Sync between Novohit and SiteMinder Channel Manager

Sync between Novohit and SiteMinder Channel Manager

Novohit can connect to SiteMinder and allow the control of rates, availabilities and restrictions from our Novohit PMS platform, automating the online sales process in all OTA and GDS channels through SiteMinder Channel Manager.

Notes
To see the synchronization between Novohit and the Booking Engine HotelRSV, see the guide Sync with HotelRSV. 

Introduction

Data synchronization between Novohit and Siteminder is done through the official Siteminder PmsXChange API v2 via XML from Novohit to Siteminder and from Siteminder to Novohit.
It should be noted that Siteminder sends the XML of the OTAs as it is received, Siteminder does not modify the XML received from the OTAs.

Synchronized Data between Novohit and Siteminder

Sending of:

  1. Rates

  2. Restrictions:

    1. MinStay
    2. Close
    3. Close to Arrival (CTA)
    4. Close to Departure (CTD)

  3. Total Availability

Receipt of:

  1. Reservations

Alert
Siteminder does not receive LOS (Length of Stay) restrictions.
To connect Novohit with SiteMinder Channel Manager you must meet the following requirements:
  1. Have a valid Channel Manager service contract with SiteMinder, this service is independent from Novohit and will apply the conditions determined by SiteMinder.
  2. Contract with Novohit the connectivity interface with SiteMinder, you can make the request via Ticket at https://help.novohit.com.
  3. Wait for our help desk to confirm via the same Ticket, the dates for integration. In that Ticket you will receive the instructions and start-up documentation.
  4. It is assumed that the user knows how to register Agencies and create Seasons, so in this document we only address the topics that will allow linking the agencies (OTAS) with the SiteMinder Channel Manager. If you have any doubts about the registration of Agencies and Seasons, please refer to the corresponding sections of the Novohit Manual.
The topics you must master to perform this procedure are:
Register Agencies (Channels).
Creating or Editing Seasons including Managing Master and Derived Seasons.
Info
Reservation Synchronization
Reservations captured in HotelRSV will be sent to Novohit automatically when the transaction is completed.
Reservation Management and RsvWeb_Avail_Control parameter

Initial Configuration: Links and Bindings between Novohit and SiteMinder

If you requested the activation of the SYNC service with SiteMinder, follow these steps to start using the interface.

Novohit Agencies with Channels or OTAS in SiteMinder 

To link Agencies with SiteMinder you must first create the agency according to the Registration of Agencies or Companies with Agreement manual.
Once the agency is registered, it must be linked with SiteMinder OTAS as follows, go to: Front Office → Sales → Register Agencies or Companies with Agreement.

In the Agency in SiteMinder field, select the equivalent Agency in SiteMinder from the drop-down list.
Select the Internet Network check box.
Click the Add button.
Repeat these steps for all the agencies you want to link.

Alert
Only the agencies that will actually be used should be associated, do not associate more channels that will not be used.

Currency Types

Alert
  1. When making this registration, you must verify that the agencies have the same type of currencies as SiteMinder.
  2. You should only associate the agencies with the Currency Type you are using in SiteMinder, for example, if in SiteMinder your base rate is USD, in Novohit you should only associate the Agency corresponding to the OTA in USD.
Notes
It is not recommended to associate agencies with a different currency type than the one used as a base in SiteMinder. However, if more than one Agency is configured in Novohit (each with different currency type) with the same OTA or Channel in Siteminder, the Novohit algorithm will try to associate the Currency type coming from Siteminder to the corresponding Agency in Novohit that matches the Currency type. Please request by Ticket this configuration.

