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Using a comprehensive efficient system
This invaluable product was originally developed to manage bookings, guest charges, check-ins and check-outs, room inventory and availability, and rates, all on a single platform accessed via a hotel’s computer system. Easy InnKeeping(EIK) has also interfaced with traditional hotel systems such as credit card terminals, keycards and phones. By providing a modern medium through which to connect and administer these fundamental operational tasks, EIK has done away with the disorganization, inaccuracy and inefficiency of paper-based methods.
And moreover, EIK has proved it's standards by interfacing with other dedicated systems—front- and back-office accounting, resort and package activities, housekeeping and GDS (global distribution system) connectivity.
EIK provides a single platform through which hotel staff can access, update and track all the relevant information concerned with the day-to-day function and well-being of the property, across all departments.
Using an Intelligible System
EIK is ever more user-friendly and intuitive. Even considering high rotation of employees, new staff are quickly and easily brought up to speed because of logical system navigation and streamlined user interfaces. The EIK Property Management Software product offers single-screen availability calendars (or “tape charts”) from which reservation clerks can enter and change bookings, check guests in and out, assign rooms, access guest folios and more. Systems are becoming increasingly flexible in accommodating rate changes, packages and overrides. Data is more comprehensive, accurate and accessible, allowing for improved tracking and reporting, uncomplicated accounting, and ultimately, enhanced guest service and increased revenue.
Using a strategic System
Thanks again to enhanced data collection, tracking (and reporting) improvements and the progressively integrated nature of EIK (many of which boast integrated CRM and revenue management capacity or at least interface to these systems), hoteliers can really take advantage of heightened customer relationship and revenue management abilities. EIK has been playing a critical role in identifying and tracking trends, defining rate, availability management strategies, and balancing wear and tear on guest rooms, while guest data affords plenty of opportunities to personalize the guest experience. This means Hotels can do a smarter business.
Using an adaptable system
While an international resort with multiple properties spread throughout the world needs significantly more extensive functionality from their PMS than a charming five-room bed and breakfast, efficiency is essential to both properties. In order to maximize efficiency of use, a PMS must be scalable to fit property size and amenities. A “light” version of the system covering room reservation software and a web booking engine may be all the small bed and breakfast requires. EIK provides you just that. An adaptable EIK caters to a range of property types, without sacrificing efficiency.
Using a cutting edge system
A hotel has to have an online presence these days. EIK offers Web booking modules that can be integrated into the hotel’s own website. Online reservations are automatically updated to the property’s reservation records in the PMS, with a choice of automatic or manual confirmation settings.
Online booking modules can accommodate group bookings, packages and last-minute deals, and access to special rates for corporate and industry clients.
Today’s PMSs also provide two-way GDS (global distribution system) interfaces, connecting hotels to major online distribution channels like Expedia and booking.com. Room availability and rates on the third-party website are kept up-to-the-minute via the connection to the hotel’s PMS, and any bookings made through the third-party channel are automatically added to the hotel’s reservation record.
But this is all old news, really. The latest trend is going mobile. Today’s spontaneous travellers are searching for accommodation and making bookings on the go from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. And EIK is at no loss in fulfilling these trendy requirements.
New Letter Editor Module, coming soon...
Easy InnKeeping booking software will be releasing an a new letter editor module that will allow our users to more easily create a high quality e-mail that can be used for communicating to your clients. The updated letter editor will give you functionality similar to what you find from other email marketing tools like Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. Easy InnKeeping reservation software offers the following benefits with it's current email marketing functionality.
Current Benefits
The benefit in using the current Easy InnKeeping email marketing tool, is that all your data is in one system. You do not have to mess around with downloading and uploading contact lists. Instead, you are able to easily use the bulk e-mail filter to determine who will receive your letter, create auto emails, and complete your necessary individual emailing requirements.
3 Ways to send Email
1. The bulk e-mail function is a great way to introduce your client base with promotions of packages, on-line booking deals, and special promotions that can include a call to action connecting your client directly to your Easy WebRez on-line booking software.
2. The auto e-mail function can be used to increase customer satisfaction and TOMA (Top-of-Mind-Awareness). The auto e-mail function, allows you to send out a pre-check in letter (*x’s) days before arrival, a thank you e-mail letters (x’s) days after check out, happy birthday & anniversary greetings, and a 6 or 12 month e-mail reminding them of their visit to your property. Using these different options help you build Top-of-Mind-Awareness among your customer base encouraging them to think of you the next time they are planning a get away.
3. The Individual E-mail function can also be used to complete your necessary individual emailing with your clients (example: confirmation, deposit e-mails, and etc.).
Value of Service Report
The Value of Service report in Easy InnKeeping provides you with valuable information about the use and effectiveness of both the email marketing tool and the on-line booking engine, GDS bookings, and your overall reservation totals for any given month.
We will be releasing details of the New Letter Editor Module in the near future, stay tune for more updates. The New Letter Editor will also be included in our Web-based E-Connect CRM (Customer Relation Software).
