Bookings and the calendar

Messaging a guest

Templates render the message; a person sends it. Nothing goes out on its own.

Message guest on a booking card, and the Messages tab on the Operations screen.

How it works today, stated plainly: the system renders the message from a template and queues it. It does not send it. There is no WhatsApp Business account connected and no mail sender, so a person clicks Open WhatsApp and sends it, or copies the text.

Templates are per hotel group and hold the wording for confirmations, hold links, pre-arrival notes and thank-yous.
Queue only puts the message in the outbox without opening anything, for somebody to work through in a batch.
Sent and Failed show what has gone and what has not.
Phone numbers are normalised before use, so a number typed with spaces, a +91 or a leading 0 all end up the same.

When a sender is connected, everything above stays as it is — the queue is already the right shape — and the messages start leaving by themselves.

More in Bookings and the calendar

Reading the calendarRooms down the side, dates across the top, and four things worth knowing about the colours. Making a bookingNew booking, or click an empty square on the chart. What each field is for. Where the price comes fromThe rate plan sets the price. Who may change it is a separate question with a deliberate answer. Changing a bookingDates, room, guest and rate can all be amended. Some changes are refused, and some can be overridden. Cancelling, and no-showsBoth need a reason from the list, and both leave the record standing. Holding a room, and the guest pay linkA time-boxed hold with a link the guest can pay on. It releases itself if they do not. Booking the same stay againBook again copies a stay for a returning guest, and tells you what the price would be now. Group bookingsMany rooms under one name, created together and cancellable together. Moving a guest to another roomDrag the bar on the chart, or use Move room. It asks for a reason and refuses for good ones. UpgradesMove a guest up a grade, priced or complimentary, with the reason recorded.