc.).

Available user rights

Controls access to the “Transfer charges to other invoice” option in the
81 FO Transfer charges to room
More... dialog box.

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Collect charges from group members (group master only)

Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Collect charges from group members

You use this option to post charges for group members to the Group Master.

All charges for all group members are listed by default and will therefore be included in the transfer posting.
To select specific charges to be included in the transfer posting, simply click the relevant entries (guests, TAA main
groups, transaction accounts, and individual postings). These postings will be listed in the top right under “The
following charges are transferred”.
Group members:
Lists the names and room numbers of all group members.
Please note that only checked in group members (members with status CI) will be displayed!
All of the members are selected by default, meaning that charges will be transferred from the invoices of all
guests. You can, however, select individual guests to be included in the transfer posting. You can also click the
[All] or [None] button to select or deselect all guests respectively. You use the A - F check boxes on the right if
you wish to include charges from specific detailed invoices in the transfer posting.
From Main groups / Following TAAs only:
These boxes show the TAA main groups and transactions accounts for which postings have been made to guest
invoices. Select the specific charges you want to transfer to the master by selecting the required main groups and
transaction accounts.
Charges from:
With this option, you can select charges that were posted on specific days to be included in the transfer posting.
Simply choose the days in question. You can use the [All] and [None] buttons to quickly select or deselect all dates
listed.
The following charges are transferred:
This box, which is situated in the top right of the window, lists all the charges selected. You can also select
individual charges from this list.
To transfer the posting of the selected charges to the required group master invoice, click the relevant button (
- ).

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Click the [Pay. instr.] button to open the routing/payment instructions for the group master. See the
“Payment/routing instructions” for more information about this window. Click the [Transfer by using payment
instruction] button to complete the transfer posting in accordance with the routing/payment instructions stored.

Available user rights

96 FO Transfer to Group Master Controls access to the “Collect charges from group members” function.

Print reports
Navigator [More] button Edit invoice Print reports

Displays/prints a report showing all the posted invoice windows of the guest.

Group members/Group master

[Navigator “Group members/Group master” button]

The [Group members] and [Group master] buttons in the Navigator are available for group reservations only.

When you open the Navigator for a group member, clicking the [Group Master] button opens the group master
Navigator.
Click the [Group members] button to view the list of all group members.

Right-click the individual entries to open the Navigator for each reservation.

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An overview of the entire reservation is provided in the lower right:

#Conf: Number of confirmed reservations
#Cancel: Number of canceled reservations
# Adults: Total number of persons
#1 Adults.: Number of one person rooms
#2 Adults: Number of two person rooms
#3 Adults: Number of three person rooms
# Rooms: Total number of rooms
#Children: Number of children
You use the following buttons to edit one or more reservations:

Add Shows additional reservation data relating to the selected reservation.

Grp. Profile Used to undo rooming assignments (see Rooming list); in other words, clicking this button
resets the name of the group member selected to the group master profile!
Use this button with caution!

Room allocation Select a guest and click this button to access Room allocation. The selected reservation can then
be assigned to a room. This is the preferred means of allocating individual rooms for newly
created group reservations.

New If you want to add a new reservation to the group reservation, click this button to access the
Reservation dialog box. Group-related data, such as the group name, for example, are displayed
automatically.

Void If one of the rooms for the group is canceled or not all of the rooms on the rooming list are
requested, you can access this dialog box to void the room(s) directly. Voided rooms remain in
the list as evidence of the original number of rooms from the group member list, which would be
required if charging for cancellations.

Add to group For adding existing reservations to a group. Clicking this button opens a list of all the reservations
that lie within the reservation period of the group master. To add reservations to this group,
select the required reservation and click OK to confirm. You will then be asked whether you also
want to transfer the payment/routing instructions, fixed charges, and the rate by day grid. Since
these can be created individually in the reservations, you should choose a reservation that
contains the appropriate entry (sample reservation).

Remove from group Use this button to remove individual reservations from the group. The removed reservation(s)
will still exist. First select the reservations you want to remove and then click the button. You will
then be asked whether you want to delete any existing payment/routing instructions.
Reactivate Reactivates a voided reservation.

Rooming list
In the “Group members” dialog box, you can assign individual guests to the group reservation. Guest names can
be entered in the rooming list, which is useful for group reservations involving 30 rooms, for instance, because
you do not then need to open the Navigator for each individual guest.

By default, protel creates a profile for each individual group member. If you only want to enter names of the
group members without creating a profile for each, select the Rooming list check box. The names of the
members will be deleted after group check-out and the first end of day.

Double-click the first entry in the list to open the Navigator for the associated reservation.

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The Navigator opens in “Change name” mode:

To change the name, overwrite the entry in the “Name” box.

Click [OK] to launch the guest search and display the search results. If this name does not exist, the new guest
profile dialog box appears. If different reservation data exist within the group, the arrival and departure dates can
be changed in the “Reservation” pane.

To go to the next group member, click the page down key on your keyboard .
Repeat steps 1-4 until you have entered a name or assigned a profile for every group member.

Available user rights

380 FO Group naming list name Controls access to the “Rooming list” function.

IFC settings
Use the PROTEL.INI file to activate this feature.
If various interfaces are available, you can use this feature to define guest-specific settings for each interface, e.g.
for Internet access, for connected access control systems, telephone settings, Pay TV etc.

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Reservation
The Reservation dialog box

The Reservation dialog box

The “Reservation” dialog box is the central location for creating or editing reservations. It provides access to all
relevant guest and reservation details. You can change the reservation details with just a few mouse clicks. Any
changes you make here are immediately reflected in the occupancy details.
You can access the reservation dialog box in a number of ways:
Using the Search: Use the Reservation search function to access a previously created reservation or click
[New] in the Search Result dialog box to create a new reservation.
Using the room plan: Right-click the reservation to open the Navigator. Right-click in the Reservation
pane of the Navigator (see the “Navigator structure” section).
Using the room type plan (only when creating new reservations): See the “Room Type Plan” section for
more details.

Structure of the Reservation dialog box

The Reservation screen contains a considerable amount of information and is therefore divided into three main
sections:

Guest data
Reservation data
Reservation details

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Guest data
The data transferred from the guest profile is displayed on the left. The country, city, and VIP status are
all editable.
The guest search function is launched when the name is entered. If a profile does not yet exist for the
entered name, you can create a new one. For group reservations, the group name is inserted in the
“Name of guest” box.
Enter information about the company, travel agent, source, and/or group in the central column.
Revenues and other statistical data generated during the reservation are stored in the guest profile and
also in the corresponding company, TA, source, or group profile. For company reservations, the company
address is automatically inserted as the invoice address.
From Version 2013.17.222
The company, TA, Source or Group Profile can also be assigned later (if the reservation already exists).
When adding a Profile with special rates agreements you can activate a pop-up window to ask the user
if the special rate code should be adopted or not.
Ask your protel Support-Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help!

The tree view on the right displays additional information from the guest profile:

Double-click the “Guest info.” entry to open additional information, such as the last rate, last room, and
agreed special rates.
Right-click the “Guest info.” entry to open the guest profile. If a company, travel agent, source, or group is
assigned, it will be displayed here together with the relevant contact persons. Right-click the company to
open the company profile.
Attached profiles are also displayed here; right-click to open.
An additional name can be stored in the “Booker” box.
Click Send SMS confirmation letter to send a confirmation text message (only possible if the “protel SMS
confirmation” add-on is installed). The SMS is sent to the cell phone number entered in the guest profile
for this reservation.

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Reservation data

Enter the reservation data in this pane:

Status Reservation status. The reservation status indicates if a booking is optional or definite, for example. The
status of a reservation determines the color used to display the reservation in the room plan.
Arrival Arrival date. You can change the arrival date by overwriting it or using the plus and minus buttons.
Alternatively, you can right-click the date box to open a calendar in which you can click the required date
to select.
Ngh Number of nights. This can be overwritten or changed using the plus/minus buttons.
Dprt. Departure date. This can be overwritten or changed using the plus/minus buttons. Alternatively, you can
right-click the date box to open a calendar in which you can click the required date to select.
Qty
The number of rooms to be reserved. Use the button to change the number of rooms (group/company
reservations etc. only).
R. type Reserved room type. Select the required room type from the list of room types created in the system data.
If the reservation has been entered using the Room Type Plan or Room Plan, these boxes will be populated
already.
R. no. Room number of the guest. Not entered for room type reservations. If you click this box, you will only see a
list of the rooms available for this room type within the reservation period.
Adlt. Number of adults. This number influences the rate. You can enter the default number for each room type
in the system data.
Rate code The underlying rate code group for this reservation. The default rate code that is proposed when creating a
new reservation depends on the settings made in the system data (“Reservation > Room Types”). You can
select a valid rate code group for the reservation period from the list.
Rate The daily room rate to be posted.
You can overwrite this rate. Internal splitting will be performed on the basis of the rate code stored in the
system data. If the overwritten rate exceeds the splitting value, the stored splitting table will be ignored
and the entire amount will be added to the stored accommodation account. Splitting will also not be
performed if the rate is set to 0.00.
Cn. “Connect”: This box indicates whether multiple parts of a reservation are connected to the same
reservation (include a move for example). In this case, the arrival and departure dates refer to the length
of stay within a particular room.
If reference has already been made to the move in the reservation, the reservation can be created as a
reservation with move directly. First create partial reservation 1 and then select the [Cn.] check box. Now
enter partial reservation 2 by positioning the cursor over the arrival box and entering the date of
the move as the arrival date. Make sure the departure date of partial reservation 1 is the same as
the arrival date of partial reservation 2. Once you have chosen the departure date and the room,
select the [Cn.] checkbox here too. Click [OK] to confirm the reservation. An information message
appears, confirming that both parts have been connected.

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Det “Details”: For displaying multiple partial reservations on the Reservation screen. The details shown in the
lower part of the screen (number of children, additional beds etc.) are for the reservation for which this
radio button has been selected. If, for example, you only want to enter an additional bed for the third
reservation, you first have to select this radio button and then add the additional bed in the lower pane.
Finally, save the changes to the details and click [OK]

Sp. “Save”:
If you have multiple partial reservations and want to transfer the details of the first reservation to another
reservation, first connect the reservations (by selecting the [Cn.] check box), select the “Det” radio
button of the connected reservation, and click [OK].
If you have created multiple reservations and want to create different details for each reservation,
select “Det” of the relevant reservation, change the details and click [OK] to confirm. These details
will then be saved for the individual partial reservation.

Reservation details

Enter the reservation details in this pane:

Market code Market codes are used to collect statistical information about booking and sales trends by market
segment. Select the required code from the list created in the system data.
Source code Source codes are used to determine the sources of the reservations (and therefore sales). Select the
required code from the list created in the system data.
Allocation / If the reservation belongs to an allocation (also referred to as an allotment), you can enter the name of
Act. all. this allocation here.
The field "Act. all." displays the currently set allocation.
Hear / In the system data you can define codes that provide information about where the guests heard about
Come your hotel and the reason they chose to come to your hotel. You assign these to the reservation here.
Add.bed / Number of additional beds/cots required. This information can be used to calculate the rate.
Cots
Child 1/2/3/4 Number of children 1, 2, 3, 4. This information can be used to calculate the rate.
Pick up If you offer transfers, or simply require information about how the guest is travelling to the hotel (by
plane, train), you can assign the relevant pick-up codes stored in the system data to the reservation.
Payment Enter the method of payment that you want to be proposed by default at check out. Select the
required method of payment from the list created in the system data. If a CC payment method is
entered, the CC button will be shown automatically.

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CC button Opens the credit card information entry dialog box.

Enter the data here or, if it has been entered in the profile already, click the [ Copy from profile] button.
Use the [Transfer to profile] button to copy the entered data to the profile.
If a CC payment method is entered in the Payment box, this dialog box appears automatically.
Packages You can link different packages to the methods of payment in the system data in accordance with the
splitting table. You can then assign these to specific reservations.

Blocked If you select this checkbox, the room number assigned to the guest is fixed and the reservation cannot be
room moved. However, User Administration can authorize certain users to do this anyway. The guest name will
be displayed in blue in the room plan.

Event Reservations for which this check box has been selected will be listed in the “Events week plan” report on
the date of arrival.
Flight If you are picking up the guest from an airport, you can enter the guest’s flight number here.
Option To: A reservation can be held open as an option until the date entered here. If a specific entry exists in the
protel.INI file, the date will be entered automatically when this button is selected.
After this date has passed, however, the reservation will not be deleted or canceled automatically because
this is not generally desirable. At end of day, however, you can print a report, listing all reservations for
which an option date has been entered.
Conf No. (After Option To date) This number is calculated internally by protel. This number is useful when searching
for the reservation in the reservation list, for example.
Note 1 / For entering notes and a date. These notes are displayed on the invoice screen for information purposes,
Note 2 for example. You can also create a list for the date entered.
Arrival / For entering the precise time of arrival and departure for information purposes. protel enters the system
Depart. time automatically at check in/check out.
Res.-No. Reservation numbers are managed and assigned sequentially for each reservation by protel. Reservations
can be opened from the reservation list, for example, by clicking their respective numbers.
User Name of the user who entered this reservation.
Res.Date In the bottom-right of the window: Date the reservation was entered.

Available user rights

370 FO Reservation: Read CC from profile Controls access to the “CC button” > [Copy from profile] function.

371 FO Reservation: Write CC to profile Controls access to the “CC button” > [Transfer to profile] function.

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The buttons

The Add. Info button

Click this button if you need to store additional information about the reservation.

Travel information For information about check-in or check-out; embarkation and disembarkation point, for example.
Laundry In this box, you enter the preferred laundry frequency in days (i.e., how often the bed linen is to be
changed). The standard laundry frequency is controlled by an entry in the PROTEL.INI file.
Memo Text box for entering additional information relating to this reservation.

Don't print rate Select this check box if you do not want the rate to be printed on registration forms.
on reg. card
Used member card If the guest has one or more member cards, you use this button to assign the card to the
reservation. This will either be for a loyalty scheme run by the hotel itself or an airline. In some
cases, guests will not decide until their arrival the card for which they want to collect points. In this
case, you would select the relevant card here.
Commission code The values entered here are transferred from the guest profile by default. They can be edited if
necessary.
Hotel safe For assigning individual safe numbers that are stored in the system data to the reservation. You will
receive a message about this at check out.
Gender For assigning the gender of the guest.
Tax exemption For assigning one of the exemption codes stored in the system data (“Bookkeeping > Taxes > Tax
Exemption Codes”). Click the [Save in Profile] button to save the exemption code in the profile and
assign it automatically at the next reservation for this profile.
Promotion code You can also create rate codes of the type “Promotion code” in the system data. These rate codes
Value are only displayed here.
Discount room rate Even if no discount code was previously selected, you can store a percentage discount rate here,
in p.c. which will then be deducted from the room rate automatically (internally from accommodation
only).

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Discount For selecting a discount code that is stored in the system data (“Bookkeeping > Invoice > Discount
Codes”). Click the [Save in Profile] button to save the discount code in the profile to be available
for future reservations for this profile.
User values Text boxes for entering additional information relating to this reservation.
Use the [User-Code 1] button to assign hotel-specific codes to the guest. These codes must have
been previously created in the system data.
Assign a specific color to highlight this reservation in the room plan.

You can assign an additional room feature to a room specifically for a reservation. The assignment
made here does not affect the system data.
Save special guest requests that relate only to this particular reservation.
From version 2013.17.000
If required, reservation-specific guest requests can be shown as "Additional Reservation Data" in
the Navigator’s tree view. Ask your protel Support Team to set up your protel system accordingly!
We’re happy to help.

Available user rights

196 FO Enter/Change reservation discount Controls access to the “Add. Info. > Discount” function.

Letters button
Click this button to access the Letters tab for the guest, which you use to create new letters for the guest and
display or change existing ones.
If the reservation is a company, travel agent, source, or group reservation, an address selection window appears.

You can also create the confirmation here (see the “Navigator > Letters” section).

Sharer button
See the “Sharer reservation” section

Guest Hist. button

Click this button to view all previous reservations for this guest. See the “Profiles, History tab” section

The More button

See the “Navigator, More...button” section.

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Navigation within the Reservation dialog box

A number of keyboard shortcuts can be used to speed up data entry within the Reservation dialog box.

Use the tab key to go to the next box.

+ [letter]
An even more direct route to the required boxes is to choose ALT + underlined letter. These letters have been
highlighted in the following screenshot:

You can use the [+] and [-] buttons to change the arrival and departure dates. It is often quicker to do this than to
enter a new date. Alternatively, you can double-click the box directly and enter a date in six-figure format (e.g.
“101012” for October 10, 2012).

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Finding and creating a reservation

When you enter a new reservation, protel automatically opens the guest profile search window so you can assign
a booker to the reservation. For more detailed information on how to find a guest refer to the “Searching guest
profiles” section.
If you enter a reservation directly in the Room plan or Room type plan, a search for existing profiles starts as soon
as you enter a word or string in the “Name,” “Company,” “TA,” “Source” or “Group” box of the Reservation dialog
box. Any matches are listed in the search results dialog box.

Finding a reservation
The reservation menu (e.g. Reservation > Private Reservation) allows you to find existing reservations or enter
new ones. Regardless of your initial intention, the “Search Profiles” dialog box automatically opens.

Enter (part of) the guest's name and press the Enter key or click [OK]. The Search Result dialog box returns all
guest profiles that match your search string. Double-click a guest profile to select.

This opens the “Reservations” dialog box with all reservation information that is relevant to the selected guest.

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The following features are available:

New Opens the Reservation dialog box in which you can enter a new reservation for the guest.
Cancel Res. Cancels the selected reservation.
Reactivate Reactivates a voided reservation.
Print Prints the list of reservations.
Add Shows additional information for the reservation.
Extended Select the Extended tooltip check box to show tooltips with additional information as
tooltip configured in the PROTEL.INI file.

Creating a new guest profile

If a profile does not exist for the guest, click the [New] button in the Search Result dialog box to open a blank
profile and enter the relevant information.
If your search does not return a match, you are automatically prompted to create a new profile.
Create the new profile to open the above dialog box, then click the [New] button to open the Reservation dialog
box.

Available user rights

310 FO Reservation input Authorizes the user to enter reservations.

Private reservation
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION PRIVATE RESERVATION OR

FRONT OFFICE PROFILES PRIVATE

All reservations that are not made for companies, groups or through a travel agent are considered private
reservations. In most cases this is guests making a reservation for themselves and in their own name.
Go to “Reservation > Private Reservation”, enter the guest search data, and follow the procedure described in the
“Finding and creating a reservation” section.

If you enter the reservation directly in the Room plan or Room type plan and fill out the “Name” box only, the
system automatically creates a private reservation.

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Company reservation
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION COMPANY RESERVATION

Unlike a private reservation, a company reservation is made through a company. Amongst other things, this
simplifies the search for reservations and allows for more detailed analyses of occupancy and revenue data.
For company reservations, the company address is automatically inserted as the address for invoice “B.”
Go to “Reservation > Company Reservation”, enter the profile search data, and follow the procedure described in
the “Finding and creating a reservation” section.

If you enter the reservation directly in the Room plan or Room type plan and fill out the “Company” box, the
system automatically creates a company reservation.

Group reservation
Front Office Reservation Group Reservation

It is advisable to create a group reservation if a customer is booking multiple rooms on a single invoice. This form
of reservation also allows you to change other data, such as the arrival or departure date, for all group members
at the same time.
You can of course also specify a company name, travel agent name, or source name in addition to the group
name, if required. As a result, information about revenues for the company and individual groups, for example,
will be available separately in the respective profiles and histories.
During creation of a group reservation, a joint group account (known as the “group master”) is created
automatically and will be used for the collective invoice, among others. The group master can also be used to
manage and edit the group members and other reservation information centrally. The subsequent chapters
explain the group master in more detail.
Once you have finished making your entries, a prompt will appear asking if you want to create a group invoice. If
you confirm the prompt, the Payment/routing instructions for the group master will appear. You can then define
the precise distribution of sales (revenues), if required.

From the room plan or room type plan

There are various ways of creating a group reservation. In addition to the method described above (Reservation >
Group Reservation > New), you can also create group reservations from the room plan or room type plan.

From the room plan

1. Drag the first reservation in the required room over the required period, but do not press Enter or right-
click to confirm the reservation.
2. Add another reservation immediately afterward by dragging a new reservation (differing arrival and
departure dates are possible).
3. Drag as many reservations as you require:

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4. To complete the process, press the Enter key or confirm the reservations by right-clicking and choosing
“Reservation” from the context menu.
5. This will open the Reservation dialog box. Enter the group name in the Group box.
6. This opens the profile search window where you assign a group to the reservations.
7. Assign an existing guest profile of the “Group” profile type or create a new guest profile.
8. Click [OK] and click [Yes] to confirm the prompt asking if you want to create a group master invoice.
9. Choose a routing target in the Routing instructions dialog box; for example, “Accommodation to B
invoice” ([Frequently Used Instructions]).
10. Click [OK] and, in the dialog box that appears, choose [Group members and master].

Optional: Rooming list entry

Assigning guests to individual rooms:
1. From the room plan, open the reservation Navigator (right-click any individual reservation belonging to
the newly created group reservation):

2. In the Navigator, click [GrpMaster]

3. In the group master, click [Grp.members].
4. If you only want to enter names without creating a profile for each group member, select the Rooming
list check box.
5. Double-click the first entry in the list to open the Navigator for the associated reservation.

6. The Navigator opens in “Change name” mode:

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7. To change the name, overwrite the entry in the “Name” box.

8. To go to the next group member, click the page down button .

9. Repeat steps 7-8 until you have entered a name or assigned a profile for every group member.
10. Click [OK] to confirm. The group reservation was created with the relevant group members:

From the room type plan

It is very easy to create group reservations from the room type plan.
1. In the column to the right of the room type name, enter the number of required rooms.
2. Using the mouse, drag the reservation in the required room type over the required period.
3. Add more room type reservations if required by dragging a reservation in another room type. Enter the
number of rooms required in this case too.

Fig.: This booking is for four rooms of room type PRTB and four rooms of room type STDB, all from
June 02 to 04, 2013.

4. Confirm the reservation by pressing Enter or by right-clicking and choosing “Reservation” from the
context menu.
5. This will open the Reservation dialog box. Enter the group name in the Group box.
6. This opens the profile search window where you assign a group to the reservations.
7. Assign an existing guest profile of the “Group” profile type or create a new guest profile.
8. Click [OK] and click [Yes] to confirm the prompt asking if you want to create a group reservation.
9. Choose a routing target in the Routing instructions dialog box; for example, “Accommodation to B
invoice” ([Frequently Used Instructions]).

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10. Click [OK] and, in the dialog box that appears, choose the option [Group members and master].
11. Open the reservation by clicking in the toolbar. Enter the reserved period.
12. Select the group master for the reservation (indicated by room type “GRP MST”) and right-click:

13. In the Navigator that appears, click .

14. In the next window, click the button.

15. In the Room Allocation dialog box, click to allocate rooms to the individual partial
reservations.
16. Optional: Rooming list entry - Assign guests to individual rooms.
-> See above: “From the room plan > Rooming list entry”.

Via the Reservation menu

1. Open the menu “Reservation > Group Reservation”, enter the profile search data, and follow the
procedure described in the “Finding and creating a reservation” section.
2. Click [New] to enter all additional information, such as arrival and departure, room type, occupancy/room
etc. in the Reservation dialog box:

3. Click [OK] to confirm the Reservation dialog box and click [Yes] to confirm the prompt asking if you want
to create a group master invoice.
4. Choose a routing target in the Routing instructions dialog box; for example, “Accommodation to B
invoice” ([Frequently Used Instructions]).
5. Click [OK] and, in the dialog box that appears, choose the option [Group members and master].

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6. This will open the group window. Select the group master (indicated by room type “GRP MST”) and right-
click:

7. In the Navigator that appears, click .

8. Optional: Rooming list entry - Assign guests to individual rooms.
-> See above: “From the room plan > Rooming list entry”.

Adding group members

a) From the room plan
Post the additional reservation:

In the Reservation dialog box, enter the group name in the “Group” box:

The reservation will be added automatically to the group reservation with the same group name.
b) From the group master
Open the group reservation, by clicking the button in the toolbar for example.

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Select the group master for the reservation (indicated by room type “GRP”) and right-click.

In the Navigator that appears, click .

To add an existing reservation to the group, click or, to create a new individual reservation
to add to the group, click .

NOTE
It is important to use different names for different groups that are making reservations for the same period.
Otherwise, you will find it very difficult to distinguish one group from another.

ATTENTION
If payment/routing instructions, fixed charges, or changes exist in the rate by day grid, these will be
transferred to the new reservation automatically after selecting a sample reservation and confirming various
prompts.

Available user rights

FO Group members - add to Controls access to the “Add to group” button in the group members dialog
340
group box of the group master.

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Removing group members

If you want to void the entire reservation, follow the same procedure as for a normal reservation (double-click
within the room plan, select the “Void” button, and click OK to confirm). The delete procedure is also the same;
go to the “More... button” in the Navigator.
However, if you want the individual reservation to be retained and only removed from the group, you need to
remove the group name in the Reservation dialog box.

An even easier option for removing individual reservations is to click the button in the group master
Navigator. Select the relevant entry in the group members dialog box and then click the
button.

Available user rights

FO Group members - exclude Controls access to the “Remove from group” button in the group members
341
from group dialog box of the group master.

The group master

To open the group master, do one of the following:

Right-click a group reservation in the room plan and, in the Navigator, click .

Search for the group reservation in the reservation list ( button)...

...and right-click the group master (indicated by room type “GRP”):

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Unlike a standard room reservation, the group master is identified by the group room type (GRP MST).
Instead of the room number, the group master is assigned a group account (usually with a nine thousand number
range):

Fig.: Group master - Reservation information

in the Navigator

Fig.: Group master in the room plan (scroll right

down!)

The group account that is additionally posted when creating a group reservation is used for creating the collective
invoice and for centrally managing the group reservation.

Group action
All group-relevant changes must be made in the group master. After every change, the “Group action” prompt
appears, asking to which reservation you want the changes to be applied. You have to choose one of the following
options:
Group members and master
The changes will be applied for everyone.
Group members only
The changes will be applied for the members, but not the master.
Group master only
The changes will be applied for the group master, but not the group members.
Member selection
Select this option to open a list of all group members, in which you can select
the member or members for whom you want the required changes to be
applied.
Changes that apply to an individual guest or the group account only are typically made from the room plan or
Navigator, for example.

Group members
In the group master Navigator, click the Grp.members button to access the list of all group members.
Double-click a group member in the list to access Change name mode. You can use this window to enter the
names of group members one after the other. Simply overwrite the displayed name with the actual guest name.
The same applies for changes to all the other data for group members in the Navigator.

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Once you have opened the Navigator for one group member, simply use the page up and

page down buttons to toggle between group members.

Names of voided group members are displayed in the member list in red font.

Context menu
Right-click the list header to open the context menu.

From the context menu, you can:

Print the group member list in various font sizes (small/medium/large):
If you want to print the entire list, make sure that none of the rows are selected.
Select a row in the table, then open the context menu and choose Print with small font, Print with
medium font, or Print with large font to print only this row.
Export the Allocation overview to an Excel or HTML file
Adjust the column width in the overview
Search in the overview
Activate edit mode (“Edit mode on”):
You can edit the name, first name & salutation columns directly if you select “Edit mode on” in the
context menu. You can then click the relevant name directly in the overview and make the necessary
changes. To go to the next box, press the [TAB] key, the right arrow, the left arrow, or the ENTER key. The
newly entered values will be changed directly. If a dedicated profile has yet to be assigned to the
reservation, a new guest profile will be assigned when the name, first name, or salutation is changed; if a
guest profile already exists, the name/first name/salutation entries will overwrite the data for the existing
profile. If the Rooming list check box has been selected, new profiles (when these are created) will be
created with the option “Delete profile as soon as possible” selected.

Available user rights

323 FO Group members Controls access to group members in the group master Navigator.

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Group confirmation
If you confirm the [Res. texts] button from the Group master Navigator, you can also create a group confirmation
retroactively because in this case all the group members are included in the confirmation (provided an
appropriate form has been created in the system data).

Changing the arrival/departure date

Double-click the group account in the room plan to open the DC (double-click) menu.
After selecting the Alter Arrival or Alter Departure check box, enter the new date and click [OK] to confirm.
The Group action dialog box appears. If you want to change the arrival or departure date for the entire group,
click [Group members and master].
To change the arrival or departure date for specific members of the group only, click [Member selection].

The Group action dialog box is not opened if the arrival or departure date is changed in the group master
Navigator!
Such changes cannot be applied to individual reservations for which a move has been stored.
Similarly, when changing the arrival or departure date, the posted rooms always have to be available in that
period. If a room is not available in the requested period, the arrival or departure date for the reservation in
question will not be changed, and a system message will inform you of this.
Reservations will also be changed if their arrival and departure dates match those of the group master.

Changing the rate for all group members

Open the group master Navigator. In the lower left Reservation pane, select the Rate: New check box and
change the rate as required. Click [OK] to confirm your entry. The “Group action” prompt appears, where you can
choose the reservation to which you want the changes to be applied. In this case, you would typically choose the
“Group members only” option.

Changing the rate code for all group members

Open the group master Navigator. In the lower left Reservation pane, change the rate code as required. Click [OK]
to confirm your entry.
The “Group action” prompt appears, where you can choose the reservation to which you want the changes to be
applied. In this case, you would typically choose the “Group members only” option. Depending on the rate codes
created in the system data, it might not be possible for the rate code change to be applied for all rooms. If this is
the case, a system message will inform you of this.

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Group cancellation
Double-click the group master within the room plan, the reservation list, or the in-house list to open the DC
(double-click) menu.
After selecting the Cancel reservation radio button and clicking [OK] to confirm, the “Group action” prompt
appears, where you can choose the reservation to which you want the changes to be applied.

Group check-in
1. Double-click the group account within the room plan (scroll right down) or the reservation list.

Fig.: Group accounts in the room plan

(identifiable by the "GRP" attribute).

aaaaaaaaaa
Fig.: Selected group account in the
reservation list. The group master is
identified by the group room type (GRP
MST).

2. The DC (double-click) menu opens.

3. Select the Check In radio button and click [OK] to confirm.
4. The “Group action” prompt appears, where you can choose the reservation to which you want the
changes to be applied. Since the group master is also to be checked in, it is advisable to select Master
“Group members and master”.

Group check-out
The group check out procedure is different from that described above.
The easiest way to do this is from Departures because it is often the case that some of the group guests will still
have a balance left to pay (meaning that an invoice still has to be printed out) and some will not.
1. Open Departures (F7).
2. Filter the departures list by group by searching for the group name directly. You will then only see a list of
the guests in this group
3. You can select individual guests for check out or click [All] to check out all group members in one go

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4. Click the button. The guest invoices will now open one after the other (if you have selected
more than one or all of them), and you can edit each invoice as required. The invoices for guests who
have no balance left to pay will not open and will be checked out directly.

Void group check-in

Double-click the group account in the room plan to open the double-click menu.

Fig.: Displaying group accounts in

the room plan

After selecting the Void CI status check box and clicking OK to confirm, the “Group action” prompt appears,
where you can choose the reservation to which you want the changes to be applied.

Creating a group invoice

1. To create a group invoice, click the [More] button from the group master Navigator to go to the
“Payment/Routing instructions”.
2. Define which charges are to be transferred to the group master: Click [New] and click [OK] to select the
relevant accounts.
3. Choose a routing target, for example “Within the folio to B”
4. Also select option “Route to group master”:
5. Click [OK] to confirm the dialog box.
6. A message box appears, asking to which reservation you want to apply the changes. Choose [Group
members and master] to route the selected charges of all group guests to the master.
See also “Navigator > The More... button > Payment/routing instructions”

NOTE:
If an automatic routing was not created during the reservation, it is also possible to transfer all or specific
charges for group members to the master at group check out. To do this, open the master invoice and click the
[Edit] button - “Collect charges from group members”.
If charges already exist on the invoice of a group guest, these will not be automatically transferred
retroactively. They can, however, be transferred to another room or the group master, for instance, directly
from within the guest invoice by clicking [Edit] - “Transfer charges to other invoice”.

Available user rights

96 FO Transfer to Group Master Authorizes a user to transfer group member charges to the group master.

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Post charges to each group member

1. Open the group master Navigator; by right-clicking the group account from within the room plan for
example.
2. Right-click in the Invoice pane to open the invoice dialog box.

3. In the lower right of the invoice dialog box, click the button.
4. Enter the TAA number, the quantity, and the amount for each room, and click OK to confirm.
5. The “Group action” prompt appears, where you can choose the reservation to which you want the
changes to be applied.

Group advanced invoice

With this option, room rates that are still to be posted and the fixed charges created for the group up to the date
of departure are posted automatically.
1. Open the group master Navigator; by right-clicking the group account from within the room plan for
example.
2. Right-click in the Invoice pane to open the invoice dialog box.

3. From the invoice dialog box, click the button.

A dialog box appears featuring the Interim Invoice, Advanced Invoice, and Preliminary Departure buttons.

Now choose Advanced Invoice to post the room rates still to be posted & fixed charges for group guests to the
group master.
This is very time and process intensive. Do not cancel this operation! Note that this triggers the posting of all
revenues for the entire group and may therefore cause a shifting of the revenues in your statistics.

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Travel agent reservation

FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION TRAVEL AGENT RESERVATION

Unlike a company reservation, a travel agent reservation is made through a travel agent. Amongst other things,
this simplifies the search for reservations and allows for more detailed analyses of occupancy and revenue data.
For travel agent reservations, the software automatically opens a second invoicing window (invoice “B”) that uses
the travel agent as the invoicing address.
Go to “Reservation > Travel Agent Reservation”, enter the profile search data, and follow the procedure described
in the “Finding and creating a reservation” section.
If you enter the reservation directly in the Room plan or Room type plan and fill out the “TA” box, the system
automatically creates a travel agent reservation.

