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Unallocated Screen and More!

Unallocated Screen
Unallocated Screen is searchable by date and will show you at a glance all bookings that have not been assigned to a room. We recommend that you use this screen in tandem with the "list all beds" screen.

Default Today Screen
You can now choose your own "Today Screen". Choices are:

  1. Bookings Screen
  2. Today's beds
  3. Unallocated Bookings

ADR Report (Average Daily Rate)
The ADR report will provide the following detail: -

  • ADR (Average Daily Rate) - Net Charge / NO. of Beds Booked
  • RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room) - Net Charge / NO. of Available Beds) * Room Size
  • RevPAB (Revenue per Available Bed) - Net Charge / NO. of Available Beds



Latest Enhancements!

These include:

  • You can now choose how dates will display in your system. Simply go to your settings area and choose extras - date format. Both the European and American formats are now available
  • It is also possible to add negative figures and zero rates through the 'register' function which will display in financial reports and update the 'stock report' where applicable
  • And finally it is now also possible to restrict profiles from having the ability to change room types temporarily through the user set up tab in the settings area.

For more information please contact your BPO representative or buddy directly



New Features!

The backpack online team are very pleased to announce - a multitude of enhancements and new features coming to you this month.

These will include:

  • Staff to Staff Messaging - A basic messaging system to help with overall staff communication regardless of what hour of the day their shift starts. This can be limited to single messages or mass messaging through the user setup.
  • Rich Text Editors have been added to allow formatting of your receipts, invoices and email templates.
  • Always On Allocation - when enabled, any beds released due to date changes, guest number changes and cancelations will automatically return online to be re-sold. So all of your availability will always display online, maximising your overall booking potential.
  • Backpack online now comes in English, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, German and Italian. You also have the ability to change language whilst you are logged in.
  • Need help? An FAQ link has been added, which is language applicable - so if you are logged into the Spanish backpack online, you will be brought to the Spanish answers of our most frequently asked questions
  • Release days for individual bookings - fed up of manually keeping track of those un-confirmed bookings? This functionality will allow you to make provisional bookings in your database and remind you on a date (picked by you) about the booking in question
  • Formatted PDF reports - uniform display in all backpack online PDF reports.

For more information please contact your BPO representative or buddy directly



backpack online can now speak your language!

backpack online is available in English, Spanish, French, German and now Brazilian Portuguese and Chinese. To use backpack online in the language of your choice, please click the appropriate country flag on the login page.

http://online.backpacksoftware.com



Updates to List All Beds

Included:

  • Static Header
  • Highlighted weekend days
  • Footer - the new footer note (similar to the calendar view) shows you at a glance if there are any allocated/unallocated beds allocated to a specific room type


Booking History records more

We are pleased to report the booking history functionality can now record more changes than ever before.

New changes include the ability to store:

  • Changes made to guest details tab
  • Edits/Deleting Notes
  • Check in/Check out/Re-Check in Void function

Report Enhancements

As requested we have added extra options into some of backpack online's reporting facilities.

Marketing Report / Booking Analysis report filtered by booking source: If no booking source is saved in the booking process, they will be grouped as N/A to ensure all bookings are accounted for through the report.

Mailing List The mailing list now has a booking source column, helping to further identify your guests. Reports/ Listings/ Mailing List


backpack online 'Best Online/Desktop Application'

Hostelworld.com's property management system backpack online beat off stiff competition in London at the annual Travolution awards 2009 to pick up the award for "Best Online/Desktop Application".

Commenting on the category, Travolution said "The winner showed a clear understanding of how to aggregate content and help partners in what is a difficult market to crack. The tools created are incredibly useful for accommodation owners to the extent that it would appear difficult for them to revert back to their previous processes".

Gillian Lennox, Product Manager for backpack online is quoted as saying "We're absolutely delighted to have picked up this prestigious award. It's a fantastic achievement and reward for all the hard work we have put in to making Backpack Online what it is today. To have beat off strong competition from Air France and Lastminute.com, it demonstrates the strength of our product and shows that not only are we world leaders in consumer website development, but also world leaders in the property management space".


Room type descriptions are live on Hostelworld.com

Through backpack online you can add more information about the room types you are selling and this will be reflected on Hostelworld.com

To add details about room types in backpack online:
Click Settings -> Room Setup -> Room Types -> Edit Room Type -> Select Type -> Click Additional Information -> Fill in details -> Click Save
Once the room description is approved by your buddy, you will then be sent an email to say that room descriptions is now live.

To ensure accuracy of all room descriptions, we will delete any previously added (prior to 1st September 2009) room type descriptions that you may have added.


PCI & backpack online (Updated 14th August 2009)

Hostelworld.com Ltd has rolled out changes to all system ensuring we are PCI compliant with international regulations (https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/ ). The changes affect credit card entry, storage and accessibility through all Hostelworld.com Ltd products, including backpack online.

PCI & Quick Guide

  • You can only enter VALID credit card details to backpack online
  • If you do not have a valid credit card number you can enter the word "none"
  • All cards must have the card holder's name
  • PCI will not allow the storage of invalid card numbers.
  • If your profile does not allow you to retrieve/edit credit card information the Master profile in your property must change your profile
  • If you enter the incorrect password 3 times you will be locked out of BPO
  • All passwords must be reset every 90 days
  • Master users in each property can reactivate users and update passwords through Settings > User Setup > Edit User

Profiles/Passwords (PCI compliant)

A Master user is authorised to assign credit card access and user setup to all other profiles/users: Settings > User Set Up > User Profile > Edit Profile

Once someone is granted credit card access or user set up privileges they must reset their password on next log in. All passwords must contain a minimum of 7 characters, a combination of numbers/letters

Every 90 days ALL users must reset their passwords and will be prompted to do so. On the prompt you must enter your old password, your new password and verify the new password. The new password cannot be one of the last 4 you used, must contain a minimum of 7 characters and a combination of numbers/letters.

If you enter the incorrect password 3 times you will be locked out of BPO. Master users in each property can reactivate users and update passwords through Settings > User Setup > Edit User

We strongly recommend that all properties have a minimum of 2 users set up to ensure someone can reset log ins if there is a failed attempt

If you are operating your property through Group backpack online, all Supervisor users in your Group system have Master privileges

Click for backpack online PCI User Guidelines


NEW Feature

Edit Rates Mode

In the Bill of each booking, "Edit Rates Mode" appears for all Master profile users
To change the rate of a particular night/row of the bill
Tick this box
Select the row you want to edit the rate
In the pop up enter the new rate*
Click Update
All changes are recorded in the Booking History as p.p. (Per Person)
*Please note: this rate will be for the row, not per person
This option can be restricted by profile through Settings > User Setup > User Profile > Edit Profile
It is listed as Edit Rates

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