HAPPY BIRTHDAY, bookatonce!

A reason to celebrate: This month marks our first anniversary! And we’d like to thank you – our customers, critics and fans – for all your support this past year!

In September 2009 protel hotelsoftware GmbH launched the web-based, leasable application bookatonce which ever since has experienced continuous successful development.

Let’s look back at the first year of bookatonce’s success, which couldn’t have happened without you! We’ve often benefited from your ideas and your suggestions and feedback have greatly helped with continuous development and improvement.

Since our commercial launch we’ve committed ourselves to the “Software as a Service” (SaaS) philosophy, thus directly attending to needs of small hotels, motels and guesthouses. bookatonce is an application for which you do not need any additional hardware, software or training. As a customer all you needed was access to the internet to manage your reservations, guests and rooms with bookatonce.

After bookatonce had been put through its paces and has gone live, it soon became obvious that the application should be accessible not only from your computer but from anywhere. Many of you contacted us and asked for a tool which allowed access to bookatonce while working in the garden or preparing meals. For this reason we’ve developed the bookatonce iPhone application. This app allows you to access you reservation board and other bookatonce features at any time and from wherever you are, which greatly facilitates an ideal management of your rooms and guest.

Providing your guests the option to book your rooms, apartments or holiday home online, has always been a key feature of bookatonce. Online booking which includes an availability calendar, a booking widget and several different booking options can easily be integrated into your own website for instance. And in case you don’t have your own website but still would like to benefit from online bookings, we support you with our Set-up Wizard for your website! The Set-up Wizard was developed to help you create your own website easily and conveniently and offer your guests online booking options. Even if you haven’t had any experience with creating your own website, the Set-up Wizard offers you helpful tips and tricks to create a successful internet presence.

Last but not least we’ve intensively dealt with the issue of customer feedback options in the past year: To give you the opportunity to be up-to-date with the latest news and information and to give you a chance to share your experiences and ideas, we’ve created the bookatonce blog. All news and information in regard to hotel management is posted here and anyone can provide feedback and comment on the posted news. bookatonce is also presented in social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube, providing helpful and informative video tutorials, information, photos and much more.

As we are committed to be as customer oriented as possible, and greatly appreciate all ideas, suggestions and criticism from you, we’ve also come up with a unique solution regarding our customer feedback: Under the category User Voice, we offer a forum for you to discuss and evaluate existing products and services. As we take all requests seriously, this forum allows you to follow up on developments in regard to your suggestions. The bookatonce team comments on all requests and displays a clear development status for each project.

We would like to take this opportunity to once again thank you for your trust, your suggestions, ideas and for your honest opinions in the past year and are looking forward to exciting new developments, continuous mutual success and many more satisfied customers all around the world!

Your bookatonce team

PS: Recommend us to your friends and family and give away five free online bookings.

bookatonce, the guest and property management system for smaller hotels and bed & breakfasts, was now selected as a Top 20 business application for September 2010 by GetApp.com, the business software search engine. Another indication of the growing popularity and acceptance of this software solution that helps innkeepers to capture more reservations.

bookatonce assists owners of family run hospitality businesses to manage their guests, rooms and availability more comfortably. The software is tailored to the needs of B&Bs and all other small hospitality businesses. It’s a web application (SaaS) with a free basic version including all essential functions such as inventory management and Online web booking engine (WBE). Using bookatonce’ web booking engine, your guests can book rooms directly on your website as the WBE can easily be embedded into your site.

This award is an acknowledgement to the complete team of bookatonce confirming that the efforts and dedication put into this software are now paying off. The award also encourages for future tasks such as bookatonce’ strategy to grow internationally. For users the award constitutes an important decision-making aid: it helps future innkeepers – when searching for a solid guest management software – to be guided to the appropriate solution: bookatonce is a management and reservation software developed by a winning software company.

The GetApp.com Top 20 Business Apps ranking is based on a composite algorithm that incorporates several criteria, including listing popularity on GetApp.com, number of reviews and comments, social media presence such as Twitter and Facebook followers, volume and quality of integration points, and input from analyst reports. The ranking is updated monthly.

About GetApp.com
GetApp.com is a business software app store for the buyers of enterprise applications. It offers a simple way for buyers to find, compare and evaluate applications and a low cost channel for providers to be found online. Software buyers come to GetApp.com for the convenience of researching enterprise applications and deployment solutions in one place, saving weeks from their traditional purchasing cycles. Application providers come to GetApp.com to reach out to a worldwide audience of active buyers, receive qualified traffic to their website and receive sales leads relevant to their target markets.