Source reservation
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION SOURCE RESERVATION

Unlike a company reservation, a source reservation is made through a source (reservation office). Amongst other
things, this simplifies the search for reservations and allows for more detailed analyses of occupancy and revenue
data.
A “source” is a reservation office, e.g. the Cologne HRS office
For source reservations, the software automatically opens a second invoicing window (invoice “B”) that uses the
source as the invoicing address.
Go to “Reservation > Travel Agent Reservation”, enter the profile search data, and follow the procedure described
in the “Finding and creating a reservation” section.
If you enter the reservation directly in the Room plan or Room type plan and fill out the “Source” box, the system
automatically creates a source reservation.

Sharer reservation
Front Office Reservation SHARER RESERVATION

A “sharer” reservation is one for which several guests share a room but each guest requires a separate invoice.
For example, this is the case when two colleagues share a room, both addresses are recorded and a separate
invoice must be created for each. The sharing parties may even have different arrival and departure dates, rate
codes and rates.
A sharer reservation may be made as follows: When you create a new reservation in the Reservation dialog box,
or by entering the required information in the Navigator if the reservation already exists. In both case, click the
Sharer button. .
A sharer reservation is treated the same way as a single reservation in protel. This allows you to enter different
details for each sharer. Sharer reservations appear as single reservations in reports such as Arrivals, Departures,
and Reservations which allows you to also search by guest name.
The company is automatically assigned to every allocated sharer reservation for Company reservations. One room
can have up to six sharers. Sharing is not available for reservations with room changes.

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The number of shared rooms that appear in the Housekeeping report corresponds to the number of sharer
reservations. The hotel status counts the rooms and guests even if the arrival and departure days of sharer
reservations are different.
Shared reservations in the room plan are indicated by a [+] sign and the number of sharers.

Available user rights

96 FO Sharer input Allows the user to enter a sharer for a reservation.

Creating sharers in the Reservation dialog box

1. To enter sharers when creating a new reservation, click [Sharer] in the Reservation dialog box.
2. Subsequently, the “Sharers for” dialog box appears. You can enter the guest name in this dialog box.

3. Enter the first letter of the guest's surname. Then press the TAB key or click the Search... button. The
“Search Result” window appears.
4. Double-click the respective name or select the name and click [OK]. Click [New] to create a new guest.
5. Once you have selected an existing guest or created a new one, the “Sharers for” dialog box appears
again. You can enter up to five additional names.
6. Once you have entered all of the sharer names, click [OK]. In the Reservation dialog box click [OK] to
confirm the reservation. The “Sharer / input rate” dialog box appears.

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All room sharers are now displayed.

You can change and monitor the rate code, rate and the number of guests for each reservation. If you want to
change the actual rate amount, you must select the Special rate check box for verification.
Select the RI check box to specify which guest will be responsible for the payment of all bookings made by the
other sharers (e.g. one sharer books a spa treatment). The booking will then be filed with the guest assigned the
RI tag.

Click [OK]. You will be prompted to indicate whether the accounts of all sharers should be diverted to this guest.

NOTE:
If several reservations appear in the Reservation dialog box (as would be the case for a Group reservation, for
example), you can enter one or more sharers for each room respectively. Click Det to select the corresponding
room. This indicates that you want to create sharers for this room.

Click [Create sharer]. Enter the names of the sharers as described above.

Creating sharers in the Navigator

Sharers are created for existing reservations using the Navigator. They can also be created even if a room has not
been allocated.
1. In the Navigator, click [Create sharer]. The Reservation dialog box appears in which the arrival, departure,
category, room number, rate code and rate have been copied from the original reservation.
2. You can change the suggested arrival and departure dates as required.
3. Enter the guest name and click OK to confirm the reservation information.
4. The Sharer / input rate dialog box appears. Proceed as described in the section “Creating sharers in the
Reservation dialog box.”
5. Click [OK] to confirm your entry and return to the Navigator of the original reservation.

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Sharer display in the room plan

Sharer reservations are indicated in the room plan by a plus sign (+) shown in the arrival and departure section of
the window. The number of sharers is shown in brackets in front of the guest name.

If the arrival and departure dates of the sharers in the reservation differ, the first arrival data and the last
departure date will be shown. The tooltip will expand automatically when you move the mouse over a sharer
reservation.

Right-click a sharer reservation to open the sharer list containing the names and reservation data of the sharers.
Now right.click to open the Navigator of the respective guest.

Double-click a sharer to open the Double-click menu. This menu contains additional options such as cancellation,
etc.
To open the Sharer / input rate dialog box, click [Rates].

Summarizing reservations as shared reservations

You can summarize two single reservations as one sharer reservation.
You can combine two complete reservations for the duration of a stay (Shift reservation) or combine two rooms
during the second night of a particular stay, for example (Move).
1. In the Room plan (or In-house list or Reservation list), double-click the reservation that you want to move
to another occupied room. The Double-click menu opens.
2. Select the Move radio button.
3. The selection list appears. Select the Incl. occupied rooms (share mode) check box.
4. In the drop-down list, select the room to which the reservation should be moved.

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Sales enquiry
If a guest calls and wants to make a reservation for two single rooms for himself and another person, you can use
the sales enquiry to enter the reservation while you are on the phone. This feature checks the availability for the
requested stay and displays an overview of all available room types and prices for the different hotel rates. This
overview allows you to see quickly which room types you can offer at what rate.
Press the F11 key on your keyboard to launch the sales enquiry:

NOTE:
As you open the sales enquiry using the F11 function key, it is often referred to as the F11 dialog box.

You can access the F11 dialog box from practically any part of the software. Wherever you are in the program,
you can stop what you are doing at any time and immediately deal with a sales enquiry. Note that the sales
enquiry enters a room type reservation, i.e. you can only define a certain room type to be reserved. You must
then allocate the actual room to the reservation afterwards.

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Processing a sales enquiry

1. What is your name?
Enter the name of the caller in the Name text box. You can also leave this field blank for tentative or non-binding
enquiries. You do not need the name until a room is actually booked.

2. For which dates do you need the room?

Arrival: Enter the required arrival date.
Departure: Enter the required departure date.
Nights: Alternatively, if you enter the number of nights the caller wants to stay, the departure date will be
automatically calculated and updated.

3. How many rooms do you need? For how many adults?

No. of rooms: Enter the number of rooms needed.
No. of persons: Enter the number of persons per room. For example, if the reservation is for 5 double rooms for 2
persons each (a total of 10 persons), enter the following: No. of rooms: 5, No. of persons: 2

4. [Start enquiry] button - I can offer you the following rooms

Click the [Start enquiry] button to view all available room types, rates, and prices. This information is
displayed in table format in the lower window section.

The number of rooms that are still available for each type is indicated in parentheses (). If a room is not available
for a certain type, a rate is not shown (***). The rate information always refers to the first night of the reservation
period per room.
Rates that are highlighted in red are invalid or unavailable.
Rates that are highlighted in blue are fully booked but reservations can be made with a “waiting list” status.
An asterisk (*) in front of a rate code indicates a special rate from the guest profile.
You cannot overbook a room type in this dialog box.
If you make any changes during the sales call (e.g. to the arrival/departure dates, the number of rooms etc.),
remember to click the [Start enquiry] button to refresh the output.

Select a cell in the rate grid to make the reservation at the indicated rate or retrieve additional price
information.
Rate details
If you want to view the rate details and the total price for the enquiry, right-click a rate in the rate grid to open a
context menu. Then select “Show TCS.”

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The window that appears shows the room rates for each day of the reservation period. It also indicates any rate
changes during that period, e.g. because of special weekend rates.

5. [Reservation] button - For whom may I reserve the room?

If you want to make a reservation, select the relevant rate in the rate grid and click the [Reservation] button.
Alternatively, you can double-click the rate.
This opens the Reservation dialog box and updates it with your input from the F11 dialog box. You can add
additional information to the reservation if required.
If the caller decides to not make a reservation, proceed to step 6 to exit the dialog box.

6. [Turned away, because] button

From the pull-down list, select the reason why a reservation was not made and click the [turned way, because]
button. The reasons available for selection are maintained in the system data (System data > Reservation >
Reservation Codes > Turn away codes) and can be used in reports.

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Entering multiple reservations using F11

The F11 dialog box allows you to enter multiple reservations with different data (e.g. you need to book a double
room for 2 persons + a single room).
1. Enter the key information for the first reservation and click the [Start enquiry].
2. Select a rate in the rate grid and right-click the selection to open the context menu.
3. Select “Add to shopping basket” from the context menu.
Alternatively, you can drag and drop the rate and room type from the rate grid onto the “Shopping basket”
section.
4. The reservation appears in the “Shopping basket” section of the F11 dialog box.

5. Now enter the key information for the next reservation, save it to the shopping basket section etc.
6. Finally, click the [Reservation] button to move all stored reservations to the Reservation dialog box.
7. If required, you can remove individual reservations from the “Shopping basket” section: Select the
relevant reservation, right-click the selection to open the context menu and select “Delete.”

Rate code description

You can enter a description for the rate code details in the system data. If such a description exists, it can be
accessed in the rate grid for every applicable rate:
Select the relevant rate in the rate grid, right-click the selection to open the context menu and select “Rate code
description.”
Example of a rate code description (here: in German):

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Special features in the F11 dialog box

The F11 dialog box provides a number of special features and useful settings that can be activated for each hotel
separately. Here are some examples:
The BAR feature calculates the rate codes for each day of a guest's stay and displays the least expensive
rate code per day. If a reservation is made in BAR mode, the corresponding rate codes are automatically
added to the rate-per-day grid.
You can selectively include certain rate groups only.
You can selectively include rate codes with a certain market code only.
You can make allocation reservations.
You can create yield enquiries in installations with a connected yield management system (version
2008.11.784 or higher).
You can create waiting list reservations.
You can hide numbers in the F11 dialog box.
And much more...

For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

Enable rate group selection

From version 2013.17.400
The rate group selection can now be activated as part of the BAR function located in the reservation assistant.
How to proceed:

1. Withdraw the respective user right “367 - FO Reservation Best Available Rate”. In doing so results in
blocking access to the BAR functions.
2. A new system setting overrides the withdrawn right and makes the field for rate group selections
available separately in F 11 as a dialog box:

Please don’t hesitate to contact the protel Support Team to assist you with these settings. Just get in touch –
we’re happy to help!

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Room allocation
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION ALLOCATE ROOMS

The Allocate Room menu item allows you to assign a room to individual reservations and modify these as
required.
If protel is set up so that room type reservations are not automatically assigned a preliminary room number (see
below), the room will automatically be allocated when you check in the room type reservation from the arrivals
list, for example.

An entry in the PROTEL.INI file (in Section "Zplan", "Zimmerplanbezug=1/0") indicates whether or not room
type reservations are assigned preliminary room numbers and are consequently displayed in the room plan. If
this option is activated, the room numbers assigned to room type reservations will be flagged with a question
mark; otherwise, a room number will not be entered. For more information, contact your system partner or
protel hotelsoftware GmbH in Germany.

Accessing room allocation

Click Reservation > Allocate Rooms.

Filter
Arrival date Filter reservations for which you want to perform a room allocation by the date of arrival.
Enter the date directly or select it using the ... button.

All reservations All rooms are displayed.

All reservations without All unassigned rooms are displayed.
room no.
All reservations with Only allocated rooms are displayed.
room no. assign
Name Filter the rooms you want to display by a specific name. This can be useful when editing all
rooms in one group that must be on the same floor.
Sc/TA /Cm/Gp Filter the reservations you want to display by source, group, company or travel agency.

Sort order
You can define whether the displayed reservations should be shown by room plan number or room status.

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Status
Define the number of reservation statuses to display.
Use the All/None to select all four status options or no status option.

Room Allocation dialog box

Once you have filtered the reservations, all reservations that meet the selected criteria will be shown in the left
window pane of the Room Allocation dialog box. When you select a reservation, all rooms available for a specific
reservation period are shown in the right window pane with their respective room features.

Room column in left window pane

This column displays the following:
A question mark if no room has been assigned
The room number if a room has been assigned
A question mark / the number of rooms (?/4 rooms) if the reservation is for a group and no rooms have
been assigned. In this case, the reservation must be split before individual rooms can be assigned (see
"Split ting a reservation" below).

"<" and ">" columns in the right window pane

The "<" and ">" columns in the right window pane indicate how many days precede or follow the previous or
following reservation.
A "0" in the "<" column indicates that the next reservation directly follows the reservation in question,
providing useful occupancy information.

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Results list
Some reservations displayed in the results list appear in different colors:
Red: The guest left a comment in the guest profile and/or a VIP code was stored in the guest profile.
Blue: The reservation has been tagged with "Blocked room". A message appears if a different room is assigned.
Right-click the mouse to open the Navigator and edit the reservation as required.

Selection
Select one of the following options:
Standard mode (single Rooms will be allocated individually
select)

Split reservation mode If the total number of reservations and not the individual rooms ("?/10) for a group or
multiple reservations is shown, the reservation must be split before rooms can be
allocated.
Select the “Split Reservation mode” check box, select the reservation and click the [ Split]
button. You will then be asked how many rooms you would like to split. If you want to split
the entire reservation, you must enter the total number of rooms. If you only want to split
a certain number of rooms, enter the respective number of rooms in the box.

Swap rooms mode If you would like to swap rooms for two reservations, select the “Swap rooms mode”
check box and select the two reservations whose room numbers should be swapped. Once
you have made your selection, click [Execute swap].

Multiple assignm. mode You can allocate several rooms simultaneously. Select the check box to select several
rooms on the left-hand side. Click the [Avail. rooms] button. All available rooms appear
on the right-hand side. The number of rooms selected on the left-hand side are
automatically tagged. If you want to allocated rooms other than those suggested, change
the selection in the left window pane. The “Number of selected rooms” box directly below
the lists helps you select an identical number of reservations and rooms. Click Allocate to
assign the rooms to the reservations.

Undo allocation mode If you need to change a room reservation, select this check box, select the reservation you
want to change and click Undo to cancel the assignment. A question mark will
automatically appear instead of the room number.

Room allocation within Select this check box if you want to display all rooms available during the reservation
all roomtypes period. Clear the check box if you only want to display rooms that have an identical
category in the right window pane.

Room features Select this check box if you only want to display rooms with identical room features, for
example if the guest requests a room with a balcony.

Guest information is shown at the bottom of the dialog box. This information is taken from both the guest profile
and the reservation.
If room features have been stored in the guest profile, rooms with these features will appear first in the list during
a room search. This requires that the corresponding codes must be entered in the system data (System Data >
Reservation > Room Features). Manual entries will not be taken into consideration.

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Rooms out of service

Front Office Reservation Rooms out of service

An “out of service” status indicates that a room can still be sold but is temporarily blocked because of a minor,
easy-to-fix malfunction. Unlike “out-of-order” rooms, “out-of-service” rooms are included in any availability
calculations. In addition, out-of-service rooms are automatically reactivated after a predefined period of time
without user intervention.

Setting a room status to “out of service”

1. From the Reservation menu, select the “Rooms out of service” menu item.
2. Select the check box next to the room.
3. Selecting a time:
a) Click the [Create] button if you want to set the room to “out of service” for a period in the future. Then
define the period:

Fig.: Selecting a period of time. The room is out of

service from January 21st to 25th, 2013 because of
ongoing paint work. Afterwards the status changes to
“cleaned.”

or
b) Click the [Set rooms OOS today] button if you want to set the room to “out of service” for the day of the
current protel date only.
4. Select the status that the room should change to automatically once the out-of-service period is over.
5. Select a reason for the out-of-service status as required.
6. Click [OK].

For the duration of the out-of-service period, the room status is indicated as follows in the room plan:

NOTE:
Rooms with an out-of-service status are not included when allocating rooms.

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Revoking an “out-of-service” status

The out-of-service status is automatically lifted by default when the predefined period expires. If you need or
want to revoke the status earlier (perhaps someone only had to replace the TV set), you can do so very easily:
1. From the Reservation menu, select the “Rooms out of service” menu item.
2. Scroll to the room and select the check box next to the relevant blocking date:

4. Click [Delete].

Available user rights

372 FO Roomstatus OOS Authorizes a user to set an out-of-service room status.

Available settings

You can define a default status that a room should automatically change to after the out-of-service period
expires (“OOS status after”). For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support
team.

Related topics:
Reports > Room Plan > Room information

Block/unblock rooms
[Front Office Reservation Block/Unblock Rooms]

protel HMS allows you to block rooms that need repair etc. and therefore cannot currently be reserved. This
allows you to keep a clear overview of your hotel's availability. The software automatically deducts blocked rooms
from the overall availability to prevent them from being taken into account during reservation enquiries. To
ensure that your statistics are correct (see “Hotel status”), your lists and reports are also updated to reflect the
current day's information.

Block a room
1. In the “Reservation” menu, click the “Block/Unblock Rooms” menu item.
2. Select the room you want to block in the left window pane. You can also select multiple rooms for
blocking if required.
3. In the right window pane, select the period for which you want to block the room:

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4. Click the [Block Room] button.

5. In the “Room blocking” dialog box, enter a reason for blocking the room.

6. The available options are configured in the system data under “Reservation > Room Maintenance.”
7. Click [OK] to block the room. The blocked room appears in the left window pane highlighted in red.
For the duration of the selected period, the room status is indicated as follows in the room plan:

Right-click the selection to see the reason for blocking the room. Click the [Res.-Hist.] button to open the
Reservation History dialog box with information on when the room was blocked and by whom.

Blocked rooms are assigned an out-of-order status (OOO) and are not available for reservation for the
duration of the block.

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Unblocking a room
Once the reason for blocking a room no longer exists, you can release the room with a few mouse clicks.
Unblock the room to make it available again.
1. In the “Reservation” menu, click the “Block/Unblock Rooms” menu item.
2. To remove the block, select the blocked room in the left window pane.
3. Then select the block that you want to remove from the right window pane.
4. Click the [Delete Blocking] button. Confirm the prompt to unblock the room.
5. Then you can select a news status for the room:

Changing / editing block settings

If you try to shift or change block settings for a room in the room plan, you are prompted to confirm the changes.
If you want to change room block settings using the “Reservation > Block/Unblock Room” menu item, select the
block in the right window pane, make the required changes and click the [Change Blocking] button.

Available user rights

302 FO Block/Unblock rooms Authorizes a user to block and unblock rooms.

255 FO Room block without reason Authorizes a user to block rooms without selecting a reason.

FO Block room without entering a Authorizes a user to block rooms without entering a text as an
256
reason explanation.

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Hurdle rates
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION HURDLE RATES

This menu item is only visible if your protel installation interfaces with an external yield management system.
The “hurdle rate” defines a room rate threshold below which a room cannot be sold on a given day. Hurdle rates
are defined by the yield management system.

Further information:
Please contact your local protel distributor or the protel support team.

Rate availability
Front Office Reservation Rate Availability

You can achieve better rates by flexibly adjusting the rate availability for each day and situation. Using protel Air,
you can quickly and easily create a strategy for any given time period or day with an immediate effect on your
sales via all distribution channels. By blocking low prices during peak periods and periods of high occupancy, for
example, you can exploit your potential revenues to the full.
You can determine availability for each rate code (including all rate code details) OR for each rate code detail:
Make rates available on a per-day basis.
Block certain rates completely or only for certain arrival dates.
Define certain conditions, such as occupancy, minimum stay or minimum number of persons.

NOTE:
Rate availability exists in two versions:
The standard version shows all hotel rates in a calendar-type overview that covers one complete month
at a time.
The extended protel Multi Strategy version allows you to define multiple rates strategies which provide
even more flexible rate code availability options.

Standard version
Extended protel Multi Strategy version

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Standard version
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION RATE AVAILABILITY

Regardless of whether or not a strategy has been set, this dialog box provides a calendar-based overview of all
the rates for the hotel for a particular month.
With the standard version, you can either set strategies for a rate that includes all rate code details or set
strategies for each individual rate code detail.
The extended dialog box (which includes the “Yield Level” and “Rate Groups” filters) is available as of protel
release 14.685.

Dialog box features

When you open the dialog box, it shows the current month by default. Use the [+] and [-] buttons to go to the
next or previous months.
The table below this shows all the rates for the selected month, or all rate code details in the detailed view (see
below).
The buttons at the top right of the dialog box allow you to restrict the strategy overview to a hotel (protel MPE
only!), rate group, or rate code:

.
Select the “View details” check box if you want to see the rates plus all rate code details; clear the check box if
you just want to see the rates.
NOTE:
If you have not set a strategy, all rates will be “open”.

Click a table header to sort the table by the contents of that column. Right-click a table header to open a context
menu, in which you can adjust the table view.

Procedure
NOTE: Before you begin, you need to decide whether to make your settings for the rate code as a whole OR
for each individual detail. You cannot mix and match the two! Do NOT select the “View details” check box unless
you are sure you want to manage the rates at rate code detail level!

1. First enter the month for which you want to see the rate breakdown. Click the [+] and [-] buttons to go to
the next or previous month.
You can assign a strategy to every rate code or rate code detail that is displayed in the overview.
2. Select a rate code/rate code detail. (Use the Ctrl key to select multiple or all rate codes/rate code details.)
3. In the lower part of the window to the right, define the period for which you want to apply the strategy:
4. Then, from the “Strategy” drop-down list, select the type of rate block and - if required – enter a
parameter in the “P1” and/or “P2” boxes.
5. Click [Set] to confirm.
6. The block will then be indicated in the list by a key.
The [Publish to GDS] button is available for selection only if you are connected to a GDS (global distribution
system). Click this button to transfer the changes to the GDS.

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Description of the different strategies

To be able to use all the strategies described here, you need protel release 14.183 or higher.

- OPEN

Description: Rate is available. (All rates are available initially.)

Parameter: None
Key: "-"

X CLOSED

Description: Rate is not available. (Closed rates cannot be used on defined days or during defined periods.)
Parameter: None
Key: “X”

A CLOSED FOR ARRIVALS

Description: Rate cannot be selected for arrival on a day within the defined period. You can use this, for example,
to block cheaper rates for arrivals if higher paying guests wanting longer stays (for example, trade fair guests) will
potentially be arriving on this date.
Parameter: None
Key: “A”

M MINIMUM STAY P1 DAYS

Description: You can block rate codes for stays below the defined minimum length of stay.
Parameter: P1 = Number of days for the required minimum length of stay
Key: e.g. “m3” (for a minimum stay of 3 days)

MA MINIMUM LENGTH OF STAY ON ARRIVAL P1 DAYS

Description: You use this strategy to define a set number of nights in combination with a specific arrival day for a
rate code.
Parameter: P1 = Length of stay (number of nights)
Key: e.g. “ma3” (Minimum stay 3 days when arriving on a Wednesday)

MR MINIMUM REMAINING LENGTH OF STAY P1 DAYS

Description: If a stay extends beyond a certain day, you use this strategy to define how many nights have to
follow this day to be able to post this rate.
Parameter: P1 = Minimum number of days for remaining length of stay
Key: E.g. “mr2” (remaining length of stay must be at least 2 nights)

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P1-P2 STAY LENGTH MUST BE BETWEEN P1 AND P2 DAYS

Description: This rate code will only be available for a length of stay that is between the values entered. This
blocks rates for stays of a specific length. The rate will then only be offered for reservations that do not fall within
this period.
Parameter: P1 = Minimum length of stay and P2 = Maximum length of stay
Key: e.g. “2-7” (Stay of at least 2 days and a maximum of 7 days)

PP1 MINIMUM OF P1 ADULTS

Description: Blocks rates for reservations below a defined minimum occupancy.

Parameter: P1 = Minimum occupancy (number of adults)
Key: e.g. “P2” (for a minimum number of 2 adults)

#P1 OPEN WHEN STAYING P1 DAYS OR A MULTIPLE OF P1

Description: This strategy is intended for special (cyclical) offers in conjunction with a specific length of stay (or
multiple of this). If, for example, the offer is seven nights for the price of six, postings on this rate code are
possible only for stays of 7/14/21 days and so on. If you also restrict the arrival to a specific weekday, this rate can
only then be applied for stays starting from the defined day of that week.
Parameter: P1 = Valid stay (number of days or multiple thereof)
Key: #7 (for the example given above)

PP1 MINIMUM OF P1 ADULTS

Description: Blocks rates for reservations below a defined minimum occupancy.

Parameter: P1 = Minimum occupancy (number of adults)
Key: e.g. “P2” (for a minimum number of 2 adults)

XP1 MAXIMUM SELL OF P1 (SQL ONLY)

Description: Restricts the number of postings on a particular rate.

Parameter: P1 = The maximum number of rooms to be sold for these rate codes
Key: e.g. “x10” (This rate code can be applied a maximum of ten times only.)

OP1 CLOSED IF OCCUPANCY EXCEEDS P1 PERCENT (SQL ONLY)

Description: Rate codes can be blocked once a specific occupancy is reached.

Parameter: P1 = The percentage occupancy from which this rate code will no longer be offered
Key: e.g. “o40” (from an occupancy of 40 percent)

OP1-P2 OPEN WHEN OCCUPANCY P1-P2 PERCENT (SQL ONLY)

Description: For controlling rates depending on occupancy.

Parameter: P1 = Percentage occupancy from which the rate code is available / “P2” = Percentage occupancy up to
which the rate code is available.
Key: “o80-90” (open for an occupancy of between 80 and 90 percent).

ODP1-P2 CLOSED AT OCC. >P1 OR P2 DAYS BEFORE ARRIVAL (SQL ONLY)

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Description: This option combines “Closed if occupancy exceeds P1 percent” and “Number of days before arrival”.
This means that you can define that this rate code is to be closed once a specific occupancy is reached OR from a
specific number of days before the guest’s arrival.
Parameter: P1 = The percentage occupancy from which this rate code will no longer be available / P2 = The
number of days prior to an arrival date from which this rate code can no longer be applied
Key: e.g. (40% / 6), this means that this rate code is closed if occupancy > 40% OR when the arrival date is < than 6
days away.

RTOP1 CLOSED WHEN ROOM TYPE OCCUPANCY EXCEEDS P1 PERCENT (SQL ONLY)

Description: Allows you to manage your rates on the basis of an occupancy of a defined room type (= number of
existing reservations for the requested room type * 100 / total number of rooms of the requested room type).
Parameter: P1 = Percentage room type occupancy
Key: e.g. “rto80” (rate code availability closed from 80% total occupancy).

A1P1 CLOSED >P1 DAYS BEFORE ARRIVAL (SQL ONLY)

Description: For early bird offers: A rate is no longer available if there are fewer than P1 days remaining prior to
the arrival date.
Parameter: P1 = Number of days prior to arrival
Key: a2P1

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protel Multi Strategy

FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION RATE AVAILABILITY

A special setting must be made in protel before you can use protel Multi Strategy.
protel Multi Strategy is available for protel release 13.205 or higher.
For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

Compared to the standard version calendar view, the extended dialog box shows a table with all defined
strategies.

protel Multi Strategy allows you to configure strategies and restrictions for rate codes, rate code details, rate
code groups, yield levels or combinations of these.
protel runs three cycles to check if a strategy is defined for a selected rate. A strategy defined for a detail takes
precedence over a strategy for a rate code which, in turn, takes precedence over a strategy for a rate group.
You can also define a rate code to be “open.”

BUTTONS

[Reset] Undoes your last change.

[New] Creates a new strategy.
[Edit] Applies changes to an existing strategy.
[Delete] Deletes the selected strategy.

Defining strategies with protel Multi Strategy

The following example illustrates how you can use protel Multi Strategy to control rate availability.

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Blocking a rate code for one month

You want to block the “BAR1” rate code for an entire month.
1. Select a rate code from the “Rate code” pull-down list, e.g. “BAR1”:

2. Select a period of an entire month, e.g. September 2012.

3. Select a strategy from the “Strategy” pull-down list, e.g. “X Closed”:

4. Click the [New] button to create the strategy.

VERIFYING THE STRATEGY

Press the [F11] function key to open the protel Sales enquiry dialog box. Start an enquiry for the month you
defined above (September 2012). If your user account has the right to ignore defined rate availabilities, you will
see the blocked rate highlighted in red. Otherwise, the rate will not be visible to you.

Strategy considerations
You should keep the following in mind before defining a strategy:
A rate is always open unless a strategy restricts its availability.
If you want to use a strategy to offer a rate under certain conditions, make sure to define adequate restrictions
for the strategy. For more information, please refer to the protel Multi Strategy documentation that you can
obtain from your protel distributor or the protel support team.

Further information
User guide: Rate availability management with multiple strategies
(please contact protel Support or your protel distributor).

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Maintain Allocations
Front Office Reservation Maintain Allocations

An allocation is a contractually guaranteed number of rooms that a contractual partner (a tour operator, for
example) can block out and book for a specific contractual period. Any unused capacities can be returned to the
hotel without a cancellation fee under observance of a contractually agreed time limit (this is referred to as
dynamic or relative allocation). Once the contractual period comes to an end (closing date), the allocation expires,
meaning that any unbooked rooms from the allocation will once again be released for general bookings.
Within protel, there are two types of allocation: Absolute allocation, which involves blocking out a set number of
rooms for a dedicated tour operator up to an agreed date.
Dynamic/relative allocation, which involves blocking out a set number of rooms for a tour operator over a longer
period, for example from June 1, 2012 until December 31, 2012. With this option, the tour operator is able to
return blocked rooms up to an agreed expiration date (a defined number of days before the scheduled arrival
date).
Allocations are shown only on the room type plan, not the actual room plan. Actual reservations from an
allocation, however, are indicated on the room plan; in this case, the guest name will be displayed in pink.

There are two types of allocation:

 Decrease availability: In this case, the rooms from the allocation (in the respective room types) are generally
removed from availability irrespective of whether or not any reservations have actually been made from this
allocation. These allocations will not be included in the allocation row of the room type plan.
 Do not decrease availability: The rooms are not removed from availability. Instead, the accumulated total of
rooms for all allocations are displayed in the allocation row of the room type plan. Reservations from these
allocations are removed directly from availability, but are no longer shown in the allocations. This ensures
that the precise number of available rooms can be calculated.

Allocations are only ever shown on the room type plan. For allocations of the type Do not decrease availability,
the rooms will be shown in the “Allocation” row; for allocations of the type Decrease availability, the rooms will
be removed from availability directly.
We recommend the use of Do not decrease availability allocations.
Since an allocation is not a confirmed reservation, allocations are not included in forecasts, such as the hotel
status report or other reports.

Available user rights

335 FO Maintain allocations Controls access to allocation maintenance.

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Maintaining allocations
Click Reservation > Maintain Allocations to open allocation maintenance.
You use the “Maintain Allocations” dialog box to create (Insert button), edit (Edit button), or delete (Delete
button) allocations. Click the [Alloc. History] button for a detailed list of all the actions that have been performed
in association with the selected allocation. Click the [Budget] button to open budget management for a selected
allocation, where you can define monthly values for the allocation.
Double-click an allocation to open and edit it.
Display options:
All not yet expired allocations are displayed by default. If you also want to display expired
allocations, click the “Incl. expired” check box.

If you also want to display canceled allocations, click the “Incl.canceled” check box.

Available user rights

224 FO Event modification Controls rights to create and delete allocations.

397 FO Delete allotment Controls access to the [Delete] button.

Creating allocations
Click [Insert] to create a new allocation.

Allocation name / Enter a name and abbreviation for the allocation. These entries are mandatory.
Abbreviation
Enter the name of the reservation office (Source), travel agent, group, and / or company for
which you want to create the allocation. Enter the first letters or full names in the
respective box and click the adjacent button. This opens the corresponding profile, provided
this has been created. Otherwise, you can create a new profile. You must complete one of
the four boxes at least.

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Provision The “Provision” box is an information box in which you can enter the commission
percentage. However, please note that this is not linked to commission clearing. This entry
is optional.
Rate code If a special rate code is to be assigned for all reservations of a particular allocation, select it
from this drop-down list. Use the New button to create a new rate code. This opens the
system data “Rate Management” window. This entry is optional.
Date (from / to...) Enter the contractual (validity) period for the allocation.
Release date absolute – A fixed expiration date, after which the allocation is no longer available for
postings. With this option, rooms will be deducted from the overall availability.
relative – The number of days before the scheduled arrival date on which the allocation
will expire (expiration). The reservation must be posted before this deadline. Example: If
this box contained the number “7”, this would mean that the final reservation would have
to be entered no later than seven days prior to the scheduled arrival date.
In this box, you can enter the revenue you want to be achieved for each adult. This is for
information purposes only and will, at most, be displayed on the allocation reports.
Booker, Int/Ext The “Booker” and “Int/Ext” boxes are populated by the system automatically.
Room type independent If you only need to define a specific number of rooms for the allocation, irrespective of
allocation whether these are single or double rooms, select the “Room type independent allocation”
check box and enter the number of rooms. These reservations cannot be created as
“Decrease availability”.
Detailled list of room If you want to specify a precise number of rooms to be available of each room type for the
types allocation, select the “Detailled list of room types” check box and enter the required room
types (see below).
Decrease availability If you want the rooms specified in the detailed list to be removed from room type plan
availability, select the “Decrease availability” check box.
Select the required room type.

Enter the number of rooms for each room type. You can also specify the average number of
adults to be expected per room (optional).

Click the [Insert] button to add the entry to the list.

Click the [Delete] button to remove entries from the list.

Adds all of the hotel’s room types to the list at once with a “Quantity” of 0. Double-click the
required room type to select and enter the required quantity. Go through each room type
in turn. If you do not require a room type, simply click [Delete] to remove it from the list.

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CREATING A GROUP MASTER FOR AN ALLOCATION

You can create a group master for the allocation. In this case, you can use the [Payment instructions] button to
create a collective invoice for all reservations from the allocation. (see the “More button – Payment/routing
instructions” section).
If you need to enter additional information about the allocation, click the [Note] button.

Additional info
[Reservations > Maintain Allocation > Edit allocation / Additional info.]

A special setting must be made in protel in order for the “Additional info.” tab to be shown. For more
information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

If necessary, store a market or source code for the allocation, ‘hear’ and ‘come’ information (where they heard
about the hotel and the reason they chose it), and a reservation status.
Every reservation that is created from this allocation will be assigned the features defined here automatically.

STORING THE ALLOTMENT (ALLOCATION) STATUS

“Open”: The number of rooms within the allocation can be changed as required for the allocation period.
Please note: If there are any allocations that are still open, but not available for reservations, you will need to
make a special setting. Please contact your local protel distributor or the protel support team for assistance.

