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PowerPoint to accompany
Chapter 1
Introduction to
front office
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Learning outcomes
Explain the ey !eatures o! Property
"ana#e$ent Syste$s%
&escri'e co$$on acco$$odation
syste$s%
(nderstand the cycle o! service%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Front office skills
)hose sills *and no+led#e, re-uired
to per!or$ e!!iciently and e!!ectively in
the !ront o!!ice environ$ent o! a
co$$ercial acco$$odation venue%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Where the Front Office is located
)he !ront o!!ice is physically located in
the !oyer o! an acco$$odation venue%
.t is located here so that it is readily
accessi'le !or #uests%
&esi#ned to create a positive/
+elco$in# !irst i$pression%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Managing information andcommunication in the front office
.n!or$ation and co$$unication in a
!ront o!!ice is e!!ectively $ana#ed +ith
appropriate procedures and syste$s%
E!!ective in!or$ation and
co$$unication procedures and
syste$s #enerally incorporate
technolo#y%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Managing information andcommunication in the front office
hether $anual or technolo#ically
'ased/ !ront o!!ice in!or$ation and
co$$unication procedures and
syste$s are collectively re!erred to as
a Property "ana#e$ent Syste$%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Property Management Systems(PMS)
A P"S is a $eans o! collectin#/ storin#
and $anipulatin# data relatin# to the
activities o! a venue and its #uests%
"ay 'e:
$anual
se$i1auto$ated
!ully auto$ated%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Manual PMSs
.n a $anual syste$/ all tass relatin# to
#uest and venue activities are co$pleted 'y
hand or in the +ritten !or$%
A $anual syste$ uses 'ooin# diaries andconventional charts,to eep trac o!
reservations/ colour1coded room racksto
eep trac o! roo$ types/ roo$ status and
roo$ occupancy *or availa'ility,/ andtabular ledgers!or recordin# !inancial
transactions%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Conentional charts
"onthly reservations chart +hichdetails 'ooin#s !or each roo$ and !orlen#th o! stay/ 'y #uest na$e%
)hese are #rid charts +ith the days o! a$onth indicated across the top o! thepa#e and roo$ types and roo$nu$'ers listed do+n the le!t side o! thepa#e%
onventional charts are suita'le !ors$all venues only%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
!oom rack
"anual or co$puterised $ethod i!
indicatin# the status o! a roo$ and
there!ore roo$ availa'ility%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
"ooking diaries
3ooin# diaries are si$ilar to any diary
in that are a $eans !or recordin#
in!or$ation *reservation details, 'y
date%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
"ooking diaries
)he in!or$ation is then trans!erred *in
pencil, to conventional charts% As
reservations are received/ the #uests
na$e is entered on the chartcorrespondin# to the roo$ type and
len#th o! stay% &etails are entered in
pencil to allo+ !or chan#es%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
#a$ular ledger
Syste$ !or recordin# !inancial
transactions%
.t provides !or #uest details *na$e and
roo$ nu$'er, and services and
products consu$ed 'y each #uest% As
a #uest consu$es a service or
product/ the char#e incurred isrecorded%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
#a$ular ledger
.t also provides !or the recordin# o! all
pay$ents received/ allo+ances and
discounts *i! any, and the total to 'e
carried !or+ard to the next day%
All entries are hand+ritten%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Semi%automated PMSs
A se$i1auto$ated syste$
incorporates ele$ents o! the $anual
syste$ and uses so$e technolo#y
*particularly in the accountin# area o!!ront o!!ice,%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Fully automated PMSs
4ullyauto$ated P"Ss use a $ini$al
a$ount o! hand+ritten in!or$ation%
.n!or$ation is entered into a co$puter
+here it is co$piled/ $aintained/
updated/ stored and processed%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Fully automated PMSs
A co$puterised P"S can per!or$ all
the tass previously undertaen
$anually% .t is a $ore e!!icient and
relia'le syste$ than a $anual or se$i1auto$ated syste$ and is a'le to
process data !ar $ore rapidly and
accurately%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Fully automated PMSs
All co$puterised P"Ss are a'le to
per!or$ essentially the sa$e tass:
5ecord and $aintain #uest reservations
*individual and #roup,%
5e#ister #uests and $ana#e departures%
5ecord and $aintain #uest and non1
#uest !inancial transactions%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Fully automated PMSs
reate and $aintain #uest history
pro!iles%
6enerate reports and collate statistical
data% "onitor and control houseeepin#
!unctions%
"ana#e $aintenance issues%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&ccommodation enue structure
Structure re!ers to the +ay in +hich a
venue or#anises the provision o!
services and #oods%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&ccommodation enue structure
Speci!ic services are #rouped into
depart$ents *acco$$odation
services/ !ood and 'evera#e/
houseeepin#/ and sales and$aretin#/ !or exa$ple,%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Why structure the deliery ofserices and goods'
Venues structure their operations in
order to:
3est $eet the needs and expectations o!