There are a lot of methods that assist hoteliers with distributing available rooms to their guests. The number of booking channels or distribution partners available for hotels, guest houeses or bed & breakfasts is constantly growing. This is resulting in a confusing amount of data (guest data, reservations, invoices) to be processed – a lot of work, making a professional channel management inevitable. The now existing interface to cultuzz helps bookatonce users to save time by managing their distribution channels efficiently and automatically.

The number of channels is amazing and includes the own property website and several booking platforms offered by tourist boards that the hotelier belongs to – almost all of them providing another system. Examples are tiscover, feratel, tomas or wild east… Hotel booking platforms even increase the variety, major players are hrs, booking.com, hotels.com etc. Last but by no means least there is the connectivity to the big  Global Distributions Systems (GDS) such as Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre and Worldspan… For bigger hotels or chains it is quite easy to handle such an amount of different distribution channels by setting up necessary interfaces and acquiring – though expensive – software. But what about smaller properties such as bed and breakfasts or private vacation rentals?

Without applying an appropriate software the bunch of information is no longer manageable. They would have to manually post and update rates and availabilities simultaneously and would have to feed a lot of channels in order to be competitive and to avoid overbookings. All these efforts are indispensable (but time consuming) in order to achieve the superordinate target of guest satisfaction. The solution out of this dilemma is bookatonce.

The certified interface between bookatonce and cultuzz’ channel management solutions now offers the hotelier the option to connect his property management system directly to the growing diversity of online distribution channels via just one interface. This saves time, increases the facility of inspection and helps to avoid overbookings.

Channel Management Cultuzz

If you are interested in the cultuzz interface, please get into contact with bookatonce via sales@bookatonce.com!

Additional information regarding the interfaces provided by cultuzz can be found in this listing: http://www.cultuzz.com/channels

An interesting and informative video with regard to the topic “Channel Management” with cultuzz is available on Youtube.

bookatonce has now joined the Professional Association of Innkeepers International. This step reflects the importance of the US market given by bookatonce. It was just consequential to join one of the major players within the US Bed & Breakfast and innkeeping industry.

The PAII community was created in 1988 and to this day has grown into a national organization of nearly 3,000 members – bookatonce is now a part of this innkeepers network.

PAII’s goal is to serve the industry nationally by providing programs and services that would enhance the professional skills of both active and aspiring innkeepers. So is the bookatonce objective – the membership is a perfect match and helps bookatonce to offer professional guest and property management solutions to small hotels, innkeepers and B&Bs.

It is not a secret that applying bookatonce innkeepers will be enabled to manage guests, rooms and availability more comfortably. So bookatonce helps innkeepers to run their businesses easier and much more efficiently.

As bookatonce’s solutions include a powerful Online web booking engine (WBE), guests can book rooms directly on bed and breakfast websites – bookatonce’s booking engine can easily and seamlessly be integrated into the B&B website. Consequentially bookatonce is the solution for bed & breakfasts and inns in order to capture more reservations.

To summarize:

PAII is now completed and supported by bookatonce as a new industry vendor – supplying the services necessary for B&Bs not just to exist, but to thrive. bookatonce is looking forward to accepting the challenges that go along with the expansion into the US market!

It hasn’t even been a year since the web based booking software bookatonce launched to support small hotels, guest houses and B&Bs with managing their rooms and availabilities. Amazingly enough, however, people all over the world are already using bookatonce, even though bookatonce was first marketed only in Germany, where the system was developed by protel hotelsoftware GmbH.

Within only a few months, bookatonce had more than a thousand customers worldwide. And the degree to which bookatonce is being internationalised is steadily increasing. Currently hoteliers, innkeepers and B&B owners in more than 58 countries are using the web based solution bookatonce by protel. And almost every day, a new country is added to the list of people impressed and convinced by the innovations bookatonce offers.

bookatonce is easy to use by anyone and requires practically no training. This benefits especially those people, who are new to the computer world and the internet, as there are virtually no entry barriers. And for this reason, more and more guest house owners are happy to replace their antiquated pen & paper reservation book system with bookatonce’s electronic availability calendar. Thus, it’s not surprising that even in countries such as Guatemala, Bhutan and Benin the number of customers is increasing. However, bookatonce is also starting to make a name for itself in high-tech locations such as the USA and India.

Seeing the remarkably high international distribution rate, the bookatonce team will now focus more on developing marketing strategies for further growth of bookatonce’ international business.

The foundation for successful international marketing has already been laid.  bookatonce is available in several language versions: German, English and Spanish. And soon we will launch a French and Dutch bookatonce version.

To conquer new markets, however, much more important than the language versions is to showcase the special features that distinguish bookatonce from its competitors. First and foremost is the fact that bookatonce is a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, which means that it is business software which is made available and deployed over the Internet. And as the Internet knows no boundaries, neither does the internationalisation of bookatonce.

