HA 270 - Quiz 2

Identify three basic purposes of a travel agent module?

1. Contains information for each travel agent such as address and commission rate 2. Generates commission statements for each travel agent 3. Maintains a statistical profile for each agent such as year-to-date revenue, bookings, and commissions paid and due.

Identify five potential benefits of wireless POS handhelds

1. Delivery of food is quicker resulting in higher average checks and greater table turnover 2. Servers have more time for servicing guests and suggestive selling resulting in higher tips and satisfied guests. For example, handhelds at the Oak Forest Bowl in Chicago, Illinois eliminated the need for servers to walk back and forth across a 20,000 square foot beer garden to take and input orders into the POS system 3. Training time is significantly reduced 4. Handhelds can be equipped with portable belt printers and credit card swipes for printing customer receipts and performing table side settlement. This provides quicker service, for curbside and takeout service especially, and also safeguards guests from credit card fraud. 5. Handhelds inform the servers when item are out of stock or orders are ready, although this task can also be accomplished through waiter paging systems Silent paging systems are averrable. Servers receive an unmistakable vibration when an order is ready 6. More tables can be assigned to servers without compromising the service. 7. Customer, ingredient, and nutritional information can be accessed easily. 8. Errors and omissions due to transferring orders to the POS system are significantly reduced 9. Lines at POS terminals are eliminated 10. The system can prompt a server to read each order back to verify accuracy before hitting send

What are the two basic types of POS terminals?

1. Server or pre-check terminal used for entering orders only 2. Cashier terminal used for both entering and settling guest checks. It may also have one or more cash drawers.

What is a property management system?

A PMS performs both back and front office functions as well as supports a variety of other functions such as housekeeping, sales, catering, energy management, and call accounting.

What information is typically included in a cashier report?

A cashier report typically contains all transactions posted by a department code, a summary of debit and credit totals, and a comparison of actual cash deposited to cash posted to derive an overage and shortage.

What is required to connect a CRS to a GDS?

A distribution switch.

Describe how selling individual reservations differs from selling group reservations.

A group reservation requires the creation of a group master where a block of room sis allocated by room type of run of the house with the room type assigned as individual reservations are made or when a rooming list is received.

What is the purpose of a menu management system?

A menu management system enables a restaurant operator to price, control, and monitor the entire menu

What are the basic functions performed by a reservation system?

A reservation system typically performs the following basic functions. 1. Selling individual reservations 2. Selling group reservations 3. Displaying room availability and guest lists 4. Tracking advance deposits 5. Tracking travel agent bookings and commissions 6. Generating confirmation letters and emails and various reports

Describe how wireless handhelds can be used by housekeeping personnel.

A wireless handheld can be used by a housekeeping inspector to update room status and to alert maintenance and housekeeping staff or tasks. Room assignment schedules can be accessed via a wireless handheld. Room attendants can update room status via a wireless handheld. Inventory and inspection information can be entered through a wireless handheld to save time. Wireless handhelds can be used for entering and processing work orders and monitoring the status of work orders.

What sales and catering module organizes and tracks all of a hotel's accounts, providing sales staff with access to the entire account history?

Account management

What accounting module facilitates timely payments to vendors to maintain an excellent credit rating and to prevent the interruption of supplies?

Accounts payable

What accounting module assists in the timely collected of monies owed by customers to improve cash flow?

Accounts receivable

What is the difference between a general ledger and subsidiary ledger?

Accounts receivable, payroll, and accounts payable are subsidiary ledgers because their end of the month totals are posted to the general ledger or the principal ledger.

What module records all deposits received and automatically generates refund checks when it is interfaced with the accounts payable module?

Advance deposits

What are the benefits of a gift card program?

Advanced cash flow, increased sales, new customers, the tracking of frequency and nature of customer transactions, a higher profit margin because not all gift cards are redeemed, and the refilling and reuse of them by customers.

What report enables delinquent bills to be quickly spotted

Aging payables report

What type of distribution system involves global travel portals, as well as small, regional ones?

Alternative distribution system.

What is the purpose of an inventory control system?

An inventory control system tracks products quantities and prices and provides accurate information on inventory activities in a timely manner, enabling management to better control food costs. Also, the system makes taking and extending inventories and ordering and receiving easier.

