Front office
The front office or reception is an area where visitors arrive and first encounter a staff at a place of business. Front office staff will deal with whatever question the visitor has and put them in contact with a relevant person at the company. Broadly speaking, the front office includes roles that affect the revenues of the business. The term front office is in contrast to the term back office which refers to a company’s operations, personnel, accounting, payroll and financial departments which do not interact directly with customers.
The front office receives information about the customers and will then pass this on to the correct department within the company. The front office can also contact the marketing or sales department should the customers have questions. The company needs to give training to the front office manager as this position will come in contact with customers the most.
The most common work for the front office staff will be to get in touch with customers and help out internally in the office. Staff working at the front office can also deal with simple tasks, such as printing and typing tasks and sorting emails. Although front office staff might only need to perform tasks such as answering the phone, using the printer and fax machine, training is still needed on these tasks.
Front office is related to a service delivery system, where employees engage with customers. It uses the parameter of labor intensity to figure out the distinctive characteristics of a service.
Course Outline – Learning Objectives
• Front Office Organization Structure.
• Rooms Division.
• Front Office Personnel.
The Front Office The front office of a hotel generally performs the following basic activities:
• Processing advance reservations.
• Registering guests- check in.
• Rooming guests.
• Handling guests’ luggage.
• Issuing room keys.
• Providing information.
The Front Office
• Handling guests’ mail and parcel.
• Administering telephone.
• service Accounting (making payments and billing)
• Checking out guests.
Non-Automated Front Office Systems
• Handwritten forms.
• Reservation index cards.
• Density board blocked reserved rooms.
• Registration cards—multiple copies.
• Time stamp.
• Room rack: housekeeping status of each room.
• Vouchers received from point-of-sale areas.
• Charges handwritten to folios.
• Adding machine tape attached at check-out.
• Night audit cross-checked folio charges to vouchers and verified settlement.
Semi-Automated Front Office Systems
• Handwritten and machine-produced forms.
• National reservation networks.
• Pre-registration activities.
• Density board blocked reserved rooms.
• Registration cards—preprinted and multiple copies.
• Room rack: housekeeping status of each room.
• Vouchers received from point-of-sale areas.
• Posting machines recorded charges to guest folios.
• Night audit cross-checked folio charges to vouchers and verified settlement.
Property Management Systems
• Reservations.
• Rooms management.
• Guest account management.
• General management.
• Point-of-sale (POS) system.
• Magnetic strip readers.
• Credit cards.
• Debit cards.
• Smart cards.
The Guest Cycle
• Pre-arrival.
• Arrival.
• Occupancy.
• Departure.
Organizational Chart
Rooms Division
The structure of the rooms division will vary from hotel to hotel.
These variations can be caused by differences in the size of hotels, the types and level of services, and the organization preferences of management.
The major departments in the rooms division are front office and housekeeping.
A few hotel may also include security. These departments come under the control of the Rooms Division Manager or Director of rooms.
Room Status Terms
• Occupied
• Complimentary
• Stay over
• On-change
• Do not disturb
• Sleep-out
• Skipper
• Sleeper (continued)
• Vacant and ready
• Out-of-order
• Due out
• Check-out
• Late check-out
Room Types
• Single
• Double
• Triple
• Quad
• Queen
• King
• Twin
• Double-double
• Studio
• Mini-suite or junior suite
• Suite
• Connecting rooms
• Adjoining rooms
• Adjacent rooms
Front Office Personnel
The front office is the nerve center of hotel operations.
Hotel personnel are there to serve guests.
An important aspect of this is providing a good first impression of the establishment to guests.
People are involved in serving guests are:
• Reception (Front Desk Clerk, Front Office Agent, Receptionist)
• Reservations Clerk Concierge
• Bell (Porter)
• Airport Representative
• Telephone Operator
Rooms Division Manager A rooms division manager has the following duties:
• Responsible for the supervision of employees engaged in the operation of the front areas of the hotel.
• Coordinates with other departments in the hotel and maintains open communications with them to find better ways to serve the guests.
• Maintains responsibility for staffing, purchasing, and budgeting.
• Supervises the rooms division payroll, availability controls, and monthly plans.
Rooms Division Manager
• Creates plans to maximize the average daily rate and percentage of occupancy
• Handles customer complaints and suggestions
• Stays up to date with events taking place in the market, in market segments, and in the competition
Rooms Division Manager Rooms division manager’s knowledge required includes a complete understanding of hotel operations, specifically those operations involving the front office, housekeeping and basic accounting procedures.
Front Office Manager
• It is the basic function of the front office manager to directly supervise the front desk, reservations, concierge and PABX.
• He/she is also assists the rooms division manager in compiling information for reports.
• Reviews and approves all room moves and room rate changes to ensure they were necessary.
• Handles guest complaints and follows them up to reduce future complaints.
• Assists the rooms division manager in forecasting room availability to ensure that the optimal level of occupancy is attained.
• Is available to work in the front office area where there may be a shortage of staff.
• Maintains the necessary stock of supplies in all front office areas, while controlling costs in these areas.
•
Front Office Manager Other duties of the front office manager include the following:
• Assists in the training and cross-training of front office employees.
• Prepares monthly reports.
• Assists the rooms division manager in formulation and implementation of front office policies and procedures.
Front Desk Supervisor
It is the front desk supervisor’s basic function to directly supervise the front desk procedures that include check-in and check-out. The front desk supervisor performs the following duties: Trains and cross-trains front desk personnel in the tasks of registration, mail handling, information services, and check-in and check- out procedures
• Regulates the service given in the front desk.
