Channel connections · in development

Hotel channel connections, being built to feed online travel agencies from one rate calendar

Hemmz is being built to send availability, rates and restrictions to online travel agencies through a channel manager, and to bring their bookings back into the same reservation list as direct ones. This is in development: no channel is connected for any property yet and nothing is certified.

In development

In development. The distribution framework and an integration path to a channel manager are built and being tested in our own environment. No channel is connected for any property and nothing is certified, so no property can sell to an online travel agency through Hemmz today.

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An old wooden board of brass hooks holding plain brass keys on leather fobs hangs on a plaster wall; on the oak desk below lie a dark switched-off tablet and a small vase with an olive sprig.

The channel setup screen in development: the channel manager, a connection status of not connected yet, and the match between the property's room types and rate plans and the channel manager's own codes. Illustration with sample data.

One room count for direct and channel sales (in development)

Channel connections are being built so that a room sold on your own website comes off sale on every connected channel, and a room sold on a channel comes off your website. The aim is one count of free rooms per room type, not one per system.

Channel bookings in the same list (in development)

New bookings, changes and cancellations from an online travel agency are being built to arrive in the same reservation list as direct bookings, each marked with the channel it came from. This is not yet in use at any property.

Delivery problems a person can see (in development)

A rate update that a channel refuses raises no alarm at the front desk. The distribution screen, still in development, is designed to show what was accepted, what is waiting and what needs a person to send it again.

What channel connections are being built to do

The work in development takes the rate and availability calendar a property already keeps in Hemmz and sends it outwards, then takes bookings back in. None of the points below is in use at a property yet.

Send free rooms per room type and night, recalculated after every sale
Send nightly rates per rate plan, including a price per number of guests
Send restrictions: minimum and maximum stay, closed to arrival, closed to departure and stop-sell
Match each room type and rate plan to the channel's own room and rate
Bring back new bookings, changes and cancellations made on a channel
Send the whole calendar again for a date range when a person asks for it

Why the connection goes through a channel manager

Each online travel agency approves its connections one by one. Hemmz is being built to reach the agencies through a channel manager, so Hemmz would maintain one integration with the channel manager in place of a separate one for each agency, while the property still connects each agency inside the channel manager. Each agency still has to authorise each property itself, and that step stays with the hotel. No such connection exists for any property today.

A distribution screen that says what was accepted

The distribution screen in development is designed for the person responsible for rates. Its wording is deliberately careful: accepted means the channel manager took the update, not that Hemmz has checked what each agency is showing.

Planned: a health summary per channel, with the time of the last accepted update
Planned: a list of updates waiting or retrying, and those that need a person
Planned: channel bookings that could not be placed, with the reason
Planned: a parity check that flags nights where the rate sent to a channel is lower than the direct rate
Planned: a line on the overview when a channel has delivery problems

What is built and what is not

The distribution framework, the mapping of rooms and rates, and an integration path to a channel manager are built and tested in our own environment. What has not happened is the part that matters to a hotel: acceptance testing against live channels, certification, and a first property taking real channel bookings. Until that is done this page stays in development language, and founding properties keep the channel manager they use today.

Step by step

How a channel booking is planned to flow once a connection exists

01
Planned first step: the revenue manager matches each room type and rate plan to the same room and rate in the channel manager.
02
By design, a change to a price, a restriction or the number of free rooms would queue an update to the channel.
03
A guest would book on an online travel agency, and the booking would be pulled into Hemmz and placed in the reservation list, marked with its channel.
04
The room is designed to come off sale on the hotel's own website and on the other channels after that booking.
05
If the guest changed or cancelled on the agency's site, the reservation and the room count are designed to follow.
06
An update that failed every attempt would wait on the distribution screen until a person sent it again.

Questions

Questions hoteliers ask

Can we connect online travel agencies through Hemmz today?

No. Channel connections are in development. No channel is connected for any property and nothing is certified, so a property cannot sell to an online travel agency through Hemmz today. Founding properties keep their current channel manager in the meantime.

Is Hemmz a channel manager?

No. Hemmz is being built to reach online travel agencies through a channel manager, not to replace one or to connect to each agency directly. We will not name a partner or claim a certification on this site until one is in place and in use.

Which online travel agencies will be supported?

We do not name any agency until a connection is certified and working for a property. Which agencies can be reached will depend on the channel manager and on each agency authorising each property. We would sooner say nothing than publish a list we cannot stand behind.

What happens to our current channel manager if we join as a founding property?

It stays in use. The rollout is staged: a current system is replaced when its replacement has been tested with your own bookings and accepted by you, and not before. While it stays in use, we agree with you which system holds your availability and how channel bookings reach Hemmz, so the same room is not sold twice. Nothing is charged for a service that is not yet usable.

When will channel connections be available?

We do not publish dates. The remaining work is acceptance testing against live channels and certification, and part of that timing is not ours to set. Ask us and we will tell you plainly where it stands on the day you ask.