Updated 08/22/04
Updated 08/22/04
Thank you for choosing eSavvyRes (eSR) for your online reservation solution. eSR allows you to take control of your online reservations.
This users guide is designed to be brief but yet thorough. Our goal is to get you up and running as quickly as possible. We have strived to make eSR as intuitive and as easy as possible to use by using established terminology and processes used in the hospitality industry. While our goal was to make the system easy to use, it is also extremely powerful. You have a great deal of flexibility in setting up your reservation system.
To help understand how the system works, you might want to look at a few examples on uses of the reservation systems that we have set up. Seeing these examples will help you see how the system works and save you time with trial and error.
This guide will give you recommendations on setting up the system, which will help you maximize its use. There will no doubt that some users will come up with innovative ways of using the system. Since eSR was developed by hospitality providers for hospitality providers, we wanted to create a collaborative medium where the best practices could be shared between users. Go to the www.esavvysystems.com in our support area to share your ideas and read about other user’s best practices on setting up and using eSR.
The downloaded version of eSavvyRes has a limit of 100 reservations. To unlock the software you must purchase a license key. See the eSavvyRes "Installation" for more details.
Conventions used in this guide
We have tried to organize this guide in the order in which you will set up a facility (hotel, inn, lodge, etc) and its related information. This assumes you have the system installed and the initial configuration has been completed. Both of these topics are covered in separate documents.
This guide is written from the perspective of a “super user” who has all privileges to add facilities and make changes to any information. In practice you may assign user privileges based upon how much access you want to assign a user. There are three security levels which may be assigned. This is discussed in greater detail in the Users section of this guide.
eSavvy Basics
Following are the most basic steps in setting and using eSR. You can get up and running in a matter of minutes.
Each of these topics are discussed in great detail in their respective sections. Once the initial set-up is complete, you can go back to any of the sections and add or edit information at a later time.
Data fields - in each section there is a list of fields used to collect information. Most of these are self explanatory, but where appropriate we have added a comment to explain any special uses. In this guide the fields requiring an explanation are preceded by
.
Links - we have placed links were we felt appropriate, this will a open a browser window and load the applicable resources.
Tips and Notes - from time to time there may be a special tip or note to help users maximize the use of the system. Where we deemed appropriate we added a comment flagged as a **Tip or Note.
Screen Shots - in many of the topics we have incorporated a pop-up window with a screen shot of the eSavvyRes administration system. Just click on the Screen Shot image to view it.
We welcome comments or suggestions on this user guide or suggestions for the application itself to help us make eSR more beneficial for our users. Please go to our Contact Us form at www.esavvysystems.com/contact.shtml section and send us an email with suggestions in the subject field.
Company – The parent company that one or more facilities belongs to.
Facility – any business that sells or rents lodging or accommodations, i.e. hotel, motel, inn, lodge, bed & breakfast, resort, villa, vacation rental, apartment, campground, yacht charter…
Rate Plan – a rate that is offered to the public for a range of dates.
Option – an extra offer that is offered for sale associated with a rate plan. Options can be made to be optional or mandatory for a rate plan.
Rate Plan Type – general categories of rate plans.
Results Page – the page that displays the rate plans & rooms when a traveler searches for availability.
Target Group – a password protected rate plan.
User – a company user is a person that has permission to see and change information on the system. There are three types of users
- Super User – a user that has unlimited permission to see and change any information on any facility the company has.
- Administrative User – a user that has permission for a given facility to see add and change information for the facility or facilities.
- General User – a user that can see and confirm reservations only.
ID – the ID is a record identifier number that is used in various parts of the system, (i.e. Facility ID, Company ID)
Reservation process
To begin it is useful to understand how the system works and what the end results look like. This will get you up and running faster by helping you conceptualize how the system works and how to maximize the system’s use. You can also look at our sample reservation pages by going to our demo.
The following section describes a brief overview on how the reservation process works.
Search Forms – after you set up your facility(ies) and rate plans, you start the booking engine. You can link the booking engine into your website by copying and pasting a dynamic (URL) link or a html form into your web pages. When a traveler clicks on the link or fills in the form and clicks on Search, the reservation system is started.
Search Results Page – depending on the rate plans, associated inventory in your system, and the search request by the traveler, the system will display a list of available rate plans and the room types available for the rate plan. If no inventory is available, then the system will display a customized message.