What type of minibar system is capable of monitoring and automatically posting sales transactions to guest folios, determining refill quantities, reminding the expiration dates of products offered, and enhance profitability?

Automated minibar system or micro processor based.

What general ledger report indicates whether the company has sufficient liquidity to pay its bills promptly?

Balance sheet

What inventory control module helps management identify the most economical products adhering to purchase specifications?

Bidding module

What is a possible security issue with a biometric ELS using fingerprint technology?

Biometric keys can be hacked. It is almost impossible to replace a stolen fingerprint.

What are the basic functions performed by a sales catering system?

Booking mangement, contract management, account management, event management, and reports and queries.

What information term refers to methodologies, software, and usually internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way?

CRM

What type of system enables management to identify the cost of staff calls, as well as keep track of all calls made by staff members?

Call accounting system

What has caused a dramatic drop in telephone revenue.

Cell phones and unfair profit margins added to telephone charges in guest rooms.

What POS feature allows the system to send different courses of the orders at time intervals selected by the servers or requested by the customers?

Course firing (hold and fire)

What factors influence the types of technology found in hotels?

Department needs, guest amenities, service level and customer relationships, facility size and layout, organizational structure, and globalization.

When selecting a POS, what must be done to differentiate POS products?

Devise a detail checklist and clearly define the selection criteria.

What are the three types of internet access in guest room?

Dial up access, high speed internet access via a wired connection, and high speed internet access via wireless connection.

In addition to handling phone calls more inexpensively, what other features can be provided by a VOIP phone?

Digital voice mail, alarm clock, room service order device, internet access, gameboy, high speed internet access port, guest room control console, digital hotel guide, group calling, and ordering of hotel services.

What type of distribution channels are the cheapest form of distribution and preferred by customers? Give an example of this distribution type.

Direct online channels, which include chain and property websites.

What type of printer is most appropriate for printing food orders in the kitchen?

Dot Matrix

What solution enables a hotel to control and distribute hotel inventory in all sales channels from one single point of entry?

Electronic distribution management

Identify three types of technologies that are used to reduce energy related costs in guest rooms that are not occupied?

Electronic key card based energy management systems, body motion detector based energy management system, and body heat detector based energy management system.

What is the second largest operating expense for a hotel? What type of system can help reduce energy consumption in guest rooms and throughout the property?

Energy management and climate control systems.

What sales and catering function enables the assignment of AV media, of catering, of furnishing and staging, and of personnel to events?

Event management

What generation of property management systems deployed databases at the central and local level using intelligent workstations or clients, which made requests of the server, processed the data request, and sent the result to the client?

Four generation: client-server systems.

What system enables travel agents from around the world to book hotel rooms when linked to a CRS?

Global distribution system.

What module profiles the reservation screen with information about a guest's prior stay?

Guest History

Identify the uses of a guest detection system.

Guest detection systems prevent guest interruptions and are helpful tools for identifying intrusions or sleeping in unsold rooms and for determining which rooms need to be evacuated during emergencies as well as for checking housekeeping discrepancies.

What type of mobile devices makes taking inventory easier and quicker?

Handheld

What is the difference between a semi-automated and full automated wake up system.

In a semi-automated wakeup system, the guest calls the operator with a wakeup call request. The operator enters the wakeup time manually into the wakeup system, whereas with a full-automated wakeup system the guest entered the wakeup time into eh wakeup system through the phone or an interactive TV system if interfaced to the wakeup system.

What is the difference between a one-way and a two-way communication ELS?

In a two way ELS, all the door locks are directly connected to a central computer. It is also more expensive than a one-way ELS but offers enhanced guest room security control and convenience and some interesting interface application.

What type of in room system may offer compatibility with the guests' own multimedia devices, as well as provide video on demand and high speed internet access and allow guests to review folios and checkout.

In room entertainment system

What is an outsourced CRS, a central reservation system managed by a third party, called?

Independent representation or reservation service.

Describe the different types of folios and folio postings

Individual folios are created for each in house guest. Master folios are typically created for groups where the individual postings are transferred automatically to the gourd master according to billing instructions. When the guest checks out, the folio balance can be transferred to a city ledger folio for direct billing. A city ledger can also be created for non-guest accounts with in-house charging privileges. A control folio is set up in the city ledger so that all revenue and payments not directly recorded by the front office system will be reflected in the daily report. Folio postings: charge postings, payment posting, correction posting reverses incorrect transaction on the day that is occurred, adjustment posting reverses an incorrect transaction on the next business day, transfer posting is a posting transferred to another folio, and an automatic posting is a posting that requires no human intervention.