Easy WebRez (online booking engine)
Turn website visitors into Guest. Provide you visitor the ability to book instantly on your website 24 hours a day. Easy WebRez is controlled directly through the Easy InnKeeping Property Management Software. No double booking, no commissions, no extra updating. Let your website do the work while you take care of your other guests that are at your property. We can also customize the Easy WebRez booking engine to blend with your current website. View Customized Solutions
Auto E-Mail (TOMA – Top of Mind Awareness)
Build “TOMA” (Top of the Mind Awareness) with your new and old guest by staying connected automatically with Welcome, Confirmation, Thank You, Birthday, Anniversary, and Yearly Greeting E-mails that are sent automatically through the Easy InnKeeping Sofware. The Auto E-mail feature is a great way to build “TOMA”.
Bulk E-Mail (TOMA – Top of Mind Awareness)
Easily promote your property during your slow times, with special packages and pricing to entice your guest to come back for another visit. Offer a Family Night special with a movie and pizza, or a romance package with flowers and chocolates. Promote a special event in your locale area to encourage your guest to make a special trip back to your area and stay another night at your property. Be creative and entice your guest to make use of your property for any number of special reasons. You can easily manage and review the effectiveness of these offers by setting up a PROMO code for each special event that you promote through bulk e-mails to gauge the effectiveness of the offer.
Sales & Marketing (Lead Management Tool)
Reach out to your local businesses, organizations, or any other groups to promote your property. Keep track of your phone & e-mail contacts and schedule them for future follow up to stay connected on a regular bases. Bulk e-mail promotions & special offers. A great way to cultivate business for your property, by finding travelers that will be visiting your locale area for business or special events.
We're still working on the speed issues some of our clients have been experiencing, so we've got a bit more server maintenance scheduled for tonight at 1 AM CDT. That's Wednesday July 25 at 1 AM Central time.
11:00 pm Pacific
12:00 am Mountain
1:00 am Central
2:00 am Eastern
Expected down time should only be an hour. We're sorry for any inconvenience but we're looking forward to a zippier Easy InnKeeping.
Many users of Easy InnKeeping take advantage of the Easy WebRez component to integrate online reservation bookings with their property management system. But did you know you can also offer more than room reservations with your Easy WebRez?
Items like flowers, chocolates, bottles of wine, or even massages can be wonderful extras that your guests would be interested in ordering ahead of time. So why not offer them to your guests at the same time they make their online reservation? This is a great way to not only let your guests know about the extras you offer, but to increase your revenue per guest stay.
When you set up Account Codes for any item you may offer for additional purchase, you can create an Online Shopping Cart simply by selecting “Yes” for Online Option.
To add Account Codes and turn on your Online Shopping Cart:
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Decide what “extras” you’d like to sell along with your online reservations
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Go to Setup, Account Codes and add each item under Charges/Inventory
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Make sure you upload a good picture of the item. If you don’t have a picture, do a search online for copyright-free or royalty-free images of the item or service you want to offer.
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Click on “Yes” for Online Option
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Save the new Account Code
Your shopping cart will now be available for guests to use on your online booking page.
The Online Shopping Cart is just one of several enhanced features that can be added to your Easy InnKeeping. Other available options include:
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Custom Design
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Packages
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Group Online Booking
Join us for one of our Quick Start Training sessions to learn more. QST is held Wednesdays and Thursdays at 1PM Central. Contact support@gracesoft.com to sign up.
Site Maintenance Scheduled - Tuesday June 12, 2012 from 12:30 AM-2:30 AM (Central Daylight Time)
Easy InnKeeping will be down for a short time overnight for server maintenance.We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.
Night Audits
If you routinely run your Night Audit Report during this time, please change the time of the scheduled Night Audit in your Easy InnKeeping.
Calendar Backups
If you need to view your calendar during this time, please backup a copy prior to the scheduled maintenance. Go to File>Backup. Follow the prompts to save an Excel spreadsheet of your Monthly Availability calendar to your computer.
In 2012, we have been upgrading some very key and core functions in Easy InnKeeping. As with any important event like parties, weddings or banquets; there is a lot of work that goes behind the scenes. Nobody sees the kitchen where many are hard at work for many hours, but all appreciate the meal when it’s served! To make Easy InnKeeping work smoothly for you in 2012, our development team has put many hours into some key pieces of your software.
We want to take this time to let you know what has been happening ‘behind the scenes.’
UTC – Universal Time Coordinate!
As Easy InnKeeping has continued to expand to various time zones, and continents; it became vital to provide more flexibility in various date formats and to allow each property to define their particular time zone in the system.
If you use Online Reservations, please be SURE to define your time zone, and check-in and check-out times in Easy InnKeeping.
Time Zone in Easy InnKeeping
To assign your Time Zone go to the menu Features>>Option Settings. In the new section Date & TimeZone Settings, please select the time zone of your locality and Save.
Option Settings
Account Code Standards
Another function growing in use is the ability to create ‘account codes.’ Properties have great flexibility in creating these ‘account codes’ for meals and beverages, amenities, vacation tours or packages, gift shop items and much, much more. As more properties began to create custom account codes, some inconsistencies surfaced. In March of 2012, our development team standardized the way account codes are categorized and stored in the database.