Add to reservation – the traveler can click on a link beside the rate plan to “add to reservation”. The traveler can add multiple rooms to each reservation. When they are done selecting rooms they can click on “complete reservation”.
Enter Traveler information – the traveler is then prompted to enter the traveler information for each room.
Enter payment guarantee information – the traveler is then prompted to enter the reservation guarantee information.
Reserve – a reservation summary is displayed along with a link to “edit” their information or “reserve” the rate plan/room.
Confirm – when the facility receives a reservation an authorized system user can go to the eSR administration site and review all reservations. The user can click on new reservations and then click “confirm”. A confirmation message is then sent to the traveler.
Collecting payments – travelers are your customers. All payments are paid directly to the facility. eSR is not a middleman between you and your customers. There is no transaction charges for reservations received on your site through eSR. eSR is your proprietary online reservation system.
To access the system enter http://www.your_domain.com/hotel/esr-login.html in your browser address line. Click on the Company Login, then enter your Username and Password in the log-in screen. If you are the initial contact, this is the Username and Password you selected when you did the initial configuration. Or, if you were not the initial user and were set up as an additional user, use the Username and Password assigned to you. You can change these later.
Forgot Password – If you forget your password you can have the system email you a new password by clicking on the “Password Help” link on the log-in screen. You will need to know your email address that was used. The system will email you a new password. You can use the new password to log-in and then change your password if you want something easier to remember.
Following is a brief description of the navigation scheme used in eSR.
Top Menu Bar – The top menu bar includes links that allow you to manage the facility functions.
Click on your facility to begin working with it. Depending upon your user permissions you may see multiple facilities, just click on the one you wish to work with.
Sub Menu Bar – Rows of menu options will be displayed to allow you to mange your facility.
Bread Crumbs – these are small text links at the top of the page. Bread crumbs helps you keep track of where you are at and what you are working on.
Fields – most fields are self explanatory. An explanation follows the fields we believe needs clarification.
There are some special fields that need further comment
Special fields
Codes – in many cases the code is not used by the system. They are for your convenience in labeling records. There are a couple of exceptions; Rate Plan Types & Rate Plans Codes are used to define the sort order in the inventory and is also displayed on the results page.
Note: Careful thought should be given to the code hierarchy you use. These codes can be used to define the sort order when displaying rate plans. These codes can be changed at a later date.
Date fields – data formats are
URL fields – you must include the preceding http:// before the web address. Example http://www.yoursite.com/.
Warning: in many screens you can delete information, but be very careful as this cannot be undone. If you delete a record such as a facility, all related information such as its rate plans, inventory, reservations will be deleted too.
Click on the reservations link. This allows you to view the “Reservations” the Facility has in the system. Once you pull up a reservation you can confirm or cancel it.
A search facility that allows you to find reservations easily based on:
A list of reservations that meets the search criteria will be displayed. Click a reservation to view it.
Once you display a reservation you can confirm or cancel the reservation. To print the reservation select print on your web browser.
When you confirm the reservation a screen will be displayed to allow you to input your own PMS confirmation number if you want to save this information.
Additionally if you Confirm or Cancel the reservation a message will be sent to the Traveler.
Facility Settings
If you have not set up your Facility in the System Configuration, you can do it now. Depending upon your license key you may be able to add additional facilities.
Super users can click on “Configuration” link in the top menu bar (the configuration option will not be available for users without super user permissions).
Add Facility - click on “Add” to add a new facility, or on the “facility name” to edit the facility information.
Note: Depending on your license key, once you enter your allotted number of facility(ies) the [Add] will not be available. To add more facilities contact the eSR sales to get a new license key.
Special field explanations
Web site – Facility’s website address must have http:// in front of web address, example http://www.website.com
Logo URL – the Facility can display their logo on various pages throughout the system. This is an optional field. To use it you must have the graphic saved on your website. The graphic should be in jpg or gif format. It is recommended to no larger than 120 x 120 pixels. Please note that the larger the file size is the slower it can load. The http:// is required preceding the URL Reservation Email – this is the email address you want the reservations to be emailed to To begin working with a facility right away click on “Set Active”
eSR has a sophisticated security scheme. Users are permitted to see or change only what information they are given permission to see or change. The initial contact that did the system configuration for the company is considered to be the Company’s Super User. The Super User can add more users, both for the company or for each facility that the company has. The initial Super User can assign permissions to the users including giving others Super User permissions. These persons will then have permissions to see, add or change any information throughout the system for the entire company and for any facility. Super User permissions should only be given to a limited number of people. If you want to add a user but not give them unlimited permissions, you can give them permission to see and change information for any given facility under the facility’s user screen.