“Closed”: If the allocation is closed, a snapshot will be created of the rooms posted at this time. To display this
original data, you then need to right-click “Display original number” in the “Allocation overview” tab.
Please note: This action cannot be undone!

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Allocation overview
[Reservations > Maintain Allocation > Edit allocation / Allocation overview]

You can increase or reduce the number of available rooms for a specific period or specific days. You do this in the
Allocation overview.
The “Total” column shows how many rooms have been blocked out for the allocation on that day, how many of
these are occupied, and how many are still vacant (Quantity/occupied/Vacant).

For all marked rows From the list, select one or more dates for which you want to make changes.

For all marked days Select the check boxes adjacent to the days for which you want to make changes for a
particular period (From.../to...).
Room type Select the room type for which you want to make changes:

Quantity Select the Quantity check box to define the number of rooms of the selected room type
you want to assign. Then enter the required number in the adjacent box.
If you do not want an allocation to be available for a particular period, set the
number of rooms to “0”.

Dynamic release Check this box to alter the dynamic expiration deadline for the rooms selected (number of
days before the arrival date that the rooms can be released for general bookings).

Click the [Set] button to transfer the changes and display these in the overview.

NOTE:
A special setting is required in protel for this. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or
the protel support team.

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CONTEXT MENUS FOR THE “ALLOCATION OVERVIEW” TAB

The Allocation overview has two context menus featuring a number of useful functions.
Context menu 1
Click any column header in the overview to open the following context menu:

From this context menu, you can:

Print the allocation overview in various font sizes (small/medium/large):
If you want to print the entire list, make sure that none of the rows are selected.
Select a row in the table, then open the context menu and choose Print with small font, Print with
medium font, or Print with large font to print only this row.
Export the Allocation overview to an Excel or HTML file
Adjust the column width in the overview
Search in the overview
Activate edit mode (“Edit mode on”):
To edit the allocation quantity directly in the “Allocation overview” dialog box, select “Edit mode on”
from the context menu. You can then click a quantity directly in the overview and make the necessary
changes. To go to the next box, press the [TAB] key, the right arrow, the left arrow, or the ENTER key. The
newly entered values will be changed directly. To recalculate the totals for each day, you will need to
press <F5> (Refresh).
Context menu 2
Right-click anywhere within the table to open the following context menu:

From this context menu, you can:

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Create and print out the “Allocation occupancy” report

Create and print out a clear allocation occupancy chart
Create a new allocation reservation:
First select the room type required in the lower part of the dialog box. Then select the day required, open
the context menu, and click “New reservation”. You can then enter all additional information, such as
number of rooms and so on directly in the “Reservation” dialog box.
Choose between different display options
Display original number:
- Shows the original data of the “snapshot” (see above: Additional info. / Storing the allotment
(allocation) status).

Rooming list
[Reservations > Maintain Allocation > Edit allocation / Rooming list]

Use the “Rooming list” tab page to make reservations for an allocation.

A special setting must be made in protel in order for the “Rooming list” tab to be shown. For more
information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

1. Enter the name of the guest (or first letters of the name) and click the adjacent button to open the guest
search or create a new guest profile.
2. Then enter the number of adults and choose the room type to the right of this.
3. Enter the arrival and departure date (must be within the allocation period)
4. Enter the number of rooms (“#” box).
5. Then click .

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SHARER RESERVATIONS

For sharer reservations, you first have to create the sharer, then click to transfer this. Then
follow the procedure described above.

Available Settings

From version 2013.17.222

When adding a guest profile with special rates agreements to the room list of an allocation, you can set that the
relevant special rate code will be pre-selected. By default, the special rate code has to be selected by hand.

Reservations
[Reservations > Maintain Allocation > Edit allocation / Reservations]

The “Reservations” tab shows all reservations that have been made from the allocation. The list that opens
provides an overview of the occupancy status. Right-click the individual reservations to open the Navigator for
these reservations.
Click the [Print] button to print the reservations list.

Creating a reservation for an allocation in the room plan or room type plan
You can make reservations for an allocation in the same way as a ‘normal’ reservation. Select the period in the
room type plan or room plan, then go to the “Reservation” dialog box to select and allocate the allocation you
require from the “Allocation” drop-down list.

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The guest name will always be shown in pink in the room plan:

The reservation is automatically assigned with the allocation profiles (source, travel agent, group, and/or
company). Created rate codes and payment instructions are also transferred.

Allocation occupancy overview

From the room type plan, left-click a specific date in the allocation row to open the following overview.

The occupancy overview indicates the current bookings status for the allocations entered for a selected date. Use
the arrow buttons at the bottom of the window to go to the next or previous days.
Right-click an allocation to open the Allocation overview for the selected allocation (see above). The “Expiry date”
indicates the date from which postings can no longer be made for the allocation.
Click the [Allocations] button to open a window showing all the allocations by room type.
Select the check box for details of the room type and allocation. The allocation will then be
broken down by individual room types.

Available user rights

221 FO Overbook allotment Authorizes the user to overbook allocations (allotments)

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Overbooking
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION OVERBOOKING

If room numbers are not automatically assigned during reservation, this menu item allows you to determine the
number of rooms that you can overbook.

Enter a period for which you want to define an overbooking threshold and click the Search button. The table
below lists the individual days.
From the list, select one or multiple dates that you want to edit.
Select the days of the week that you want to edit. Any changes
only affect the days of the week within the (From.../To...) period
of time.

Select a room type in the list or select “Hotel” if you want the overbooking setting to be applied to the entire
hotel regardless of the room type.
Define an overbooking threshold in the Rooms box and click the [Set] button.
This setting can be updated as often as necessary based on the actual occupancy.

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HIS Wellness
FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION HIS WELLNESS

This menu item is only visible if you work with a HIS.PlanWellness interface.

For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel sales team.

Distribution channel settings

FRONT OFFICE RESERVATION DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL SETTINGS

This menu item is not visible unless your installation uses the protel IDS connect interface software and you
have been assigned the relevant user rights.

protel IDS connect manages the exchange of data between protel SPE / MPE and any external Internet
distribution system (IDS).
To ensure that data can be exchanged seamlessly between protel and any external distribution platform, you
need to “match” the proprietary protel field names against any deviating designations in the external systems.
Open the “Distribution Channel Settings” dialog box in protel Front Office to configure and match any external
instances managed by protel IDS connect.

Further information:
Please contact your local protel distributor or the protel support team.

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Cash register
Cash register overview
The “Cash Register” menu provides functions relating to the posting of charges, internal hotel expenses, and
other cash-register-specific transactions.
A cash register is opened automatically the first time that someone uses the cash register each day. A window
opens in which the user must enter the cash register number and a password, if applicable.

The cash register then remains “active” until it is closed using the “Cash Register Closure” function or deactivated
using the icon in the toolbar.
The currently active cash register is shown in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. This approach prevents
the need for you to enter what is usually the same cash register number prior to making each booking.

You use the “Cash Register Closure” function to “balance” and close the cash registers (“end-of-day closing”). All
cash registers should be closed by the end of the day at the latest and each cash register must be balanced
separately. It is recommended to close each cash register once per shift. One cash register can, however, be
closed several times each day.

Available user rights

54 FO Cash register logoff Controls access to the “Deactivate cash register” icon in the toolbar.

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Logging in to a cash register

In the system data, you can assign different cash register numbers to users. When a user logs in, the system will
then open the assigned cash register automatically without the need for additional login actions.
If a cash register is not assigned to a particular user, the cash register login screen appears once when the user
first posts charges or payments. The cash register then remains open until the user exits protel, initiates a cash
register closure, or logs off from the cash register manually.
Enter the cash register number and your password and click OK to confirm.

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Invoices
Front Office Cash Register Invoice

You use the Cash Register > Invoice menu item to access invoices directly. This prevents the need to open the
room plan or Navigator first in order to view the invoice for a particular reservation.

Enter the name or the room number in the Invoice dialog box to open the relevant reservation directly.
If a cash register is not yet active, the system displays the “Open Cash Register” window, which you use to enter
the required cash register number and password (a password is only required if one has been created in the
system data). If the “Open Cash Register” window does not appear, this means that a cash register is already
open. The cash register name is displayed in the status bar of the main protel window.

NOTE:
You can open invoices for guests who have already checked out until the end-of-day routine has been
performed. Invoices for guests who have checked out the previous day can only be viewed or printed from the
invoice history.

General information about invoicing

Up to six different invoices (A - F) can exist for one reservation, each of which can have a different invoicing
address and payment agreement (“More - Payment/Routing instructions” button). If the six invoices are
insufficient, you can also create pseudo accounts for the guest, company, or group.

OPENING THE INVOICE DIALOG BOX

As an alternative to using the “Cash Register > Invoice” menu items, you can also open the relevant guest invoice
using the Navigator (right-click in the invoice area) or by selecting a reservation in the room plan and clicking the
CO icon (Check Out) in the toolbar.

Available user rights

60 FO Bill / Invoice Controls access to the “Cash Register > Invoice” menu item.

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Layout of the Invoice dialog box

The Invoice dialog box is divided into three sections:

The upper part shows information about the guest and the total balance.
The central part shows the partial invoice windows.
The bottom part provides a summary of the individual balances and contains the buttons for editing the
invoices.

Guest information
The data shown in this area cannot be edited. It shows the room and the guest to which the charges incurred
have been posted. This area also shows the reservation status (CI/CO/RES etc.). If the guest belongs to a company
or group, the company or group name is shown accordingly. For group reservations, the “Room” box shows the
group account number.

Partial invoice window

Two partial invoice windows are displayed in the Invoice dialog box by default, with each partial window
representing a separate partial invoice. If only one invoice exists for a guest, the second partial invoice window
remains blank. In order to retain a clear overview, a maximum of three partial invoice windows are displayed
simultaneously.
Each partial invoice window shows the associated individual postings.

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A “ : ” (colon) in front of the quantity indicates that the posting is a package. The printed invoice will also show a “
+ ” sign in front of the posting text if the charge has been transferred from a different room.
A “ * ” in front of the posting text indicates that the posting is a fixed charge (i.e., a charge that was posted
automatically at the end of the day).
Right-click an invoice item to open a context menu that provides a number of actions relating to the posted
charge. The available options are described below in the “Context menu in the Invoice dialog box” section.

Each partial invoice window is identified using a letter (A - F), and also shows the name of the invoice recipient
and the agreed payment method.

Click the letter associated with an invoice to select all invoice items, which allows you to edit them as a group
using the context menu (see below). To select individual invoice items, simply click them with your mouse.
If you click the button for the invoice recipient, the system displays the associated guest profile. If an additional
invoicing address has not yet been entered for a partial invoice, clicking the blank button starts a guest search so
that you can assign the relevant address.
Click the payment method (e.g., cash, euro) to open the “Payment/Routing instructions” dialog box. In this dialog
box, you can define payment/routing instructions and change the invoice recipient or payment method.
The associated balances are displayed directly below the partial invoice window.

Balance information and buttons

The bottom window pane shows the balances for the individual partial invoices (A - F) next to the green arrow
buttons. If “0.00” is displayed in this box, the invoice has either been settled, has not been created, or no charges
have yet been posted.
Additional control elements appear in the bottom section of the Invoice dialog box if more than two invoices have
been created for one reservation:

Select the fixed check box to “anchor” the relevant partial invoice window in place so that it
remains in the same position in the window when you scroll.

Click the [<] and [>] arrow buttons to scroll backward and forward between invoices.

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Context menu in the Invoice dialog box

Right-click an invoice item in the partial invoice window to open the context menu. This menu offers a wide range
of options, especially if you are working with packages.

Posting details If you open the posting details for a standard charge, the system displays the “Posting details” window
(for more information, see the “Posting details for a charge” section).
If the posting is for a package (indicated by a colon “ : ” in front of the quantity), the “Package/Split”
window opens instead.
Process Opens a sub-menu for voiding the selected posting(s). You can also create a new package from the
marked selected postings. You cannot, however, create new packages from package and payment method
postings postings.
Summarize to Creates a new package from the selected charges. Enter a name and additional text.
package
Delete all tax If you enter a tax exemption code for a guest or reservation that has already been
postings created, this option uses the tax exemption code entered in the system data to
delete the tax postings for all selected postings.
Post taxes If you have entered a tax exemption code by mistake, you can use this function to
post taxes for all selected postings at a later point in time.

Transfer to A - F Transfers the selected posting(s) to the selected partial invoice A - F.

marked
postings to different Transfers the selected posting(s) to an invoice for a different guest.
invoice
to new invoice Transfers the selected posting(s) to a new account (chance sales account).
to a new From Version 2013.17.430
invoice of the Transfers the selected posting(s) to a new account (chance sales account) of the
same invoice same invoice recipient.
recipient
to group Transfers the selected posting(s) to the group master for guests entered as part of a
master group (see the “Transfer” section).

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Transfer all From Version 2013.17.430

items to new
Transfers quickly and easily all of a guest’s postings to a separate invoice which has its own invoice
invoice
number. protel creates a non-guest (passerby) invoice for the same invoice recipient, which can be
managed and executed separately.
The selection box at the lower right of the window enables you to comfortably have access to all of the
invoices having been created this way

:
Discount Use this item to calculate and post the discount specified using a discount code in a guest profile before
the guest checks out. No further discount calculations can be performed once a discount has been
posted. You can, however, use “Reset discount calculation” to re-enable this option and post the
discount again. The first discount posting is retained.
Voucher use Appears only if a discount module has been activated. The value of the voucher is credited against the
invoice.
More.. Opens the More... dialog box.
Edit... Opens the Edit invoice dialog box to post an advance payment, etc.
Check Out Opens the Check Out window. (See "Interim invoice / Advanced Invoice / Preliminary departure").

Info Invoice Prints an information invoice.

Post Opens the Post Charges dialog box.

Calculator Opens the standard Windows calculator.
Retranslate If transaction accounts exist in different languages and if the guest's language is changed during his or
items her stay, this can result in charges appearing on the invoice in different languages (e.g., English and
German). To display all postings in one language, select the German postings and use this function to
translate them into the language entered in the guest profile.

Available user rights

Controls access to the “Posting details” menu item in the context menu for the
125 FO Posting details
partial invoice window.

FO Summarize charges Controls access to the “Process marked postings > Summarize to package” menu
139
to package item in the context menu for the partial invoice window.

Controls access to the “Process marked postings > Post taxes” menu item in the
181 FO Post taxes
context menu for the partial invoice window.

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Controls access to the “Discount > Post discount” menu item in the context menu
157 FO Post discount
for the partial invoice window.

Controls access to the “Retranslate items” menu item in the context menu for the
154 FO Retranslate invoice
partial invoice window.

Voiding a posted article or charge

[Invoice dialog box Partial invoice window]

Open the Invoice dialog box for the relevant guest and find the posted item in the relevant partial invoice window.
Select the posting to be voided (individual or multiple selection), right-click, and select the “Process marked
postings” option from the context menu. Then select the “Void” option.

The postings are voided, i.e., negative counter-postings are performed automatically.
When you void a payment method, both the positive and negative postings are retained in the cash register. If a
payment method is of the type “Accounts receivable” or “Credit card,” the counter-posting is also transferred to
accounts receivable management.
You can also void postings manually: Use the [Post charges] button to enter a negative value for the quantity or
amount and click [OK] to confirm. Ensure that you specify the transaction account that you want to void.

It is often beneficial to transfer reconciling postings to an unrequired invoice so that they are not printed on
the guest invoice.

Available user rights

Controls access to the “Process marked postings > Void” menu item in the context
90 FO Void charges
menu for the partial invoice window.

FO Void charges
141 The “Please enter reason for void” window appears when you void a charge.
without reason

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Transferring to a different partial invoice

[Invoice dialog box Partial payment window]

Open the Invoice dialog box for the relevant guest and find the posted item that you want to transfer in the
relevant partial invoice window.
To transfer a posting to a different detailed invoice, select the relevant posting(s) and drag them to a different
partial invoice.
You can also transfer a selected posting by clicking the green arrow buttons at the bottom of the Invoice dialog
box:
Select the relevant invoice item in the partial invoice window and then click the green arrow button for the target
invoice, e.g.: .
You can also open the context menu and use the “Transfer marked postings” option to transfer a selected charge.

Opening additional partial invoices

[Invoice dialog box Partial payment window]

To open a third invoice for a reservation, select the relevant postings in the Invoice dialog box for the reservation
and simply drag the selected posting(s) to one of the green arrow keys, e.g., .

The system will then automatically create a new partial invoice.

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Posting details for a charge

To open the posting details, right-click the charge to open the context menu and select “Posting details.”

Use the right window pane to change posting texts and amounts and split postings. You can only change amounts
on the day they are posted. You can, however, change the text after the day on which it was posted.
Three buttons that offer the following functions are available on the right:
Voids the posting. This creates a negative posting that appears on the invoice.

Changes the posting text to match the text entered.

There are two ways to split an existing posting in two: by splitting the amount or the quantity.
Change the relevant quantity and then click the [Split] button. An additional posting appears on the
invoice and the original posting is changed accordingly.
Payment postings can only be split based on their amount. You must be logged in to the cash register
used to post the payment.
Since performing a split does not change the charges that have been posted, you can also split old
postings.
Examples:
Posting: 17 telephone units at €70. You want to split 10 units from the total (e.g., to post them to a
different invoice): Change the quantity and overwrite the 17 units with 10. Click [Split] to create two
telephone postings on the invoice: one for 10 telephone units and one for 7 units.
Posting: Double room at €220, of which €100 is to be split off (e.g., because this is the single room rate
and the company only covers the amount for a single room): Change the price by overwriting the €220
with €100. Click [Split] to create two accommodation postings on the invoice: one for €100 and one for
€120. If necessary, you can also change text to “single room.”

Changing an individual amount

Overwrite the price in the Price box and click [OK].

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The system performs a reverse posting for the original item and posts the article again at the new price:

For articles that have been posted multiple times (quantity > 1), the changed price always relates to the
individual price of the article.

Available user rights

FO Charges: Change posting

823 Controls access to the “Change text” function in the posting details.
text

FO Change additional billing Controls access to the “Change text > Change additional text” function in the
824
text posting details.

Package/Split
[Invoice dialog box Partial payment window]

Packages are containers that include multiple charges (transaction accounts).

You can post a package in two different ways:
When posting a rate code, as this contains or could contain the accommodation charges and other
charges such as breakfast, half board, etc.
When posing packages created using transaction accounts.
Example: A tennis package costs €48 and comprises the following transaction accounts:
€15 – tennis court hire
€28 – personal instructor
€5 – isotonic drink
This package can be posted in the same way as a transaction account and is therefore different than a rate code,
which can be posted only as part of the end-of-day routine or using the “Manual room posting” function.
Right-click the relevant booking to open the “Packages/Split” dialog box.

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The top pane (“Package name”) shows the name of the package and any additional text. The text entered here is
printed on the invoice. You can overwrite the text if necessary. Click the [Change posting text] button to save
changes to the text.
The left window pane shows the charges included in the package together with their individual prices. Right-click
a change to open the posting details and edit the individual charge.

Transferring into/out of a package

[Transfer from invoice] button: Adds the selected charges to the current package. The individual charges are
removed from the invoice charges (i.e., no longer displayed/printed) and the price of the package increases
accordingly.

1. In the partial invoice window, first select the charge you want to add (e.g. "Grappa VSOP).
2. Hold down the [Ctrl] key on your keyboard and select the package to which you want to add the charge
(e.g. Wellness Weekend):

3. Right-click the package to open the context menu and select Posting details.
4. Click [Transfer from invoice].
5. The charge is transferred to the package:

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[Remove from package] button: Allows you to remove selected charges from the package so that they appear on
the invoice as regular postings and can be printed.

Splitting an entire package

Click one of the buttons [1/2], [1/3], [1/4], [1/5], or [1/6] to split the relevant amount from the total package
value. For example, clicking the [1/6] button splits off one sixth of the overall amount.
If you want to split off a specific amount, you can enter the amount directly in the input box provided. Then click
the “Split amount” button.
In all cases, the charges in the package are split automatically on a proportionate basis.
Click the [Void] button to void the package.

Posting details within a package

You can also open the posting details for charges displayed in the Package/Split window. The changes associated
with the splitting or voiding of charges can result in changes to the amount shown for the package.
Example:
An incorrect amount was posted for a room rate. The price is too high and you want to reduce the amount. If you
split off part of the package, all charges in the package will be split using the same percentage value.
If you want to reduce the accommodation price only, right-click to open the “Package/Split” posting details. Then
open the posting details for the charge that you want to reduce. You can now split the relevant part from the
charge that you want to reduce.

Check Out
[Invoice dialog box Check Out]

You can check out invoices on the date of departure or ahead of departure. To perform a check-out, open the
Invoice dialog box and click the [Check-Out] button.

a) On the date of departure

On the guest's day of departure, click the [Check Out] button to close the invoice and post a
payment for the invoice items. If multiple partial invoices exist, you must check each one out
separately.

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The guest's name, room number, invoice letter (A-F), and the invoice recipient are displayed in the top left of the
window.
To the right, you can see the total charges, payments, and ensuing balance. Credit card authorizations are also
displayed here.
You can enter the transaction date if this differs from the current date (the transaction date is the date for which
payment appears on the invoice).
The central window pane contains four rows for entering different methods of payment and the associated
amounts.
Method of Paym. Shows the method of payment. “Cash Payment” is displayed by default if a different payment
method has not been defined for this guest. Select the relevant method of payment from the drop-
down list.
Amount The outstanding balance is shown automatically and can be overwritten depending on how the guest
pays. If you overwrite the amount, any remaining balance is shown on the next row. You can then
select a different method of payment for the remaining balance.
Any payments made in foreign currencies are converted and displayed automatically (using the
exchange rate defined in the system data). If you enter a higher amount (e.g., balance = $72, the
guest pays with a $100 dollar bill), the system calculates the change automatically and displays it in
the next row.
Additional text / You can also choose to enter additional text to be displayed on the invoice. If credit card details were
Valid created for the reservation, this box shows the credit card number and the adjacent “Valid” box
shows the card's expiration date.
Ex. rate/CC Card Shows the exchange rate saved in the system for foreign currency transactions or the card holder for
holder credit cards.
Copies Specifies the number of invoice copies.

If you select the Preview invoice check box, the invoice appears on screen before being printed.
If you clear the check box, the invoice is printed directly.

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Invoice layout
[Invoice dialog box Check Out Invoice layout]

If you do not want to use the default invoice form, use this section to specify the required form. If a form other
than the standard invoice is already displayed, this means that a different form has been assigned using the
“Invoice print mode” function. (In order to use alternative invoice forms, the forms must first have been defined
in the system data.)

Use the drop-down list below the invoice form selection to change the print mode for this invoice (detailed,
summarized, etc.).
If an invoicing form has been created that supports different currencies, you can select the currency you want to
use when printing the form.
The system also displays a reminder if a guest has hired a safe during his or her stay.
Invoice form in the language of the invoice recipient ( from version 2013.16.816 )
[Invoice dialog box Check Out Invoice layout ]

Set up protel to always use the “right” language for each guest: The invoice form will open automatically in the
language of the invoice recipient. Manual changes of the form in the dialog “More / Invoice print mode” can only
take place in the actual language.
Y our protel Support team will gladly adjust the mentioned settings for you. Just contact us!
Inserting a separating line ( from version 2013.16.816 )
[Invoice dialog box Check Out Invoice layout ]

Optionally you can add a separating line in the invoice form, for example between the entries of services and
payments. As a separator any character is possible:
[UsePaymentSeparator{1}]
[PaymentSeparator{============================}]

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b) Interim invoice / Advanced Invoice / Preliminary departure

If you click the [Check Out] button for an invoice before the guest's departure date, a window appears with the
following options:

INTERIM Creates an invoice containing all charges posted to date. The “CO/Post payments” window
INVOICE appears so that you can enter the payment method. This posts the payment but the guest
remains checked in.
ADVANCED Calculates all outstanding accommodation charges and fixed charges that have already been
INVOICE created up to the selected period.
By default the charges are calculated up to the departure date. If required, you can also select
another period (see below: "period selection"). After clicking the [Advanced payments] button,
the “CO/Post payments” window usually appears so that you can enter and post the payment.
The guest is not checked out and the postings are naturally not repeated during subsequent
end-of-day routines.
From Version 2013.17.430
Period selection
For the The advanced invoice will be calculated up to the expected departure date.
remaining
part of the
stay
For the next x The advanced invoice will be calculated for the number of days chosen in
days this field.
From [date] The advanced invoice will be calculated up to the chosen date.
to [date]

Don't post a payment

Tick this box to book postings to the invoice without posting a payment.

Example: Create an advanced invoice without posting a payment

The transfer postings function is especially useful if advanced invoices have to be separately
created and booked:
1. Open the invoice window of the checked-in guest.
2. Click [Check Out].
3. Select a time period for the advanced invoice in the “Check out before date of
departure” window and check the Don’t post a payment check box.

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4. Click on [Advanced Invoice]. The corresponding postings will now be booked to the
invoice.
5. Use the right mouse button to click on an arbitrary booking in the invoice window and
select the “Transfer all items to new invoice” context menu.

All services on the invoice will be transferred to a separate invoice with its own invoice
number. Internally, the invoice will be created as a non-hotel guest invoice (passerby).
The invoice created in this manner will be shown in the lower right as an attached invoice.

PRELIMINARY The “CO/Post payments” window appears immediately so that you can enter the payment
DEPARTURE method. When you click [OK], a confirmation prompt appears asking if you want to curtail the
reservation to today. The guest is then checked out automatically.

Available user rights

848 FO Advanced invoice Controls access to the “Advanced Invoice” function.

Editing an invoice
To open the “Edit invoice” menu, click the Edit invoice button in the Invoice dialog box or use the More... button
in the Navigator. Follow the link for more information.

Storage location for invoice documents

1. You can define a separate storage location for invoices if required (e.g., c:\Invoices). The default directory
is \protel\rech. You must back up this directory on a regular basis.
2. You can also define a separate backup storage location for invoices if required (e.g., c:\backupexample). If
a document is not found at the default path, protel will also search using the backup path provided. This
allows you to move documents into the backup directory from time to time; for example, if storage space
is too expensive at the original location (data center). You must also back up the backup directory on a
regular basis.

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Chance Sales
Front Office Cash Register Chance Sales

A chance sale allows you to issue passerby invoices to guests who are not hotel guests but who require a receipt.
Passerby invoices are issued without reference to a reservation.
The invoice created does not differ visually from a regular room invoice. All functions within the invoicing dialog
box are the same as for a regular room invoice, and the process for paying off the amount is the same.

Creating a passerby invoice

We recommend creating a guest with the name “passerby” in the system data for use as a recipient of passerby
invoices.
1. In the “Cash Register” menu, click “Chance Sales.”
2. From the guest search, select “passerby” as the invoice recipient. Only change the recipient if this is
expressly required.
3. If no cash registers are active, the system displays the window for selecting a cash register. If different
cash registers are available, enter the cash register number and a password if required.
4. When the “Post charges” dialog box opens, post the relevant charge/article to the invoice.
5. Once you have entered the postings, click [OK] to view the payment dialog box. Select the payment
method from the drop-down list and click [OK] to confirm. The invoice is then printed.
6. To make corrections, click the Cancel button in the “Post payments” dialog before clicking [OK] to
confirm. This opens the Invoicing dialog box, where you can make changes or enter additional postings.
Click [Check Out] to return to the payment dialog box.
NOTE:
You cannot exit the passerby invoice until you have entered the entire payment. A passerby invoice may not
have an outstanding balance.
Passerby invoices are assigned a regular invoice number and can therefore be opened later from the invoice
history.

Editing a passerby invoice

You can return to passerby invoices to edit them until the end-of-day routine has been completed:
In the window that opens for the departure list (F7), select the Include departed guests? option and the Acct.
check box. When you select these settings, passerby invoices are also included in the list. You can then use the
Navigator (right-click the chance sale) to make the required changes to the invoice.

Available user rights

94 FO Chance sales Authorizes the user to create passerby invioces.

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Posting charges
Front Office Cash Register Post Charges

Use the “Post Charges” function to quickly post charges for your guests without having to open the room plan or
Navigator. This function is particularly useful if you want to post several charges to different invoices in
succession, e.g., for mini-bar postings.

If a cash register is not “open” when you select this function, the cash register selection window will appear. Enter
the cash register number and password to “activate” the cash register.
The posting window is made up of two sections. The top section shows information about the guest whose
invoice is to be charged. The lower section shows the actual posting details.
Room Enter the room to which the charge is to be posted. The system will only accept rooms with checked-in
guests or a hotel or group account.
Guest If you do not know the room number, you can also enter the guest's name or the first letters of the name.
This opens the in-house list, from which you can select the relevant guest.
TAA Enter the number of the transaction account to which the charge is to be posted. You can enter the account
number directly. If you do not know the transaction account number, you can open a list of all accounts by
pressing the Tab key. When you enter a letter, the list jumps to the first transaction account that begins
with this letter.
Currenc If the multi-currency function has been enabled in the system data, you can post to the required
y transaction account in a foreign currency. In this case, it is important to specify the correct exchange rates
(see the Exchange rates chapter).
Price Enter the price for the charge to be posted. If a standard price has already been defined in the system data,
this price is displayed. You can, however, overwrite the default price if you want to post a differing price to
the account.
Qty. Enter how often the charge should be posted.
Text Once you have selected the transaction account, this box displays the description from the system data.
This text is printed on the invoice. You can change the text for individual postings.
Additio Use this box to enter additional text. Depending on how the invoice form has been created, it may also be
nal text possible to print this text on the invoice.

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Total This field displays the total posted for the charge. It is calculated from the quantity * price.
Invoice Invoice “A” is used for the posting by default. Click the drop-down list if you want to post the charge to a
different partial invoice.
If an invoice diversion has been entered for specific charges using routing instructions, this is taken into account if yo
“A” when entering the posting.

TIP:
You can generate negative postings by placing a minus sign [-] in front of the price or quantity.

The “Total” box shows the total of all charges to be posted and is calculated using the total amounts for the
individual postings.

Available user rights

61 FO Charge to Controls access to the “Cash Register > Post Charges” menu item.

Vouchers
FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER VOUCHERS

This menu item is not visible unless your installation uses the optional protel Vouchers module (to be purchased
separately).
protel (Online) Vouchers integrates with your protel hotel software and significantly reduces the work involved in
selling vouchers, regardless of whether you sell them at the front desk or online through your hotel website.
protel (Online) Vouchers allows you to create, sell, redeem and manage vouchers in a very simple process.
Preconfigured templates for all types of vouchers help reduce the amount of work involved in creating and selling
vouchers. They also help enforce certain policies that you define for selling and redeeming vouchers.
protel (Online) Vouchers is available for all SQL-based protel installations with the exception of protel smart.

For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel sales team.

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Cash Register Posting

FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER CASH REGISTER POSTING

A cash register posting allows you to post internal hotel expenses and income.
In many cases, the hotel reception will pay supplier invoices directly, cover the costs for refueling the hotel bus, or
buy a bouquet of flowers for the lobby. It may also be necessary to withdraw amounts that have already been
received from the cash register (e.g., to take them to the bank) without performing a cash register closure. In all
these cases, money is taken out of the cash register in reception.
To reduce the cash register stock in protel accordingly, you use a cash register posting to enter the withdrawal
without impacting on revenue.
You cannot use a cash register posting to post to a guest account.

To create new postings, select the appropriate method of payment and enter the amount.

In the drop-down menu, you decide whether the amount is paid in or paid out.

Click [OK] to post the payment.

All postings made using the cash register posting function are displayed on the cash register ledger.

Available user rights

61 FO Cash register posting Controls access to the “Cash Register > Cash Register Posting” menu item.

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Check / Currency Exchange

FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER CHEQUE / CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Changing foreign currency into the local currency or cashing a cheque results in a change to the cash register
stock. To keep a record of this change, you can use this screen to document purchases by cheque and any
currency amounts paid in or out.
We buy Currencies: Use the drop-down list to select one of the foreign currencies defined in the system
data. The box alongside this list shows the exchange rate assigned to this currency (see the
Exchange rates section). Use the next input box to enter the amount received in the foreign
currency.
Cashing a cheque: When you cash a cheque, select “Cheque” from the drop down list and select
the relevant currency in the “We sell” box.
We sell Use the drop-down list to select the method of payment withdrawn from the cash register. Since
this is usually a cash payment in the local currency, this option is selected by default. The
exchange rate shown is the exchange rate from the currency to the euro. The system calculates
the amount of currency to be withdrawn from the cash register automatically.
minus Enter the commission fee. Use the first box to enter the rate in percent. The second box then
commission in automatically shows the amount calculated. You can also enter a fixed amount as the exchange
percent fee or define default commission values in the system data.
From version 2013.17.000
The User Right No.879 controls access to the commission field “minus commission in percent”,
whereas User Right No.880 controls access to the commission field “minus commission in Euro”.
If you revoke one of these rights, the corresponding commission field will be deactivated.
Cash out Amount calculated from the amount exchanged minus commission.
Text Enter any additional text that you want to appear on the receipt (room number reference, guest
name, etc.).

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Print receipts
You can create a form in the system data that is printed when you perform a currency exchange. Select the
Print check box to start the print process.
Enter the number of copies and select the required form from the drop-down list. You can enter the guest's name
or take it from the in-house list by clicking the [from hotel] button.
From Version 2014.17.790
Should an exchange receipt be printed, a preview of the exchange receipt can be generated. Access is controlled
by user right no. 884 “FO Currency exchange – Preview receipt”.
Ask your protel Support Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help!

View printed receipts

Click the [History] button to view all currency exchange receipts generated for a specified period of time together
with the associated details. Double-click a currency exchange receipt from the list to open it.
From Version 2013.17.222
Currency Exchange receipts also support the read-only mode (similar to invoices). Inadvertent changes are thus
reliably avoided. Ask your protel Support Team for more information. We're happy to help!

Available user rights

61 FO Cheque / Exchange Rate Controls access to the “Cash Register > Cheque/Currency
Exchange” menu item.

879 FO Currency Exchange (enter commission Right to enter a commission as percentage.

as percentage)

880 FO Currency Exchange (enter commission Right to enter a commission as amount.

as amount)

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Exchange rates
FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER EXCHANGE RATES

Use this window to enter exchange rates.