Taxes on Reservation

The possible taxes to apply are:
  1. AmountBeforeTax.
  2. AmountAfterTax.
Once the rates are received from SiteMinder, the tax is determined according to the agency's tax settings (channel/OTA) in Novohit. Novohit will take the applicable rate. If a different tax rate is received from SiteMinder than the agency's rate in Novohit, the amounts are converted at the time the booking is saved in Novohit to maintain consistency.
Alert
  1. You must verify that the handling of taxes is the same in Novohit as in SiteMinder. Example: if in SiteMinder the rate is tax-inclusive in Novohit, it should be the same in Novohit. Otherwise, when the reservations arrive there may be disparities.
  2. The % field (in the Fare Type line), should indicate the total amount of tax or taxes that the fare may include, this percentage will be used by Novohit to convert the fare (add or break down) as indicated in the external channel when receiving the fare. 
  3. This tax percentage is only for converting the rate you receive from external channels, the taxes that will be applied in the operation are defined elsewhere and will not be affected by this value.

Room Types at Novohit and SiteMinder

In Novohit

The Room Types must be linked, to do so, go to: Admin → Define Operation Control and Processes → Front Desk Module Parameters → Define Room Type with Photography
The following screen will be displayed:

In Siteminder

Go to Distribution → Connections → Novohit 


Click on the Room / Inventory code, a PMS ROOM RATE ACTIONS window will appear and then the Edit PMS Mapping option. There you could enter the Inventory / Room (Inventory Code, Room Code) using the same id_tp_room that you get in Room Types PMS Novohit (room_types), as shown in the image of the previous section "In Novohit".

Novohit Seasons with Rates and Restrictions in SiteMinder

Alert
To perform the process it is necessary to have completed the previous step of Linking Agencies with SiteMinder Channels..
Notes
Each time a new Rate Plan is created in Siteminder, this configuration must be performed.
To determine which Novohit Seasons will be mapped to Siteminder.

In Novohit

Go to Front Office → Sales → Define Seasons and Rates by Agency.
The screen will display four sections:
  1. Search Season: in this section you can start typing the name of the agency and the system will perform a filter based on the characters entered.
  2. Sending Rates to Siteminder: this section will show the agencies that were linked in the previous step, it also shows the currency th,at each one will use. If any Agency is not shown in this section, it is because it was not linked according to the previous step.
  3. Define Season: in this section you create seasons, rate derivations and link them to SiteMinder rates.
  4. Defined Seasons: this section shows all the seasons (rates) created for the consulted Agency.

In order to link the rates, you must create the necessary Seasons within the corresponding Agency to do so:
  1. Select the Agency, you can easily select it by clicking on the Pencil icon in the Send Fares to Siteminder section.
  2. In the Define Season section you must enter the information in the corresponding fields as indicated in the Master and Derived Rates Management manual, but in this step you must add the Rate Code to link to the corresponding rate in SiteMinder:
  1. STMN Tariff:: A fare code must be created, using alphanumeric characters (no special characters, accents, hyphens or accents) with a maximum of 9 characters.
  2. Select the Master fare from the Master Season search field.
  3. Indicate the Factor to apply, having three options:
  4. Leave empty: the same master rate will apply.
  5. Amount: you can indicate with a sign (+ or -) an amount to increase or decrease the rate. Example: the value 100 will increase the value of the Master Fare by one hundred pesos (or the currency used in the agency), while the value -100 will subtract one hundred pesos (or the currency used in the agency) from the value of the Master Fare.
  6. Percentage: you can indicate with a sign (+ or -) a percentage to increase or decrease the rate. Example: The value 10 will increase the Master Rate value by ten percent; while the value -10 will subtract ten percent from the Master Rate value.

In Siteminder

The mapping in Siteminder is where the connection of the Novohit rates with the Room Type and the number of people per rate is made. To do this, you must:
 Login to Siteminder at the URL and with the keys provided by Siteminder. This access is independent from Novohit and you will have to request your access to Siteminder.
 From the top menu select Novohit.
The following screen will be displayed where you will see, for each Room Type, in the left column the rate and in the right column the mapping, in this last column is where you must click to create or modify the mapping. A PMS ROOM RATE ACTIONS window will appear and then the Edit PMS Mapping option.