Another significant characteristic of software that meets the SaaS model is that you lease the applications instead of purchasing software licenses. The investment to deploy bookatonce is minimal, which does not eliminate but shifts the investment risk from the user to the provider, bookatonce. All that is required is any commercially available PC and access to the internet, investing in special hardware is not necessary.

Due to its modular build-up, bookatonce also allows a completely flexible pricing structure.  And the fixed charges are very low. This means that bookatonce is especially attractive to those people who are concerned about high investments and running costs. For developing countries, this innovative solution may even indirectly offer development assistance in the tourism sector.

bookatonce’ pricing structure (freemium model) which entail low costs for the user, is only sustainable, however, if as many businesses as possible realize the many apparent benefits. And this too calls for bookatonce’ international expansion.

Ultimately, bookatonce’ distribution model reflects the business model. The bookatonce basic version is available for free. And even if you customise your system by adding more modules, costs are extremely low.  Thus, sales and distribution of bookatonce has to be efficiently organised. And a large network of dealers, consisting of distribution partners with exclusive territories is not possible. As bookatonce is a web based hotel management software it is therefore only consistent to market, sell and distribute bookatonce via the Internet.

For the international market this, too, is protel’s main distribution channel for its bookatonce product line. Currently, the bookatonce team is looking for further sales and distribution partners and an affiliate program will soon be introduced.

If we’ve sparked your interest and you’d like to share your network, please don’t hesitate to contact us! The bookatonce team, who will happily answer all your questions, also reflects bookatonce’ growing internationalisation.  Our international team members provide excellent service to ensure a continuous increase of international customers and thus contribute to bookatonce’ international success.

Contact us now and be a part of our success story!

Author: Björn Grunert / Translation: Nicole Stöber

Web 2.0 calls for a total change of mentality for companies. To sell today, it is not enough to just communicate a value, we must create it. And therefore, those values should be based on a roundtrip communication with the customer. 

The Hotel Social Media key to success in social networks is to provide quality communication and measurement. It is necessary that the content is interesting and of value to the audience that we are addressing.

The hotels, especially small hotels, pensions, bed and breakfasts and guest houses can use these social media tools to provide valuable information to existing and potential guests. They help to creat a faithful relationship to the guests.. For example, becoming experts in the area where they are embedded can increase the number of bookings.

Think of social networks rather as a place where you can make powerful conversations with customers and have the experience of staying in our hotels  than as a means to promote the brand.
That is the reason why it is good to design a strategy.

bookatonce is the first property management system which integrates social media networks. If you activate the social media module, while you are using your PMS,  you can “tweet” an offer or any other information and automatically the “tweet” will be posted on Twitter. Even more, you have the possibility to install a facebook plug-in and then automatically all the “tweets” will be posted on your facebook page.
In the U.S., hoteliers are serious about social networking presence. Nearly 70% of U.S. hotels reported that the marketing channel with the highest return on investment was the online channel and most are using a variety of online channels to reach potential customers, including marketing through social networks.  Social networks are in this marketing online and these are a great opportunity for hotels, pensions, B&Bs to offer a unique customer relationship online.

60% said they had a social media marketing strategy. For many hotels, the comments are an important part of that strategy. 50% said they would actively encourage guests to post reviews of their hotel, and even those that did not encourage comments were aware of the importance of monitoring. Nearly seven out of 10 did so at least once a week.

The hoteliers are serious about presence in social networks –  not only for the leisure holiday segment but they are  also  developing social marketing strategies to reach the business hospitality & travel industry.

Having presence on social networks also brings other benefits and bookatonce helps you to integrate your property into the social networks: keeping abreast of the latest information on travel, reduce costs, preferred provider search and analyze trends.

Some innkeepers or owners of guest houses, cottages or private vacation rentals are still reluctant to replace their old-fashioned pen & paper solution for managing both online bookings and guest & property data by hotel management software. They still might wonder: “Why do I need guest management software if my well-tried method of operation works well and suffices?” – “All I need is my reservation book to manage my guests and property” – Does this sound familiar? In that case, you are probably also familiar with the by-product of this method: two or three post-its here and there to remind you that room number 5 needs to be ready by tomorrow, multiple papers in the drawer with the telephone numbers of the guests from last year and notes about which room Mr. Smith from Barbados liked so much?

What are the advantages of a guest and property management software? – The answer is easy, especially if you have experienced the following scenarios: Have you been searching for documents and (in case you happily found them….) sorting them? Do you sometimes feel a little unorganized? Is it difficult to keep track of all your daily tasks and to deal with the information overload involved? And do you sometimes think that there should be a way to streamline your operations? Then you should consider electronic support. Just imagine being completely organized and actually finding all information right when you need it…

Another advantage of guest management software is the reporting option to analyze your reservations. Get an insight into your booking statistics and align your business accordingly: Benefit from customized marketing campaigns to leverage your business success!