Since the introduction of the euro, the exchange rates for countries belonging to the European Monetary Union
have been fixed. You must, however, maintain and update the currencies for all other countries as necessary.
You can use the drop-down list at the top of the window to select different rates for different purposes.
 Cheque/currency exchange: Displayed by default when you open the dialog box. Use the “Check / Currency
Exchange” menu item to enter the exchange rate.
 Posting charges: Rate to be used when posting charges. This rate is used as a basis for foreign currency
transactions performed in connection with transaction accounts, spit tables, fixed charges, rate codes, and
the “Post Charges” dialog box.
 Check Out: The rate to be used for payments posted in a foreign currency. During the check-out process, you
can also select a currency to be printed on the invoice. The currency that you enter here is used.
The above distinction allows you to specify whether different exchange rates are to be used by default for
different actions.
Examples:
 The exchange rate for the posting of charges is lower because this is an internal posting.
 The exchange rate applied when changing currency for guests is higher as this is an additional charge.
 In protel HMS, internal postings are made using the local currency. Revenue reports and statistics continue to
be provided in EUR (local currency).
You can use the “List no.” box to enter the number of the list used as a template for the last update. The system
sets the “Updated” box automatically. This shows the date on which the exchange rate was last updated.

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Cash Register Closure

FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER CASH REGISTER CLOSURE

Use this function to “balance” and close the cash registers.

You use the cash register to post all revenues and payments. The cash register is therefore activated (opened)
when you open protel and make your first posting.
If required, you can assign a dedicated cash register for each user. The relevant cash register will then open
automatically when the user logs on. Please refer to the System Data Manual for details on how to make the
required settings.
When you exit protel Front Office, the cash register is deactivated automatically. You can also use the “Deactivate
cash register button in the toolbar to deactivate a cash register. Performing a cash register closure also closes the
cash register.

The upper window pane provides information about the cash register number, cash register name, and the last
closure number. If a password has been assigned, enter it here.
The second pane shows a list of all payment types for which the “Inventory check in cash register closure” check
box has been selected in the system data. The list only shows payment types that have been used since the last
end-of-day routine:
Type Shows the payment method used to make the postings.
Start Start float or stock (defined in the system data).
float
Old The old margin is generated when you perform a cash register closure with a new margin.
margin
Balance Total of all payments posted for the displayed payment type. Advance payments, deposits,
invoices/check-outs, POS postings, and currency exchanges are added to the start float.
Counted Input box: Enter the actual amount in the cash register for confirmation purposes. This amount must
correspond to the balance amount to prevent a new margin from being generated. If the two amounts
differ, you can click [Reports before closing cash accounts] button to view a cash ledger. You can then
use this ledger to check all postings made and make any required corrections.

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New The new margin is the difference between the balance shown (calculated by the computer) and the
margin actual amount entered (after counting the cash register contents).
Cash out The amount removed from the cash register and taken to the bank or placed in a safe.
A corresponding ini entry allows protel to calculate the cash-out amount automatically based on the
values for receipts, disbursements, and the cash register float.

The list box on the bottom left shows the reports printed during cash register closure.
The list box to the right shows all payments used to calculate the balance amount for the individual payment
methods. Negative postings are displayed in red (voided payment methods).
Click the [Start Calculator] button to open the Windows calculator.
If you click the [Balance all Margins] button, protel enters values in the “Counted” column that balance all
margins (new and old).

General notes on manually correcting cash register margins

When you open the “Cash Register Closure” dialog box, an entry may already exist in the “New margin” box. This
margin represents the difference between the balance and the counted amounts. When you post payments, the
balance amount increases but the counted amount remains at “0.00”. When you then enter the counted amount
(at the level of the balance amount), the amount in the “New margin” box is set to “0.00”.
If you enter a counted amount that does not match the balance amount during cash register closure and
complete the closure, this creates a margin in the system that is then shown as the “Old margin” during the next
cash register closure. In other words, the margin is transferred forward to all subsequent cash register closures.
When you enter the “incorrect” amount, the “New margin” box starts to flash red. If you nonetheless click [OK] to
perform the cash register closure, the system will display a message box to notify you of the resulting margin
once more. At this stage, you can still cancel the process and perform any required corrections.
If a margin already exists from a previous closure (displayed in the “Old margin” box), the amount of the current
margin is added to the amount for the old margin.
“Old margins” continue to exist in the system until they are explicitly paid off.
To correct the margin, you can use the [Balance all Margins] button. This enters an amount in the “Counted” box
that balances out the margin. A new margin is generated to balance out the old margin.
The amount entered in the “Counted” box when using this button is calculated using the following formula:
BALANCE minus OLD MARGIN
Example:
The old margin is –1,000, the balance amount is 500.
500 minus –1000 = Counted amount 1500
The entry in the “Counted” box must be 1,500.
When the cash-out amount is calculated automatically, the amount is not entered when clicking [Balance all
Margins].

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Available user rights

Controls access to the “Cash Register > Cash Register Closure”

48 FO Balance the Cash
menu item.

FO Balance old differences in cash

93 Controls access to the “Balance all Margins” function.
register

Authorizes the user to perform a cash register closure if margins

807 FO Close register with difference
exists.

Deposits to be paid
FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER DEPOSITS TO BE PAID

Use this function to check the receipt of open deposits.

The list box shows all reservations with deposit payments due by the reporting date. Open deposits (= negative
values) are shown in red.
Recalculating the amounts displayed
When you open this window, the amounts for the current date are shown by default. You can, however, retrieve
details about deposits due on dates in the future. To do this, enter a date and click the [Compute] button to
refresh the list.
Displaying/editing a deposit
Double-click an entry to open the “Deposit” window from the More... dialog box in the Navigator. You can then
use this dialog box to post payments, etc.

Available user rights

97 FO Deposit Controlling Controls access to the “Cash Register > Deposits to be paid” menu item.

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Paid out receipts

FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER PAID OUT RECEIPTS

If you entered expenses with a receipt form, posting the expenses will automatically print a document. You can
access this dialog box to view and reprint the documents if necessary.
Example: A receipt form for expenses was created in the “Paid out receipts” group of the Form Administration
module:

protel SD > Text > Form Administration > Paid out receipts

There is also a transaction account for expenses. This account was linked to the paid out receipts form using
the Expense (cash) check box:

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protel SD > Bookkeeping > Revenue and Payments > Transaction Accounts (TAA)

Whenever you post a cash register transaction to the expense account, a document is printed automatically.

protel FO > Cash Register > Paid out receipts

Available user rights

97 FO Paidout receipts Controls access to the “Cash Register > Paidout receipts” menu item.

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Invoice History
Front Office Cash Register Invoice History

The invoice history shows all previously created invoices and allows them to be reprinted if required.
Inv.-No. / Enter an invoice number, name, or date (date on which the invoice was created) and click
Name / [Start Search]. The system refreshes the list of invoices to match your search criteria.
Dept. date
[Reset Filter] Resets all entries, such as the invoice number, name, or date.
[Fiscal code] This code is printed for fiscal auditing of the invoice.
Select an invoice and click [View Invoice Form] to display the invoice form on screen.

Prints the invoice form without displaying a preview.

Generates a detailed list of all charges posted to the invoice. If you combine charges into a
package on the invoice or overwrite the text for a charge, the invoice form often does not
show sufficient details about the actual charges. The posting text in the invoice details
therefore shows the transaction account used to post the charge.
Use this button to correct an invoice if the guest has already checked out and the check-out
was at least one day in the past. See the following section for more details.

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Voiding an invoice
You can use the Invoice dialog box to void checked out invoices on the day of check-out as long as the end-of-day
routine has not been performed. If you want to void or change invoices for which the check-out date lies one or
more days in the past, you must use the invoice history.
This process voids the entire invoice. You can, however, specify which invoice items need to be reposted.

Available settings (Invoice history)

New in Version 2013.16.690 of January 22, 2013

If required, you can prevent deposit invoices from being voided in the invoice history.
protel Support will be happy to configure the relevant settings for you. Contact us for more details.

Canceling an invoice in the invoice history

1. Select the relevant invoice from the invoice history and click [Void Invoice].
The system displays all items associated with the invoice. Charges that were posted as part of a package
are also listed separately. The “Package text” box shows the name of the associated package.

The bottom window pane shows the total for all charges and the total for the selected charges.
2. If you want to repost items that are correct and you do not therefore want to void to a new invoice, select
the items (using the [All] / [None] buttons if required) and select the Post marked items to new
invoice check box.
3. Then click [Void invoice]. Confirm the operation in the message dialog box that appears.
4. The system generates an invoice with counter-postings for all postings made to the original invoice,
including the method of payment used.
5. As stated in the message dialog box, all counter-postings are made against partial invoice “A.” Any items
that need to be reposted are posted to partial invoice “B.” The date on which the original invoice was
voided is used as the posting date for these postings and the invoice that is generated.

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You can edit partial invoice B, if required. In other words, you can add or remove additional postings.
To finalize and close the invoice, check out the partial invoices and enter the method of payment.

Handling unprinted invoices

If “No form printed yet” is displayed in the comments box for an invoice, this indicates that an invoice that was
not printed when the guest checked out. Such invoices are displayed here nonetheless to avoid gaps in the list
of invoice numbers. At the end of the day, protel automatically checks for invoice numbers associated with
unprinted invoices and enters the invoice numbers on this screen. Since no form has been generated, a form is
not saved in the system.
If this check is not completed automatically at the end of the day, you can also initiate it using the [Check for
unprinted Invoices] button.

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Accounts receivable
FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

All invoices that you have checked out using a debit payment method or credit card are transferred directly to
accounts receivable management. An accounts receivable account is automatically opened for the invoice
recipient of all invoices on account. Credit card receivables are summarized on a group account for each credit
card.
You use different tabs to access the individual areas of accounts receivable management.

Available user rights

FO Accounts
56 Authorizes the user to access accounts receivable management.
Receivable

FO MPE A/R global For protel MPE: Authorizes the user to access accounts receivable management for
167
view each hotel in the group (using the drop-down list).

Accounts
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Accounts]

This tab provides an overview of all accounts with outstanding amounts. The upper window pane shows detailed
information with the name and the outstanding amounts for the last 30 days, 30-60, 90, and more days. The last
column shows the total amount for the open account.
Guest accounts are indicated by a “K” followed by a number; credit cards (“CC” character from the system data)
are indicated by the prefix “Group.”
The buttons perform the following functions:

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All Selects all displayed accounts.

None Clears all selected accounts.

Preassigned In a guest profile, you can preassign a guest for the printing of accounts receivable account
Accounts statements by opening the “A/R” tab and selecting the “Send statements if balance” or “Send
statements even if zero balance” option.
When you click the [Preassigned Accounts] button, the accounts for these guests are automatically
selected in the list of open accounts. Then click [Print Statements]. Using this feature, you can print
a monthly account statement by clicking just two buttons.
Print Prints a form defined in the system data for the selected accounts.
Statements
Refresh Refreshes the display. Required only if you have settled due postings.

Print Analysis Creates a report that evaluates the outstanding items by their “age” (age of the invoice and debt).

Post Payment
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Post Payment]

You use this dialog box to edit the individual debts and post payments.

Select account
In order to provide a clearer overview, the Display paid off debts check box is not selected by default. In other
words, only outstanding accounts receivable are shown. If you select the check box, all paid off accounts are
shown in gray.
A number of different selection options are provided at the top of the window so that you can find the relevant
accounts as quickly as possible.
Account Select the account number, which comprises the letter “K” and the number of the guest profile.
Credit card accounts are indicated by a “Z.”
Name Select an account by the name of the invoice recipient.
Invoice Select an account using the invoice number. The system also displays the date and amount and
sorts the entries by invoice number.

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Amount (After the “Invoice” drop-down list). Select the amount. The date and invoice number are also
displayed.

Post payments
Once you have selected an account, the system displays all outstanding debts. Use the lower window pane to
post payments for these debts.
The first drop-down list shows the payment type created as “non-cash” in the system data. The date corresponds
to the date of the posting. If a different currency is assigned to the selected payment type, the relevant currency
appears in the currency field automatically.
Use the next box to enter the amount received as a payment. If only a partial payment has been made, enter the
amount of the partial payment only. An outstanding amount will continue to exist in the system. The next text
box shows “Payment” by default and can be overwritten if required.
Commission postings
Use the “Commission” row to post a commission payment or discount: Enter the amount in the first box.
Then use the drop-down list to select the transaction account to which the posting is to be made.
When making a commission posting, ensure that only the reduced amount is entered as the incoming
payment. The remaining amount is then posted as commission and a negative posting is made to the
corresponding transaction account for commissions.
Click the [Pay off] button to make the posting. The next window again shows the data that you have entered.
Confirm the window to make the posting. Click No to return to the entry screen and make any required
corrections.
Paid off debtors are displayed in gray in the list of debts. They are deleted from accounts receivable management
after a predetermined amount of time. It does, however, remain possible to verify the incoming payment.
NOTE:
Ensure that a debt is actually paid off in the currency posted to avoid unnecessary rounding differences. As
the posting text, you could enter the account statement number on which the payment appears to allow the
posting to be audited more easily at a later date.

Unallocated payments
If a payment is made that is higher than the debt, the difference is posted to the accounts receivable account as
credit. The amount can then be assigned using one of the following invoices.
If the debt to be settled is not selected when posting a payment by mistake, the amount entered is entered in the
account as an unallocated payment.
To allocate the payment, select the unallocated payment and the debt. Right-click the unallocated payment and
select “Summarize to batch” from the context menu.
This allocates the amount to the debtor and reduces the debt accordingly. If the unallocated payment settles the
debt in full, it is shown in gray to indicate that it has been paid off.

THE CONTEXT MENU OFFERS A NUMBER OF OTHER EDITING FUNCTIONS:

View invoice form xxx Opens the invoice form, which can also be viewed using the invoice history.

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View invoice details xxx Shows the individual posting items for the invoice. This allows you to see the actual
postings if postings on the invoice have been combined to form a package or if postings
have been renamed.
Void invoice xxx Allows you to void the entire invoice. See also Cash Register “Invoice history” - “Voiding
an invoice.” If a correction has been made, both the original invoice and the canceled
invoice are shown. Both can be combined to reduce the amount owed on the account.
View profile xxx Opens the guest's profile.
Create void invoice If you need to correct an invoice (incorrect room rate has been calculated), the system
generates a passerby invoice showing the guest profile and payment type. You can then
make corrective postings to this invoice. If you need to reduce the amount, you must
make a negative posting. You can also create a new invoice showing the changes you
have made. You can combine the posting that has been created with the debt (see
below) so that the debt shows the correct amount.
Edit comment Enter a comment for the selected debtor.
Select status Enter a status defined in the system data for the debt.
Transfer marked debts If you select this function, the selected debts are posted to a different account or a
different guest profile. You use the “Guest search” dialog to assign the debt.
Transfer marked debts to If a debtor pays by credit card, you can repost the debt to the relevant credit card
group account (CC) account from within accounts receivable management. A window appears showing all
available credit cards. Double-click to select the relevant card.
From version 2013.17.000
The transfer posting of debts to another profile or account can be regulated by the
User Right No. 878.
Create summarized This function is used only in connection with fiscal codes. It summarizes multiple
invoice invoices if they have a fiscal code that permits summarized invoicing. This function is
used only in Italy.
Print report Print an individual account statement for all debts associated with this account.
This account: print If debts have been paid off during the course of the current day, you can use this
today's pay offs function to print a list of all the day's payments. This printout is particularly useful for
checking payments made for group accounts (credit cards).
All accounts: print today's If debts have been paid off across all accounts, you can use this function to print
pay offs information about today's payments without having to access the reporting functions.
Display paid off debts Shows debts that have already been paid off. Click the menu item to enable or disable
this function.

If you select two debts, the following additional options are available in the context menu:
Summarize to batch Summarizing debtors to a batch allows individual invoices to be allocated better in
group accounts. Batches are indicated by a summation sign in front of the invoice
number. If you have selected different credit card postings and summarized them to a
batch, the relevant postings are displayed in blue.
To edit an existing batch, right-click the selected posting to open the menu:

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You can now use the first option in the context menu to select all postings in the batch
for further editing.
You can also remove postings that do not belong to the batch or that no longer belong
to the batch (Release item(s) from batch).
Click “Expand batch” to open a closed batch and view all individual postings. Once
finished, you can close the batch again (Close expanded batches).

Available user rights

92 FO Correct debt Authorizes the user to correct a debt.

137 FO Move A/R payments Authorizes the user to transfer a debt.

839 FO AR (enter commission at payoff) Authorizes the user to post commissions.

878 FO A/R Transfer to different account Authorizes the user to transfer debts to another profile or account.

Payment History
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Payment History]

This tab shows all payments received to pay off debts.

Specify a period for which you want to view incoming payments.

The view above shows all payments received during the period selected for evaluation. Since different
outstanding items can be been combined (to pay off credit cards), it may not always be possible to identify the
individual debts that have been paid off. If you select the Paid off debts option, the system displays all debts
that were paid off during the specified period.

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Click [Refresh] to reload the list; e.g., if new payments have been posted in the meantime or if you change the
period.

NOTE:
The entry “_AR” in the “Account” column means that the accounts have been combined and
an internal account posting has taken place.

Reminders
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Reminders]

The Reminders tab shows all debts due based on the reminder code definition and debts that have reached the
due date for a reminder level and therefore require a reminder. You can optionally change the filter date and
filter reminder level by selecting the relevant item from the drop-down list. You can also select the show all
check box to show debts that are not yet due.
Debts for which a reminder must not be issued are displayed in red. You set this requirement by assigning the
relevant reminder code in the guest profile.

OI report for debtors

Click [Show OI Report] to view all open items for the specified date on screen.
Remind
Click the [Remind] button to activate the reminder process for the selected items (see the “Reminder” chapter).

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Rem. History
The reminder history allows you to access reminders that have already been created and sent (see the “Reminder
history” chapter).
Context menu
Right-click a debt to open the context menu, which provides the following options:
View invoice form Opens the invoice form (see the “Invoices > Invoice history” chapter).
xxx
View invoice Shows the individual posting items for the invoice. This allows you to see the actual postings if
details xxx postings on the invoice have been combined to form a package or if postings have been
renamed.
Edit comment Enter a comment for the selected debtor.
Select status Enter a status defined in the system data for the debt.
View profile yyy Opens the guest's profile.

Remind debtors
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Reminders | Button [Remind]

Use this dialog box to change the reminder level and reminder date for a selected account or to create and print
reminders.

CHANGING THE REMINDER LEVEL AND REMINDER DATE

+1 Increases the reminder level.

-1 Decreases the reminder level.

set to Sets the reminder level to the level set in the input box.

Rem. date set to: Sets the reminder date to the date entered.

Remind marked Indicates that a reminder is to be issued for the selected debtor or sets a reminder date.
debtor

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Do not remind Indicates that the debtor is no longer to be reminded (displayed in red in the list).
anymore

PRINTING REMINDERS

History comment Reminder texts are saved under Letters in the guest profile. The text entered here will
appear in the comments for the entry.
Copies Specifies the number of copies to be printed.
Increase reminder Increases the reminder level by one increment once the reminder has been printed and
level after print changes the reminder date accordingly.

Print Prints the reminder.

Print with preview Displays the reminder on screen and allows it to be edited.

Create only Generates a reminder without printing it. You can access the reminder from the History of
reminders created.

The reminder forms available for selection depend on those defined on the “Forms” tab. When printing a form,
protel takes into account the language of the selected debtor and the highest reminder level for the selected
debts in each account. All printed reminders are saved in the History of reminders created and the Letters tab for
each profile.

REMINDER PROCESS

1. Select the individual accounts on the Reminders tab. If you select multiple accounts, a reminder is
created for each account in succession. One reminder is generated for each guest profile. If the same
guest profile is assigned to various outstanding items, the items are combined on one reminder form
(once the form has been created in the system data).
2. Click the [Remind] button to open the Remind debtors dialog box.
3. Select the Increase reminder level after print check box as a general rule as this ensures that the
reminder level and date are increased automatically.
4. Click the [Print] button. If you want to view the reminders on screen first, click [Print with preview].

History of reminders created

[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Reminders | Button [Rem. History]

Shows all reminders created in the past with the corresponding date.
You can use the reminder history to print or delete reminders at a later point in time.

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Enter a date and click [Search].

Select one or more reminders from the list box (use the All and None buttons if required).
Click [Print] to generate a printout or [Delete] to remove the reminder. .

Data Exchange
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Data Exchange]

Automatic posting of incoming payments received by data exchange and printing of payment forms.

Print payment form (supported only if a Data Exchange license is installed)

The data exchange procedure allows payments transferred by a guest to be forwarded to protel automatically
using banking software (e.g., “Multicash”) and posted as a payment in protel. Click the [Data Exchange] button to
create bank payment/transfer forms and start the exchange of data.
A Data Exchange license is required to print payment forms and initiate the exchange of
data. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

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Forms
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Forms]

Use this tab to assign the forms defined in the protel system data to the relevant levels and languages so that the
corresponding form can be selected when printing a reminder or account statement.
The list shows the individual reminder levels and the forms assigned to each level. The reminder level is initially
assigned in the system data, but can also be assigned here.
You must create the account statement as a form with reminder level “0” in the system data. You then assign the
“Statement” type in accounts receivable management. This allows account statements to be issued instead of or
in addition to reminders (see “Accounts receivable” - “Accounts”).

To create the form, first use the drop-down list to select the reminder level. Assigning a language allows you to
use texts created in a foreign language. For instance, if German has been entered as the guest's language in the
guest profile and a reminder text exists in German, the system will automatically print the German version for this
guest profile.
To create a new form, select a reminder level, a language, and the corresponding form and click the [New]
button. To modify an existing form, select it in the list, change the entries shown, and click [Change]. Use the
Delete button to remove selected forms from the list.

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Settings
[Cash Register | Accounts Receivable | Settings]

By default, protel HMS reorganizes fully paid off debts during the end-of-day routine 60 days after a payment has
been posted. You can change this setting here.
If you select the automatically with EOD check box, the system will reorganize the records at the end of the
day. As an alternative, the debts can be deleted automatically after a set number of days. To do so, enter a
number in the input box.
Click the [Start Reorganization] button to trigger a manual reorganization.

Available user rights

802 FO A/R Settings Authorizes the user to access the “Settings” tab in accounts receivable management

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Batch Invoices (SQL only)

FRONT OFFICE CASH REGISTER BATCH INVOICES

This function allows you to print an information invoice for all guests at the hotel in one print process. The
function is only available in the SQL version of protel.

Use the drop-down list at the top of the screen to determine which reservations are displayed. The following
options are available:

Click the [Mark all] button to print an information invoice containing all reservations shown in the list. To print an
information invoice for some of the reservations only, first select the required reservations individually.
Click the [Print invoices] button to start the print job.
Note that the invoice will only show charges posted up to the current date.
Use the [Post room charges] button to post the room and fixed charges for today ahead of the end-of-day
routine. This creates an advanced invoice.

Available user rights

Authorizes the user to access the “Cash Register > Batch

144 FO Batch Invoices
Invoices” menu item.

FO Post accommodation charges (batch

159 Provides user access to the “Post room charges” function.
invoice)

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Reports
Arrivals report
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS ARRIVALS

The arrivals report displays all guests that are scheduled to arrive on a certain day. You can use the arrivals report
to create registration forms, check in a guest or cancel an arrival. You can also right-click items in the list to access
other information, such as the guest profile or reservation details.

Opening the report

To open the arrivals report:
Click “Reports > Arrivals”

Click the green button on the toolbar

Press the [F6] function key
The following dialog box appears:

Available user rights

62 FO Arrivals Authorizes the user to open the arrivals report.

Filter
Date Enter a specific arrival date.
Name Enter a specific guest name if required. It is usually sufficient to enter the first couple of letters of
the name. protel automatically displays all guests whose name starts with these letters.
If you select the check box next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name. This would
allow you to find a guest named “vom Stein” when entering “stein”, for example. The search returns
all arrivals whose guest names contain the string you entered (e.g. Steinbrück, vom Stein, Dürsteiner
etc.).
Room To find a reservation for specific rooms, you can enter one or several room numbers (separated by
commas).

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Acct. Select this check box to include internal hotel accounts in the arrivals report. If the check box is
cleared, the list contains room reservations only. This check box is selected by default.
Companion You can search for a reservation that is associated with a specific accompanying person.
First name Finds guests with this first name.
Sc/TA Shows the company / group / travel agent that made the reservation. If you select the check box
/Cm/Gp next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name as described above.
Res No. Searches by reservation number.
Conf. No. Searches by confirmation number.

Sort order
Define how the list should be sorted. You can sort the guests alphabetically by name or numerically by room
number in ascending order.
If you select “Group,” the guests will be sorted according to their group membership, i.e. all guests of the same
group are listed together.
The “R. plan order” option sorts arrivals by their position in the room plan.

Options
Select the Include arrived guests check box to also display reservations that have already checked in.
Select the Include messages with date check box to also show guests for which the relevant arrival date was
entered in the navigator date fields next to the Note 1 and Note 2 buttons. These guests will be shown separately
in the bottom section of the arrivals report.

Incl. status
Void Also shows cancelled reservations

Wait list Shows guests on the wait list

Option w. deduction Shows optional reservations with deduction

Option wo. deduction Shows optional (tentative) reservations without deduction

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Structure and features

Click [OK] to confirm the selected filter criteria and display the arrivals report with all relevant information on the
respective reservations.

You can flag the guest names for further processing (use the All and None buttons if required). The following
features are available:
Add-Ons Access additional functions (ONLY POSSIBLE if the relevant additional functions have been configured in
the system).

Check In Checks in all selected guests. You can also double-click individual reservations to check them in.

Cancel Reserv. Cancels a reservation. Select the reservation you need to cancel. Click the Cancel Reserv. button to
open a window in which you can provide a cancellation reason and some text. protel then displays a
message box with a sequential cancellation number that should be used in all written communication
with the guest. You can use the cancellation number to search for cancelled reservations in the
reservation report. The reservation remains stored in the system with a “Cancelled” status.

Reg. Cards Prints a registration form for the selected reservation(s).

Refresh Rates Refreshes the rates if these where previously changed in the rate-by-day grid.

Void CI Resets the status of all selected checked in guests to “Arrival.”

Reactivate Resets the status of cancelled reservations to “Reserved.”

Show extended tooltip checkbox: Depending on the settings in the PROTEL.INI file, shows additional
information on the reservation when you move the mouse pointer over it.

Right-click a reservation to open the navigator.

Available user rights

FO voiding Authorizes the user to reactivate cancelled reservations in the arrivals report.
311
cancellation status (Controls access to the [Reactivate] button.)

Authorizes the user to reset checked in reservations in the arrivals report to a “not
330 FO Void CI
checked in” status. (Controls access to the [Void CI] button.)

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Check In
[Reports > Arrivals > Check In]

Double-click a reservation in the arrivals report to check in the reservation. Alternatively, you can select one or
multiple reservations and click the Check In button.

Available user rights

FO Arrivals CheckIn (Double Authorizes the user to double-click guests in the arrivals report for
352
Click) check-in.

Available Settings for Check-in

From Version 2013.17.672

A special setting enables you to prevent checking a guest into a room which still has a checked-in reservation.
Before a new reservation can be checked into the room, all of the existing reservations must be checked-out.
Your protel Support Team will gladly make these settings for you. Just get in touch – we’re happy to help!

Group check-in
Example: Checking in the "GM Berlin 2013" group on March 10, 2013:
1. Enter the name of the group (or part thereof if the check box is selected) in the “Sc/TA /Cm/Gp” box:

2. The arrivals report appears with all members of the group:

3. Click [All] and then [Check In].

4. This checks in all members of the group in one step.

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In-house list
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS IN-HOUSE

This list shows - as the name indicates - all the guests who are booked into your hotel at a particular day or
for a certain time period. If you open the list for a future date, all guests who are supposed to be in-house at
the entered date will appear. For each element of this list, the respective guest invoice or profile can quickly
be retrieved in order to add a note or comment for instance (just right-click to call the Navigator).

Opening the report

To open the in-house report:
Click “Reports > In-house

Click the yellow button on the toolbar

Press the [F6] function key
The following dialog box appears:

Available user rights

64 FO Inhouseliste Gives access to the in-house-list.

Filter
Date Enter a specific date.
Name Enter a specific guest name if required. It is usually sufficient to enter the first couple of letters of
the name. protel automatically displays all guests whose name starts with these letters.
If you select the check box next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name. This
would allow you to find a guest named “vom Stein” when entering “stein”, for example. The
search returns all arrivals whose guest names contain the string you entered (e.g. Steinbrück, vom
Stein, Dürsteiner etc.).
Room To find a reservation for specific rooms, you can enter one or several room numbers (separated
by commas).
Acct. Select this check box to include internal hotel accounts in the in-house report. If the check box is
cleared, the list contains room reservations only. This check box is selected by default.
Companion You can search for a reservation that is associated with a specific accompanying person.

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First name Finds guests with this first name.

Sc/TA /Cm/Gp Shows the company / group / travel agent that made the reservation. If you select the check
box next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name as described above.

Sort mode
Define how the list should be sorted. You can sort the guests alphabetically by name or numerically by room
number in ascending order.
If you select “Group,” the guests will be sorted according to their group membership, i.e. all guests of the same
group are listed together.
The “R. plan order” option sorts your in-house guests by the position of the respective reservation in the room
plan.

Mode
Select the Include arrivals check box to also display arrivals (guest who will arrive and have not yet been
checked in).
Select the Include departed guests check box to also show departed guests (guests who have already been
checked out).
Select the Incl. CI departures check box to also show guests who will check out on the selected date.

Structure and features

[Add-Ons]: Access additional functions (ONLY POSSIBLE if the relevant additional functions have been configured
in the system).
The [Refresh Rates] button updates the display if invoices or rates have been changed for a guest.
Show extended tooltip checkbox: Depending on the settings in the PROTEL.INI file, shows additional
information on the reservation when you move the mouse pointer over it.
Right-click a reservation to open the navigator.

Double-click a reservation to open the DC-Menu.

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Available settings

The number of nights can be displayed in a separate column. Please contact your protel Support for the
necessary settings.

Departure report
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS DEPARTURES

The departure report displays all guests whose stay ends on a certain day. All checked-in guests that appear in the
report are ready for check-out. You can also quickly access other information about guests, reservation details, or
invoices.

Opening the report

To open the departure report:
Click “Reports > Departures”

Click the red button on the toolbar

Press the [F7] function key
The following dialog box appears:

Available user rights

63 FO Departures Authorizes the user to open the departure report.

Filter
Date Enter a specific date.
Name Enter a specific guest name if required. It is usually sufficient to enter the first couple of letters of
the name. protel automatically displays all guests whose name starts with these letters.
If you select the check box next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name. This
would allow you to find a guest named “vom Stein” when entering “stein”, for example. The
search returns all departures whose guest names contain the string you entered (e.g. Steinbrück,
vom Stein, Dürsteiner etc.).
Room To find a reservation for specific rooms, you can enter one or several room numbers (separated
by commas).

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Acct. Select this check box to include internal hotel accounts in the list. If the check box is cleared, the
list contains room reservations only. This check box is selected by default.
Companion You can search for a reservation that is associated with a specific accompanying person.
First name Finds guests with this first name.
Sc/TA /Cm/Gp Shows the company / group / travel agent that made the reservation. If you select the check
box next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name as described above.

Sort order
Define how the list should be sorted. You can sort the guests alphabetically by name or numerically by room
number in ascending order.
If you select “Group,” the guests will be sorted according to their group membership, i.e. all guests of the same
group are listed together.
The “R. plan order” option sorts the displayed departures by their position in the room plan.

Status
Select the Include departed guests check box to also display reservations that have already checked out.

Departure report
The departure report shows all guests that are scheduled to depart on a given date but have not checked out.

Access additional functions (ONLY POSSIBLE if the relevant additional functions have been
configured in the system).
You can also create an information invoice for a guest. An information invoice lists all relevant
charges to date (can be used as a receipt for payment receipts)

You can flag the guest names for check-out (use the All and None buttons if required).

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Extended Shows additional information on the reservations in the report (depending on your PROTEL INI
tooltip checkbox settings).

Check Out
The departure report provides two check-out options. Double-click the reservation or select it and click the
[Check Out] button.
If the invoice contains a balance, the Invoice window automatically opens to allow you to post any additional
charges. Otherwise the reservation is checked out directly.

Available user rights

FO Arrivals CheckOut (Double Authorizes the user to double-click guests in the departure report for
353
Click) check-out.

Group check-out
For group check-outs, it may be useful to sort the departure report by group name, click the [All] button to select
all members of the group and then click the [Check Out] button.
Example: Checking out the “GM_ITB 2013” group on June 6th, 2012:

1. Enter the name of the group (or part thereof if the check box is selected) in the “Sc/TA /Cm/Gp” box:

2. The departure report appears with all members of the group:

3. Click [All] and then [Check Out].

4. This checks out all members of the group in one step.

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Messages
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS MESSAGES

This report provides a clear overview of any messages that were left for your in-house guests. It automatically
opens to the current date and shows the most up-to-date messages.

Opening the Messages report

To open the Messages list, click “Reports > Messages.”

Available user rights

286 FO Message list Authorizes the user to open the Messages report.

Filter
Name Enter a specific guest name if required. It is usually sufficient to enter the first couple of letters of
the name. protel automatically displays all guests whose name starts with these letters.
If you select the check box next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name. This would
allow you to find a guest named “vom Stein” when entering “stein”, for example. The search returns
all arrivals whose guest names contain the string you entered (e.g. Steinbrück, vom Stein, Dürsteiner
etc.).
Room To find a reservation for specific rooms, you can enter one or several room numbers (separated by
commas).
Acct. Select this check box to include internal hotel accounts in the list. If the check box is cleared, the list
contains room reservations only. This check box is selected by default.
Companion You can search for a reservation that is associated with a specific accompanying person.
First name Finds guests with this first name.
Sc/TA Shows the company / group / travel agent that made the reservation. If you select the check box
/Cm/Grp next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name as described above.

