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ë Summarize front office operations during the
four stages of the guest cycle
ë Explain the evolution of front office record-
keeping systems and describe front office
documents
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ë ½escribe the front desk and its support
devices, and describe the services and
equipment of a hotel·s telecommunications
area
ë Identify and describe property management
systems used by the front office
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ë is a business term that refers to a company's
departments that come in contact with clients,
including the marketing, sales, and service
departments.
ë In the hotel industry, the front office welcomes
guests to the accommodation section: meeting
and greeting them, taking and organizing
reservations, allocating check in and out of rooms,
organizing porter service, issuing keys and other
security arrangements, passing on messages to
customers and settling the accounts.
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ë áre-arrival
ë Arrival
ë Occupancy
ë ½eparture
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ë áre-arrival
ë At the pre-arrival stage, the hotel must
create for every potential guest a reservation
Record. ½oing this initiates the hotel guest
cycle.
ë Moreover, reservation records help
personalize guest services and appropriately
schedule needed staff and facilities
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ë Arrival
ë At the arrival stage, registration and rooming
functions takes place and the hotel
establishes a business relationship with the
guest.
ë áop Quiz
ë If a guest arrives without a pre-arrival notification,
what will front office needs to consider?
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ë Occupancy
ë At the occupancy stage, the front office
department shall coordinate guest services in
a timely and accurate manner.
ë Moreover, front office clerks should encourage
repeat guests by paying a great attention to guest
complaints.
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ë ½eparture
ë At the departure stage, the guest shall be
walked out of the hotel. Moreover, front
office clerks shall create guest history record.
ë áop Quiz:
ë After your guest departs, what are the things that the
Front Office requires to do next?
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ë [on-automated [manual] systems (1960·s)
ë Semi-automated [Electro-mechanical] systems
(late 1970·s)
ë Fully automated [computer based] systems (5-
star hotels)
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ë [on-automated systems:
ë áre-arrival
ë At the pre-arrival stage, reservation requests
should be introduced in a loose-leaf notebook or
index card
ë Arrival
ë At the arrival stage, guests shall either sign a page
in the registration book or fill manually a
registration record.
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ë [on-automated systems:
ë Occupancy
ë Under the occupancy activities, registration
records shall be prepared with multi-copies
ë ½eparture
ë At departure stage, cashiers should settle each
guest account's outstanding balance and get room
keys back from guests.

SUMMARY: ALL IS MA[UAL!!!

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ë Semi-automated systems
ë áre-arrival
ë At this very stage, guests can either call a national
reservation network or directly contact the hotel
ë Arrival
ë At this very stage, already reserved guests shall
verify their pre-registration forms and have only
to sign it
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ë Semi-automated systems :
ë Occupancy
ë At the occupancy stage, in order to track the
different guest charge expenditures and all other
possible guest transactions, hotels get an intensive
use of various kinds of vouchers
ë ½eparture
ë At this very stage, cashiers shall relay room status
information to the housekeeping department.
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ë Fully automated systems :
ë áre-arrival
ë Under this stage, the reservation department is
equipped with a software package, which is interfaced
and connected with one or more central reservation
office(s)
ë Arrival
ë Moreover, hotels might be equipped with an on-line
credit authorization terminals for timely Credit Card
Approval, self check-in / check-out terminals. Lastly, all
guest charges and payments are saved in electronic
guest folios.
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ë Fully automated systems :
ë Occupancy
ë Under this very stage, guest purchases at different
revenue outlets are electronically transferred and
posted to appropriate guest accounts
ë ½eparture
ë At this very stage, cashiers can automatically
produce bills to be sent to various guests with
direct billing privileges and create electronic guest
history records.
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ë áre-arrival activities
1. Reservation record or a reservation file
2. Letter of confirmation
3. Reservation rack and reservation rack slips

ë Arrival activities
1. Registration card (or record) or registration file
2. Room rack and room rack slips
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ë Occupancy activities
1. Guest folio: shall be of duplicate forms and pre-
numbered for cross-indexing control purposes
2. Vouchers: support documents detailing facts of a
transaction, but does not replace the source document
(i.e. the invoice). Examples of vouchers might include
charge vouchers, allowance vouchers, paid-out voucher,
and correction vouchers«
3. Information rack slips
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ë ½eparture activities
1. Credit card vouchers
2. Cash vouchers
3. áersonal check vouchers
4. Transfer vouchers
5. Guest history records
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ë Circular or semi-circular structure
ë this very structure provides an effective
service to more guests and appears more
modern and innovative but since guests will
approach the Front ½esk from all angles,
more staff is needed
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ë Traditional straight desk
ë Under this very design, fewer staff is needed,
but fewer guests can be served at the same
time
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ë ½eskless environment
ë Under this design, there is no Front ½esk at
all. This is usually replaced by a hostess, or
steward welcoming the guest, seating him or
her on a chair/sofa, and conduct registration
activities there while, for example, having a
cocktail or a drink
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ë Room rack
ë Mail, message, and key racks
ë Reservation racks
ë Information racks
ë Folio trays or folio buckets
ë Account posting machine
ë Voucher racks
ë Cash registers
ë Telephone equipment


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ë Modules
ë Reservations
ë Rooms management
ë Guest account management
ë General management
ë áoint-of-sale (áOS) system (aka cash registers)
ë Magnetic strip readers
ë Credit cards
ë ½ebit cards
ë Smart cards
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ë Reservations management
ë Rooms management
ë Guest account management
ë General management
Ñ  
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ë Availability/forecasting
ë Reservation records
ë Reservation confirmations
ë Room pricing
ë Revenue management
Ñ

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ë Room status
ë Registration
ë Room assignments
ë Room rate information
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ë Folio management
ë Credit monitoring
ë Transaction tracking
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ë Revenue analysis
ë Operating statistics
ë Financial analysis
ë Guest history
 $  #%

ë [on-Guest-Operated Interfaces
ë áoint-of-sale system
ë Call accounting system
ë Electronic locking system
ë Energy management system
 $  #%

ë Guest-Operated Interfaces
ë In-room folio review and check-out
ë In-room entertainment system
ë In-room vending machines
ë In-room fax machine
ë In-room Internet access
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ë Summarize front office operations during the four
stages of the guest cycle
ë Explain the evolution of front office record-
keeping systems and describe front office
documents
ë ½escribe the front desk and its support devices,
and describe the services and equipment of a
hotel·s telecommunications area
ë Identify and describe property management
systems used by the front office
Ñ &$—Ñ '($Ñ — )u
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