The following screen will open where you should observe the following:
  1. The mapping is done by Room Type and by Rate.
  2. The Room and Inventory code was obtained from Room Types PMS - Novohit as described in the previous step.
  3. The rate code is the same that was created in Novohit as indicated in the section Linking Rates with Siteminder, this code, will have a dash and a number that will be provided by Novohit which indicates whether the rate is for one or two people, according to the parameterization that you have in Novohit.

Idea
It is suggested that the name of the rate be the same in Novohit as in Siteminder following the syntax: Rate Name - Rate Code, e.g. Weekend - WEEKND.
AlertIf for some reason the hotel decides not to send rates to Siteminder from Novohit, you must still create all the steps indicated, in particular:
    The Novohit Rate Type code must be linked in Siteminder, even if there is no season, the code must still go with the hyphen, example: -12.

Notes on Syntax Rate

To link the Seasons between Novohit and Siteminder, Novohit will use the following code combination:
  1. Room Type (e.g. 2), which will be the same for Room Code and Inventory Code.
  2. Season (Rate Plan), e.g. BDVOL19 and Rate Type: (e.g. 13) will be used for the Rate Code in Siteminder.
In particular, for the rates (Rates Plan) a combination of the season plus the rate type separated by a hyphen without spaces (cd_stmn_rate_plan-id_rate_type) is handled, this code is created by joining these two concepts:
  1. Rate Linkage Code (Season), e.g. BDVOL19
  2. Rate Type Code (which can be Single, Double), e.g. 13

Notes
When entering the STMN Tariff code in Novohit, it should be remembered that Novohit will send that code (BDVOL19) along with the Tariff Type code (13) and Siteminder will integrate it separated by a dash BDVOL19-13.
Alert
If by mistake in STMN Tariff we put BDVOL19-13 and Novohit sends this code with the Tariff Type (13), when entering it in Siteminder the code will be BDVOL19-13-13-13, therefore, it will not find it and will send a warning indicating that this type of tariff does not exist.
Therefore, the rate code in Siteminder will be BDVOL19-13. This code is the one to be entered in Siteminder in the menu Novohit → Rooms and Rates → Rate Name.
Notes
In Siteminder, in the menu Novohit → Rooms and Rates the checkbox "Show rooms not mapped to Novohit" must be selected in order to check that there are no unmapped rates.


Novohit Guarantee with Siteminder Payment Methods

You must define the Type of Guarantee to be used to confirm reservations, to do this, you must enter in: Configurations → Front Office Configuration → Register → Define Guarantees for a Reservation.
Notes
If you do not find this option, enter a ticket at help.novohit.com.


The type of guarantee to be used in the reservation must be the first one (according to the show_order field) that has the "Use WEB app" field enabled and must be the first in the list (according to the Order column).
Depending on the value of the "Confirm RSV" and "e-pay" fields of the guarantee type it will confirm or not the STMN reservation (if both are enabled -> Confirmed, if either is not enabled -> Not confirmed).
If the reservation is confirmed it will have status Guaranteed, otherwise it will remain as Not Guaranteed.
Alert
The Type of Guarantee to be used in the reservation must be the first one (according to show_order field), otherwise there may be errors in the interface.
Notes
In Siteminder you do not have to perform any operation to link the payment methods.
Idea
There is no way to know if bookings coming through OTA channels through Siteminder are actually paid or not, this is a limitation of the OTAs, not Siteminder or Novohit. OTAs do not have a consistent way to inform Siteminder and therefore Novohit that a booking is paid. This is why all reservations must be registered with the same Status, the same Guarantee Type and no Down Payments.

Prepayments

Statistics Fields

For all statistics fields of the received reservation (Sales origin, service category, guest type, plans) Novohit will use the value that is defined as default in each of the statistics.
The hotel must verify that each Statistics field (Configurations → Front Office Configuration → Statistics → ...) has the checkbox Applies on Booking selected.
Examples:

Sales Source



Guest Category



Guest Type


Aspects to Consider During the Start-up Phase and Days Immediately Following the Activation of the Interface.