Sort order
Define how the list should be sorted. You can sort the guests alphabetically by name or numerically by room
number in ascending order.
If you select Sc/TA /Cm/Grp, the guests will be sorted according to their group membership, i.e. all guests of
the same group are listed together.

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The “R. plan order” option sorts the messages by the position of the respective reservation in the room plan.

Options
Select the Include read messages check box to also show messages that have already been read.

List of messages structure

The list of messages allows you to view, print and edit read and unread messages.

A “1” or “0” in the “Read” or “Unread” column indicates whether or not the message has been read. In addition,
unread messages are highlighted in red.
Right-click a selected message to open the Navigator and view or edit the message in the “Guest Messages”
section.
Double-click the message to print it directly. Alternatively, you can click the [Print] button to print a selected
message and hand the printout to the guest.
You can select an unread message and flag it as “Read.” This adds a value of “1” in the Read
column.
You can also select a read message and flag it as “Unread.” NOTE: Please note that the Include
read messages check box should be selected in the dialog box.

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Traces
Front Office Reports Traces

Select this menu item to list any reservation traces that were entered for a certain day, period of time or
department.

You can select a period, a department and/or a status to filter the view. The list shows all matching traces with
the relevant information.
Right-click an item to open a context menu and view the navigator for the associated profile or change the status
(cleared / not cleared). If the trace is associated with an event in the Sales & Marketing module, the context menu
allows you to view the event data.

Available user rights

Controls access to the traces report. If the feature is disabled, the user does not have
233 FO Traces
access to the report.

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Rentable objects
Front Office Reports Rentable Objects

Object overview
The object overview permits a quick glance at any time on the quantity of rentable objects for a particular period.
The creation of rentable objects is explained in the protel System Data user manual. You can add a rentable object
to an individual reservation via the Navigator (see chapter "Navigator > "3 -Invoice pane"> Rentable objects").
By default, the list displays the number of available objects.

A scale determines if the quantity of the available objects should be displayed by day (24 h) or by hour (e.g. 1 h).
Select the desired display type from the pick up menu. Clicking the [Refresh] button updates the period or scale
changes.

Clicking this check box displays the number of objects kept in the Hotel, the number of lent objects and the
number of available objects.
Example: In total, the hotel keeps seven bicycles. Two bicycles are lent, i. e. five are still available.

Object view
A double click on an object on a particular day opens a window displaying the respective reservations (who has
lent the object?).

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Available settings

You can define a default value for the scale (pick up menu). The object overview will always open with the pre-
defined value.

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Phone numbers
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS PHONE NUMBERS

This menu item allows you to open a list of all current residents and their phone numbers.
Select the “Phone numbers” menu item to open the “Phone Extensions” dialog box, in which you can specify
various options for the report.

Click [OK] to confirm your entries and open a report that shows all currently checked-in guests in a format that is
similar to the in-house report.
If required, right-click a reservation to open the navigator and view more information.
Click the [Print] button to preview a printer output of the Phone Extension Report. Note that the preview shows
the phone extensions next to the room numbers.

Available user rights

317 FO Telephone list Authorizes the user to open the phone extension report.

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Balances
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS BALANCES

This report shows a list of all group and guest accounts along with their respective balances.

Opening the list of balances

Available user rights

66 FO Balance of Account Sheet Authorizes the user to open the balances report.

Filter
Date Enter a specific date.
Name Enter a specific guest name if required. It is usually sufficient to enter the first couple of letters of
the name. protel automatically displays all guests whose name starts with these letters.
Room To find a reservation for specific rooms, you can enter one or several room numbers (separated by
commas).
Acct. Select this check box to include internal hotel accounts in the list. If the check box is cleared, the list
contains room reservations only. This check box is selected by default.
Companion You can search for a reservation that is associated with a specific accompanying person.
First name Finds guests with this first name.
Sc/TA Shows the company / group / travel agent that made the reservation. If you select the check box
/Cm/Gp next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name as described above.

Sort order
Define how the list should be sorted. You can sort the guests alphabetically by name or numerically by room
number in ascending order.
The “Room plan order” option sorts the balances by position of the respective reservation in the room plan.

Balances
Credit limit Select this check box to show the respective credit limit.

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Credit limit This check box is only available for selection if the Credit limit check box is selected. It restricts
exceeded the list to guests that have exceeded their credit limit.
Unbalanced Select this check box if you want to hide balanced accounts and only show reservations with an
accounts only unbalanced account.
View balance gr. (View balances greater than): Enter a value in this field to restrict the list to reservations whose
balance exceeds this value.

List of balances structure

The list of balances list shows all matching guests along with the relevant reservation details.
The posted revenues are split in Accom. (Accomodation), F&B (Food and beverage) and Misc. portions. Payments
that have already been received are highlighted in red.

In addition to the individual amounts, the total balance is displayed at the foot of the list.

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Reservations
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS RESERVATIONS

The reservations report replaces a physical reservation book and provides a clearly structured overview of all
reservations ever made in protel.
This list is particularly useful if you are looking for a specific reservation. The buttons at the bottom of the window
also offer a range of editing functions.

Opening the reservations report

To open the reservations report:
Click “Reports > Reservations”

Click the blue button on the toolbar

Press [Shift] + [F9]
The following dialog box appears:

Available user rights

65 FO Reservation Sheet Authorizes the user to open the reservation report.

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Filter
Date ... - to ... Enter dates for a specific period of time to show all reservations from and/or to a given date. The
date always refers to the arrival date of the reservation.
Name Enter the name of a guest. It is usually sufficient to enter the first couple of letters of the name.
protel automatically displays all guests whose name starts with these letters.
Substring If you select this check box, you can enter any part of the name. This would allow you to find a
guest named “vom Stein” when entering “stein”, for example. The search returns all arrivals
whose guest names contain the string you entered (e.g. Steinbrück, vom Stein, Dürsteiner etc.).
Room To find a reservation for specific rooms, you can enter one or several room numbers (separated
by commas).
Accounts Select this check box to include internal hotel accounts in the list. If the check box is cleared, the
list contains room reservations only. This check box is selected by default.
Companion You can search for a reservation that is associated with a specific accompanying person.
First name Finds guests with this first name.
Sc/TA /Cm/Gp Shows the company / group / travel agent that made the reservation. If you select the check
box next to the input field, you can enter any part of the name as described above.
Res. No. Searches by reservation number.
Cnf. No. Searches by confirmation number.
Substring If you select this check box, you can enter any part of the number (see above).
Cancel No. protel automatically assigns a sequential cancellation number to each reservation that is
cancelled. Enter a cancellation number in this box to find the respective reservation.
Substring. If you select this check box, you can enter any part of the cancellation number (see above).
CRS No. If a reservation was made through a CRS (central reservation system) interface, you can enter the
CRS number here to find the reservation.

Order
Define how the list should be sorted. You can sort the guests alphabetically by name or numerically by room
number in ascending order.
If you select “Group,” the guests will be sorted according to their group membership, i.e. all guests of the same
group are listed together.
The “Date” option sorts reservations by their arrival date.
The “Room plan order” option sorts reservations by their position in the room plan.

Status
Select the relevant check boxes to filter reservations by their status. Use the All/None check box to select or
clear all status check boxes in one step.
Examples:

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Select the “Incl. cancelled?” check box only to view a list of all cancelled reservations. You can also generate a list
of all reservations on the waiting list etc.
The tree view provides even more detailed status-based selection options.

Reservation status and reservation code

You can also filter for market, source, hear and come codes.

The list of available market codes is restricted to codes that are valid and active for your hotel.

Reservations report structure

The report shows all matching reservations with the relevant information.

You can flag the guest names for further processing (use the [Mark All] and [Mark none] buttons if required). The
following features are available:
Add-Ons Access additional functions (ONLY POSSIBLE if the relevant additional functions have been
configured in the system).
Select Form Allows you to select the address if a confirmation is required for group reservations. The selected
Master address appears next to the button:

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(For more information refer to “Reservation letters.”)

Mult. Texts This provides access to a mail merge function. If a confirmation needs to be printed for multiple
reservations, click this button to assign a reservation letter to all selected reservations (refer to
“Reservation letters”).
Forms Allows you to select a form for confirming multiple reservations (refer to “Reservation letters”).

Cancel Res. Cancels a reservation. Click the button to cancel all selected reservations. protel then displays a
message box with a sequential cancellation number that should be used in all written
communication with the guest. You can use the cancellation number to search for cancelled
reservations in the reservation report. The reservation remains stored in the system with a
“Cancelled” status.
Reinstate Resets the status of cancelled reservations to “Confirmed.”

Extended tooltip info checkbox: Depending on the settings in the PROTEL.INI file, shows additional information
on the reservation when you move the mouse pointer over it.
Double-click the reservation to access a double-click menu with additional editing options. This is particularly
useful for group cancellations as the double-click menu allows you to cancel an entire group in one step.

Available settings

The number of room night can be displayed in an individual column.

From version 2013.16.816
If desired, cancelled reservations can be displayed in red on the reservation list.

Reservation letters
Creating a group confirmation for multiple reservations
Example: The protel company makes reservations for a total of three hotel rooms for the period of June 28th -
30th and requires a confirmation for these reservations.

 While the reservations are created individually, the reservation details link each of these reservations to the
protel company.

Fig: Reservation pane in the Navigator

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 In the reservation list, you can select the company and the relevant period to access the reservations report.

 Select the reservation that contains the address.

 Click the [Select Form Master] button.
 If multiple profiles are assigned to the reservation, a selection window (guest, company, TA, source, group)
appears.

Select the profile that contains the relevant address for the confirmation letter.
 The reservations report appears again.
 The gray box next to the Select Form Master button shows the profile whose address you want to use:

 Select all reservations that the confirmation should refer to.

 Click the [Forms] button.
 In the dialog box that appears, click the [New letter] button.
 Select a template and click [OK].
 This opens the form on screen and makes it available for editing.

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Creating multiple reservation letters

Example: You want to send a note to all guests that are scheduled to stay at your hotel during a specific period of
time.
 Access the reservations report for the relevant period.
 Click the [Mark all] button to select all guests or click individual guests selectively.
 Click the [Mult. Texts] button.
 This opens a window with all reservation templates that are stored in the system data. Select a template that
you want to use for the confirmation.
 You can then view, edit and/or print the individual letters.

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No shows
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS NO SHOWS

The term “no shows” refers to pending arrivals that failed to check in by the time the end-of-day routine starts.
Please note that you cannot manually assign a “No Show” status to a reservation. All guests that have not arrived
by the time you run the end-of-day routine appear in the no show report. Right-click a name to open the
Navigator and view or edit the reservation details (change arrival or departure dates, cancel the reservation etc.).
If you click OK to confirm, all guests listed in the report are automatically assigned a “No Show” status. The report
provides the following options:
Reactivate for Today If you want to change a “No Show” status of a guest to an “Arrival” status for the next
day, select the reservation and click this button.
Reactivate Today + CI Similar to “Reactivate for Today” but also checks in the guest.
Late Reservation+CI Creates a walk-in reservation after the end-of-day routine that can be reserved and
checked in for the previous day. Click this button to open the Reservation dialog box and
create the reservation. Click [OK] to create the reservation, check in the guest and post
the accommodation charges.
Make sure to check all relevant details (e.g. room number, rate code and rate) before
confirming the reservation. Once confirmed, the reservation cannot be moved. If you
post incorrect rates, these need to be cancelled and the correct rates must be posted
manually.
Late CI If a guest arrives after the reservation received a “Now Show” status during the end-of-
day routine, you can click this button to change the status to “Check In.”
Select the reservation and click the [Late CI] button to check in the guest and post the
accommodation charges.
NOTE: Make sure to check all relevant details (e.g. room number, rate code and rate)
before confirming the reservation. Once confirmed, the reservation cannot be moved. If
you post incorrect rates, these need to be cancelled and the correct rates must be posted
manually.
Print Prints a list of all no show reservations from the previous day.

Available user rights

219 FO NoShow Late CI Controls access to the [Late CI] feature for the no show report.

308 FO No Show report Authorizes the user to access the now show report.

FO NoShow list late reservation Controls access to the [Late Reservation+CI] feature for the no show
401
and CI report.

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Available settings

New in version 2013.17.291 from 17.07.2013

If requested, no show reservations can be checked in to a day room that has previously been checked-out. In
addition, protel can check the room status when checking in the no-show reservation.
Ask your protel Support Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help

Meal plan
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS MEAL PLAN

The meal plan helps scheduling the meals for your guests.

Dialog box structure

Enter the period for which you want to display the meal plan in the top window section.
The tree view on the left divides your guests in individual guests and group reservations.
Select a reservation in the tree view to view the associated guests along with their room number, the number of
adults and the departure date. Right-click any of the individual guests to open the navigator.
If you select one or multiple guests in the list, the right window pane shows all related meal bookings on a per-
day basis.

Guest name context menu

Right-click a guest name in the meal plan (right window pane) to open a context menu:
Navigator Opens the Navigator for the selected guest.
Post charges Opens the Post Charges dialog box in which you can post additional charges (e.g. if an
additional person will join your in-house guests for dinner).

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Print / View report Prints / displays the meal plan.

View report Displays the meal plan on screen.
Refresh Refreshes the display.
Mark all Selects all guests in the view.

Meal type context menu

Right-click an entry in the Breakfast, Lunch DOA, Dinner, Packed Lunches or Lunch ND column of the meal plan
(right window pane) to open the extended context menu. This allows you to change the number or type of
booked meals.
Set to 0 – 6 Sets the number or persons to the selected value.
Set to other values This menu item allows you to select any value between 7 and 50.
Change from xxx to Displays a list of alternative meal plan codes that you can select from.

Printing the meal plan

Click the Print button to print a complete list of all meal plan charges.

Available user rights

101 FO Boarding Code Report Authorizes the user to access the meal plan.

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Room type plan (F2)

FRONT OFFICE REPORTS ROOM TYPE PLAN

You can press the [F2] function key on your keyboard, click the “Room Type Plan” toolbar icon or select Reports
Room Type Plan from the menu to open the room type plan.

Room type plan structure

The room type plan is one of the main work areas in the protel PMS software. You can check availability of all
room types at a glance and you can enter reservations or events quickly and easily.
This topic tells you how the room type plan is structured and what kind of information you find here. You will
learn how to navigate the visible period of time, how to switch to another period, how to zoom in and out of the
view, how to read the data in the various sections and how to print the current view.
The room type plan provides information for a selectable period of time in table form. It comprises the following
sections:
Time bar
Events area
Room type area
Availability area

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The time bar

The first column of the table heading indicates the current period of time, which in the
example is the month of April 2013.

The single date highlighted in color is the current date (Thursday, April 18 in this example).
The calendar weeks are numbered (16 in this example)

The current month and the one after that is always highlighted in different colors.
Weekends are highlighted in a red font.

Specifying the period of time

You can move the time bar to the left (past) or to the right (future) to view the exact period for which you want to
make a reservation, for example. Proceed as follows:

1. Click the rightmost date to make it the first position on the time bar, thereby moving the entire visible
period forward (to the future).
2. Alternatively, you can click any date in the visible period to move forward in smaller steps.
3. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move forward or backward one day at a
time.
4. If you need to move faster, you can use the month tabs in the bottom section of the room plan window:

Click the required month to move the time bar to the first day of that month.
If you need to select a period beyond the visible months, right-click any one of the month tabs to open the
“Select month to be displayed” dialog box and make your selection.

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The resolution display

You can define the “resolution” (level of detail) you want to work in. Click the buttons in the top right
corner of the dialog box to select a zoom level between one and four.
Note: The greater the zoom level, the shorter the visible period of time.

The event area

Use the event area to enter information about events, travel groups or promotions with special rates. You can
optionally link an event with a rate code that is automatically suggested for each reservation that is made for the
respective period of time. You can define custom names for your events and have them displayed in various
colors. (For more information, refer to the “Entering events” section.)

New in version 2013.17.222 from 25.06.2013

If requested, you can to set up the number of events which are displayed in the room type plan.
Ask your protel Support Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help.

The room type area

The middle section of the room type plan shows the individual room types along with the number of available
rooms per type.
The column next to the room type listing allows you to enter the number of rooms to reserve per room type. The
default value is “1” for all room types. You can change the value as required. (For more information, refer to the
“Making reservations in the room type plan” section.)
New in version 2013.17.291 from 17.07.2013
By default, the number of available rooms is displayed in red if the availability becomes less than zero. If
requested, this number can be displayed in red if the availability of a room type is zero. Ask your protel Support
Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help.

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The availability area

This area provides detailed availability information for every single day:
Total available All rooms that are still available. This number does not take into account any allocations, optional
reservations (see below) or waiting list reservations.
Allocations All rooms from allocations that were not defined as “Room type independent allocation.”
Click this row to see an overview of all allocations valid for the respective day. (Refer to the
“Maintain allocations” section.)
Option Number of optional reservations that are not deducted from overall availability (tentative or
unspecified reservations where arrival is unlikely).
Provisional Number or optional reservations that have already been deducted from overall availability (definite
bookings).
Waiting list Number of all reservations that where entered with a “waiting list” status and are to be confirmed
manually.
Confirmed Number of all reservations created with a definitive reservation status, including all provisional
reservations and all allocations that were defined as “Room type independent allocations.”
Occupancy (perc.) Displays highlighted in red, yellow or green depending on the occupancy in percent.
OutOfOrder/Service Number of rooms that are flagged as out of order or out of service. A special setting controls
whether or not OOS rooms are displayed.

Printing the room type plan

If you want to print the room type plan, press [Shift] + [D] to open the Windows “Print” dialog box. protel prints
the current screen view.

Available user rights

50 FO Room Type Plan Authorizes the user to access the room type plan.

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Making reservations in the room type plan

A central system setting determines whether or not reservations that are made using the room type plan are
also displayed in the room plan.
A room type reservation simply reduces the availability of the room type. However, the reservation does not
appear in the room plan until a specific room has been assigned and the guest has checked in. Until then, a
question mark appears instead of a room number in all lists and reports:

Room type reservations in the room type plan can result in overbookings. If a room type is overbooked, the
availability area indicates the number of overbooked rooms in red and with a leading minus (-) sign:

However, if your installation is configured for automatic room allocation, an available room of the selected type
is automatically assigned to the reservation. In this case, the reservation is displayed in the room plan
immediately.
Use the PROTEL.INI file to adjust the relevant system setting as required.
Contact your system administrator for information about which room plan mode is used in your system.

To create a reservation in the room type plan, proceed as follows:

1. In the room type area, place the cursor on the required arrival date for the room type you want to book.
2. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse pointer to the required departure date.
3. Click the <!--[endif]&gt; icon in the top toolbar, or right-click the selection and select
&ldquo;Reservation&rdquo; from the context menu that appears. Alternatively, press the [Enter] key.
4. This opens the “Reservation” dialog box that allows you to make the relevant settings.
For more detailed information, refer to the “Reservation” section.

Entering multiple reservations simultaneously

You can enter several reservations for the same guest or booker but for different periods of time and room types.
Select the respective periods for one or multiple room types:

Fig.: Selecting the

EXSuite, Deluxe and
Business room types for
various periods of time.

Follow the above instructions to open the Reservation dialog box. The dialog box lists the details for all
reservations. Please note, however, that all reservations must be made on the same name.

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Reserving multiple rooms of the same type

If you want to reserve multiple rooms of one type for the same guest/booker, enter the required number of
rooms in the column next to the room type codes. The default value is “1” for all room types. Change the value as
required.

Select the required period and create the reservation as described both above and in the “Reservation” section.

Create an event
[Room type plan > Events]

Proceed as follows to create an event:

1. Open the room type plan.
2. Select the event row where you want the event to appear.
3. In that event row, place the cursor on the start date of the event.
4. Press and hold the left mouse button.
5. Keep the mouse button down and drag the mouse pointer to the end date.
6. Release the mouse button.

7. Press the ENTER key, or right-click the selection and select “Event” from the context menu that appears.
This opens a dialog box in which you can enter the event dates:

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Enter a name for the event. If the event covers several periods of time, you can enter these in the individual rows
of dates.
Select a default rate code from the drop-down list if required:

Any new reservations that are entered for the duration of the event automatically default to the rate code you
select here. In other words, this setting overrides the default rate code assigned to the room type in the system
data.
Use the Remark box to enter free text as required. You can also enter a URL if necessary.
In addition, you can define a color to display the event in the room type plan. 16 colors are available for selection;
the default is gray. Click the color box as required to open the color picker dialog box and select a different color.
Additional options:
Visible in room Select this check box to have the room plan display the validity period of the event in red.
plan

Available in Select this check box to make this event available for booking through the protel Web Booking
internet Engine (if configured).

Delete event Select this check box and click [OK] to delete the event.

Visible in banquet Select this check box to make the event visible in the protel banquet plan (if configured).
plan

TIP: Make a point of entering custom names for events:

You can enter custom names for the events in the event area (Event 01, Event 02, Event 03,
etc.) to help categorize them, for example:

protel Support will be happy to configure the relevant settings for you.

Available user rights

50 FO Events Authorizes the user to create events.

FO Events - Controls access to the “Homepage” box (enter/edit an Internet address for an
357
Homepage event).

Available settings (events)

Special setting for MPE hotels:

The top three event rows can be edited by HQ staff only. Any entries made here are visible to all hotels that
belong to the group. Events that are specific to a hotel can only be entered in rows four and higher.

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Allocations - allocation overview

In the availability area, click any date cell in the Allocations row to display an overview of the current allocation
occupancy. (Refer to Reservation > Maintain Allocations > Allocation Occupancy.)

Allocation overview by reservation status

In the availability area, when you click a specific date under "option / provisional / waiting list" or "confirmed"
and enter the number of days, the system opens the allocation overview by reservation status:

Blocked rooms list

Click the OutOfOrder/Service row in the availability area to display a list of rooms that are blocked on the
selected day.

Room type plan in view-only mode [F12]

Press [F12] to open the room type plan in view-only mode. The graphical occupancy representation may be
particularly helpful: Select the “Graphic” check box in the bottom right of the dialog box to display a graphical
representation of room occupancy.
MPE installations allow you to switch the view between various hotels. (This requires the “viewmode_mpe”
setting to be active. Contact your protel distributor for more information.)

Available user rights

FO Roomtype (display mode different Authorizes the user to switch the display mode between various
366
hotel) hotels.

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Room plan (F3)

FRONT OFFICE REPORTS ROOM PLAN

The room plan is one of the most essential tools in protel HMS. It enables you to quickly book rooms for single
guests or entire groups, change reservations, and gain direct access to all required guest data. The room plan
even makes it easy to move a guest to a different room: simply move the guest to the new accommodation and
protel will automatically update the associated details, such as the room status, invoicing, and availability.

Available user rights

59 FO Room plan Authorizes the user to access the room plan.

Room plan structure

The room plan comprises various sections:

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The time bar

The first column indicates the current period of time, which in the example is the month of June 2012. The
subsequent columns indicate the days of the week with the current day being highlighted in color. The number
above the day of the week indicates the calendar week (10 and 11 in the sample illustration).
TT : Enables the tooltips: When you hover your mouse pointer over a reservation, the system shows additional
information on the reservation. The settings in the PROTEL.INI file determine what information is shown.
[Filter] button: The room plan initially opens to show all rooms and room types by default. If, for example, you
only want to view all single rooms that have a status of “checked,” you can easily filter for these criteria. (For
more information, refer to the “Room plan filter” section below.)

Specifying the period of time

You can move the time bar to the left (past) or to the right (future) to view the exact period for which you want to
make a reservation, for example. Proceed as follows:

1. Click the rightmost date to make it the first position on the time bar, thereby moving the entire visible
period forward (to the future).
2. Alternatively, you can click any date in the visible period to move forward in smaller steps.
3. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move forward or backward one day at a
time.
4. If you need to move faster, you can use the month tabs in the bottom section of the room plan window:

Click the required month to move the time bar to the first day of that month.
If you need to select a period beyond the visible months, right-click any one of the month tabs to open the
“Select month to be displayed” dialog box and make your selection.

The resolution display

You can define the “resolution” (level of detail) you want to work in. Click the buttons in the top right
corner of the dialog box to select a zoom level between one and four.
Note: The greater the zoom level, the shorter the visible period of time.

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The room section

The room numbers are displayed on the left, next to the corresponding room type codes.
The colored dot next to the room type code indicates the status of the room.

The status colors have the following meaning:

(green dot) : cleaned
(green dot) : dirty
(red dot and red room number) : out of service
(green dot with tick mark) : checked
(green dot with question mark) : touched
(yellow dot) : cleaning in progress

Available settings (room status)

From Version 2013.17.222

If requested, free and clean rooms can receive the status “dirty” after a defined number of days (this way, even
if the rooms have been vacant for a while, they will regularly be checked and cleaned if necessary).
Ask your protel Support Team to set up your protel system accordingly! We’re happy to help.

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Room plan filter

Use the filter to select which rooms you want to view in the room plan.
In the room plan, click the [Filter] button on the top left.

You can filter the view by FO status, room type, floor, room features, room, reservation status, or select individual
rooms for display. You can use the [Select all] and [Select none] buttons to quickly select or deselect all options
listed.
Select the Rms radio button under “Room type” to only display physical (“real”) rooms. If you select Acc. or
Both instead, the room plan also shows internal hotel accounts and group masters.
Select the Use this filter as a default for any room plan check box to save the settings and automatically re-use
them the next time you access the room plan. You can also click the [Save template] button to save the current
filter settings.
Click [OK] to confirm the settings and update the room plan view based on the current filter criteria.

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Room plan colors

The room plan shows reservations in different colors. The color assignments are fixed.
The bar colors have the following meaning:
(gray): Individual reservation
(green): Group reservation
(white): Provisional reservation
(yellow): Room type reservation (only if room allocation is active)
The font colors have the following meaning:
(blue): Fixed reservation (the Blocked room check box was selected in the reservation
dialog box)
(pink): Reservation is part of an allocation
(red): Reservation was flagged for editing

Room information
Click a room in the room plan to display any system data information that is available for the room:

In addition, you can enter additional information for the room (e.g. “TV defective” etc.).
The top right section shows the room status. If you want to change the status, select the relevant radio button.
The “Room maintenance” box shows any Room maintenance tasks that have not been completed.
Click the [History] button to access the room maintenance overview from housekeeping.
Click the [History 1] button to open an overview of all transactions made for this room (who made a reservation
and when, what charges were posted to this room etc.).

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The [History 2] button opens a window that prompts you for a period of time. The dialog box that appears once
you select a period provides an overview of all reservations made for this room.

ROOM INFORMATION CONTEXT MENU

Right-click a room in the room plan to open a context menu with options that are similar to the room information
dialog box:

Available user rights

360 FO Room reservation history Authorizes the user to access the room reservation history.

361 FO Room transaction history Authorizes the user to access the room transaction history.

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Working with the room plan

Making a reservation
1. Select a room from the room plan.
2. Place the mouse pointer on the arrival date.
3. Press and hold the left mouse button.
4. Keep the mouse button down and drag the mouse pointer to the departure date.
5. Then release the mouse button.
The screen shows a gray bar:

Fig.:
Reserving room 209
from May 1st through
May 3rd 2013

6. Then
a) Press the ENTER key, or
b) Click the icon from the toolbar, or
c) right-click the gray bar and select “Reservation” from the context menu.
7. In the Reservation dialog box that appears, enter the name of the guest or booker.
8. Click [OK] to display the reservation in the room plan. Exception: The room plan does not display reservations
that have a “Provisional” status.

Entering multiple reservations

You can enter several reservations for the same guest but for different periods of time and room types.
Follow the above instructions to select various periods of time and room types and open then Reservation dialog
box. Note that the details for the individual reservations are listed separately. All reservations must be made on
the same name.

Walk-in reservation
If a guest wants to check in without a reservation, you can use the room plan to create an ad-hoc reservation and
check in the guest immediately.
Create a reservation as usual and right-click the gray reservation bar. Select the “Walk In” menu item from the
context menu that appears. This opens the Reservation dialog box. Enter the relevant data and click OK to confirm
and check in the guest immediately. If you select “Walk In/register report,” the system checks in the guest upon
confirmation and prints a registration form.

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Creating a reservation with move

You can enter a registration that involves a room move directly in the room plan.
1. Select the relevant periods for both rooms in the room plan. Make sure that the departure date for the
first reservation coincides with the arrival date for the second reservation:

Fig.:
Reserving room 212 for May 1st and 2nd
and room 214 for May 2nd and 3rd

2. Press <Enter> to open the Reservation dialog box. The details for both reservations are listed.
3. Select the Cn (=connect) check box to link the two reservations. Click [OK] to confirm.

4. The room plan displays both segments as one reservation that involves a move:

Check in
The room plan provides multiple check-in options:
The check-in icon on the toolbar:
Select the reservation in the room plan (name appears in red) and click the check-in icon.
The double-click menu (refer to the “Double-click menu” section below):
Double-click the reservation and select Check In from the dialog box that appears.

Fig.: All checked-in reservations are

identified in the room plan by a tick mark.

Available user rights

46 FO Check In Authorizes the user to check in a selected guest.

Check out
The room plan provides multiple check-out options:
 The check-out icon
<!--[endif]&gt; on the toolbar:
Select the reservation in the room plan (name appears in red) and click the icon.
 The double-click menu (refer to the “Double-click menu” section below).
Double-click the reservation and select Check Out from the dialog box that appears.
This opens the invoice dialog box. You can post additional charges or confirm payment.
If the reservation has a balance of 0.00, it is checked out immediately.

Fig.: All checked-out reservations are

identified in the room plan by a double tick mark.

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Available user rights

47 FO Check Out Authorizes the user to check out a selected guest.

Extending / shortening reservations

You can change reservation dates in several ways:
 directly in the room plan:
Click the departure date of a reservation, hold the mouse button down and drag the mouse pointer to the
new departure date.
 using the Navigator:
You can change the arrival and/or departure dates directly in the reservation section of the Navigator
window.
 using the double-click menu:
Double-click a reservation to open the double-click menu and change the arrival and / or departure dates.
(Refer to the “Double-click menu” section below.)

Entering moves for existing reservations

You can enter moves in several ways:
 directly in the room plan:
Place the cursor on the date of the required move, press and hold the left mouse button and drag the
reservation to the new room.
 using the double-click menu:
Refer to the “Double-click menu” section below.
Please note that the move must be entered on the day it happens. (Refer to “Entering moves”.)

Shifting reservations
You can shift an entire reservation directly in the room plan. Click to select the reservation. Press and hold the
CTRL key and the left mouse button and drag the reservation to a new room or period of time.

Available user rights

47 FO Shift reservation Authorizes the user to shift a reservation.

Double-click menu
Double-click a reservation in the room plan to open this menu. The double-click menu lists all the actions that are
also available within the room plan plus additional functions.
For more information, refer to “The Navigator, DC Menu button.”

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Available rooms
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS AVAILABLE ROOMS

This report shows all available rooms for a given period of time. For your convenience, you can also book one or
several rooms directly from this screen.

1. First enter the required period of time. Click the arrow buttons to increment or decrement the date one
day at a time.
2. In the “No. of rooms” box, enter the number of available rooms you want preselected in the list of results.
This is helpful if you want to reserve multiple rooms.
3. Select the relevant room type(s). If you want to search across all room types, click the [All Types] button.
4. Select the Incl. rate check box to display a tooltip whenever the cursor hovers over a room in the list of
results. The tooltip shows the standard rates for 1 to 3 persons. As this may affect performance, you
should only select the check box if you really need the rates to be displayed.
5. Click the [GO!] button.
6. The right pane shows all rooms of the selected type that are available during the selected period. If you
entered a value in the “No. of rooms” box, die corresponding number of rooms is automatically
preselected. The section underneath the list shows the number of available rooms and how many of
those have been selected.

The “<” and “>” columns indicate how many days before and after the current reservation the room is vacant (not
booked). A value of “0” indicates that the room is booked continuously without a vacant day in between.
If you want to reserve one or multiple rooms directly from the list of results, highlight the relevant room(s) and
click the [Reservation] button. This opens the Reservation screen. Please note that the screen has already been
populated with the details of the selected rooms.
Click the [Reservation+CI] button to book and automatically check in the highlighted rooms.

Available user rights

313 FO Available rooms Authorizes the user to access the available rooms report.

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Forecasting reports
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS FORECASTING REPORTS

This menu item allows you to generate various forecasting reports that predict future revenues.
Select the menu item to open a window in which you can enter a period. Please note that the time required to
run the report largely depends on the length of the selected period.

Available user rights

251 FO Forecasting reports Controls access to the “Reports > Forecasting Reports” menu item.

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Hotel status
Front Office Reports Hotel Status

This reports provides an up-to-date overview of hotel occupancy.

Enter a period for which you want to show the occupancy level of the hotel and click [OK] to confirm. This
updates the values of all fields in the dialog box.
Compute detailed rates: Select this check box to calculate the rates (average room rate and average rate per
person) including any services that are included in the rate code as per the relevant split tables. If you clear the
check box, the report shows an accommodation forecast only.
Checked in arrivals only: If you select this check box, the report only lists arrivals for the current date that
have already checked in. For any subsequent days, however, all arrivals will be included and assumed to have
checked in. Clear the check box if you want the report to list all arrivals for the current date regardless of whether
or not they have already checked in.
Click [View] to display the reports on screen or Print to send them to a printer. The software offers two types of
reports by default: Hotel status and Hotel status (net accommodation revenue forecast). The latter could be
passed on to other departments, e.g. for duty roster scheduling.
Note: The status bar at the bottom of the protel PMS screen always shows the current hotel status. It displays the
number of arrivals and departures, the number of in-house guests and the occupancy in percent.

Available user rights

318 FO House status report Authorizes the user to access the hotel status.

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Lost + Found
FRONT OFFICE LISTS LOST + FOUND

The Lost + Found list enables you to manage items which have been forgotten or lost by your guests.
The three status details Lost items, Found items and sent enables you to portray the work flow from finding an
item to its being sent to the guest.

Symbols
Lost items - the item has been reported as lost.
Found items - the item has been found and is available for pick up.
Sent - the item has been sent to the guest.