Assigning permissions is covered in the User Permissions section later in this guide.
Once you have a facility set up, you can start working with the facility settings. Click on your facility. This will bring up the facility’s main menu.
Here you will enter information for the facility(ies) you have set up. Click on “Settings”, this will bring up a Sub Bar Menu.
Setting up a facility is easy. Once you do the set up you generally do not need to return to this step again unless you want to make changes. Before you start make sure you think through how you want information displayed. It can save you time later on.
The first step in setting up a facility is:
Configuration – the first step is to configure the facility’s information.
Room Types – you can set up as many or as few room types as you want. If you plan to use the system for offering special last minute offers on your site you may want just a few Room Types. If you want to manage your entire inventory with the system you may want to add as many room types as you have at your Facility.
Special explanations
**Tip – if you want to use eSR as your entire inventory management resource, you may want to consider creating a Rate Plan for each smoking and non-smoking room type. This way your Inventory will match your room type smoking preferences.
Rate Plan Types – these are general categories to classify Rates Plans. You can create any scheme you want to classify Rate Plans, i.e. Rack Rates, Hot Deals, Tours, etc.
Note: The Code is used to display the order in which rate plans are displayed. This code can be changed without affecting the operation of the system. It will change the sort order of rate plans.
General Options – these are extra options you attach to any rate plan. Option can be used to easily create packages out of rate plans or offer add on services to a rate plan. General options are available to be added to any rate plan you create.
Preferences – the following is information the system uses as default values or in processing reservations and pages displayed.
AUTO_CONF: Auto Confirmation – you can choose to confirm each reservation before it is accepted or to automatically accept reservations without a confirmation required. The options are True or False.
BOL_KIDSFR: Kids stay Free – tells the system to charge for kids when calculating the rate plan based upon the number people in the room. DBL_EXRAP: Extra Person Charge – default extra person charge INT_CNFID: Confirmation Next Number – the system uses this when generating system confirmation numbers. It is sequentially changed with each new reservation. INT_MAXPEO: Maximum People Per Room INT_MAXRMS: Maximum Rooms Per Reservation RATE_SORTn: Rate Sort Order – determines the way the rate plans are displayed on the search results page when a traveler searches for availability RES_FROM: Reservation from – this is the email address that system will display as from in the reservation email. RES_SUB: Reservation subject – this is the subject line for email reservations. The default is Reservation Summary.
RES_TO: Reservation to – this is the email or fax address you want your reservations sent to.
STR_CNFPRE: Confirmation Prefix – a prefix used at the beginning of each reservation confirmation. STR_CNFSUF: Confirmation Suffix – a suffix used at the end of each reservation confirmation. STR_FREQTR: Frequent Travel Program – This is the label you want displayed on the traveler information pages when making reservation. Example, “Frequency Program #”
TEMPLATE: Template – search results and reservation pages template.jsp name. You can create a different template.jsp for each facility, see customizing eSR in the installation document Messages – the following are policies that are displayed on the reservation summary and on the reservation emailed when a traveler reserves a room.
NORATES: No Records Match Search – this message is displayed on the rate plan results page when a traveler searches for availability and no rate plans were found.
POL_CANCEL: Guarantee/cancellation Policy POLCHECK: Check In/Check Out POL_OTHER: Other Policies POL_TERMS: Terms & Conditions RES_CONF: Confirmation RES_SUMMAR: Reservation Summary RES_TAX: State, Local, Room Taxes RES_THANKS: Thank You for Your Reservation There is a two-step procedure that one must follow when setting up a rate plans. First the rate plan must be created, then room types must be assigned to the Rate Plan.
Note: If you forget to assign room types the rate plan will not show up on the results page when a traveler searches for availability.
Step 1 – enter the information in the rate plan data input form.