What type of information is collected when selling an individual reservation?

Information that is typically collected includes arrival date, requested room types, party size, number of rooms, number of room nights, guest name and address, phone number, guarantee method, and special guest requests.

What three files are necessary to track menu item cost?

Ingredient, recipe, and menu item.

What module enables a guest to check availability and make reservations on a hotel's website?

Internet reservation module

What kind of information can be provided by an online help facility?

It contains the answers to the most frequently asked questions. It may provide information about the location, amenities, facilities, nearby attractions, the best restaurants in town, a detailed map of the area surrounding the hotel, group resumes and daily events maintained by sales and catering, etc. This information could be presented in a multimedia format allowing the reservations agent to view a picture of the hotel or requested guest room from different angles. Any employee can access this function to help a guest. This feature is an effective training tool for new employees and ensures that questions are answered in a consistent manner.

Describe the benefits of a POS system?

It eliminates arithmetic errors, improves guest check control, increases the average guest check, enables faster reaction to trends, greater operation efficiency and reduced labor costs, credit card expenses, and later charges.

What is a POS System?

It is a network of cashier and server terminals that typically handle food and beverage orders, transmission of orders to the kitchen and bar, guest-check settlement, timekeeping, and interactive charge posting to guest folios.

How does a night edit simplify and expedite the auditing process?

It records all transactions, automatically posts room and tax, produces a trial balance, generates reports, and updates statistically

Why can chain-wide CRM solutions be challenged?

It requires owners, management companies, and the franchiser to share data. This may not happen if their interests are misaligned. It also requires the interfacing and consilidation of data from different sources, which is a cumbersome task if the technologies used at the property level are not standardized.

What are they key benefits of a fire alarm and security system?

It saves lives, reduces fire damage and insurance premiums, and prevents costly litigation.

What are the benefits of a POS finger print reader?

It simplifies the logon process and enhances security measures against fraudulent behavior

Identify three ways of self check in

Kiosk-based, internet based, and handheld based self check in systems.

What system provides a suite of online tools for quickly assigning, responding to, and analyzing leads?

Lead management system.

What are the four types of keycard presently used in the marketplace? Which one is most frequently used?

Magnetic stripe, which inmost frequently used, memory, smart, and RFID.

What reservation filed identifies the reservation type and is helpful in targeting advertising efforts to the most profitable markets?

Market code

What type of key is duplicable and not trackable?

Mechanical key

How does a frequent guest or loyalty program benefit the hotel?

Members of frequent guest or loyalty programs typically spend more money per room, are less sensitive to price increases, are more satisfied with their hotel experiences, and twice as likely to return to the hotel compared to nonmembers.

What type report provides information that is helpful in analyzing profitability, food costs, customer preference, menu structure, trends, promotion effectiveness, product performance, and contribution?

Menu mix or product cost

What surface computing attribute recognizes tangible things, triggering various digital responses?

Object recognition

What are the benefits of a Web-based POS for a restaurant chain?

Onsite server support tasks are eliminated. The analysis of data across outlets is simplified because the data is stored in a single database. Price and menu changes, employee schedules, and product orders are easily made and can be applied to a single restaurant or an entire chain. With a web connection, employees can check work schedules anywhere. Owners and managers can access up to the minute information about their operations anytime. Business intelligence capabilities are improved. Trends can be spotted immediately and acted upon enterprise-wide.

Identify areas where rules can be established for a revenue management program.

Overbooking, discount control, length of stay control, product class control, group evaluation, and optimization.

What accounting module must comply with wage and hour laws?

Payroll

Identify the types of keys found on a POS keyboard

Preset, PLU, hard, numeric, payment, cooking instructions, item-recipe look up, and customer look up

What POS component has the highest failure rate? What can be done to minimize this problem?

Printers. Spare backup printers can be purchased to minimize printer downtime.

What can be interfaced with a sales and catering system for delivering compelling proposals quickly to meeting planner clients via a secure and personalized hotel website?

Proposal management system

What wireless technology could automate most inventory counting tasks?

RFID

What are the two main components of a RFID ELS?

