Learn More about Nor1 Connectivity

4 Learn More about Nor1 Connectivity

Introduction

This chapter addresses the GET and POST data needed to dynamically create upgrade offers based on the booking data of each unique reservation provided to Nor1.

The Oracle Hospitality Nor1 Cloud Services solutions provide hotels with the opportunity to create additional revenue from post-booking, standby, and confirmed upgrades. Nor1 receives the booking data from the Learn More Image (LMI) web service. The LMI is a call-to-action for a guest to click through and view the dynamic upgrade offers.

The Nor1 integration partner passes the booking data to Nor1 in the LMI request. Nor1 returns an image or JSON to embed the LMI on the partner’s Internet Booking Engine (IBE) and transaction emails, such as, the confirmation or pre-arrival email.

Nor1 manages the guest eligibility for standby or confirmed upgrades in the LMI web service. Eligibility is determined by business rule filters and upgrade availability. If a guest who is represented by the booking data in the LMI request is ineligible, then the response is a 1x1 transparent pixel image, or success is a false flag in the JSON payload.

The following is an example of embedding the LMI on the IBE confirmation page:
This image shows an example of embedding the LMI on the IBE confirmation page

Implementation

The Learn More Image (LMI) web service is implemented as a REST API. The web service supports the following HTTP methods:

GET – response is an image
POST – response is JSON

The GET use case is for quickly embedding the Nor1 dynamically generated image on a web page or in an email body. The POST use case is for an integration partner to take the content response from Nor1 to customize the look and feel of the LMI on a web page or in an email body.

The URL for the LMI web service is the same for the GET and POST methods. Nor1 provides a Staging and Production URL. The Staging URL should be used for implementation and integration QA. The Staging environment contains the latest hotel content. Nor1 can set up a test hotel upon request. Switch to the Production URL when you are ready to go live.

The LMI web service supports http and https. Nor1 highly recommends using secure https for the LMI request.

LMI Web Service URLs

URL Name	URL
Staging URL	https://www.oci.nor1uat.com/dynLink/?
Production URL	https://www.nor1upgrades.com/dynLink/

Note:

The URLs in the table provide a presentation only if valid parameters are passed into them.

Request Data

The booking data provided in the LMI request is the same for GET and POST. Mandatory parameters are required to generate upgrade offers. Recommended parameters improve the likelihood of offer conversion. Optional parameters either replace static content or link to other data sources. The booking parameters are defined in the following table.

Booking Data for GET / POST

Field	Description	Priority	Example	Type (Limit)
PCD	Hotel / Property Code	Mandatory	SJCHOTEL	char(20)
EBC	Booking Code / Reservation number	Mandatory	MYP12346A	char(40)
RCC	Room Category Code	Mandatory	KIRRC	char(20)
GAD	Arrival Date	Mandatory	YYYYMMDD	date
NMN	Number of Nights	Mandatory	2	int(2)
TBP	Total booking price	Recommended	256.43	float(10,2)
GEM	Guest email	Mandatory	guest@gmail.com	char(100)
GLN	Guest last name	Mandatory	Doe	char(100)
GFN	Guest first name	Mandatory	John	char(100)
PID	Provider ID	Mandatory	Nor1 to provide	char (4)
PET	Provider Entry Type	Mandatory	IBE = WEB, Confirmation email = CONF, Pre-arrival email = PREA	char(5)
PRL	Rate Level (if applicable)	Recommended	LV1	char(12)
PRC	Rate Code	Recommended	BAR	char(12)
SRP	Group Code	Recommended	G1234	char(12)
NOA	Number of adults	Recommended	1 (default)	int(2)
NOC	Number of children	Recommended	0 (default)	int(2)
GNR	Number of Rooms	Mandatory	1 (default)	int(3)
LNG	Language (ISO 639-1 compliant)	Recommended	EN (default)	char(2)
PCH	Property Chain Code	Recommended	Nor1 to Provide	char(3)
PLC	Loyalty Code	Recommended	D	char(3)
GPC	Guest Postal Code	Recommended	95054	char(50)
GAR	Guest Address	Recommended	1 Upgrade Drive	char(125)
GCT	Guest City	Recommended	Santa Clara	char(150)
GST	Guest State	Recommended	California	char(100)
GCC	Guest Country Code (ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 code)	Recommended	US	char(2)
GPN	Guest Phone Number	Recommended	14088509937	char(50)
PTS	Timestamp of Booking	Recommended	YYYY-MM-DD H:MM:SS	date and time
PRT	Rate Tier*	Recommended	TIER	char(12)
PSC	Market Segment Code*	Recommended	AAA	char(12)
PCC	Channel Code*	Recommended	VOICE	char(12)
PCN	Room Name	Optional	King Std	char(255)
CUR	Currency Code	Optional	USD	char(3)
GEN	Guest gender (‘M’, ’F’)	Recommended	F	enum(‘M’,’F’)
GSL	Guest salutation	Recommended	Mr	char(50)
RTP	Record Type (N = New, M=Modify, or C=Cancel)	Optional	N	enum(‘N’,’M’,’C’)
GDD	Departure Date	Optional	YYYYMMDD	date
PLN	Loyalty Program Number (member id)	Optional	NH0004	char(16)

Note:

* Only two of the three fields marked with asterisks can be used; advise which will be used.