Code – the code is used in the system for sorting order Plan Type – drop down list of rate plan types previously created Group – drop down menu of groups previously created People Included – this is the number of people included in the rate before the system starts charging for extra persons. Minimum Stay – the minimum number of night the rate plan is offered for, i.e. 2 night minimum stay Start Date Stop Date Rate Extra Person Charge Quantity to Sell OK to Over Sell [check box] – default is unchecked Logo URL – you can add an image that will be displayed beside the rate plan on the rate plan results page when a traveler searches for availability. This is useful to make the rate plan stand out on the page. We recommend that the image be no large than 40 x 40 pixels. When you set up a rate plan for the first time, days within the range of start and stop dates are added to the inventory. These days of inventory have the rate, quantity to sell and the okay to oversell that you specified in the rate plan
Assign Rate Plan Room Types – here you specify what room types are allowed for this rate plan from the room types you created previously.
Note: If you do not assign room types the rate plan will not be displayed in the Search Results page when a traveler searches for availability.
Click “Rooms” to assign the room types allowed for the rate plan
**Tip: If you are using eSR to manage your entire inventory, you might consider creating a rate plan for each room type including smoking and non-smoking preferences.
Inventory – when you select this item a list of all valid dates will be displayed for the rate plan.
Note: the quantity to sell is the total inventory in the system, this does not change when a rate plan is reserved. The rate plans available to sell is the difference between the rooms sold and the quantity to sell.
You can manage the inventory two ways.
1) Click on any date by clicking on the date link. The details for the day will be displayed.
2) Click on “Edit a Range” you can change the information for a range of dates
Note: Managing inventory for a range of dates can only be done within a range of dates that are already set-up.
**Tip: managing inventory by a range of dates allows you to change rates and availability, or do blackout, for a range of dates with in a rate plan. Example: if you have a high demand weekend and want to either raise rates or reduce the quantity to sell for the weekend within the rate plan.
You can also manage Inventory in a familiar Calendar style interface as well. See (Calendar Format) below
**Important Note** Editing Rate Plans
Managing rate plans and its inventory is one of the most important functions in maximizing revenue for a facility. Therefore, a special note is provided on the process.
- When a rate plan is created the system adds days to the inventory file. The inventory is created using the information in the rate plan for the range of dates specified.
- You can edit the rate plan. The new values for rate, quantity to sell and okay to oversell will not affect the existing days of inventory.
- If you expand the range of dates (i.e. extend the stop date), new days will be created in the inventory file. If you have changed information for the rate, quantity to sell and okay to oversell, these values will be used for the new days inventory, but will not affect the days previously created.
- If you contract the range of dates in the rate plan (i.e. move the start date ahead) the days prior to the new date will be removed from the system altogether. So make sure you really want to change the start date.
- You can keep the dates on the system indefinitely. This is useful for referring to previous periods of time to determine how well a particular rate plan sold.
Assign Rate Plan Options – here you can assign options to a rate plan. Options are a great way to create packages. You can either assign options you created previously (General Options), or you can add an option on the fly. One distinction between the two types of options; options created on the fly are only available to the rate plan you are managing, while General options are available to any rate plan.
You can specify options to be optional or mandatory to the traveler. If you specify the option to be mandatory, the quantity will be set to one unit, and the traveler has no choice in accepting or denying the option. When a traveler reserves a rate plan with a non-mandatory option, the guest is prompted to add the option to the reservation.
Note: when you create an option on the fly for a rate plan, the option is only available to that rate plan.
This is an inventory management interface that allows you to look at the inventory in a familiar calendar format.
You can select the dates to display along with various other criteria. You can sort the rate plans by Rate Plan Type or Room Type. Each date is displayed with all Rate Plans available for the criteria you selected.
The Inventory Calendar includes a Blackout feature. To use the Black out just click on the 
icon, to remove the Blackout click on the 
. When you click on Blackout the system will not display any inventory available for that day when a traveler does a search for availability. The background color of the blacked out day will change for quick reference of blackout days.
In each date cell all available rate plan codes will be displayed for the date. Following each rate plan code is a series of numbers
 |
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Each rate plan code is a hyperlink that you can click on. The link will take you to the inventory that you can edit. You can edit the inventory as discussed above.
Target Groups are very similar to rate plan type, however, they make the associated rate plans password protected. This way only those travelers that you want to see the rate plan are allowed to access it.
Code – this is a simple unique code to identify the group
Password – this is a unique password
Comments – this is information that Facility wants to make notes about the group, it is not visible to the Traveler. Note: You should give to the group planner your web page that has the Target Group Form, along with the Code and Password. The group planner can communicate it to their respective Travelers on how to gain access to their special rate plan.
