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Why Use Opera Channel Management?
Opera Channel Management includes feature-rich solutions that give your property the ability to maximize electronic distribution chain-wide, and increase daily revenue at every conceivable opportunity. There are a number of advantages in using Channel Management in conjunction with GWIZ or legacy GDS interface, including:
The Channel Setup screen allows selection of any of the major GDS hosts, the Switch that will be used, as well as manual entry of additional ADS Channels.
To make the initial setup as quick and simple as possible, Channel setup data for the major GDS hosts and Switches are pre-loaded into the Opera ORS or PMS systems.
Customize Channel functionality right from the front end! Some of the many options you can customize include Alternate Availability, Session Control, Accepting GDS lower rates, Multi-Currency use, Requiring a Corporate ID, Using an access code to view and book negotiated rates, and much more.
Each of the customizations mentioned above can be independently done per channel. Users can decide to use the flexible functionality and return availability sorted by rate or by room. Likewise, Hotels may decide (per Channel) to return negotiated rates by means of an incoming negotiated rate code, access code, or corporate ID.
Note: This last feature was especially introduced so that Channel Management can adapt to modern Web- booking engines.
New installations have default error codes and marketing text that have been tested on the legacy GDS interface for years. This pre-loaded data allows for “out of the box” functionality. Both error codes and marketing text can be customized for each Channel, and in even more detail for an individual property!
All necessary configurations are conveniently located on the same screen. Configurations such as the carrier, amenity codes, currencies, credit cards, error codes, marketing text, rate category, and rate levels can all be set up via the configuration tabs on the Channel Setup screen.
Search for conversion data per Channel, per property, and per chain, or any combination of channel, property, and chain.
The hierarchical conversion setup is a four-step process:
With Channel Management, we have introduced a tool that allows converting and distributing rates that have been previously setup for use with a hotel. This tool has been designed to vastly reduce the tedious work of entering conversion data.
Oracle has incorporated a shortcut to access the conversion screen right from the rate setup form. Users can setup a rate and go right into Channel Conversion enabling them to go right back to the starting point without ever having to close the rate setup screen.
Opera Channel Management has been built using Oracle Developer, Oracle Enterprise Server, and Oracle Internet Application Server (IAS). This technology allows for a robust and scalable multi-platform application, produced from the same source code.
Enabling business specific functionality is accomplished through system settings, and front the front-end by using the check-boxes and list of values available in the Channel setup forms. A single click of the mouse enables powerful functionality such as Alternate Availability (part of Next Generation Seamless).
GWIZ (GDS Wizard) is an XML interface that “talks” to the Opera ORS or PMS database on one side, and to a Channel on the other side. This Channel can be any electronic source of availability and booking messages that can adapt to the XML message schema.
The use of XML (GWIZ) and connecting to the GDS and ADS through Newtrade Technologies® allows for a more direct connection, with the great advantage of having the single point of setup for all data in Opera. Users can literally decide to send specific “unmapped” marketing and error codes to accommodate each Channel requirement. This technology allows Oracle to offer the same type of connectivity to any source of electronic availability requests and bookings.
GWIZ is designed to run on a Microsoft® 2000 server using IIS. Once the application is installed, basic setup is needed to indicate the location of log files, the database connect string, and application login parameters. Once these three things are setup, GWIZ is ready to go!
Opera can also connect to the GDS via Pegasus, utilizing the ASCII message structure that is currently part of the legacy GDS system. This means that Opera Channel Management is always ready, regardless of what the client is ready to do, whether connected through Newtrade Technologies® or the Switch.
As mentioned above, Channel Management, through GWIZ, can connect to any source of availability and bookings. These are the supported messages:
GWIZ offers message logging at normal operation and debug levels. The log files created are text based and in debug mode they register detail information about the transaction that is taking place. This is very useful for troubleshooting purposes. The legacy GDS interface produces logs as well which are the same in content but with Switch company message formatting.
Opera Channel Management and GWIZ have the rate update feature, available through Newtrade®, which would normally require a third-party product. You can eliminate the costs of yet another application, plus maintenance, plus dedicated personnel, since our system automatically notifies GDS hosts about your rate changes right after they have been updated!
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