POST Implementation

The booking parameters, defined above, are structured as JSON objects in the body of the POST request. The LMI response will be JSON. The following is an example request. Note this is not a real hotel and the response will not be eligible for upgrade offers:

POST Request Example

POST Request Header	Content-Type = application/JSON
POST Request Body	{ "PID" : "NOR1", "PCD" : "SCWA", "EBC" : “123456789”, "RCC" : "STDK", "GAD" : “20150317”, "NMN" : 3, "NOA" : 1, "NOC" : 0, "LNG" : "EN", "TBP" : 500, "GEM" : "guest@gmail.com", "GEN" : “M”, "GSL" : “Mr", "GLN" : "Doe", "GFN" : "John", "GCC" : “US”, "GST" : “California", "GCT" : “Santa Clara”, "GPC" : “95054”, "GAR" : “3945 Freedom Circle” "GPN" : “14089237”, "PLC" : "D", "GNR" : 1, "PET" : "WEB", "PRC" : "BAR", "PRT" : “TIER1”, "PCC" : “VOICE”, "PCH" : "NOR1” }

POST Request Header

Content-Type = application/JSON

POST Request Body

{

"PID" : "NOR1",

"PCD" : "SCWA",

"EBC" : “123456789”,

"RCC" : "STDK",

"GAD" : “20150317”,

"NMN" : 3,

"NOA" : 1,

"NOC" : 0,

"LNG" : "EN",

"TBP" : 500,

"GEM" : "guest@gmail.com",

"GEN" : “M”,

"GSL" : “Mr",

"GLN" : "Doe",

"GFN" : "John",

"GCC" : “US”,

"GST" : “California",

"GCT" : “Santa Clara”,

"GPC" : “95054”,

"GAR" : “3945 Freedom Circle”

"GPN" : “14089237”,

"PLC" : "D",

"GNR" : 1,

"PET" : "WEB",

"PRC" : "BAR",

"PRT" : “TIER1”,

"PCC" : “VOICE”,

"PCH" : "NOR1”

}

The POST response informs the partner if the guest is eligible for an upgrade offer. If the success field in the response is true, then the guest is eligible and an LMI can be rendered on the web page or in the email body. The call-to-action of the LMI is a click through URL to view the upgrade offers. The Offer Link field in the response contains the click through URL.

If eligible, then the JSON response will be similar to the following:
This image shows the JSON Response if eligible.

If ineligible, then the JSON response will be similar to the following:

Post Response JSON Fields

Field	Description
success	If true, the guest is eligible for an upgrade; otherwise, false.
requested	If true, guest committed to at least one offer; otherwise, false.
error	Reason for no upgrades.
img_src	Image source URL for the LMI; equivalent to GET request.
offer_link	Click through URL for the guest to view the upgrade offers.
colors	Branded font colors for the title and description body of the LMI. The font colors are typically set by the Brand style guidelines.
content	Recommend content to create the LMI on the web page or in the body of the email if the img_src is not used.

GET Implementation

The booking parameters, defined above, are implemented as a query string in the URL for the GET request. The LMI response is an image. The LMI web service supports the parameters as key-value pairs in the query string.

Two URLs are implemented on the web page or in the email body for the GET request. One URL is the image source to get the LMI. The other is the click through URL to view the upgrade offers. The URLs share the same query string and domain name. The difference is the dynLink path for the LMI request.

GET Request URLs

URL Name	URL
Staging Image Source URL	https://www.oci.nor1uat.com/dynLink/?
Staging Click Through URL	https://ui.oci.nor1uat.com/?
Production Image Source URL	https://www.nor1upgrades.com/dynLink/?
Production Click Through URL	https://ui.nor1upgrades.com/?

The LMI request and click through URL are typically implemented using an HTML anchor tag. The click through URL is the href tag and the LMI request is the image source. The following is an example HTML snippet. Note, the query parameters were truncated to fit the page in the following example and therefore are not valid URLs.

GET Request Anchor Tag Example

</a>

The image source URL returns an LMI as an image if the guest is eligible for an upgrade. A 1x1 pixel is returned if no upgrades are available. The 1x1 pixel avoids the broken image icon on the web page or in the email body. In the event a guest manages to click through the 1x1 pixel, the guest is informed that no offers are available at this time.