Enter item
Before entering an item as being lost or found, it is recommended that you check to see if the item already
exists in the list. You will find more information with regards to this in the section below entitled Searching for an
item. Should there not be an entry for a reported or inquired item, you can create a new search entry:

1. Item:
First, enter a description of the item (e.g., “teddy bear”):

2. Guest / Room allocation

a) If you know the name of a guest, enter the guest’s name into the Guest field or use the
button to start a search of the guest profiles to find the guest’s name.
b) You can also select the room from the drop-down list next to Room to find the guest’s name. Should
the room be occupied, protel will show you the name of the checked in guest after clicking the [Search
[Reservation] button.
If both bits of information are available (guest name and room number / room name), please allocate the
both of them. The fields can be left empty should the guest and the room be unknown.
3. Location
Should the item have been found, you can enter the location where it was found:

The selected locations in the list correspond to the departments set up in the system data.

Hint: The field can also be manually overwritten!

4. Description
The Description field enables you to enter a detailed description of the lost item.

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5. Document
Ideally you keep a document or image of the found item as an attachment:

The Housekeeping App for the iPhone makes it especially easy to manage your images. Simply take a
new picture and upload it!

6. Status
Please click - has the item been reported as Lost or has it been Found? Enter the corresponding date next
to it.

7. Click the button to add an item to the list. protel saves the current date and the name of the
registered user.

HINT:
Should an item have been allocated to a guest, you can keep an auto trace (for more information, go to the
section entitled "Context menu").

Searching for an item

The search for items is recommended at the beginning of each new entry into the list, thus avoiding double-
entries.
1. By clicking the respective option, you determine whether or not all, only lost, found, or sent items are to
be displayed:

2. Enter the time-period in which you would like to search. The date on which the item with the respective
status (lost, found, sent) was entered, is decisive for the search.

3. Enter a search word into the text search field. Searches can be based on the item’s description, notes,
guest’s name, place where item was found, or the name of the room.

4. MPE installations: You can limit the selection to an MPE hotel. If an MPE has a head office the guests can
contact, for example, you can direct your search to all of the hotels (via HQ) or to only an explicit hotel: :

5. Click the [Apply] button to start the search.

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6. Is there an image or a document for the item? Click the [View] button to open attached files any time. Or
right-click on the entry and select “Document” from the context menu:

Tagging an item as found

Two scenarios are possible when allocating the “Found” status: Either a new entry with the “Found” status is
created because an item has not yet been retrieved by the system, or the found item already exists as a “Lost”
item and has not yet been switched to the “Found” status.
Use the search function to see whether or not you can find an item in the Lost + Found list.

 If the item already exists, simply change the status from “Lost” to “Found”. Don’t forget to also enter the
date. Click the [Edit] button to save the new status.
 Should there not be an entry for the item, create a new entry for the item and set the status directly to
“Found”. Click the [New] button to save the new entry.

In both cases you should enter your comments into the “Description” field, for example who found the item:

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Tagging an item as sent

Should a found item have been forwarded to the guest, this can be documented accordingly.
Truly clever: The guest’s address can be accessed either directly from the context menu by right-clicking the item
in the list, or via the button.
1. Search for the corresponding item and tag it in the results list.
2. When changing the date, also change the status to Sent and then click the [Edit] button.

Attaching a file later

Of course, you can always save files to an item at a later time, e.g., after a guest has sent you a digital image of
the lost item.

1. Search for an item by entering a search word into the text search field and clicking the [Apply] button.
2. Select the item and click on the button to open files located at the bottom of the window:

3. Click the button to save the attached file.

Linking item with the guest profile

Should a found item be compiled without a guest profile, you can complete this at a later time.

1. Search for an item by entering a search word into the text search field and clicking the [Apply] button.
2. Tag the item and allocate it to a certain guest by entering a search text into the Guest field and clicking
the Search Guest button:

3. Click the button to save the attached guest.

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Deleting the attached guest

Delete the attached guest by clicking the [Delete guest] button.

Context menu
With a right-click on the item in the Lost + Found list, you can open the context menu. Please note: the context
menu will only appear if the item has been linked to a guest profile or a document.

Profile: Opens the linked guest profile’s “Addresses” tab.

Profile traces: Opens the linked guest profile’s “Trace” tab. For example, keep an auto trace on record which
automatically points out a found item (useful if the guest will be expected again shortly and the found item is to
be returned to the guest directly at check-in).
View: Opens the attached file (e.g., image file).

NOTE:
The “Profile” and “Profile traces” are only available if the item has been linked to a guest
profile.
The “View document” command is only available if a file attachment has been created for an
item.

Available Settings

 If you wish, you can also have a pop-up window automatically open at check-in for returning guests, should
a Lost + Found item have been entered for the guest.
 Set a certain number of days after which found items are to be automatically removed from the Lost +
Found dialog. Note for MPE installations: This value can be individually set for each hotel.
 For MPE installations: If you wish, you can allocate a specific numbering for each of your hotels.

Available User rights

218 FO delete Lost + Found Entitles the user to delete items from the list (right-click > Delete).
267 FO Lost + Found Entitles the user to open the Lost + Found list.
268 FO Lost + Found editing Entitles the user, to edit the description of a found item.
269 FO Lost + Found entry Entitles the user, to enter found items into the list.

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External organizer
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS EXTERNAL ORGANIZER

Click here to select an external program such as Lotus Organizer or MS Schedule.

Please note that the path to the program executable must be set in the PROTEL.INI file.

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Housekeeping
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS HOUSEKEEPING

Select this menu item to open the Housekeeping dialog box and access the “Housekeeping Report” tab.
See what needs to be done at a glance. You can immediately see the status of each room and whether a room is
“clean” or “out of order.” You can print the report to help your housekeeping and cleaning staff schedule their
workday.
The dialog box opens to the “Housekeeping Report” tab by default. Please see below for a detailed description of
all tabs in this dialog box.

Available user rights

55 FO Housekeeping Authorizes the user to access the housekeeping report.

Room status
Shows all rooms by their status. This tab also allows you to change the status of multiple rooms in one step.

Use the check boxes in the top section of the tab to filter the rooms by their status.
Additionally, the following options are available:
all / none: You can select the all or the none radio button to automatically select or clear all check boxes,
respectively.
Housek. Dept.: If you work with housekeeping departments, enter the name or ID of the department whose
rooms you want to display.
Guest name: Select this check box to also see the guests that are currently checked in and the FO status of
the room (vacant/occupied).
[Search Room]: Click the [Search Room] button to show all rooms that match the selected criteria.

Changing the room status

If you want to change the status of one or multiple rooms, select the relevant room(s) and right-click the
selection. This opens a context menu with various editing options for the selected entries:

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Cleaned Select the relevant room status.

Dirty
Out of Service
....
Vacant Housekeeping can set a room to “vacant” or “occupied” without affecting availability. Sometimes a
Occupied guest may check in to the hotel but not actually move into the room. On the other hand, a guest
might move into a different room than was originally booked. If that is the case, housekeeping can
flag the new room as occupied. Enabling housekeeping to flag rooms as “vacant” or “occupied”
supports room management and improves communication between housekeeping and the front
office team.
If housekeeping flags a room as “occupied” that should actually be vacant according to protel, an “X”
appears in the “Housekeeping status” column.
all Selects / unselects all rooms.
none

Available user rights

327 FO Roomstatus Controls room status access in the housekeeping report.

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Enter Room Maid Reports

Housekeeping can enter a room status to communicate to the front office if a room is occupied or vacant, dirty,
cleaned or checked etc. The input on this tab is used for the discrepancy calculation on the next tab.

Enter the room number, the room status (as a number) and the occupancy status (as a number) in the bottom
section of the tab:

Then press Enter.

Room status and occupancy status identifiers:
Room status Occupancy status
1 = clean 0 = vacant
2 = dirty 1 = occupied
3 = out of service
4 = checked
5 = touched
6 = cleaning in progress

Click the [Codes] button to view the identifiers on screen.

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Discrepancy
Discrepancies indicate a conflict between the room status maintained in the system and any status information
provided by housekeeping.

If you want to limit the view to any existing discrepancies, select the Discrepancy only radio button and click
the [Display discrepancy] button.
Alternatively, you can select the All radio button to view all rooms. Rooms with a discrepancy are shown in
red; other rooms are shown in black.

Available user rights

205 FO Room discrepancy Controls access to the “Discrepancy” tab in the housekeeping report.

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Housekeeping Report

The housekeeping report provides an overview of occupied (with guest names) and vacant rooms, shows which
rooms have or have not been cleaned, indicates the housekeeping status, shows whether or not the laundry
needs to be changed in a room, and much more.
For example, the report shows:

1. Rooms for which guests are arriving.

2. Rooms for which guests are departing.
3. Rooms in which guests are staying.
4. Additional notes about each room/guest.
5. Information that helps estimate the work involved (optional).

Viewing the housekeeping report

Enter the date for which you want to view the housekeeping report and click the [View] button.
You can also click [Print] to print the report immediately.

Allocate Points
It may be helpful to use a point system that allocates a specific point value to each of the tasks. The actual value
depends on the room type and the expected time and labor for the task. (For example, the final cleanup task for a
suite should have more points than the final cleanup task for a single room.) The point values are stored in the
system data, however, you can click the [Points] button to make changes if necessary. You may want to allocate
one point for every one minute of labor, for example, to make the values easier to understand.
The point system may be helpful when trying to distribute a day's work evenly across all departments or
housekeeping staff members. Proceed as follows:
In the “To” box, enter a point value per department or staff member.
Click the [Allocate Points] button to distribute the points to as many departments as necessary. Each department
can represent one staff member. Please note that these departments override the housekeeping departments
that are stored in the system data.

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If you need to change the allocation of points, right-click the relevant entry. This opens a context menu that
provides various editing options:
Move to Move the selected room to one of the departments that exist in protel.
department
1, 2, 3 ...
Move to new Move the selected room to a new department that you create in this step. Once created, the new
department department will be available for selection from the context menu. While all system-created departments
are identified by numbers, any departments that you create manually are assigned letters.
Points Click this button to change the point value for the selected entry. Note that the change only affects this
entry and is not saved in the system.

Available settings

You can allocate housekeeping points on a per room basis if necessary. This does, however, require specific
settings. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

Refresh

If you want to refresh the view (e.g. in order to enter a new value for point allocation), you should first select the
“Refresh” check box.
Then click the [View] button and enter a new point value.

Calculation for mobile devices

If you use the protel Housekeeping App, you should select the "calculation for mobile devices" check box. Please
note the information below regarding the protel version.

protel Version
For using protel Housekeeping you should apply protel Version 2013.17.216 (21.06.2013) or higher! As a result,
the housekeeping list for the next day will be created at each end-of-the-day.
When an older version of protel is used anyway you have to do the following settings every morning to get a
correct housekeeping report:
1. Open in protel FO from the drop-down menu "Reports" the Housekeeping report.
2. Tick the check box "Calculation for mobile devices" in the top right corner.

3. Select the option "Refresh" in the top left corner...

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...and click on [View].

It is important to compile every morning the calculation for mobile devices to create and transfer a
correct housekeeping report. Only if you are using a protel version 2013.17.216 or higher, this will be
done automatically in the end-of-the-day.

Filtering the housekeeping report by specific criteria

It may be necessary to view a list of rooms that have been touched or have not been cleaned. The filter features
allow you to filter the list of rooms by these and other criteria.

Select one or several of the room status check boxes or enter a housekeeping department. (Note that this box
refers to the departments that are maintained in the system data.) Click the Use button to update the view.

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Room Maintenance
Use this tab to manage all repair and maintenance tasks.

Select the All, All due or All done radio button to filter the list accordingly.
For example, you could easily use a view of all pending tasks as a To-Do list for your janitor.

Entering maintenance tasks

Right-click the table section to open a context menu.

Select the “New” menu item to open the Room maintenance dialog box:

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1. Room: Select the relevant room from the pull-down list.

2. Set room status to 'Out of Service': Select this check box to immediately change the room status to “Out
of Service” if required.
3. Reason: Use the “Reason” pull-down list to select one of the reasons defined in the system data, and
enter a custom description in the “Text” box.
4. Text (local): This box allows you to enter a description in a foreign language (e.g. Arabic or Chinese) that
uses a different character set than the default system language.
5. Estimated maintenance time: Enter the scheduled start date and the estimated duration of the
maintenance task.
6. OOS future: Set the room to “out of service” for a period in the future.
7. Click OK to close the window. The entry is saved along with the relevant creation date and created by
information and appears in the list with an icon.

Flagging maintenance tasks as cleared

Once a maintenance task has been completed (e.g. by a technician), you can double-click the entry to set it to
“cleared.” This opens a dialog box in which you can select a room status. Completed maintenance tasks are
flagged with an icon and saved along with the relevant date and user information.

ENTERING THE ACTUAL MAINTENANCE TIME

Once the maintenance task has been completed, you can enter the actual time needed and any cost incurred.

Please note that this feature needs to be activated separately in the system settings. For
more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

1. Right-click the entry you want to close.

2. Select “Lock/Open” from the context menu.
3. This opens the Room maintenance dialog box where you can enter detailed information on the actual
start time, duration and cost of the maintenance work.

Available Settings

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From version 2013.17.400

You can set the reason as a mandatory field in the room maintenance attachment. In doing so, you prevent
accidentally forgetting to enter the reason.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the protel Support Team to assist you with these settings. Just get in touch –
we’re happy to help!

Available user rights

364 FO Room maintenance (delete) Controls access to the “Delete” context menu item.
374 FO Room maintenance (edit) Controls access to the “Alter” context menu item.
375 FO Room maintenance (new) Controls access to the “New” context menu item.

Room status
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS ROOM STATUS

The "Room Status" menu item opens the “Housekeeping” dialog box. The Room status tab is selected by default.

Available user rights

327 FO Roomstatus Controls room status access in the housekeeping report.

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Room discrepancy
FRONT OFFICE REPORTS ROOM DISCREPANCY

The “Room Discrepancy” menu item opens the “Housekeeping” dialog box. The Room discrepancy tab is selected
by default.

Available user rights

205 FO Room discrepancy Controls access to the “Room discrepancy” tab in the housekeeping report.

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Administration of cots
[Front Office Reports Administration of Cots]

This report allows you to manage the number of available additional beds and cots. If a reservation requests an
additional bed or cot to be provided, this is automatically deducted from the number of available beds.
The report provides a quick overview of all reserved vs. available beds to help avoid shortages.

Available user rights

234 FO Administration of cots Controls access to the additional beds overview report.

Showing available beds

1. Select a period of time from the Display period section at the bottom left.
2. Click the [Refresh] button to see the number of beds and cots.

Entering the number of available beds

In the Overall bed inventory section, enter the default number of available additional beds and cots for the
selected period.

1. Enter the number of cots in the left box and the number of additional beds in the right box.
2. Click the [Set Inventory] button to confirm.

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The Set inventory on a per day basis section allows you to change the number for individual days, e.g. if you rent
out cots to external clients for a certain period of time.

1. Enter a period of time (From/To) for which you need to indicate a different number of beds.
2. Then select the type of beds from the pull-down list below and enter the number of beds/cots that are
available during that period in the input field next to it.
3. Click the Set button to confirm.

You can click the [Set to Default] button if required to reset your changes to the default values.

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Reservations on the book

FRONT OFFICE REPORTS RESERVATIONS ON THE BOOK

This report provides an overview of the occupancy for a given year. It also shows information on rooms that were
allocated but not reserved.

Enter the year and select if you want to display the data in grid format or as a graphic.
You can choose to display the overview on screen (View button) or send it to a printer (Print button).

Grid view of reservations on the book

The grid view also shows the maximum number of rooms and beds that are available in the respective months.
This is matched against the rooms and beds that were definitely booked. In addition, the report provides the
occupancy in percent.
Rooms that were blocked during the respective period of time are deducted from the overall capacity.

Graphical view of reservations on the book

This shows the total reservations (beds = blue, rooms = red) per month.

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Office
Internal Reporting
Front Office Office Internal Reporting

In addition to active lists, which you can access using the toolbar or the “Reports” menu item, protel offers a
range of reports that provide you with the information you need to make well-founded decisions about every
individual aspect of your business.
The individual reports are grouped into several categories, e.g. Reservation, Financial, End of day, etc.:

The overview window lists all available report groups. Click the plus (+) sign next to a report group to expand the
group and view the reports contained therein.
If you are unsure about where to look for your report, expand the “All reports sorted by name” entry and browse
the list.

Some of the reports will prompt you for input when you run them. For example, if you want to view a posting
ledger for a period in the past, the system first prompts you for the respective dates. The steps to enter the date
are the same for all dialog boxes in protel HMS. Press the “+” key or the “-” key to increment or decrement the
date, respectively. You can also type in the date directly or click the calendar button next to the input field. For
reports that require text input, please note that the information is case sensitive and that only complete words
are accepted as input.

Favorites (for version 2008.12.152 or higher)

You can flag frequently used reports as personal favorites. To do so, right-click a report that you want to add to
the list of favorites and select “Add to my Favorites” from the context menu.

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Deleting a report from the list of favorites

Right-click a report that you want to delete from the list and select “Remove from my Favorites” from the context
menu.
Recently viewed reports
protel “remembers” the recently opened reports and shows them in a separate tree view:

Editing reports
Right-click a report to open a context menu that provides the following options:
View Shows the report on screen.
Print Sends the report to the default printer.
Print with 2 Determines the number of copies to be printed.
Copies
Print with 3
Copies
.....
Export You can export most reports generated by protel to another format (e.g. *.xls). Please note,
however, that this option may not be available for some reports that were created in previous
versions of protel.
Description Descriptions have been added for some of the reports. Select the Description menu item to view the
existing descriptions or enter new ones.
Add to my Adds the selected report to your favorites.
Favorites
Remove from my Removes a selected report from your favorites.
Favorites
Open all groups Expands all tree branches.
Close all groups Collapses all tree branches.

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Available user rights

52 FO Report Administrator Controls access to all reporting features.

Report spooler
Front Office Office Report Spooler

While you run an end-of-day routine or close the cash register the reports are “cached” on disk and not printed
until the routine is complete.
The cache allows you to review the reports at a later date. The reports are cached for a maximum of 30 days after
which they are deleted from the spooler. In addition, the system holds historical reports that can be viewed as an
alternative.
The report spooler provides the following controls:
All Selects all listed reports.

None Unselects all listed reports.

Print Jobs Prints the selected report(s).

View Jobs Shows the selected report(s) on screen.

Delete Jobs Deletes the selected report(s).

Available user rights

106 FO Report Spooler Controls access to the report spooler.

Manager spooler
FRONT OFFICE OFFICE MANAGER SPOOLER

The manager spooler provides essentially the same functionality as the report spooler with the additional option
of restricting access to reports to certain users.
Reports that were flagged as restricted in the system data can only be viewed and edited by users (e.g. managers)
that have sufficient access rights.
You can also use this feature to prevent certain reports from being automatically printed as part of the end-of-day
routine. These reports will then only appear in the spooler and can be printed manually at a later point in time (up
to 30 days later).

Available user rights

105 FO Manager Spooler Controls access to the manager spooler.

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Graphic module
FRONT OFFICE OFFICE GRAPHIC MODULE

In addition to the active lists that you can access from the toolbar or the “Reports” menu, protel provides a
separate graphic module. If you are prompted for a license code, please contact your local protel distributor or
protel hotelsoftware GmbH in Dortmund.
The list box shows all charts that are available in protel:

To selectively view the charts from one group only, select the relevant group from the list. Click the [All] button to
see all charts again.
Select an item in the list and click [View graph] to display the respective chart on screen.

Use the scroll bars to adjust the perspective of the chart if required. In addition, the pull-down lists on the right
allow you to change the chart stile (bar, area, pie, line etc.).
The “Display” panel allows you to show horizontal and/or vertical grid lines for orientation purposes. If you want
to show lines for the average and/or the minimum and maximum values, select the corresponding check boxes.
Click the [Summarize] button to show an accumulated total of the chart values.
Click the [Clipboard] button to copy the chart to the Windows clipboard, from which it can be pasted to other
applications (e.g. MS Word) for further processing.

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Available user rights

100 FO Graphics module Controls access to the graphic module.

Commission clearing
FRONT OFFICE OFFICE COMMISSION CLEARING

You can use the commission clearing feature in protel to calculate the amount of any commission payments that
are owed to travel agents.
More specifically, the feature allows you to create commission reports, commission statements, cheque files or
HCC files (travel agent commission clearing files) for travel agent commission payments.
NOTE:
The feature does not post services or payments that, for example, reduce a reservation invoice amount,
thereby changing the revenue. Likewise, it does not make any changes to the protel HMS cash in hand. Select
the menu item to calculate the commission amount and flag it as paid. This allows you to check on invoices
from travel agents and to calculate the commission amounts payable to the respective travel agents.

Alternatively, you can access the feature from the travel agents, companies, source, and group profile types.

Available user rights

FO Commission Controls access to the commission clearing feature (FO - Office - Commission
123
clearing Clearing).

The dialog box shows all departed reservations. Note that the calculation ignores reservations that are still
current, as the respective data may still change during the stay.
The dialog box comprises three sections:
The top section allows you to calculate the commission amounts.

The middle section displays the commissionable reservations.

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The bottom section allows you to edit the commissionable reservations and generate payment
instructions.

Calculating a commission
Use the top section of the dialog box to calculate the commissions. As the start date (“For all departures from”) is
automatically derived from the last calculation date, you only need to enter the period end date in the “to” box.
Enter the date and click the Calculate button. If you select the Automatic with EOD check box, protel HMS
calculates the commissions automatically during the end-of-day routine.

History

This section allows you to filter the listed commissions.

Paid commissions only: If you select the Paid commissions only check box, protel only lists reservations for
which the commissions have been flagged as paid.
only Batch no.: If you enter a valid batch number (assigned during the end-of-day routine) in this box, only
reservations with this batch number will be listed.

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Batch

Click the [Report] button to print a report listing the commissions paid for a given batch. Note that you need to
enter the batch number in the “only Batch no.” box first.
Click the [Statem.] button to generate and print a statement for the respective batch that you can send to the
travel agents. Note that you need to enter the batch number in the “only Batch no.” box first. In addition, a form
must have been created and saved in the system data.
You can click the [React.] button to reset any previously paid batches to “unpaid” status.

Viewing commissions
Status Indicates whether or not the guest profile is complete. This is important if you plan to create an HCC file.
Records with missing information are highlighted in red.
Run Indicates the batch number. The batch number is assigned as part of the end-of-day routine. A batch
number is not shown for periodic payments.
Date Indicates the commission payment date.
Account This is the number of the commission recipient as derived from the guest profile.
IATA Indicates the international booking number as derived from the guest profile.
Agent This is the name of the commission recipient as derived from the guest profile.
Amount This is the commission amount in home currency.
LOC
Currency If payment is made in foreign currency (e.g. CDN), this indicates the currency code.
C-Amount This is the foreign currency amount if payment is not made in home currency.
Comm.Code This is the commission code as derived from the guest profile. The commission is calculated based on this
code.
Name of The guest's name as per the reservation.
guest
Arrival The date of the day the guest arrived.
Departure This is the departure date.
Room The room number from the reservation.
ResNo This is the number of the reservation for which the commission is calculated.

Editing commissions

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New Click this button to open the “Modify commission” dialog box and create a new commission (see
below).

Change Click this button to open the “Modify commission” dialog box and edit the selected commission (see
below).

Delete Click this button to delete the selected commission from the list.

Reactivate Resets all previously paid commissions to “unpaid” status.

The [New] and [Change] buttons open a dialog box that allows you to edit existing commissions or create new
ones. See below for more information on the individual fields.

Agent This shows the commission recipient that is assigned to the reservation. Click the [Search] button to
assign a guest profile or click the [View] button to access the assigned guest profile.

Guest name This shows the name of the guest for whom the commissioned reservation was made. Click the
[Search] button to assign a guest profile or click the [View] button to access the assigned guest
profile.
Arrival The arrival date on the reservation.
Departure The departure date on the reservation.
Room The room number on the reservation.
Revenue The commission currency and the commissionable amount.
Comm. Code Select the commission code that you want to use to calculate the commission.
Commission The commission that was calculated based on the code.
Tax 1/2 If you want to calculate a net commission amount for a recipient abroad, you can enter the relevant
tax rate in these boxes. Enter a percentage in the left box to calculate the amount automatically. The
right box accepts a fixed amount.
Remarks Use this box to enter free text information on how the commission is calculated.
Status Use this box to enter free text information on the commission payment status.

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Paying calculated commissions

From the pull-down list, select one of the Commission types maintained in the system data (“Calculation,” “HCC
Files” or “Cheque Files” only) and select one or more of the following check boxes if required:
Print commission report Select this check box to print the report when STARTING the payment run.

Print commission statements Select this check box to print the form when STARTING the payment run.

Send email If you select this check box and enter an email address, the form is passed to Outlook
and can be sent directly.

From the list, select one or more commissions that you want to pay.
Click [Start] to start the payment run according to the details you selected.
[HCC Files]: If you selected an “HCC” or “Citibank” type commission, you can click [HCC Files] to view or edit
previously created export files (not recommended).
[Cheque Files]: If you selected a “Cheque” type commission, you can click [Cheque Files] to view or edit previously
created export files (not recommended).

Word processor
FRONT OFFICE OFFICE WORD PROCESSOR

Click this menu item to launch an external word processor. For example, if you have MS Word installed on the
machine, you can use this menu item to start an MS Word session.
Please contact protel hotelsoftware GmbH, Dortmund to have this functionality configured.

Available user rights

FO internal word Controls access to the internal word processor through the Office menu. Access to
303
processing the word processor from the guest profile is not affected.

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Editing templates
FRONT OFFICE OFFICE EDIT TEMPLATES

This menu item enables you to create or edit templates. Templates that you create here can be inserted as
boilerplate text in your reservation letters.

Available user rights

270 FO Templates Defines whether templates for a banquet event can be modified.

Select the menu item to launch the proprietary High Edit word processor.

You can create new templates directly in High Edit. If you want to edit a template, click the icon to open the
template.
Make sure to save your templates in the preconfigured location. To ensure that documents can be accessed by all
users, High Edit saves all files centrally in the “Template” folder of the protel directory by default. Please do not
change the preconfigured path in the software.

Example
A High Edit template for confirmation letters was saved in the system data. When making the reservation, the
caller asked for a brochure of the hotel. You now want to edit the confirmation letter to explicitly make reference
to the attached brochure. In order to avoid having to enter the additional text manually, you can insert the
template as boilerplate text.

NOTE:
The system creates a file for each newly created template and assigns a default name. Make sure to
change the default name to a more meaningful designation. The file name should not exceed eight
characters.

1. As a first step, you need to create the template: Office > Edit Templates
2. Enter the text that you want to reuse as boilerplate text later on:

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3. Save file:

4. Now open the confirmation letter for the guest (Navigator > Res. texts > New letter). Please note that the
letter must be in High Edit format:

5. In the open form, select where you want to insert the boilerplate text.
6. Press Ctrl+F9: A window showing all existing templates appears:

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7. Double-click to insert the required boilerplate text.

Available settings for High-Edit Documents

From Version 2013.17.672

Read only mode: By allocating the “NurLesenStart/NurLesenEnde” command, certain paragraphs, passages, or
tables can be allocated as read only when using high edit text templates. A special setting must be set in order
to enable the read only function.
From Version 2013.17.790
Convert to PDF: You can convert HighEdit documents to PDF using the Adobe PDF writer. For this to work,
Adobe Acrobat Writer must be available in version 10 or higher. Some special settings must be set in order to
enable this function.
Your protel Support Team will gladly make these settings for you. Just get in touch – we’re happy to help!

Internal word processor

FRONT OFFICE OFFICE INTERNAL WORD PROCESSOR

Click this menu item to start the internal “High Edit” word processor. You can use High Edit like any other
standard Windows application.
To ensure that documents can be accessed by all users, High Edit saves all files centrally in the protel directory by
default. Please do not change the preconfigured path in the software.

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Information book
FRONT OFFICE OFFICE INFORMATION BOOK

The information book allows you to save phone numbers, addresses and related documents.

Click the Category drop-down list to view a specific category or all categories at once.
MPE installations provide a “Hotel” drop-down list that allows you to selectively view the records for one specific
hotel or all hotels.

Filter
The filter allows you to search the list for specific words. Enter the word you want to search for and click inside
the list area. This reduces the list to records that match the search. You can click the [All] button at any time to
disable the filter and view all records.
Select a record in the list to view its details in the right window pane.

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Creating a new information book record

To create a new record, click the [New] button.

Name and Phone: Enter the name and phone number of the contact in these text boxes.
Category: Select a category for the record.
Hotel: Select the hotel for which the record should be visible (MPE only). Read the section below for information
on how to create a new category.
Details: Use the “Details” text box to enter additional information such as address, fax number etc. as required.
Local (from version 2013.17.000): You can add additional text in a local language (with a different character code).

Document: You can add a file for the contact. To do so, click the button next to the “Document” box and
navigate to the relevant document. Make sure to save this document in the “Scanner” folder of the protel
directory so that all users can access the document from any workstation. Highlight the document and select the
Copy to central storage area check box. This saves an additional copy of the document to the “Infobook”
folder of the protel directory. Click Open document or Delete attachment as required to open the attached file or
delete the attachment, respectively.
A flag icon ( ) indicates records with an attached text document. The icon indicates an attached image file.
URL: You can use the “URL” box to enter an Internet address for the contact.
Display of user defined codes (Group / Text): The table shows user defined codes which have been added as "udf
type 5500 - Information book" (System data > Reservation > User defined fields and codes > User defined fields).

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Creating a new category

Click the button at the top of the dialog box (next to the Category pull-down list) to create a new category:

This opens a window in which you can enter the name, an abbreviation and a group for the category. You can use
the “Sort order” field value to determine the order in which the items are displayed:

Don't display in FO: If you select this check box, records of this category cannot be accessed by members of
the Front Office department
Available in Internet: If you select this check box, records of this category will also be visible through the WBE
(Web Booking Engine) where installed.
Finally, click the [New] button to create the category. The new category appears in the list on the left.
You can click the [Change] button to edit existing records: To do so, highlight the record you want to edit, make
the required changes and click the button.
The [Delete] button allows you to remove existing categories.

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End of day
Front Office Office End of Day

You need to run the end-of-day routine manually at the end of each business day. This prepares the system for
the next day. You should close the cash register before running an end-of-day routine (Cash Register > Cash
Register Closure).

Available user rights

FO End of Controls access to the End of Day menu item and enables a user to run an end-of-day
49
Day routine.

All figures at a glance

The end-of-day routine provides you with an overview of all invoiced and posted revenues. The data is printed to
informative reports that are available whenever needed.

Understanding the end-of-day routine

The end-of-day routine posts all accommodation and service charges to the current guest accounts, sets the daily
revenue to “0,” generates statistics, prints reports, and (last but not least) increments the protel system date. You
cannot run the end-of-day routine unless all arrivals have been checked in and all invoices and departures have
been checked out.
Note:
End-of-day routine and cash register closure are two separate procedures. Cash register closure refers to
payments only and can be performed multiple times a day. The end-of-day routine increments the date by one
and should therefore only be run once per day. It is recommended to run the routine at night time (no later than
before the first morning check-out).
Please note that the end-of-day routine does not back up your data!
Other workstations on the network cannot access the protel system during the end-of-day routine as
indicated by an on-screen message.

Can I influence which reports the end-of-day routine generates?

The “Report” menu in the protel system data allows you to define which reports the end-of-day routine prints.
You can also flag a report as mandatory to ensure that it cannot be skipped.
When you run the end-of-day routine, all relevant reports are initially preselected for printout:

If you want to skip one or several reports, click to unselect them. (This is not allowed for reports that were flagged
as mandatory.)

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Additional reports from the “End of Month” and “End of Year” report groups become available on the last day of
the month and year respectively.

Running an end-of-day routine

1. Select Office > End of Day from the menu to start the end-of-day routine.

2. You can make the following settings before you begin:

Printer This shows the printer selection for the end-of-day reports (Printing report to XYZ). Click
the [...] button to select another printer if required.
“Report” section Unselect all reports that you do not want to be generated.

Fast EOD (without If you select this check box, the end-of-day routine will not reorganize the databases. This
reorganization) is only allowed three times in a row, after which a complete end-of-day routine is required.

Execute multiple Sets the system date to the selected day and runs the required number of end-of-day
EODs routines.

3. Click [OK] to start the process.

NOTE:
If departures or arrivals exist that have not been checked out or checked in, the end-of-day routine automatically
opens a list that allows you to check in or check out the guests.

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Departures that have not been checked out prevent the end-of-day routine from running. To proceed, change
the departure date or post the guest balance to a hotel account and check out the guest.
Pending arrivals that have not been checked in or canceled are assigned a “NoShow” status. This information
is added to the respective guest profile.

4. You can monitor the activities during an end-of-day routine in a separate window pane.
5. The routine prints all previously selected reports.

Available user rights

FO Usage during end of Allows read-only access to certain protel features during the end-of-day
102
day routine, e.g. viewing lists or reports.

812 FO Execute EOD for Allows the user to run the end-of-day routine for multiple days.
multiple days

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Options
Printer
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS PRINTER

protel HMS defaults to the printer that you defined as your Windows default printer.
If this printer is unavailable or you want to output certain documents to a different printer, this feature allows
you to select a specific printer. Please note that restarting protel PMS will reset this setting.

Available user rights

58 FO Printer setup Controls access to the “Options > Printer” menu item and the printer icon on the toolbar.

User logoff
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS USER LOGOFF

Click here to log off or change your password.

User settings
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS USER SETTINGS

Automatic log off

From version 2013.17.400
When you have been inactive for a certain amount of time, you will be automatically logged off by the system.
The amount of time used by the automatic user logoff can be manually set.

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System data
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS SYSTEM DATA

Accessing the protel PMS system data

The system data is the backbone and foundation of any plans, calculations and selectable options in a protel
installation. It defines all information that is used throughout the system and not likely to change frequently (e.g.
room types, rooms, revenue accounts etc.).
While retroactive changes can be made to the system data, any such modifications might have a profound effect
on the system. If you require changes to your system data, please contact your local protel partner or protel
hotelsoftware GmbH in Dortmund, Germany.