All reservations generated during the Novohit - Siteminder connection process should be automatically synchronized.
Reservations prior to the start date of the Siteminder connection will not be synchronized and if these were manually entered into Novohit, Siteminder will likely report a PMS response error, in these initial cases must be resolved manually:
  1. Check the reservation creation date in both systems.
  2. If the reservation creation date is lower than the Novohit - Siteminder connection start date, the change (modification or cancellation) must be made manually.

Payment Method

There are two options for registering warranties arriving from Siteminder channels:
  1. Modality A: As an Advance for Reserves and, therefore, should be handled as such.
  2. Modality B: Only as informative data in the Guarantee field, in this case, they only save the data in an informative way without any type of affectation to the account.
  3. Siteminder does not provide details on whether the guarantees are confirmed as advances or not, so they cannot be mapped to Novohit dynamically. The data they send is only informative, so you will have to define which modality to apply in order to configure it in the system.

Post-Installation

It is recommended that at least during the first 30 days after implementation, reservations arriving from Siteminder should be verified, as some may have been entered manually, in order to avoid duplicate reservations or overbooking.

Booking Synchronization and Booking Reception from GDS / OTAS / Siteminder

Novohit receives bookings from Siteminder approximately every 6 minutes.
Idea
Each time a reservation is received, Novohit sends to Siteminder the availability for the same dates of the reservation received.

Synchronization of Rates and Restrictions to GDS / OTAS / Siteminder

Novohit's interface with Siteminder's PMSXChange allows synchronization of Rates and Restrictions data up to 750 days into the Future. If seasons have more than 750 days in the period, Novohit will send up to 750 days.

Synchronization of Availability to GDS / OTAS / Siteminder

The actual availability of Novohit is synchronized in two ways:
  1. Each time a reservation is received, Novohit sends to Siteminder the availability for the same dates of the reservation received.
  2. Novohit will send the total availability of the hotel in approximately 20 minutes or less. Each availability sending will be for the next 90 days only.
Siteminder does not manage availability for each OTA, therefore NOVOHIT sends to Siteminder the availability of the hotel, not the allotments of the agencies. A new configuration was added in the interface between Siteminder and NOVOHIT, so that the reservations received from Siteminder will not be rejected in NOVOHIT for availability reasons, since it is assumed that this verification was performed in Siteminder.

Allotment or Availability by Agency, Channel, OTA or GDS

Siteminder does not allow to assign differentiated availability by Agency, Channel, OTA or GDS. All channels must have the same availability, so Novohit sends the actual availability of the entire hotel.

Warning
HotelRSV does consider Agency (Channel) allotment as a feature. See "Sync with HotelRSV." 

Overbooking

The Siteminder interface does not provide for configuring overbooking even if there is % configured in Room Types.
Warning
The availability that is sent to Siteminder does not include this overbooking %. Siteminder always receives the actual availability and inventory without overbooking. 

Booking Modifications from GDS / OTAS by Siteminder

When there is a booking modification in the OTA, a new booking is created in Novohit, but the original OTA booking code is kept to maintain reference and traceability.
Siteminder sends Novohit the entire reservation complete with all the data, i.e. it does not send only the changes.
The Novohit - Siteminder interface only provides for reservation changes to come from Siteminder to Novohit and not vice versa since Siteminder does not accept reservation changes from the PMS, so if you make changes in Novohit and then a change comes from Siteminder, the changes made in Novohit would be lost.
Since some fields are not standard, you would risk losing traceability of changes (Deltas) to reservations if the system tried to only identify changes to all fields.
You can search for a reservation by OTA code, by Novohit code and get all associated reservations by changes.

Transaction Log between Novohit and Siteminder


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