its tar#et $arets%
Plan +or%
5eport !inancial per!or$ance%
"ana#e sta!!% "ana#e $aretin# activities%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
What is an organisational chart'
An organisational chartis a #raphical
representation o! a venues structure% .t
sho+s the sta!!in# structure/ each
depart$ent/ the division o! la'our/levels o! authority and lines o!
co$$unication%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Organisation chart
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&ccommodation serices
Acco$$odation services/ also
co$$only re!erred to as the roo$s
division/ is the depart$ent responsi'le
!or sellin# and $aintainin# #uestroo$sand associated !ront o!!ice services%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&ccommodation serices
)he pri$ary concerns o! the
depart$ent are #uestroo$s and the
services availa'le to #uests +hile
stayin# in the venue throu#h the !ronto!!ice%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Front office structure
7ar#e acco$$odation venues typicallysu'divide $any depart$ents%
4or exa$ple/ !ront o!!ice services are
divided into: 4ront o!!ice *reception/ cashierin#,%
3ac o!!ice *reservations/ telephony,%
8ouseeepin# *roo$ attendants/ pu'licarea cleaners/ house$an,%
oncier#e *porter services/ valet,%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
uests and customers
6uests are those people +ho use and
pay !or the #oods and services
provided 'y hospitality esta'lish$ents%
3ecause #uests pay !or the services
and #oods they use/ they are also
re!erred to as custo$ers%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
#arget markets
A cate#ory o! people +ho have 'eenidenti!ied as potential custo$ers'ecause o! their inco$e/ a#e/ place o!
residence and other *co$$on, !actors% "aretin# strate#ies !or venues
usually tar#et -uite speci!ic/ +ellde!ined $arets% ithin each tar#et$aret are $aret se#$ents%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Market segment
A portion o! the tar#et $aret that hassi$ilar traits/ needs and desires thatthe venue +ants to attract%
4or exa$ple: 3usiness travellers
4a$ilies
)our #roups
ouples on!erence #roups
4ree independent travellers%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
n$ound isitors
Visitors to Australia +hose $ain place
o! residence is outside Australia *e%#%%
international tourists/ 'usiness
travellers/ students%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
ntrastate isitors
Visitors +ho live in Australia travellin#
withintheir ho$e state or territory%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
nterstate isitors
Visitors +ho live in Australia travellin#
outsidetheir ho$e state or territory%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Cycle of serice
)he !our sta#es o! the #uests
experience +ith the venue are:
Pre1arrival
Arrival
Occupancy
&eparture%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
*ospitality sectors and targetmarkets
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Cycle of serice
Pre-arrival
Arrival
Occupancy
Departure
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Pre%arrial stage
)hose activities that occur 'e!ore the
#uest arrives:
"ana#e en-uiries
Venue inspections
5eservations
Pre1pay$entsdeposits%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&rrial stage
)hose activities that relate to the
#uests arrival at the venue/ and chec
in procedures%
.t is the !irst !ace1to1!ace opportunity to
$ae a #ood i$pression%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Occupancy stage
)hose activities that occur +hile the
#uest is re#istered in the venue
includin# consu$ption o! #oods and
services/ pay$ents/ and re-uestedservices%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
+eparture stage
)hose activities that relate to a #uests
departure:
Account settle$ent
ollection o! lu##a#e !ro$ roo$
On+ard acco$$odation 'ooin#s
Arran#e$ent o! transport
4are+ell%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Moment of truth
)he i$pression created 'y each
experience the #uest has in the venue%
An i$pression $ay 'e:
Positive
e#ative
eutral%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Our role and a moment of truth
)o provide #uests +ith positive
$o$ents o! truth throu#hout their stay%
)o do this/ +e need to 'e a'le to $eet
expectations 'y understandin#:
)he i$portance o! the host#uest
relationship%
8o+ to do our ;o' +ell%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
Our role and a moment of truth
)he venues tar#et $arets%
8o+ to $eet the needs o! individuals%
Our e$ployers expectations o! us%
hat !acilities and services are availa'le!or #uests%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&ttri$utes for success
8i#h standard o! personal hy#iene and
#roo$in#%
6ood no+led#e o! the +orplace and
the services and !acilities availa'le%
Excellent interpersonal sills%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&ttri$utes for success
A #ood service ethos%
illin#ness to learn ne+ tass/
syste$s and procedures%
6ood #eneral no+led#e o! the local
environ$ent and attractions%
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Vivienne OShannessy: Front Office Skills 2009 Pearson Education Australia
&ttri$utes for success
ide1ran#e o! ;o'1related sills%
illin#ness to learn *and undertae,ne+ tass%
A'ility to learn ne+ syste$s andprocedures in the +orplace%
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&ttri$utes for success
6ood #eneral no+led#e o! the local
environ$ent%
(nderstandin# o! ho+ our e!!orts
contri'utes to the success o! theesta'lish$ent%