Available user rights

51 FO Execute PROTEL System Data Controls access to the “Options > System Data” menu item.

Reload system data

Front Office Options Reload System data

Any changes that you make to the system data do not normally take effect until you restart the protel software.
However, if you want to apply any recent system data changes directly to the client you are logged on to, you can
reload the system data.
Example: You created a new user-defined field in the system data. If you want to use the new field in your active
protel session, select “Options > Reload System data” from the menu bar. A restart (logging off and back on) is
not required in this case.

Active sessions
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS ACTIVE SESSIONS

This shows all workstations that are currently logged on to protel. The view is particularly useful for network
installations in which multiple workstations access the protel system simultaneously.
The “Station” column shows the numbers of all workstations that are currently active in protel HMS. The names
of the users that are currently logged in and the start dates and times of the active protel HMS sessions are
shown next to the workstation numbers.

Available user rights

193 FO Active sessions Controls access to the “Active Sessions” menu item.

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Wake-up call management

Front Office Options Wake-up Calls

Overview
Wake-up call management is particularly useful for hotels that use a PABX interface. Any wake-up calls that you
enter in this dialog box are communicated to the PABX and can be processed automatically. Even if you don't
have a PBX interface, the wake-up call management feature can be helpful. Reporting allows you to print wake-up
call lists that you can use to make and check the calls manually.
The process steps are the same either way. You can enter up to four different wake-up times per room and day.

Available user rights

322 FO Wake up call Controls access to wake-up call management.

administration

324 FO General view of wake Controls access to a time-based wake-up call overview. (Double-click a guest in
up calls the “Wake up Calls” window.)

Accessing the list

The initial wake-up call window allows you to preselect reservations for which you want to enter wake-up call
details. You can search for specific guests, accompanying persons, companies, groups, travel agencies or room
numbers. You can also define the order in which you want to view the results.

If you leave the initial wake-up call window empty, the system shows all reservations that are checked in or
scheduled to arrive today.
Click [OK] to open a window in which you can enter wake-up call details.
Double-click a reservation to open the “Wake Up Calls” dialog box. Alternatively, you can click the [More] button
from the navigator menu and then click the wake-up call overview to access this dialog box. It allows you to edit
or delete existing wake-up calls or enter new ones.
NOTE:
If you need to enter a wake-up call for a guest that is scheduled to arrive at some time in the future, select
More > “Wake up call” from the Navigator menu.

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Entering wake-up call details

Proceed as follows to enter the wake-up times in the lower window section:
1. Select one or multiple reservations (provided that all selected guests require a wake-up call at the same
time).
2. Enter a time in four-digit format (e.g. 0730) in the first box. Click the [All] button to apply this time to all
days of the week:

4. Alternatively, you can enter different times for individual days:

5. If a wake-up call is not required on a specific day of the week, click the corresponding check box ( MO -
SU) to clear it.

6. If a guest requires several wake-up calls on the same day, enter the respective wake-up times underneath
each other.

7. Then click [OK].

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PBX protocol
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS PBX PROTOCOL

If a PBX interface is used in your hotel, this menu item shows a list of recent telephone calls.
The “***not posted***” flag indicates calls that were made from extensions that have not been configured in
protel. This could be internal office or administration phones, for example.
The lower section shows the refresh interval.
Click the [-10] or [+10] button to change the number of calls displayed. If necessary, you can adjust the default
value in the PROTEL.INI file.

Available user rights

99 FO PBX protocol Controls access to the “PBX Protocol” menu item.

User-defined values - day/month

FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS USER DEFINED VALUES - DAY

Select this menu item to view user-defined fields that are associated with a specific day or month. You can use
these fields for special functions, e.g. to enter daily or monthly budget values.
The system only displays fields that were configured in the system data as user-defined fields of type “5200”
(monthly values) or “5201” (daily values):
Please contact our protel support team with any questions you may have regarding this topic.

Entering a move
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS ENTER MOVES

protel HMS allows you to easily enter reservations with a move (i.e. room change) during the stay. protel
manages such room changes and shows which guests move(d) rooms on which day. It cannot, however, know
exactly at what time a guest will leave the old room and move to the new one. The Enter Moves feature allows
you to enter the exact time in the system, e.g. in order to block the phone line in the old room at that time and
activate it in the new room.

Available user rights

307 FO Announce moves Controls access to the “Enter Moves” menu item.

To enter a move:
1. If you want to flag a move as complete, highlight the relevant row and click the [Move] button. An “X”
behind the guest's name indicates that the move has been completed.

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2. If you need to undo a move that was accidentally flagged as complete, highlight the entry and click the
Undo button. This deletes the “X” flag. Alternatively, you can double-click an entry to toggle the flag.

MPE hotel selection

FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS MPE HOTEL SELECTIONS

(FOR PROTEL MPE ONLY)

Opens the screen to select an MPE hotel.

Available user rights

156 FO MPE Hotel selection Controls access to the “MPE Hotel Selections” menu.

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SQL Editor
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS SQL EDITOR

Used for maintenance purposes by protel hotelsoftware GmbH Dortmund.

Available user rights

826 SD SQL Editor Allows the user to launch the SQL Editor.

Language
FRONT OFFICE OPTIONS LANGUAGE

You can change the UI language in protel at any time without having to restart the software:
Click Options > Language and then select the language you want.

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Guest profile
Front Office Guest profile

A guest profile is created for every “contact” that exists within protel, irrespective of whether it a guest, company,
travel agent, or reservation office. The important information relating to each contact is stored on several tabs.
protel assigns all profiles to groups comprised of a specific contact type, which allows you to sort and find
different contacts more easily.
The following groups exist:
Private For private guests who generally make their own reservations on their own account.
Companies For companies that make reservations for their staff. These profiles are mostly used as
master profiles.
Travel Agents For travel agents through which reservations are made.
Groups For private tour groups or groups of company employees. In other words, groups that
usually arrive and depart together and have similar booking details.
Source For reservation offices through which reservations are made.

Each action in the system always starts with a guest search. The guest search helps you to find existing guests
or create new guest profiles.

Guest profile - available user rights

If a user right is revoked, the user will not be able to access the relevant function.

53 FO Guest Files Authorizes the user to access the guest profile

New since version 2013.16.690 of 1/22/2013

863 FO Guest profiles - Open private profiles Authorizes the user to open guest profiles

864 FO Guest profiles - Open company profiles Authorizes the user to open company profiles

865 GO Guest profiles - Open group profiles Authorizes the user to open group profiles

866 FO Guest profiles - Open travel agency profiles Authorizes the user to open travel agency profiles

867 FO Guest profiles - Open source profiles Authorizes the user to open source profiles

868 FO Guest profiles - Edit private profiles Authorizes the user to edit private profiles

869 FO Guest profiles - Edit company profiles Authorizes the user to edit company profiles

870 FO Guest profiles - Edit group profiles Authorizes the user to edit group profiles

871 FO Guest profiles - Edit travel agency profiles Authorizes the user to edit travel agency profiles

872 FO Guest profiles - Edit source profiles Authorizes the user to edit source profiles

873 FO Guest profiles - Add private profiles Authorizes the user to edit private profiles

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874 FO Guest profiles - Add company profiles Authorizes the user to create company profiles

875 FO Guest profiles - Add group profiles Authorizes the user to create group profiles

876 FO Guest profiles - Add travel agency profiles Authorizes the user to create travel agency profiles

877 FO Guest profiles - Add source profiles Authorizes the user to create source profiles

Searching guest profiles

Front Office Profiles Private / Companies / Travel Agents / Groups / Source / All Types

Guest search
When your activities in protel revolve around guests, you will generally find yourself working with the guest
search function. For instance, you use this screen to allocate a guest to a new reservation, change the invoice
recipient for a reservation, or enter information about a specific guest (e.g. guest requests).
The guest search appears at a number of different points within the program and can also be accessed directly
from the “Profiles” menu item. Select a guest type here to limit your search to a specific profile type (e.g.,
“Companies”). If you select “All,” the program searches across all profile types.

Use the input boxes to specify the exact criteria for your search.

You can search by the guest's Name, First name, or City, or - if available - by the guest's Member number.
If you are searching across all profile types, you can also search by the guest's IATA or FIBU accounts receivable
number.
If you are unsure about the exact spelling, you can simply enter the first few letters. The system will then search
for all entries starting with these letters.
A search for the guest "Newman" with the first name “Paul” from Manchester, would look as follows:

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[My Profiles] button

See the section “Guest Profile > My Profiles.”

SQL guest search

In SQL versions of the program, you can use an extended search function to search for guest profiles for which
you do not know the first letters of the name or city.
To start this search, place a “%” sign in front of the part of the name that you already know.
Example:
If you enter “%man” in the Name box, the system will display all profiles with a name that contains the character
string “man” (Newman, Bosman, Chapman, Manclark, etc.)

Search result
Once you have entered the search criteria, the system displays all corresponding guest profiles.

If a guest's name is displayed in red, this means that a comment has been saved to the guest profile (not for SQL).
The column contents differ depending on the profile type you are searching for. The above example shows the
result of a search for all profiles. Double-click the required profile to open it for editing.

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Creating a new guest profile

1. Enter the guest's full name in the guest search and press Enter.
2. Click [Yes] to confirm that you want to create a new profile.
3. If you started a search for all profile types, select the relevant profile type.
4. Enter all additional details and click [OK] to create the profile.

Additional functions in the “Search result” window

Additional functions can be accessed along the lower edge of the window, next to the [OK], Cancel, and Help
buttons.
New Use this button to create a new profile if one does not yet exist.

Delete Use this button to delete a profile that is no longer required.

Prof. type Use this button to change the profile type of a profile that has been created with the incorrect type.
A drop-down list appears containing all available types. Select the new profile type and click OK to
confirm.

View Use this button to view the profile if you require additional information before selecting it.

Invoice history Opens the “Invoices” tab in the guest profile. This shows all invoices created using the address from
this guest profile.

Guest history Opens the “History” tab. This shows all previous reservations for this guest.

Future Opens the “Future” tab in the guest profile. This shows all reservations for this guest that lie in the
Reservations future or have already been checked in.

Letters (Res.) / Opens the “Letters” tab in the guest profile. This allows you to create new letters or view or change
Letters (Inv.) existing letters. The reservation and invoice letters can be accessed separately based on the contact
details for reservations and invoices in the company, travel agent, source, and group profiles.

Context menu in the “Search result” window

Right-click a profile in the search results to open a context menu that provides a number of additional functions:
Select profile Opens the profile and closes the search results window.
View profile Opens the profile and while also keeping the search results window open.
Create new profile Creates a new profile.
Create new profile as copy of Use this menu item if you need to create an identical profile (e.g., company profile
marked profile with a different department or contact person). This creates a copy of the open
profile. The statistics information is not copied.
Create new profile as copy This acts in the same way as “Create new profile as copy of marked profile” but does
address only not copy the names.
Delete profile Deletes the selected profile.
Change profile type Use this to change to profile type. Note that information is lost if you convert a guest
profile to a company, travel agent, source, or group profile, and vice versa.
Revenue history Opens the “History” tab in the guest profile and shows reservation and occupancy
statistics.

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Invoice history Opens the “Invoices” tab in the guest profile. This shows all past invoices that use the
address from the profile.
Future reservations Opens the “Future” tab in the guest profile. This shows all reservations for this guest
that lie in the future or have already been checked in.
Marketing Opens the “Sales Activity” tab in the guest profile. Any marketing codes and VIP codes
assigned are displayed.
Correspondence with res. Opens the “Letters” tab in the guest profile. This allows you to create new letters or
Contact/ Correspondence with view or change existing letters.
inv. Contact

Available user rights

68 FO Profile type Authorizes the user to change the profile type of a guest profile after it has been created.

69 FO Profiles Allows the user to delete a guest profile shown in the search results.

Guest profile tabs

Guest profiles are displayed using a tab structure that allows a large amount of information to be displayed in a
clear and compact form.
Click a tab title to bring the tab to the foreground and view its contents.

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Address
Front Office Profiles “Address” tab

The appearance of the “Address” tab differs depending on whether you are viewing a private or non-private
profile:

Address - Private
Use the Address tab of a private guest profile to enter all details relating to the address of a private guest. The
tree view to the right also displays additional information about the guest.

Salutation
Last name The guest's last name.
First name The guest's first name.
Language Language setting for the guest. This is important to ensure the correct form of address, for wake-
up calls (if a telephone system is used), etc.
Note: The reservation confirmation is not automatically printed in the guest's language. You
should use the system data to create a form for each language as required. When you generate a
new text for this guest, only the forms created in the language selected here will be available for
selection.
Salut Click the ... button to display a window in which you can select the required salutation, as defined
in the system data. The language in which the salutations are displayed is determined by the
country code you select in the “Country” box.
Gender The guest's gender.

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Title An academic title. This can be printed in the address (you can also define suitable salutations in the
system data as an alternative).
Pers. salut. The personal salutation is populated automatically when you select an entry in the “Salut” box. It
is used when printing correspondence and can be overwritten if required. The language in which
the salutations are displayed is determined by the country code you select in the “Country” box.
Nationality Select a nationality based on the list of codes defined in the system data. This information is
required for generating monthly nationality statistics for the German Federal Statistical Office. A
guest's nationality need not necessarily correspond to the place of residence (country).

Address Select the address type.

The main address is used for general correspondence. All other address types are stored for
information purposes. For instance, the main address of a company could be its PO box address
and the second address its office address. The various address types are defined in the system
data.
Address 1 Enter the street information for the guest's address.
Address 2 / Foreign addresses often require the use of a second or third box.
Address 3
Country Select a country from the drop-down list. The available countries are defined in the system data. If
the country you are looking for is not in the list, you can enter the name of the country manually in
the box to the right.
ZIP Enter the ZIP code without a country code. protel “remembers” all cities and ZIP codes that have
been entered. Once a ZIP code has been entered together with a city, protel will automatically
enter the city it has “learned” once you enter the ZIP code.
City The city for the guest's address.
Region The region for the guest. This field is usually required only for non-German address formats.

If you want to enter a second address, click the [Save address] button to save the address you
have already entered. Then select a different address type for the second address (e.g., business
address).
Delete the entries for an address (pay attention to the address type currently selected:
main/business address, etc.).

Foreign addresses are printed in a range of different formats. protel identifies the correct format automatically
based on the country assigned to the address. Since the formats differ from country to country, the input screen
contains more boxes than may be required in some countries. Simply leave the boxes blank if they are not
required.

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Tree view
Use the right window pane to enter or access additional information about the guest. Click the plus and minus
symbols to open and close the directory branches.
Profile status for xxxx stands for the sequential number assigned by protel. Beneath this, you can see when the
xxxx profile was created and by which user. “Changed” shows the day, time, and user for the last change.
“Assigned” shows the hotel in which this profile was created (for MPE only).

Favorites You can mark a profile as a “Favorite” if you access it on a regular basis or if it is important for some
other reason. To do this, click “Not included in my favorites” to change the status to “Yes - Profile
belongs to my favorites”:

To access your favorites, proceed as follows:

Use the protel Explorer to access all profiles identified as favorites. You can open the Explorer:
• Using the “Profiles > My Profiles” menu
• Using the “Search profiles” dialog boxes ([My Profiles] button])
• From any list of search results ([My Profiles] button)
• By performing a search using the protel “Search & Command Bar.”
See the “Guest Profile > My Profiles” section for more on this topic.
Address You can use this to display the various address types stored for this profile.
Address is verified The “protel Address Check” add-on ensures that new address details have been entered correctly
/ not verified and in full from the outset – with time-savings of up to 40%. It also automatically checks addresses
arriving via online bookings and supplements or corrects them as required.
(Add-on module)
For more information, see the protel website: http://www.protel.net/product/addresscheck/

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Mailing status You can use the mailing status to determine whether or not the guest wishes to receive mailings:

You can set the mailing status assigned by default when a new guest profile is created for each
different profile type. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel
support team.
You can enhance your guest contact with further mailing status :
From version 2013.16.816, further specifications can be recorded as well: May you contact your
guest for reservations, invoices or for advertising purposes? Beyond that, the method of contact can
be chosen as well (postal letter, telephone call, e-mail, or text message):

Your protel support team will gladly adjust the mentioned settings for you.

Profile protection To write-protect a profile, change the entry from “not protected” to “protected”:
(as of
Version2007.11.276)
Protected profiles can no longer be edited.
Write protection is revoked if the user currently logged in has exclusive right 818 “Protected
Profiles (edit)” (see below: “Available user rights”). Employees who do not have this right cannot
edit protected profiles.

Search name The search name allows you to assign an identifier in addition to the actual name in order to find
the profile more easily (for example: name = Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA, search name =
BVB).
The name entered is used as the search name by default. To assign your own search name, simply
click the “Search name” entry and enter the required term.
Addresses If multiple addresses have been entered for one profile, click “Addresses” to view all saved entries:

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Communication Enter the various contact details, such as telephone, e-mail, fax, etc.:
methods

Click “Communication methods” to access an entry and enter information. To open a single
connection type (e.g., only the telephone number), click “Phone” to create the individual item.
Proceed in the same way to create an individual fax number, mobile phone number, or e-mail
address.
You can also define the type of entries using the “Reservation/Guest Profile Codes/Guest
Communication Methods” system data.
Twitter information can also be entered: Click “Twitter” and then enter the name (not the
complete URL!) of the Twitter account, e.g., “protel.”

Click [Show Tweets] at the bottom of the window to connect protel to the specified Twitter account.
Hotel Member ID Click “Hotel Member ID” to enter a member number and a password. The member ID can be used in
the protel Web Booking Engine to allow corporate customers, travel agents, and frequent private
guests to register quickly and easily by logging in to the system. In this case, the personal details for
the online booking are retrieved from the protel guest profile and do not have to be entered again.

AVS registration Available only if an AVS registration card interface has been established. Contact the protel Sales
card team or your protel distributor for more information.
Functions:
Create new profile Saves the entries in the open profile and opens a blank profile.

protel Match and See the section Guest Profile > protel Match & Merge.
Merge
Call external Special interface for external applications that can be launched via the profile.
application
Print profile Prints the address, communication methods, and comments for this profile.
Microsoft Calls an external program that provides automated directions. protel currently supports Microsoft
MapPoint Route MapPoint 2004, 2009 and 2013. Contact the protel Sales team or your protel distributor for more
planner information.
Microsoft Outlook You can use this option to synchronize addresses and meetings from Outlook with protel and vice
Interface versa. Contact the protel Sales team or your protel distributor for more information.

On Screen Opens an on-screen keyboard. You can then use your mouse to make all required entries.
Keyboard

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Business card Available only if a business card scanner interface has been established. This function controls the
scanner connected business card scanner. It scans the guest data from the business card and enters it in the
correct boxes in the protel guest profile. A separate license is required to use the business card
scanner interface.
Contact the protel Sales team or your protel distributor for more information.

Available user rights

132 FO Guest profiles - change password Controls access to the hotel member ID (FO - Profiles -
Address tab - Tree view -+ Hotel Member ID)

817 FO Master Profiles (edit) Withdrawing right 807 prevents an employee from editing
master profiles.
818 FO Protected Profiles (edit) Authorizes the user to edit a protected guest profile.

851 FO Guest profiles: Edit pers. data even Allows the user to edit the personal details in a protected
when profile is protected profile.

852 FO Guest profiles: Edit guest requests even Enables the “Requests” tab even if the profile is protected.
when profile is protected

Delete profile as soon as possible

If you select the Delete profile as soon as possible check box, a guest profile will saved in the system only as
long as a reference exists to a reservation or accounts receivable entry. The profile is deleted at the end of the
month (at the end of the day for SQL) at the latest.
You should select this check box by default when creating a group master profile, for example, as the profile will
no longer be required once the group has checked out.

Available user rights

130 FO Mark profile to be deleted Enables/disables the “Delete profile as soon as possible” function

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Address - company/travel agent/source/group

Use this tab to enter all information relating to the address of a company, travel agent, source, or group.

Salutation
Name1 Name1 of the company
Name2 Name2 of the company, usually an addition to the company name
Department Name of the department

Language/Nat. Language setting for the guest. This is important to ensure the correct form of address, for wake-up
calls (if a telephone system is used), etc. The reservation confirmation is not automatically printed
in the guest's language. You should use the system data to create a form for each language as
required. When you generate a new text for this guest, only the forms created in the language
selected here will be available for selection.
Nationality of the guest. Select a nationality based on the list of codes defined in the system data.
This information is required for generating monthly nationality statistics for the German Federal
Statistical Office. A guest's nationality need not necessarily correspond to the place of residence
(country).

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Contact res. / For company, travel agent, source, and group profiles, you can add a contact person for reservation
or invoicing purposes. The system adds this contact person to the address when creating
Contact inv. /
reservation confirmations and invoices. Click the [...] button to open the following window:

You can then use the drop-down list in this dialog box to change the contact person for invoicing. A
box is also provided for entering additional information about the contact. If the contact has a
differing telephone number, you can also enter this here. If the same contact is responsible for both
reservations and invoicing, select the Contact persons for invoices and reservations are identical
check box.

Addresses
The information that you enter here is almost identical to the information for a private address (see above,
“Address - Private > Address”). The sole exception is an additional box entitled “POBOX/ZIP”:

POBOX/ZIP PO box number and ZIP code for the company address.

Tree view
You can enter or access additional information about the company in the right window pane, see the section
above: Tree view.

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Personal data
Front Office Profiles “Pers. Data” tab

This tab shows personal information about the guest.

Identification
Enter the guest's date of birth and marital status, if required. You can then use this information when generating
birthday lists and mailings. Entry of a car registration number is for information purposes only.
Travel document
You can use this section to enter information about identification papers such as a personal ID card or passport
for information purposes.
Employer
If you enter a company name here, it is used for information purposes only. It is not connected to the company
reservation details and simply identifies the company for which the guest works.
Taxes
You can use this section to enter tax numbers (e.g., the company's VAT number) or select a tax exemption code.

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Tree view
Use the right window pane to enter or access additional information about the company.
Credit cards Use this to store or import the guest's credit card details. Click on the entry to open a dialog box for
creating a new credit card.

Please refer to the chapter on PCI compliance in connection with this.

To edit or delete an existing card, right-click the card to open the context menu.
If your system has an interface to a card reader, click the [Read Card] button to import the credit card
into protel automatically. If you do not have this interface, you can enter all information in the relevant
boxes manually.
You can use the “Authorization” pane to perform a credit card authorization in order to verify the validity
and credit limit of a credit card. The amount you enter can range from the rate for one night to the cost of
the entire stay.
Member Click the entry to save details from member cards (e.g., for certain discount promotions). Select the card
cards type from the drop-down list and enter the number.
Contract If a contract exists with the company, click the entry to enter the relevant number.
number
Homepage Click here to enter a URL for the company/guest. If you have a connection to the Internet, clicking the link
will open the website you have entered.

Available user rights

FO Credit card Enables/disables credit card authorization in the guest profile (and in the
194
authorisation “More” menu).

Authorizes the user to access, create, or edit credit card information in the
822 FO Credit cards
guest profile.

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Requests
Front Office Profiles “Requests” tab

Use this tab to add notes for the restaurant or general remarks about the guest.
You can provide the notes to the restaurant in list form. General remarks are also displayed in the Navigator and
Invoice dialog box.
You can use the “POS Rate code” drop-down list to assign a price level to a guest in the POS system if your POS
system supports this and has a corresponding interface.

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Tree view (requests)

Use the right window pane to enter or access additional information about guest requests.
Room specific Use this to specify if a guest always wants rooms with specific features. The dialog box that
requests appears shows a selection of specific room attributes that you can then drag to assign to the
guest. This will then allow you to provide the best possible room for the guest when allocating
rooms.

Guest specific Use this to specify if the guest has specific requirements that may apply to every reservation, e.g.,
requests the guest requires a second pillow. You assign the requirements in the same way as for room-
specific requests.
Preferred rooms You can define different preferred rooms for each guest. In the MPE software, you can also assign
the hotel. You can therefore specify room 103 in hotel A, but room 205 in hotel B. If available, the
room specified is displayed first during room allocation.
Preferred laundry Use this to specify if the guest has certain requirements relating to the changing of bed linen. A
pattern (days) “2” means: change the bed linen every second day.

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Revenue
Front Office Profiles “Revenue” tab

This tab shows all revenue data for the open guest profile. Revenues are broken down by year, month, and
quarter (scroll to the far right to see all information).
Display

You can use various criteria for evaluating this information:

Number of arrivals, arrivals multiplied by persons, room nights (number of nights stayed), revenue from extras,
revenue F + B, accommodation revenue, or total revenue.
Click [Print] to print the individual evaluations.
Evaluation period
Define the period over which the evaluations are to be conducted. Then click [Compute].
The data that is calculated is displayed in year order. The individual columns show revenues to date, revenue for
individual months, and revenue for the quarters.

Available user rights

176 FO Guest profiles (revenue tab) Enables/disables the Sales Revenue tab in the guest profile.

Available settings

If a large amount of revenue data has been stored for a guest profile, it may take a long time to display the
information. Since this increases the amount of time required to open the guest profile, you can suppress the
automatic display of revenue information. In this case, you must click the “Compute” button to display the
information. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

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Marketing
Front Office Profiles “Marketing” tab

You use the “Marketing” tab to manage all marketing activities relating to a guest. It allows you to view past
activities and plan new ones. You can also assign certain marketing or VIP codes to your guest. Marketing codes
allow you to address mailing promotions to specifically selected customer groups; VIP codes help to provide a
more personalized service to your guests.

Creating or modifying a note

Use the “Create or modify notes” section to enter marketing-related information about the current guest. For
instance, when the guest needs to be contacted or sent a specific item of advertising material.

1. Enter a date on which the action is to be performed or the guest contacted.

2. Enter a descriptive text.
3. Optional: If you select the On resubmission at check box and enter a date, the guest will be included in
the “Guest profile/Resubmission list” report. This information can also be referenced when creating mail
merge letters or sending group e-mails (see also the “File Export/Mail Merge” chapter).
4. Finally, click [New] to add the entries to the list above.

Tree view
You can use the tree view in the right pane to enter marketing and VIP codes and other marketing-specific
information.
Sales If the Sales and Marketing module of protel PMS is active (SQL version only), the system enters the sales
department user here automatically. Otherwise, this entry does not have any function.
Marketing
Main code: You can select a marketing code from the list box (if entered in the system data). Marketing codes can be
used, for example, to record the source of the guest address (e.g., advertisement, request for brochure).

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This field can also be used as a filter by the “File Export/Mail Merge” feature when creating mailings (e.g.,
to export all guests with marketing code x).
Sub codes You can enter any number of marketing codes in a profile as sub codes. Click the required codes to select
them. They are assigned the protel system date when you exit the dialog box.
VIP
Main code: VIP code. You can use VIP codes to assign guests to certain customer groups with specific privileges.You
can also use VIP codes for analysis purposes and creating mail merge letters. You create the codes in the
system data under Reservation > Guest profile codes.
Sub codes You can enter any number of VIP codes in a profile as sub codes. Click the required codes to select them.
They are assigned the protel system date when you exit the dialog box.

Rates
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “RATES” TAB

You can define different rate types in a guest profile. For instance, if a company has a different special rates for
overnight stays with breakfast, meetings, and trade fair periods, you can enter this information in the system data
and assign it within the profile. You can also use this tab to assign season-specific rates.
Assigning priorities to the rates allows you to specify which rate is proposed in the reservation by default. For
instance, you can set the “Overnight + breakfast” rate as the default rate for every reservation.
If reservations are then made for a meeting event, use the drop-down list in the dialog box for reservations to
select the rate code applicable for this company. These rate codes are marked with a “*”. To change rate codes,
use the Rate by day grid.

Special rates by amount

You can enter differing special rates for up to four persons. You can enter four special rates for different periods.
In this case, the fifth rate you enter always applies if the reservations do not fall within one of these periods. To
enable the special rates, you must select the Special rates by amount are valid check box.

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Details:
Use the “From” and “To” boxes to enter the period during which the rates are valid and enter the rates for a
reservation with 1, 2, 3, or 4 adults in the subsequent boxes.
Finally, use the “else” box to enter the prices applicable for 1 to 4 persons if the reservation does not fall within
the periods specified.

Rate negotiation by rate code

Right-click in the table in the lower pane to open the context menu and assign a specific rate code:

If you select the “New rate codes” option, an input dialog appears for making the assignment:

1. Enter the period during which the rate code is to apply or use the “From seasons” drop-down list to select
a seasonal period created in the system data.
2. Select the rate code from the combo box. You can also enter an optional remark if required.
3. Click [OK] to enter the rate code in the list.

Use the selection box at the top of the window to determine which rate code is proposed for the guest by default
when making a reservation.

“Valid rate codes are assigned to reservation automatically”:

All valid rate codes from the list are displayed when making a reservation: the first valid rate code is displayed in
the reservation as soon as you select the guest profile.

Fig.: Reservation dialog box

The first available rate is displayed using ***. This makes it easier to identify the actual rate applicable as
proposed by the system. You can use the “Rate code” drop-down list to select the other available rate codes. If
additional rate codes have been assigned in the guest profile, all relevant rate codes are marked with a * within
the list.

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This rate code takes priority over all other rates within the reservation. The system increases/reduces the rate
automatically if a change is made to the rate during the reservation period based on the period used to define the
assigned rate codes or seasonal periods.

“Valid rate codes are shown during reservation”:

When using this option, the first valid rate code is again proposed as the default value.

Fig.: Reservation dialog box

In this case, the rate code is identified with *. You can use the drop-down list to view all other valid rate codes
assigned within the profile. The sequence in which they are displayed corresponds to their assignment in the
profile. In other words, the rate code that appears first in the profile will also be displayed first here.
The selected rate code is retained for the reservation.

Editing an assigned rate code

Right-click a rate code within the list to open the context menu, which provides access to several options.
You can change the order of entries within the list. The sequence in which the assigned rate codes are listed
determines the order in which rate codes are displayed and the rate code shown by default when making a
reservation.
One level higher Example: If the rate code is in the third place in the list of assigned rate codes, use this option to
move it to second place.
One level lower Moves the rate code lower in the sequence.
Set to first level Use this option to move a rate code directly to first place if it is to be used as the default rate
code.
Set within all If a special rate is defined for a master profile, you can use this option to copy the assignment of
accounts and this rate code to all assigned sub-profiles. The assignment is also applied for all contacts in protel
contacts Sales and Marketing.

Discounts
Discount code Use the drop-down list to select specific discount codes from the system data.
The discount is not posted automatically. Instead, the system asks whether the discount
should be posted during the check-out process. If the person performing the check-out
answers [Yes], the discount is calculated and posted using the criteria defined in the system
data for the discount code applicable to this profile.
Please note that the discount calculation applies to all charges on the invoice, not just the
postings relating to the cost of the overnight stay.
For example, if a 10% discount code has been created for all extras (statistic group), all
charges are discounted, including telephone charges and other extras.
Cancellation fee The cancelation and empty bed fees are used to calculate and show the applicable
code / Empty information on an end-of-day report. You can decide whether or not to calculate the
bed fee cancelation/empty bed fees.
Please contact protel hotelsoftware GmbH Dortmund to enable this feature.

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Deposit code Use this to enter a deposit code that has already been defined in the system data. If this guest
makes a reservation, a deposit will automatically be generated for the reservation based on
this code.

Commission codes
You can enter commission codes for a guest profile.
To do this, right-click anywhere in the “Commission codes” pane. Then use the context menu to create new codes
or edit and delete existing codes.

Use this dialog box to enter a commission code that has already been created in the system data. Commission
codes may be assigned only for the “Company, Travel agent, Source” or “Group” profile types.
If you want to work with net commission for foreign reservations, use the “Tax 1” and “Tax 2” fields to select
differing tax rates. These must also have been previously created in the system data.
Click [OK] to enter the commission code in the list.

Available user rights

182 FO Guest profiles (rates) Enables/disables the Rates tab in the guest profile.

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Accounts receivable
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “A/R” TAB

Statements and reminders

If you want to send statements rather than reminders to certain firms as part of the accounts receivable process,
you can use this pane to specify the profiles for which statements are required. In accounts receivable
management, these profiles will then be selected automatically when accessing the “Print statements” function
(see the “Accounts receivable” chapter). Use the check boxes to select when statements are to be sent.
You can use the “Remind.code” drop-down list to select a default reminder code.

Credit limit
If you select the Inhouse Crd.lim. check box and enter a credit limit, this guest will appear on the “TA exceeds
credit limit” list if the list has been included in the end-of-day routine and the guest's balance exceeds the credit
limit that has been set.
Select the Credit limit check box to set a limit for account receivable accounts. If a guest with the "accounts
receivable" payment method exceeds this credit limit when checking out, it will not be possible to check out the
guest.
For groups of hotels, you can also enter an overall limit (“Group limit”) and balance (“Group balance”). The
amount in the “Available” box represents the difference calculated between the group limit and group balance.

Account data
You can use this pane to enter an account number from financial accounting and create a link to a master A/R
account that is to be used for central credit limit checks and accounts receivable management. Select the
Debts are maintained under the following A/R account check box and use the [...] button to select a master
A/R account. Use the View button to view the profile of the master A/R account.

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If a profile serves as a master A/R account for other profiles, the system selects the This profile is A/R account
for the following profiles check box automatically and displays the allocated profiles in a list below.
Right-click in the list pane to open the context menu, which can also be used to assign a new profile from this
screen. Click “New” and search for the required profile.

Routing instructions: Automatic routing when profile is assigned

[ FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “A/R” TAB ]

From Version 2013.17.458

One or more routing codes can be applied to all profile types in the “A/R“ tab.
To apply a new routing code to the guest profile, place the cursor on the „Routing instructions” pane, right click,
and then select the “Assign code” menu.

Evaluation of routing codes

For the service bookings, the regular payment instructions are used at first. If no payment instruction applies, the
invoices and their recipients will be checked for an already assigned routing code in the following sequence:
A,B,C,D,E,F. Should a routing code contain a booked account, it will be rerouted to the corresponding invoice.
The analysis sequence can be adapted accordingly. Please don’t hesitate to contact the protel Support Team to
assist you with these settings
Is neither a regular payment instruction nor a routing code valid in the profile, the rate code's routing code will be
checked. If this contains the respective account, it will be rerouted to the routing target.