• Acts as a liaison between the guests and management, particularly with regard to problem-solving activities.
• Is responsible for seeing that daily and hourly computer reports are run and distributed.
• Assigns VIP rooms to ensure guest satisfaction.
• Resolves room discrepancy report.
• Prepares the weekly/monthly schedule of employees.
• Assist the group coordinator with all group arrivals, either directly or through the delegation of this duty to other front desk staff.
Reception (Front Desk Agent)
The reception provides the first initial contact a guest has with the hotel. After this contact, guests feel that the reception is the place to call or go when they have a question or problem.
The basic functions performed by the reception are the registering process and the assisting of guests with any requests they make.
The reception’s duties include the following:
• Handles the guest registration process and adheres to all hotel credit policies in the process.
• Handles guest check-out procedure.
• Always answers the front desk phone with three rings or less.
• Attempts to sellup guest rooms, and informs and sells the guest on all hotel services and facilities Is aware of all daily events in the hotel and local area.
• Handles guest mail and reservations when the reservations department is closed.
• Coordinates room status updates with housekeeping department.
• Ensure completion of guest registration card.
• Identifies guests’ length of stay requirement.
• Coordinates maintenance work with the engineering and maintenance division.
• Maintains guestroom key storage.
Two beautiful young stylish receptionists at a reception desk, one talking on the telephone and the other handing a card to a customer
Reservations Manager
The reservations manager’s basic functions are to supervise and oversee all the operations of the reservations area. He or she must assure that all reservations, both group and individual, are recorded and followed up on as necessary.
Other duties of reservations manager are to perform the following:
• Making sure proper telephone etiquette is used and correct information is being given to potential guests
• Being sure that personal service is stressed and that sales techniques are being used appropriately
• Following up on tentative booking, watching cut-off dates, and monitoring group tour business accounts blocks for productivity
• Training reservation agents and setting up cross-training programs
• Reviewing all VIP reservations and working with the rooms division manager and the front office manager on assignments
• Preparing and distributing reports to concerned departments a weekly, monthly reservations and revenue forecast
• Handling requests for reservation information and room rates
• Developing and maintaining a solid working relationship with the central reservations office and travel agents
Reservations Clerk
The reservations clerk is responsible for taking reservations and for providing future guests with information about the facilities of the hotel. Duties performed by reservations clerk includes: Giving friendly and courteous service to future guests while involved in telephone sales
Answering all reservation phone calls, taking reservations, and dealing with reservations correspondence
Dealing with group bookings such as cancellations, changes, and rooming lists
Checking to see that all equipment is working properly and that the needed amount of supplies is on hand
Conducting telemarketing under the direction of the director of sales and marketing
Concierge
Concierge services are common in European hotels and available for over a century. Today, most full-service hotels in America and Asian Countries are also available. The basic task of a concierge is to serve as the guest’s liaison with both hotel and non- hotel services.
In a sense, the function of a concierge is an extension of the function of a front desk agent A concierge must be resourceful and knowledgeable about the hotel and the surrounding community. Regardless of whether concern in-hotel or off-premises attractions, facilities, services, or activities, a concierge specializes in providing assistance to guests.
Typical guest requests handled by a concierge include:
• Providing directions and information Making airplane, theater, train ticket
• Reservations for dining
• Arranging for secretarial services
• Handling mail and parcel services
• Arranging sightseeing tours
• Transportation arrangement
• Limousine services
Airport
• representatives
• Greet hotel guests at airport
• Arrange taxis from airport
• Take hotel bookings
• Assist departing
Telephone Operator
• PABX stands for private automatic branch exchange. This area is commonly referred to as the switchboard and is staffed by switchboard / telephone operators.
• Most large hotels have room-to-room dialing by which guests in one room can dial directly to another room
The greatest duty of a telephone operator is that of transferring calls from outside the hotel to the appropriate guest room. For security measurement, operators must do this without giving out the room number of a hotel guest.
The telephone operator may seldom be face- to-face with guests of the hotel, but plays an important role in representing the hotel to the guest. For this position, a friendly and courteous tone of voice is all-important. The duties of the telephone operator include: Answers incoming calls Directs calls to guestrooms through the switchboard / PABX system
• Provides information on guest services
• Processes guest wake-up calls
• Answers inquiries about hotel facilities and events
Guest Relations Officers (GRO)
• Make guests feel welcome
• Provide personal services
• Handle guests problems and complaints
• Take care for VIPs and frequent guests, escorting them on arrival
Front Office cashier
• Prepare and settle of guests accounts
• Administer the safe deposit boxes
• Provide a foreign currency exchange service
Business center
• Fax, photocopying and secretarial service
• Translation,
• Hire of equipment (e.g. lap-top computer & mobile phone)
• Meeting-room rental
Night Auditor
• Checking and completion of guest and hotel accounts, audit revenue and payments
• Producing statistics, room tax posted and summaries of revenue , reports record, track occupancy percentage
Front Office work shifts
• Morning shift
o 07:00 to 16:00 hours
• Evening shift
o 15:00 to 00:00 hours
• Overnight shift
o 22:00 to 07:00 hours
• Middle shift
o 11:00 to 19:00 hours
• Panzer Shift
o 18:00 to 03:00hrs
Made by
Miss AnchisaYuangpongkaew BE 3/2
Post by
Miss Suphalak Chatchaona BE 3/2