The account code update was not even visible to our clients, but a few properties with custom codes, may have noticed this change and were instructed to conform their categories to the new standards. Overall, the standardization provides for more consistency and accuracy and was well worth the effort!
Taking Rooms and Rates out of Active Inventory
For some seasonal properties or condo management companies, rental units can be moved in and out of their availability calendar. Now Easy InnKeeping offers an easy way to temporarily remove a room, without deleting its reservation history.
Unit Active/Inactive
The Unit module is enhanced with the option of designating a unit to be Active or Inactive based on the needs of the property.
When option “No” selected and saved then the unit will become Inactive.
Inactive units will not appear in the reservation screens for new bookings.
7.8 Upgrade Completed March 31
- Account Code Standardization
- UTC implemented for Online Reservations
- New Condo Management Reports
- Designating Units and Rates as ‘Active’ or ‘Inactive’
Coming Soon – Variable Taxes
During the first week of May, some of our properties noticed a change in tax calculations as a new ‘variable tax’ feature was being tested. By the end of May the changes will move from our test system to Easy InnKeeping. For most of our client properties, the ‘variable tax’ will have no effect on their existing tax structure. “Variable taxes” will allow properties with various locations and tax requirements to manage all their units within one Easy InnKeeping login.
Stay informed about Easy InnKeeping updates!
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Contact Us Monday-Friday, 9-5 CST.
Click on LiveHelp from your software or from our web site www.easyinnkeeping.com
Easy InnKeeping ASP is great solution as a Condo & Vacation Rental Management Software. Easy InnKeeping allows you to have a web based system that is easy to access from any internet connection. In addition to the property management software, the solution also includes an online booking engine for your web site. The online booking engine can be customized and blended to match your current web site design for a professional look and feel, and allows your guest to make a reservation that downloads directly into your property management software.
The Easy InnKeeping Software with the Condo Module Includes:
- Owners Commissions & Revenues Reports
- Ability to Rotate Reservations Automatically
- Key Financial Reports
- Customized Security Levels for Staff
This is a web based condo management software that includes training, support, future updates, and database management that is Easy to Learn, Easy to Use. Click below to learn more.
While its staying power is a testament to the development and quality of the desktop version of Easy InnKeeping, technology and software development moves at a rapid pace. So it was no surprise that many users of Easy InnKeeping 3.2 or 4.0 discovered that their old software was not completely compatible with Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 7. A big surprise though, to many of those customers when they called to find out about upgrading, was finding out that Easy InnKeeping is now in the cloud, aka web-based.
What are the advantages of upgrading from an old desk-top version to the web-based?
First and foremost, your data is secure. It is backed up regularly, and is accessible from more than one computer. Grace Software, Inc. offers the web-based version of Easy InnKeeping hosted on its secure and reliable servers. You don’t need to be concerned about the old software being incompatible with current operating systems. You also don’t have to worry about losing your data when an old computer crashes and can’t be revived. Benefits to the online Easy InnKeeping include remote access, easy maintenance and monthly payment plans. Updates are automatically included, as they are released.
What’s different about Easy InnKeeping as a cloud-based hotel management software?
In keeping up with client needs, there have been many new developments with the software since version 4.0. Menus and screens have been redesigned to be more user-friendly. The look of the Monthly Calendar has gone from this:
to this:
The process of entering guest and reservation information has been streamlined. Instead of entering guest information first, then creating a reservation for them, guest information is now saved directly from the reservation screens.
Perhaps even more exciting are the additional modules and features that have been added to Easy InnKeeping. What we call our Sales & Marketing module is actually a fully integrated CRM, or Customer Relationship Management system. The tools for email marketing are built in. There's no need for a separate program or guest contact database like Constant Contact.
Other innovations since EIK 4.0 include the additions of more reports (many created specifically because of client requests), the Condo module for condo and vacation rental property management companies, and GDS interface.
So why switch?
If your existing desktop version is still working, you’re probably wondering why you should consider switching to the current web-based version. All I can say is that computers and technology have a shelf-life. For users of older versions of Easy InnKeeping, we can typically retrieve and transfer your data from a working computer with an internet connection to a new web-based Easy InnKeeping account. So don't wait until your old computer crashes, you get the blue screen of death, and your files and database are lost forever before you realize that upgrading to the newest version of Easy InnKeeping is what you really need to do.
With the influence of social media, a “check-in” takes on a different meaning these days. Many people enjoy posting their locations to Facebook and other social media sites, via their cell phones. If you’re a hotel, motel, inn, bed and breakfast, or vacation rental company that has guests physically checking in, why not let their virtual check-ins help promote your business?
For your guests, checking-in on Facebook from their phones is as easy as using the Facebook app and clicking on the Check-In button.
As the business being checked into, your side is a bit more complicated. You want to make sure your guests are checking into the right place, and that it shows up on your property’s page. Facebook has instructions for Claiming Places here.
Once you have your hotel or motel's Facebook page created and claimed, make sure you let your guests know to "check-in."