Available user rights

FO Guest profiles/Enter AR account Authorizes the user to enter an account number for financial
165
number accounting under “Ext. A/R”

811 FO Guest profiles view only Controls write access to the A/R tab in the guest profile.

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Master
Front Office Profiles “Master” tab

Use this function to assign revenues from guests, companies, etc., to master accounts. This causes the profiles
that you assign become sub-profiles.
Example: A company has a number of different departments and company offices. If you assign one of these
companies to a guest, the revenues for the guest are copied to the company profile. However, if you now want to
view revenues for the entire corporate group when agreeing rates, you would have to add together the revenues
from the individual company profiles.
The master profile assumes this function. Revenue and occupancy details from all sub-profiles are copied to the
master profile and can be used for evaluation purposes.

Master profile
If you assign a sub-profile to a profile that you have opened, the open profile automatically becomes the master
profile. The This profile is master account check box is selected and the associated sub-profiles are shown in
the list below. You cannot assign a master profile to another master profile or assign additional sub-profiles to a
sub-profile.
The “Remarks” column shows the revenues that have been copied. You can also create assignments for which
only the occupancy information is transferred and for which revenues are not shown in the master profile.

Assigning a sub-profile
Click [New] and use the guest search function to select the profile that you want to assign as a sub-profile.
You can use the “Relation” box to enter the type of connection between the companies (subsidiary, sister
company, Partner Company, etc.).
If the relationship changes, enter the new details in the box at the bottom of the window and use the [Change]
button to display the new information.
To delete the relationship, select the relevant profile and click [Delete]. Any data already transferred to the
master profile is retained.

Sub-profile
You can only assign a sub-profile to one master profile. Once assigned, it is displayed in the list.

Assigning a master profile

Click [New] and use the guest search function to select the profile that you want to assign as a master profile.
You can use the “Relation” box to enter the type of connection between the companies (subsidiary, sister
company, Partner Company, etc.).
If the relationship changes, enter the new details in the boxes at the bottom of the window and use the [Change]
button to display the new information.
To delete the relationship, select the relevant profile and click [Delete]. Any data already transferred to the
master profile is retained.

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Available user rights (master accounts)

115 FO Master Accounts Enables/disables the “Master” tab in the guest profile for the user logged in.

FO Master Profiles Allows a user to edit master profiles. Revoking right 807 prevents an employee from
817
(edit) editing master profiles.

Commissions
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “COMMISSIONS” TAB

NOTE:
This tab appears for company, travel agent, source, and group profiles only.

This window displays guest reservations for which commission has been calculated.
Enter an evaluation period and click [Calculate].

Arrival, Data about the reservations for which commission has been calculated.
Departure, Name
of guest, Room
Amount LOC Amount of commission to be paid in the local currency.
Currency Shows the relevant currency if payment is not made in the local currency.
C-Amount Amount of commission in the currency in which payment is made. Conversion is performed on the
day of calculation and is based on the exchange rate applicable on this date.
Com.Code Shows the commission code used as a basis for calculating the commission. This is created in the
system data.

The bottom of the window shows the paid, due, and total commission amounts.
Click [Print] to print a report containing the displayed reservations on which commission is due together with the
name, room number, and dates of arrival and departure.

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Available user rights

124 FO Commission clearing Enables/disables the Commissions tab in a profile (e.g., company profile).

Future
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “FUTURE” TAB

This tab displays all future reservations for a guest profile. Cancellations are shown in red with the status
“Cancelation.”
Right-click a reservation to open the Navigator for further editing of the selected guest.

Use the [New] button to create a new reservation for the guest profile you have opened.

Cancel existing reservations.

Reactivate reservations that have already been canceled.

Print the displayed reservation.

Access additional functions (ONLY POSSIBLE if the relevant additional functions have been configured in the
system).
If the Extended tooltip function is enabled, placing your mouse pointer over a reservation will display
additional information such as the reservation number or cancelation date and reason.

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History
Front Office Profiles “History” tab

This tab lists all past reservations for the guest profile you have accessed.

You can filter the display by Reservations, No Shows or Cancelations, and/or specify a time period.
Click [View] to refresh the list immediately.
If you want to print all the details, use the Print button to generate a report. You can also select individual
reservations to limit the detailed printed accordingly.
If you access the history for a company, travel agent, source, or group profile, this will show the reservations for
the individual guests for whom a reservation was made using this profile.
Context menu
Select a reservation and right-click to view additional functions. For instance, you can view a reservation history if
one exists for this reservation. This can be useful for no-show or canceled reservations as it allows you to
determine when and by whom this reservation was assigned no-show or canceled status.

Available user rights

FO Guest Controls access to the guest history in guest profiles. If this right is revoked, the button is
306
history grayed out and the guest history is also locked via the Navigator.

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Letters
Front Office Profiles “Letters” tab

You use the Letters tab to manage the correspondence conducted via this guest profile.
NOTE:
The “Letters” tab is replaced by the “Letters (inv.)” and “Letters (res.)” tabs in the “Company,” “Travel agent,”
“Source,” and “Group” profile types.

“Letters (inv.)” relates to the contact person entered for invoices on the profile; “Letters (res.)” to the contact for
reservations.

The tab lists all reservations forms, guest letters, and mail merge letters along with their creation date, change
date, the name of the creator, form name, and the folder where the documents are stored.
You can also create a new letter for the open guest profile or select a letter in the list for editing.

Context menu
Right-click in the list area to open the context menu.

Click “New” to create a new letter or “Edit” to open a selected letter for editing.
Add file
Use this to import an entire file into the letter history (see “Adding external letters”).

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Additional functions
Front Office Profiles “Letters” tab button bar

Create a new letter: If you accessed the guest profile from the Navigator, you can select
from all forms of the type “guest letter.” Double-click or select the required form and click
[OK] to create a corresponding letter.
If you have clicked the “Res. texts” button in the Navigator, the system accesses all forms of
the type “reservation form.”
From version 2013.17.100
Add the guest's gender to your reservation forms by using the following Code: $y118.
For this purpose, the code has to be added to the relevant form in the system data:
Start the system data and open the Menu "Text > Form Administration". Select a form
group and double-click the form you want to edit. Add the code to the desired position and
save the form by clicking [OK].
Use this button to view a letter that has already been created and edit it if necessary.

Removes a letter from the history: Select the relevant letter in the list and click [Delete
Letter].
Use this button to enter internal comments about a letter. Select the letter, enter a
comment in the “Text” field, and click [Change Comment].

.
Use this button to check whether all required data is present. It opens a window showing
the letterhead together with the entries from the “Address” tab.
Select a letter to send it to the e-mail address defined for the current guest profile as an
attachment.
NOTE:
To send an e-mail, a valid e-mail address must have been entered in the guest profile
Some additional settings are also required to enable protel to communicate with your e-
mail client. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel
support team.
Sending letters by e-mail is supported as of Version 11.222 (2/12/2007).

If required, you can BCC yourself (user reply address) in the e-mail to ensure it is sent
correctly. protel Support will be happy to configure the relevant settings for you.

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Adding external letters

You can also add letters that were not written using the word processor in protel HMS to the history. If you have
sent an inquiry or quotation by e-mail, for example, you can store the relevant e-mail in the guest's profile.
You can use the clipboard to transfer the letter. If you use MS Word for external word processing, you can save
the file as “Rich Text” in Word. You can store the letter as a text file if Word is not available at your workstations.
You can use the clipboard to transfer an e-mail to the guest profile.
1. Select the text in your e-mail program (e.g., Outlook)
2. Open the Letters tab for the guest (company, travel agent, source, group) in protel HMS
3. Right-click in the list area
4. a) Paste rich text from clipboard: Copy the text from the clipboard as an rtf document.
b) Paste text from clipboard: Copy the text from the clipboard in txt format.
b) Paste HTML text from clipboard: Paste text that has been copied from a browser in HTML format.
Saving letters in txt format rather than the doc format used by MS Word uses less space.

Inserting files
1. Right-click in the list area
2. Select “Add file” from the context menu that appears
3. The “Open file” dialog box appears. In this dialog box, navigate to the directory containing the
document/file.
4. Select the file and click “Open” or double-click to select the file.
5. A message appears with the following options:
a) Save the file in a protel directory (accessible from all workstations)
b) Create a link to the file. If the file is stored locally or within a certain directory on the server, it may not
be possible for all workstations to access the file.
When you open the document, the corresponding program (e.g., Word) launches automatically.

Storage location for letters

The default directory for storing guest letters is \protel\kunden\texte. You can specify an alternative storage
location if required. Please contact your local protel distributor or the protel support team for assistance.

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Family
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “FAMILY” TAB

Use this dialog to assign family members to a guest by linking the guest's card with those of his family members.

In the dialog box, click the [New] button or open the context menu and click “Add family member.”
This opens the Guest search window, which you use to find the relevant profile or create a new one.

Use the “Type” drop-down list to determine the relationship. You can also use the “Text” box to enter comments.

Click [Change] to change and save existing entries.

Right-click an existing entry to open the context menu:

In addition to creating a new entry, editing the selected entry, or viewing a family member's profile, you can also
delete a selected member from the family or split the entire family. In this case, the profiles continue to exist,
but are no longer linked.

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Invoices
Front Office Profiles “Invoices” tab

This dialog box displays all invoices created using the address from this guest profile. The list corresponds to the
view in the invoice history:
Invoice Invoice number
F-Code Fiscal code, only required for a fiscal invoice.
Date Invoice date
Name Guest's name. In the case of a company invoice, the name of the guest whose reservation was used to
generate the invoice is displayed here.
Payment If an incoming payment has been posted, the amount of the payment is displayed here. An amount of “0.00”
means that an accounts receivable invoice has been created.
Charge Shows the amount posted to this invoice as revenue.
Comment This field is not currently in use.
ResNo Reservation number for which the invoice was created.

You can use the filter options to specify a period for displaying the invoices created or to search using a fiscal
code. Once you have changed the filter options, click the [Refresh] button to update the list.

View Invoice Use this button to display the form for the selected invoice.
Form
View Invoice Opens a report showing the individual postings to the invoice. This shows the packages on the invoice
Postings together with the associated individual postings.

Print Report Creates a printout of all invoices created for the guest to date.

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Void Invoice Perform a correction for a selected invoice (see the “Cash Register” chapter, “Invoice history” >
Voiding invoices).

Photos
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “PHOTOS” TAB

In the guest profile, you can assign photos to a guest in any image format.
To add an image file, either enter a file path (right-click, “Insert photo”) or use the copy and insert commands
(right-click the file, select “Copy” and insert into protel via the clipboard).

You can add as many photos as you want to a profile. Right-click the file names to rename or delete the entries.

Available user rights

161 FO Display photos Enables/disables the Photos tab in the guest profile.

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Traces History
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES “TRACES HISTORY” TAB

When you create a trace in the Navigator using the “More” button, you can also select the Traces History check
box. If you do so, the trace defined for the guest is stored in the traces history for information purposes after the
guest has checked out. If you select the Auto Trace check box at the creation stage, the trace is automatically
set for the next reservation made by this guest. This is indicated by an “X” in the “Auto Trace” column.

Create a new trace for the open guest profile.

To delete traces, use the context menu.

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PCI
The PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council) is an independent council that was originally
founded by the leading credit card vendors American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard
Worldwide and Visa International. The council aims at improving the security of payment transactions that are
made using payment cards (credit cards or debit cards). The goal is to protect cardholder information by
universally enforcing the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard): The PCI DSS must be
implemented by all entities that store, process and/or transmit cardholder information.

PCI DSS in the travel and hospitality industry

Many transactions in the hospitality industry process cardholder information, e.g. booking a hotel room, using
electronic tickets, doing a self-service check-in, performing revenue accounting etc.

PCI compliance
PCI DSS compliance requires that certain recommendations for cardholder information usage be followed and
complied with. This is to ensure that cardholder information is stored only temporarily according to very specific
security requirements before it is permanently deleted.
For more information on this topic, please see here:

Settings in protel
PCI compliance requires certain settings to be made in the protel software. For more information, please
contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.
PCI compliance prevents any access to cardholder information from within a guest profile and requires that such
information is deleted from all profiles. Cardholder information can only be entered for a current reservation. Any
such information is automatically deleted from protel after the end-of-day routine that follows the check-out for
the relevant reservation. You can configure the number of days that the data is preserved in the system after
check-out.

User rights

Available user rights

822 FO Credit cards Controls access to the credit card button from within a reservation.

370 FO Reservation: Read CC from profile Controls access to the “Read CC from profile” feature. (Copy)

371 FO Reservation: Write CC to profile Controls access to the “Write CC to profile” feature. (Paste)

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My profiles (SPE & MPE only)

(Available for version 2008.12.152 or higher)
The [My Profiles] command provides direct access to your favorites and any recently or frequently used guest
profiles. This simplifies the search in many cases and makes the booking process more efficient. The phonetic
search feature (see “Search” below) is particularly helpful as it allows to search for names that sound similar.
Select the [My Profiles] menu item to open the protel Explorer:

Last recently used This shows the guest profiles that were most recently opened in the current session. The list
contains a maximum of seven profiles.
Favorites You can define guests that you are frequently in contact with (e.g. companies or travel agents) as
favorites for easier access. Please refer to the section on Guest profile tabs > Address > tree view >
Favorites for instructions on how to add a guest profile to your favorites
Most frequently This section shows an overview of up to fifty guest profiles that were most frequently accessed.
used profiles
Search Enter a search term and press Enter. protel returns all guest profiles that contain the entered string
and sound similar (phonetic search).
From version 2013.16.816
In addition, you can search for a specific profile number.

Opening the protel Explorer

Select protel Front Office / “Profiles” -> My Profiles.
Click the relevant option in any of the guest profile search dialog boxes.
Click the relevant option in any search results list.
Use the “Search & Command” bar to start a search.

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File Export/Mail Merge

FRONT OFFICE PROFILES FILE EXPORT/MAIL MERGE

To assist you when creating mail merge or circular letters, you can retrieve the address details from your guest
profiles in protel and export them as a control file. As an alternative, you can also use the internal word
processing tools provided by protel HMS to create mail merge letters.

The Mailing Wizard

The Mailing Wizard guides you through the individual stages of the export. Select or clear the check boxes in the
wizard to determine which addresses you want to retrieve and specify the relevant conditions.

Profile type Select the guest profile types

Add. filters See below
Country and ZIP Enter the country, region, and language (e.g., all guests with “English” as the language in their
profile).
ZIP-Area: Use commas to separate multiple ZIP areas in this box.
Last stay Select the Filter check box to enable this function. You can then enter the date of the last stay as a
selection criterion.
Mailing includes Select the relevant check box to specify that the address must be complete for mail merge letters
guests with sent by mail. You can also select the corresponding check boxes for mail merge letters sent by e-mail
or fax.

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ADDITIONAL FILTERS

In period Used as a filter for selecting stays and revenue. Enter a period during which a minimum number of
stays/nights or minimum revenue must have been recorded.
The guest must have stayed at the hotel during the period indicated.

Min. stays Enter the minimum number of stays that must have been recorded for inclusion in the mailing.

Min. nights Enter the minimum number of nights.

Min. rev. Enter the minimum revenue.

Filter remarks Select this check box to search for terms included in the Comments box of the guest profile.

Note: The more restrictions you make, the fewer guest profiles will be selected. The selections made are viewed
as “AND” conditions, which means that all conditions must be met (ZIP area 4000 and min. revenue EUR 2,000
and min. 3 nights).

LAST STAY

Specify the period during which the guest last stayed at the hotel.
For instance, do you want to limit the mailing to guests for whom a new profile was created during a specific
period (e.g., new customers only)?

MAILING INCLUDES GUESTS WITH

Only select guests with full address details

Only select guests with a fax number on file
Only select guests with an e-mail address on file

Click [Next] to go to the next window.

This provides two selection options:

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Salutation
Select this check box if you want to add the salutation for the guest's
companion (companion 1 as spouse) to the salutation specified in the profile.

Birthday
Guests with a birthday within a certain period:
Select the check box and the “have birthday at least once and become”
radio button
Guests who have reached the required age within a certain period:
Select the check box and the “have an age of” radio button

Family
Select the check box in the lower section to determine whether family
members are to be included.

Click [Next] to continue to window 3.

Use this window to determine whether guests with a specific marketing or VIP code are to be included in the mail
merge.
Select a code to include it as a selection criterion. The radio buttons allow you to choose between “AND” and
“OR” queries.

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Example:
AND query

All guests with the marketing codes “Mailing” and “South German” – only guests for
whom both marketing codes apply will be selected.

OR query

All guests with the marketing codes “Mailing” or “South German” – guests for whom
one of the marketing codes apply will be selected.

BUT NOT
The second window allows you to exclude profiles with a specific marketing or VIP
code.

Click [Next] to view additional selection options.

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Using the options provided here, you could, for example, select all reservations from a certain period with certain
codes. To do this, select the With reservation check box, enter the required period, and select the required
codes under “and codes.”
Use the [Next] button to open a window displaying all profiles that meet the selected criteria.
Click [Next] again to view the guests.

You can use the context menu to:

1. View the profile, if required
2. Remove the profile from the search results if the data displayed is incorrect or incomplete
You can use the [Print report] button to print a list of all selected addresses.
Click Next to go to the window for marking the guest profiles with an additional marketing code.

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You can mark the selected profiles with a common marketing code (e.g., mailing promotion winter 2013).

If the marketing code you want is not already available, click [Change marketing codes] to create a new one. This
opens a window that displays all marketing codes from the system data. In this window, you can add a new code
and then select it directly from the drop-down list.

If the export was created for a mailing that is not being sent on the same day, you can enter a differing date
(assignment of the marketing code is documented using this date).

If you want to make an entry on the “Marketing” tab of the guest profiles of the relevant guests, select the “Text”
check box and enter the required text in the input box. If resubmission is required, select the relevant check box
and enter the date of resubmission.
Click [Next] to select the type of mailing.

Mailing type

Mail merge using control file

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Mail merge with Microsoft Word using text file

If the mail merge has been created in MS Word and you want to use the control file there, you can create the file
as a text file at this point. This text file contains only the relevant information (address, salutation, etc.), which
means that the file size remains small even for large mailings.
Mail merge with different word processor using text file (MS-DOS file)
If you are using a word processing program other than Microsoft Word that is unable to accept the above format,
use this option to select a DOS format.
Mail merge with Microsoft Word using dbase file (MS-DOS file)
NOT SUPPORTED UNDER SQL!
If you want to create a file in a format other than a text file, you can use this option to generate a file in dbase
format. Using this format results in a relatively large file as it saves all data from the guest profiles.
Mail merge with Microsoft Word using dbase file (Windows)
NOT SUPPORTED UNDER SQL!
This option also generates a dbase file that can be used in programs incompatible with Microsoft products.
Use the “using file” input box to enter the path at which the file is to be generated. Make a note of this path if
you want to save the file to a storage medium or use it in Word.
Use the ... button to change the path. The export file is assigned the name “expkun.txt” by default. You can,
however, change this at any time. Ensure that you retain the “.txt” extension to preserve the required format.

Mail merge by e-mail

You can send mail merge letters by e-mail if you use MS Outlook as your e-mail program. Your MS Outlook
configuration must permit a transfer to MAPI. Ensure that you select the EMail Address entered check box in
the Mailing Wizard (see above, in the “Mailing includes guests with” section).
You can use the “Subject” box to enter text for the e-mail header. Use “Attachem.” to select the required
document.

Mail merge by fax

Send by FAX using Microsoft MAPI
If you use Microsoft MAPI to send faxes, it can also be used to send mail merge letters in protel. Ensure that you
select the Fax number entered check box in the Mailing Wizard (see above, in the “Mailing includes guests
with” section).
Send by FAX using Fritz Fax
You can send mail merge letters by Fritz Fax if you use Fritz Fax as your fax program. Ensure that you select the
Fax number entered check box in the Mailing Wizard (see above, in the “Mailing includes guests with” section).

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Printing a mail merge using the protel word processor

Select this check box if the printout is to be initiated directly from the internal word processor of protel HMS. The
text must be stored as “Customer text” in the system data.
If you create the mail merge from protel HMS directly, the text is saved in the Mail merge history.
Click [Finish] to create the file or mail merge.

Creating a mail merge letter in Microsoft Word

Once you have created a file using “File Export/Mail Merge” in protel HMS, you can use this file with the mail
merge function in MS Word.
Launch MS Word and open the required document. The following description is based on the recommended
workflow in Word 2007.

Starting mail merge

On the Mailings tab, click “Start Mail Merge.”
Select whether to start a mail merge or print labels.

Selecting the recipient

Click Select Recipients > Use Existing List...

Data source
The “Select Data Source” window opens.
The system will have created a file called “expkun.txt” in the protel server directory (unless you selected a
different directory or file name).
Open the folder in which the txt or dbase file is saved. Select “Text file” or “dbase file” as the “File type”
accordingly. The system will display the files found at this location.
An additional window appears. Select “Windows (Standard)” and click OK to confirm.

Inserting merge fields

You can then enter merge fields in the document to replace the addresses.
If the export was made to a txt file, the merge fields for the addresses correspond to the replacement codes from
the protel word processor.
Add1 to Add7 are replaced by the address. Enter these in the document underneath each other.
If a dbase file has been generated, the mail merge fields correspond to an address listing, first name, surname,
salutation, title (if applicable), street, etc.
After you have entered the fields, open the “Mail Merge” function once more.

Finishing and merging

Use “Mailings > Finish & Merge” to merge the document with the address file and replace the address codes.

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Mail Merge History

FRONT OFFICE PROFILES MAIL MERGE HISTORY

Use this menu item to print, view, edit, or delete mail merge letters that you have already created.
Use the [Load document] button to open and edit an existing document. If you no longer require a document, use
the [Delete letter] button to remove it from the history view.
You can add an internal comment about the mail merge documents at any time or change an existing comment.
To do so, select the required letter and enter a comment in the input box. Click the [Change comment] button to
change the comment.

Available user rights

272 FO Texthistory mail merge Controls access to the mail merge history.

Headquarter Link
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES HEADQUARTER LINK

Use this feature to connect to the headquarter. Only used for protel HQ installations.

Available user rights

126 FO Headquarter Controls access to the headquarter connection feature (FO - Profiles - Headquarter
Link Link).

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Profile Maintenance
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES PROFILE MAINTENANCE

Use this function to maintain your profile records. It allows you to filter profiles by individually defined criteria so
that they can be deleted or otherwise modified as a group.

Click the check boxes to select or clear the filters as required.

Example:

 You want to delete all guests who last booked a room X years ago. In this case, you would set the “Last
stay before” filter.
 Or, you want to remove profile records that are marked for deletion.
 You may want to edit the details on guest profiles with incomplete address information. In this case, use
the “Without phone number,” “Without city,” and “Without street” filters.

As you can see, there are a wide range of options available.

Once you have entered the required criteria, click [View Profiles].
You can then perform the following actions:

 Delete one or more selected files: Click [Delete marked profiles]

 Right-click a profile to open the guest profile for subsequent editing.

NOTE:
You can also access Profile Maintenance in the form of a "Wizard" that guides you through the individual
steps. For more information, please contact your protel distributor or the protel support team.

Available user rights

104 FO Guest profile maintenance Enables/disables access to profile maintenance.

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protel Match & Merge

FRONT OFFICE PROFILES PROTEL MATCH & MERGE

The protel Match & Merge function allows you to find duplicate profiles and merge them together.
To release this feature, contact protel hotelsoftware GmbH or your support provider.

The system checks the data in the “Name,” “Name2,” “Contact,” “Street,” and “ZIP” boxes for potential
duplicates. If the system finds duplicate profiles, it displays them in the upper pane of the dialog box together
with the corresponding parameters.
When you select the entry that you want to edit in the top pane, the individual duplicated profiles are displayed
below.

Editing the profiles

No automated functions are not provided for deleting or merging profiles. The user is responsible for deciding
which profile is retained and whether it is actually a duplicate.
Target profile
You can specify which profile is valid at the click of a button. Select the valid profile and click the [Target profile]
button. A green checkmark appears next to the entry:

Delete
You can also specify which profile can be deleted. Select the profile to be deleted and click the [Delete] button. A
red checkmark appears next to the entry:

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Merge
You can also specify which profiles can be merged. Select the required profiles and click the [Merge] button. The
entries are indicated by double-pointed blue arrows.

Execute
Click the Execute button to execute the selected functions. All data from the profiles marked with (merge) is
transferred to the profile marked with (valid). Profiles marked with (delete) are deleted from the system
without any data being transferred.

Context menu

The context menu provides the same functions as those described above. You can also use the “Edit Profile”
menu item to open the selected profile.

MS Outlook Synchronisation
FRONT OFFICE PROFILES MS OUTLOOK SYNCHRONISATION

This feature requires the Microsoft Outlook interface to be activated.

For more information, please contact protel hotelsoftware GmbH.

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Import MS Outlook Email

FRONT OFFICE PROFILES IMPORT MS OUTLOOK EMAIL

This feature requires the Microsoft Outlook interface to be activated.

For more information, please contact protel hotelsoftware GmbH.

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Add-Ons
Daily Rates
Please note that protel Daily Rates is an add-on subject to charge. For prices and further details please
contact your protel customer support. Or contact the protel Sales Team at [email protected].

Permissions
The access to Daily Rates is limited to certain user groups. None of the user groups have access rights after
implementation; the access rights have to be explicitly allocated to certain user groups. (System Data - "Divers"
menu - "Construction Kit” option - "Daily rates - Access rights” option).

Functionality
protel Daily Rates enables you to increase or decrease your entire rate structure or the rate for certain room
types or rate codes with a certain amount or with a percentage on a daily basis. For this to work, simply select a
day or a time range and enter a variation amount which is to be either added or subtracted from the regular rate.
The entered variation amount can be used as follows:
Base: increases or decreases the entire rate structure by an entered value.
Per room type: increases or decreases the rate by the entered variation value for reservations of this
room type.
per room type group: increases or decreases the rate by the entered variation value for reservations of
this room type group, if there has not been a variation value designated for the room type itself.
Per rate code: increases or decreases the rate by the entered value for reservations of this rate code.
per rate group: increases or decreases the rate by the entered variation value for reservations of this rate
group, if there has not been a variation value designated for the rate code itself.
The variation value for the individual days can be adjusted anytime.

"BAR - Best available rate"

The adjusting of rates with the help of the daily rates function can be used as a possible alternative to the BAR
functionality in protel. The use of the BAR functionality in combination with daily rates is not possible.

Calculation of room rates

If a reservation has been allocated to a rate with a variation value, the room rates will be calculated on a daily
basis for the length of stay taking the entered variation values into consideration.
If the length of stay is extended, the same will happen for the new days.
The amounts which have been transmitted will then be saved for this reservation. This will ensure that the rate
for this reservation will no longer be changed, even if the variation values will later be adjusted.

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Entry and care of the variation values

The values can be entered in the Front Office for all of the rate structures or for a certain room type or rate code
on a daily basis.

Accessing daily rates

1. Click the [Add-ons] button and select “Daily Rates > Enter daily amounts”.

2. Select a single day if you only want to adjust the values only for this day.

3. Select a time range when wanting to adjust the prices for numerous days.

Each row in the table represents a single day:

Daily Rates - Illustration 1: The entry dialog box has been accessed for a time-period of 8 days (01-08 February 2014). Each day is
illustrated in its own line.

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Enter new variation value

You can enter a variation value for a single day or for numerous days all at once.
PLEASE NOTE: Should the values be entered for numerous days, the respective time range will have to be selected
when starting the program.
Select an arbitrary day in the table using the right mouse button. The following possibilities are available in the
context menu:

New Base
When selecting New Base, the entered variation value will have an effect on the entire rate structure. Example:
You want to increase your prices to a certain amount from 01-03 February.
IMPORTANT: First select the exact date range:

Daily Rates - Illustration 2: The variation values should be compiled for the time range of 01-03 February.

Enter the desired variation value per occupancy.

HINT: Positive amounts will always be added to the regular rate. Is the price to be reduced, enter a minus sign in
front of the amount.

Daily Rates - Illustration 3: The entire rate structure will be increased by the entered variation values in the time range of 01-03
February.

Amount single = surcharge for the single-occupancy of the room

Amount double = surcharge for the double-occupancy of the room
Amount triple = surcharge for the triple-occupancy of the room [...], etc.

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New Room Type

When selecting New Room Type, the entered variation value will have an effect on the selected room type.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Always select the exact date range first!
Then, select the room type.
Enter the desired variation value per occupancy.

Daily Rates - Illustration 4: On 04 and 05 February, the rates for the “Business” room type will increase by the entered variation values.

New Room Type Group

When selecting New Room Type Group, the entered variation value will have an effect on all of the room types of
the selected group.
Note: Has a separate variation value been set for a single room type, it will be used for the rate calculation - the
variation value of the room type group will be ignored in this case. Example: A variation value of €10.00 has been
set for the room type group “Standard Room” and a variation value of €12.00 has been set for the room type
“Standard Double Room”. The amount of €12.00 comes into effect for the rate calculation.

New Rate Code

When selecting New Rate Code, the entered variation value will have an effect on the selected rate code.

New Rate Code Group

The entered variation value effects all of the rate codes of the selected group.
Note: The group variation value does not affect the rate codes to which a single variation value has already been
set. Example: A variation value of €10.00 has been set for the room type group “Corporate” and a variation value
of €12.00 has been set for the “protel” rate code. The amount of €12.00 comes into effect for the rate calculation.

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Changing the variation value

You can change variation values which have already been entered by selecting a row on the respective day and
selecting the “Change” command in the context menu by right clicking your mouse:

A possible alternative is double-clicking the row in question.

A direct double-click in a row underneath the columns rate 1/2/3/4/5/6 only opens the respective variation value
for this respective element:

Changing numerous days

Select numerous rows (days) and select the “Change” command in the context menu to change the values for the
selected days.

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protel Front Office - User Manual | Index

Index

A Companion 35
Account statement 153 Company reservation 77
Accounts 141, 152 Context menu 12
Accounts receivable 152, 264 Control file 277
Active sessions 236 Credit cards 35
Additional beds 214 Currency exchange 142
Advanced invoice 77, 137 D
Alert times 35, 236 Data exchange 152
Arrivals report 165 Data export 277
Available rooms 198 Delete reservation 35
B Departures report 171
Balances 178 Deposit 35, 40, 147
Batch invoice 162 Deposits to be paid 147
Block/unblock rooms 103 Discrepancy 213
Booking confirmation 32 Double-click menu 28
Send as PDF 33 Drag & Drop 13
Buttons 9 Duplicates 287
C E
Cancel button 9 Edit invoice 22, 124
Cash register 123 E-mail 277, 289
Cash register closure 144 End of day 230
Cash register posting 141 Enter status 191, 213
Chance sales 138 Entering a date 14
Change name 33, 77 Events 205
Changing reservations 124 Exchange rates 35, 144
Check / currency exchange 142 Extended rate code availability 110
Check in 77 Extended tooltip 76
Check out 77 External word processor 272
Colors 191 F
Commission clearing 221 Family 273
Commission recipients 35 Filter 194
Commissions 267 Fixed charges 35

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Forecasting reports 199 IFC settings 35, 63

Forms 152 Information book 228
Function keys 8 Information invoice 35, 124, 162
Future 268 Inhouse list 169
G Interim invoice 136
General online help information 9 Invoice history 35
Graphic module 219 Invoice print mode 35
Group 77 Invoice screen 149
Group action 84 Invoices 22, 35, 77, 124, 149, 273
Group advance invoice 77 L
Group cancellation 77, 88 Letters 32, 183, 270, 285
Group check-in 77, 87, 88 Linked files 35
Group check-out 77, 88 Logging in to a cash register 124
Group confirmation 77 M
Group invoice 77 Mail merge 277, 285
Group master 60, 77, 83 Mailing 277
Group members 60, 77 Mailing wizard 277
Group reservation 77 Maintain allocations 112
Guest address 246 Manager spooler 219
Guest data 245, 254 Marketing 259
Guest history 34, 269 Master profile 266
Guest profile 241, 242, 245, 286 Meal plan 185
Guest profile search 75 Message 26, 173
Guest requests 256 More... dialog box 35
Guest revenue 258 Move 29, 239
H MS Outlook 289
Headquarter link 286 MS Word 225, 277
Help 9 Multi Strategy 110
History of reminders created 152 Multiple rate strategies 110
Hotel selection 239 My profiles 276
Hotel status 200 N
Housekeeping 205 Navigator 17, 18, 19, 22, 26, 33
Housekeeping Report 205 Next room rate posting 35
Hurdle rates 105 No show report 184
I O
Icon 7 Out of service 102

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Outlook 289 Reporting 217, 219

Overbooking 120 Reports 35, 165, 169, 171, 173, 175, 178, 179, 184,
185, 199, 219
P
Reservation 65, 76, 77, 90, 187, 191
Paidout receipts 147
Reservation history 31
Payment history 152
Reservations on the book 215
Payment receipts 147
Reservations report 179
Payment/routing instructions 35
Resolution 192
PCI compliance 276
Room allocation 99
Phone calls 35
Room discrepancy 213
Phone numbers 177
Room information 213
Photos 274
Room plan 191
Pick up 65
Room status 213
Post payment 152
Room type plan 187
Posting 77, 139
Rooming list 77
Posting charges 139, 141
S
Posting check out 124
Sales call 94
Posting details 124
Search bar 15
Preliminary departure 138
Selecting multiple items 13
Print 35, 235, 277
Sharer 34, 90
Print button 9
Sharer reservations 34, 90
Print invoice 35
SMS reservation confirmation 66
Private reservation 76
Source reservation 77, 90
Pro forma invoice 35
SQL 240
Profile maintenance 286
Standard buttons 9
Profile tabs 12
Sticky note 15
protel Explorer 276
Sub-profile 266
protel Match & Merge 287
System data 235
R
T
Rate availability 106
Tables 10
Rate code posting 35, 141
Telephone 177
Rate-by-day grid 35
Telephone system 238
Rates 260
Text (local) 16
RBD 35
Text templates 225
Remind debtors 152
Traces 35, 175, 275
Rentable objects 176
Transfer items 35, 124
Report spooler 219

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Travel agent reservation 77, 90 W

U Walk-in reservation 76
User logoff 235 Window settings 9
V Windows defaults 9, 10, 12, 13
Void 35, 77, 150 Word processor 225, 228, 285

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