Windsurfer 2Way Interface Detailed (Cloud)

Windsurfer 2Way Interface Detailed (Cloud)

Path: Management > Interfaces > All Interfaces > Windsurfer

The interface is divided in 6 sections:
- Windsurfer (Setups)
- Communication Settings
- Seasons
- Room Type
- Room Allocations
- Interface Tools

Windsurfer (Setups)

This section, located at the top right of the page, will vary based on whether the interface is operating under the OTA or HTNG format:
- Property ID: This is the Visual Matrix property ID.
- Username/Password: hotel access to the Windsurfer channel manager.
- Room Type: This is the room type Visual Matrix will select if it cannot match the room type provided with the reservation.
- City Ledger dropdown: This function specifies which CL account will automatically be selected for central billed reservations.
- Market Segment/Referral Method/Reason for Stay: Any reservation that comes through with a Rate Plan not mapped in Visual Matrix will be assigned to this segment. The same policy applies to Rack Reservations.
- Max GDS Days: This should always be set to 730, as Winsurfer does not authorize syncs over 730 days.

- Pay All Travel Agent Commission: Enable this option to indicate that the hotel will cover travel agent commissions for reservations booked through CRS. This should typically be checked if the property directly handles commission payments to travel agents, although it has minimal impact.
- Send Reservation to CRS: This box should be checked to ensure all local reservations are synced with Windsurfer.
- Sync Rates Nightly: It is recommended to leave this box unchecked to prevent a large volume of data from syncing every night, which could impact system performance.



Communcation Settings

- URL Update: The URL where Visual Matrix sends the information.
- URL Retrieve: The URL from which new reservations are retrieved.
- BR interval (in minutes): The interval between each reservation retrieval request from Visual Matrix. This should be set to 5'.
- Hold Policy: This establishes the default hold time for any non-guaranteed reservations received through the 2-way interface.



Seasons

This section will show the rates seasons created in Management > Rates > Seasons. This is where the Guarantee and Cancellation policies for those periods are also set up and sent to SynXis.
- Start Date/End Date: Those dates are the season's start and end set up in Management.
- Tier Type/Tier Level: Tiered or Fixed. Should always be setup as "Tiered".
      - (DEFAULT) Choosing Tiered will send whatever the going rate is for a particular date, whether it's Base or Tier 1 - 9. The Tier Level column does nothing when Tiered is selected.
      - Choosing Fixed will always send whatever Tier is selected in the Tier Level column. If 1 is selected, the interface will always send Tier 1 rates regardless of whatever the current rate may be in VM.
- WD Confirm/WE Confirm: This represents the standard Guarantee Policy synchronized online. Select the first one at the top, this has no impact anymore on the import.
- WD Cxl/WE Cxl: This indicates the general Cancellation Policy synchronized online, with only "6 PM" available for selection.
- Reopen: Selecting "Yes" will reopen the inventory online if rooms become available again. Choosing "No" will keep the inventory closed once it has been sold out, even if rooms become available afterward.



Room Type

This section includes three pieces of information:
- # Rooms: Indicates the number of rooms available per room type. Any changes made in VM that affect this total will automatically update here.
- # Close: Represents the threshold number of rooms remaining that will prompt the interface to close online inventory.
- Threshold: Specifies the number of rooms at which Visual Matrix begins reporting real-time inventory updates to your Channel Manager (see example below).


Notes
Threshold Examples:
If the number is at "0", then Visual Matrix will always report in real-time inventory to your Channel Manager.
If the number is at "3", then only when the inventory of the room type in Visual Matrix is at "3", it will start to update the inventory to your Channel Manager.

Room Allocations

This section facilitates the communication of Rate Plans and configuration of online Guaranteed (Gtd) and Cancellation (Cxl) policies. If a Rate Plan requires a specific Gtd and Cxl policy online, it can be configured here.
The "# Alloc" field allows the hotel to allocate a specified number of rooms per Rate Plan, with the total number of rooms allocated by default.


Notes
Some Rate Plans may not be updated directly from Visual Matrix if they are managed through your Channel Manager. For further details, please contact your Revenue Manager.


Interface Tools

There are 4 tools available: Rate Plan Setup, Room Type Setup, Availability, and View Logs.

Rate Plan Setup
This tool is used to map rate plans created in Visual Matrix to those in your channel manager, ensuring that online reservations are correctly assigned to the appropriate rate plan in the PMS.



Room Type Setup
This tool is used to map room types created in Visual Matrix to those in your channel manager, ensuring that online reservations are correctly assigned to the appropriate room types in the PMS.



Availability
This tool allows you to manually close or open your inventory instantly.



Copy
This option enables you to copy settings from one season to another directly within the interface. However, if the season was originally created as a copy of a previous one, the settings will already be preconfigured.



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