RFID lock, which look for a RFID tag to grant access. The second component is the RFID tag, which can be stored in different devices, such as a wristband, plastic keycard, etc.

What type of technology could improve baggage handling systems?

RFID tags

What type of program enables reservationists to directly schedule golf tee times, dining reservations, and spa treatments when interfaced with the reservations module?

Recreational scheduling program.

Describe the basic functions performed by a front office system.

Reservation information is transferred to the front office system during registration when a guest is assigned a room and a folio is created for documenting charges and payments. Other functions performed by a front office system include rooms and housekeeping management, cashiering, night audit, and guest check-out.

Describe how key communication processes in a table management system can be electronically linked in each phase of the service cycle.

Reservation taking, guest greeting, table and wait alert, table seating, table server, table delivery

Identify four potential disadvantages of technologies.

Security, ergonomics, cost, upgrades and maintenance

What type of ELS card can process data?

Smart Card

What type of restaurant operation can make best use of a table management system?

Table management systems are most appropriate for high volume restaurants with multiple dining rooms or dining rooms with obstructions that prevent a clear view from one vantage point.

What are three common methods for estimating what is left in a liquor bottle?

The "tenth" method basically has the employees eyeball the bottle and estimate, to the tenth, how much is left. The second method has the employee scan the product's bar code of UPC and then the handheld displays a silhouette of the brand's bottle. The employee draws a line with a stylus indicated the level of alcohol left inside. The third method has the employee scan the product's bar code and then place the bottle on a digital scale. The net weight is sent automatically to the handheld through wired or wireless link.

What is the value of a surveillance system that displays POS data atop normal video pictures?

The combination of visual and textual data is helpful in spotting theft and fraudulent transactions involving no-sales, voids, discounts, excessive sales amounts, etc.

What does credit card compliance require with credit card authorizations at checkout?

The credit card authorization is automatically matched to the sale and checkout with an unused portion released back to the guest. If this does not occur, the hotel will be charged a higher fee and potentially subject to other penalties for noncompliance.

What is the first step in setting up a general ledger?

The first step in setting up a general ledger is to create the chart of accounts, a listing of all balance sheet and income accounts.

Identify the four types of electronic in room safes. How are most safe box use chargers posted to the guest folios?

The four types of electronic safes are key card, code based, smart card, and biometric. Most safe box use charges are posted manually to guest folios.

What is the purpose of an accounting system?

The purpose of an accounting system is to record all financial transactions that occur with customers, suppliers, employees, and financial institutions.

What are four options for inputting food orders?

The standard 101-key models found with computers, touchscreen, handhelds, and programmable keyboards

What are the steps required to produce menu analysis reports?

This process requires the creation of an ingredient, recipe, and menu item file. At the end of each day's activities, the quantity of each menu item sold is manually or automatically entered into the menu management system to calculate theoretical usages of all inventoried products and to generate serious reports evaluating menu and cost control performance.

What meaningful information can be extracted from a food usage report?

This report shows the food cost, food cost percentage, purchases, inventory sales, and customer count and may highlight those food items which varied the most from their historical average usage. Significant changes in product usage may indicate poor portion control, pilferage, spoilage, or the need to adjust inventory levels because of a decrease or increase in product demand.

Why is ideal usage compared to actual usage?

To readily identify the exact loss of any food item.

What reservation availability screen is used to maintain tight inventory control.

Today's inventory

What type of keyboard is much easier to manage than flat programmable keyboards?

Touchscreen

How does home delivery software improve delivery times and driver productivity?

Tracking delivery production, efficiently routing drivers to minimize drive time, an printing street maps that highlight routes and optimal turn by turn directions

What is another name for a third party travel website, such as Expedia?

Travel portal

What are the benefits of time attendance systems equipped with state of the art security measures?

Unauthorized punch ins prevented, fewer paycheck challenges, and elimination of early punch ins of late punch outs, of calculation errors, and of variances in the rounding of time.

What type of technology allows users to make voice calls using a broadband internet connection?

Voice over internet protocol

What does a trail balance not indicate?

Whether the right amounts were posted to the correct amounts.

What type of POS system provides the maximum design and redesign flexibility?

Wireless

What factors influence the selection of POS systems?

a. How quickly can it process orders? b. What type of interface does it have? c. How are menu changes handled? d. How many preset keys and PLU numbers are needed? e. What type of layout and business activity does the restaurant have?