**Tip – you might want to allow the group’s planner to select the Code and Password for groups reserved in your Facility.
**Tip – while this is a great feature for Groups, is also useful for Locally Negotiated Rates, Tours, Bounce Back Coupons, Special Offers to various targeted groups of travelers, or any group of Travelers that you only want them to see the special rate.
Users are added to the system by your company’s Super User(s). Once a user is added, the Super User can specify the permission of what a user can see and do on the system. A user can be given permission for the facility being viewed. A user can be given permission for multiple facilities without giving them Super User permissions by going to each facility and updating the user’s permission.
The permission selections are:
Incorporate eSR into Your Web Site
Build Links
This allows you create search forms that you can place anywhere in your website. When a Traveler performs a search for availability using one of these forms, the system will be accessed and either the rate plan results page will be displayed or your custom “No availability found” message will be displayed.
Adding search forms in your pages is simple. The first step is to build the search form. There are two search forms that enable linking your website to the eSavvyRes system Dynamic Link Form and Static Link Form.
Important Note: The static and dynamic links generated by eSR is made up of four parts that may need to be modified depending if you are using SSL (secure socket layer) and how your host server processes secure data transmission. Following is the parts of the URL generated by eSR:
http://www.yourdomain.com:443/hotel/
Protocol Domain Name Port Context
- Protocol - If your host server is configured to use SSL the Protocol determines if data is sent in a secure mode. To use SSL the Protocol should be "https". If you are not using SSL it should be "http".
- Domain Name - This is your domain name.
- Port - Some servers may require a port number to be used in conjuction with SSL. Check with your host server.
- Context - The context will be hotel unless you changed it. See changing context
This is a search form that is dynamically generated on your eSavvyRes host server. You can select many search criteria for your travelers to choose from including
You can allow the traveler to choose from a drop down list of options or filter the search form to a specific search option. Included with the Dynamic Search Form is a pop up calendar for traveler ease of use.
To link to your website you just copy and past the URL that the system generates. There are two URL's generated:
- URL for general use that displays all public viewable rate plans
- URL for password protected rate plans, labeled Groups. The Group link displays a Password log-in form before displaying availability.
Note: Replace your domain and context in the system generated URL.
You can add as many Dynamic search forms as you want. The dynamic search form is served up wrapped inside of the template pages for consistent look and feel with the rest of the availability and reservation pages.
This is a search form that is generated as html code that is copy and pasted into your web site. This allows you to create web pages on your site and embed search forms, join mailing lists, reservation look up form, with the same look and feel of the rest of your web site.
Form Type Plan Type – if you want Travelers to search for a specific Rate Plan Type Rate Plan – if you want Travelers to search for a specific Rate Plan Start Date – if you want the Traveler to search starting with a specific date Qty Nights – used in conjunction with the Start Date to specify the range of dates you want Travelers to search on
Once you specify the criteria for the form click on [Build It]
Copy and Paste
HTML code will be displayed in the box. Select all of the code and copy it. Then in your favorite HTML editor paste the code where you want it to be displayed in the page. Upload the page to your server. The Search Form will be available for your site visitors to search for availability.
Tip: Web site authors, the eSavvyRes booking engine can be used as a stand alone web page or incorporated into framed pages.
eSavvyRes has added a method to allow you to send your reservations via fax. This is done using standard web services which converts emails to a fax. We have chosen www.faxaway.com as the email to fax provider. FaxAway is a cost effective easy to use system. To use FaxAway you will need to follow the steps below.
Note: Using Faxaway requires the use of a PGP public key, which may need to be changed from time to time. While this key may never change, FaxAway may change it to ensure good security for its users. The key is included in the web.xml configuration file. Refer to the esr configuration documentation for instructions. eSR will keep the current public key posted in the eSavvy Forums in the event you would need to modify this.
Security Warning: If you wish to accept reservation via email and use the automatic confirmation AUTO_CONF preference, be aware that credit card information will be sent with this email. It is highly recommended that you get a PGP key and use an email client that supports PGP. The PGP key is made up of a public key and a private key. The public key is entered into the web.xml configuration file (see the esr-configuration document). The private key is used by your email client to de-encrypt the email when it arrives at your computer. You will need to get an email client that supports PGP.