This is exactly what property management software like bookatonce can do for you. It will help you organize the whole bunch of information that emerges in your day-to-day work.  Let bookatonce get you organized, so you can focus on what a computer could never accomplish: personal and dedicated service for your guests.

Is your target to capture more reservations and to increase revenue? Then concentrate on those tools that help you achieve this. Let bookatonce help you eliminate time consuming tasks.

Online bookings

bookatonce is everything you need in one system. Apart from helping you run your property more efficiently, bookatonce is also an innovative online booking tool. One important source for additional bookings is definitely to permit your guests to make reservations online on your website. The bookatonce Online-Booking reservation system allows you to display your available rooms seamlessly on your own site. Imagine receiving more bookings without additional effort.

Online Bookings and Guest & Property Management: a brief description of what bookatonce can yield. Whether you are running a bed and breakfast, inn, hotel, motel, guest house, cottage or lodge, applying the solutions supplied by bookatonce  (the basic version is free of charge) does not involve any financial obligations. You’ll see that after a few minutes you’ll already have the feel of how bookatonce works. Just see for yourself! Just register and get going!

Author: Björn Grunert

bookatonce – the most innovative online booking software provider – is now looking for US-based bed and breakfasts, motel owners and Innkeepers that would like to improve their current booking system. The exclusive reward for being our review partner is complete access to our full range of products and services: free of charge!!

We are particularly appealing to B&B owners and Innkeepers that still do not use any kind of guest and booking management software or that would like to switch to a better solution.

Our current customers appreciate that bookatonce:

• Saves valuable time and effort in the daily routines –> owners can focus more on guests rather than on managing rooms and availabilities

• You don’t need to be an IT expert to use bookatonce –> clear overview of all essential information and everything is instinctively easy to use

• provides a modular structure – personalized solutions available –> users tailor the range of functions exactly to their specific needs

• permits unrestricted mobility: iPhone APP available –> remote access to all your data anytime and anywhere

• No time consuming installations, no updating or maintenance

See for yourself how much bookatonce can do for you!

Are you interested in trying bookatonce and giving us valuable feedback?

Then benefit from our promotion. We are looking forward to receiving your application. Feedback to: sales@bookatonce.com

Author: Björn Grunert

bookatonce goes West – our initiative to enter the US market

The bookatonce mission is to help smaller properties to manage their rooms, guests and room availability more efficiently. Our ambition refers to family owned and run hotels and guest houses that want to benefit more extensively from tourism flows and that strive to manage their businesses more successfully.

Although we know that the American market is highly competitive and that there are already several suppliers of property and guest management systems attending it, we are convinced that bookatonce, pursuing a unique philosophy , will be an enrichment for the high tech location USA.

So bookatonce is now preparing to enter the US-market and hence is looking for some B&Bs or Inns who would like to apply and experience our solution and give feedback. This refers to both, properties that still do not apply any kind of electronic management system and guest houses that simply want to switch to a better alternative.

The first step for us to do before definitely entering the US-market is to evaluate if our software has to be adapted to special US requirements. Primarily we’d like to encourage you to be a “test case” for bookatonce. We would very much appreciate your comments and suggestions concerning our tools, functions and solutions. Of course, as such a pilot hotel you would be able to use our modules and additional services free of charge and be granted a VIP treatment.

If you wish to receive additional information about bookatonce, please visit www.bookatonce.com or contact us directly at sales@bookatonce.com.

We are very interested in working with you. What do you think?

Author: Björn Grunert

bookatonce is the latest technology solution developed by protel hotelsoftware GmbH based in Dortmund, Germany. protel is one of the market leaders in the field of Property Management Systems (PMS) and has been serving the hospitality industry for more than 15 successful years now.

bookatonce is breaking new technological ground by providing a professional online booking software that has been particularly designed for small hotels such as guest houses, B&Bs, inns or motels. bookatonce is not confined to just empowering hosts to manage their guests & rooms. It also enables those smaller businesses to be bookable – in real time – via their own website and 3^rd party sites.

But what’s so special about bookatonce? As a web based property and guest management system (SaaS solution), this innovative hotel management solution requires no additional hardware. There’s no installation, nothing to set up. All you need to work with bookatonce is access to the Internet.

Consequently, bookatonce – the latest web based room management software – lets you take full advantage of the Internet. You stay mobile, flexible and informed. As bookatonce is applied and distributed via the Internet, it´s only a logical conclusion that this guest management software does not know boundaries and is the perfect match for smaller accommodation businesses around the world.

The system has successfully passed its introduction phase in the German-speaking countries. There are now versions available in English and Spanish, additional languages following very soon.

Our ambition to go international is also reflected in our multicultural oriented team members. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland we are a fast growing company, now we want to expand…

Author: Björn Grunert