Clock PMS+ Update (15 Sep 2021)

Modified on: Thu, 29 Sep, 2022 at 8:20 AM

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ID Processor at the Reception Desk

We have added an option to let you use our new ID Processor functionality for optical recognition of ID documents at the reception desk or in the back office. Our latest feature was presented along with the Self Check-In application. After its addition to the back office, now you can use it to speed up the processing of arrivals. The ID Processor is a paid functionality. Still you can try it for free for a certain period of time. Contact our Sales Department, if you wish to continue using it upon the trial period expiration.

The ID Processor service is aimed at facilitating the processing of guest documents. It retrieves the necessary info from them and completes the respective fields of registration cards in Clock PMS+. All of that is done automatically within 20 seconds. We have used an advanced OCR technology that recognises documents from over 200 countries, extracting the necessary info and checking the document validity. In contrast to the well-known scanners that only recognise the MRZ lines of documents, our technology recognises all info found in the document. Furthermore, the ID Processor retrieves the picture of the guest from the document, as well as their signature in case you would like to compare it to the signature from the registration card or see how the guest looks.

For us, security is of utmost importance! Images of the document, guest and signature are kept in a secure storage in compliance with our very strict policy of safekeeping photo IDs. The images are destroyed within 3 months of the booking checkout. Clock guarantees that no other copies of these images are kept across the system.

For those of you, whose local legislation does not allow the storage of photo IDs, we have added a new "Store ID processor images" setting. If disabled, the fields in the registration card will be completed with the data retrieved from the document, but the images (of the document, the signature or the person) will not be stored in the registration card of the guest or anywhere else in the system for that matter. You can find the setting in Settings - Guest Profile Fields.

Our latest feature has been added to the new user interface for guests. You learn more about it below.

You can use the ID Processor in two main ways - through the camera of your mobile device (tablet or smartphone) or through a web camera connected to your PC. To get the best out of this service, you need clear and focused images of the ID documents. Here is an idea on how to set up the web camera that you might find useful. We have used a Razer Kiyo web camera for the tests. The web camera has turned out very convenient for the task due to its resolution (2688 x 1520), the well-performing autofocus even at close distances and most surely for its built-in lighting. We placed the camera on a small tripod (20 - 30 cm) on a desk directing it downwards while making sure the angle is not 90 degrees to avoid camera glares on the document images. Here is why the camera was tilted at a small angle being enough to light the document without camera glares. To ease our work, we marked the spot on the desk where a document had to be placed to obtain precise images without needing to adjust it each time. Even with a very low lighting on the premises, this setup produced excellent results. We hope our tips will be of help to you.

New User Interface

  • Guests. We have added a new user interface for the processing of guests in the booking. For some time, the old interface will also be active allowing you to get to know the new interface and make a smooth transition to it. From a functional point of view, there are no novelties except for the features related to the ID Processor. To open the new interface, select "ID Processor - new" from the Guests section of the booking.

  • The main actions are in the upper right corner:
  • Create a new guest. It gives you the option to search for a guest in the existing guest profiles. If not found, click the add button once again to create a blank guest profile.
  • Create a new guest through ID scan. Using your mobile device camera, scan the ID document and the data will be filled in the newly created guest profile. Depending on the Store ID processor images setting we have already mentioned in the previous section, the ID document images will be stored or not.
  • If, for some reason, you have a file containing an image of the ID document, you can use the file for the recognition of the data through our latest feature. On mobile devices, the feature is only one and it uses the native choice of the device for snapping or uploading files.
  • If the guest profile exists, you can add info to it from the document. For each guest, there is an option to add data from a document through camera scan or from an existing file.
  • If you wish to view the ID document images, open the edit screen of the guest.
  • On the Guest edit screen, you can also use buttons for the upload of ID document images without their processing in the ID Processor, in other words. the old functionality.
  • Charge Templates. We have redesigned the charge template setup screens and the other related settings - sorting, WRS charge templates, Booking charge templates and the ones linked to the room type. Once again, we have added a link to the old screens (in the upper right corner) to ensure a smooth transition to the new user interface.
  • To-Dos. You have most probably also noticed the change to this screen that was released some time ago. The functionality has been preserved and again there is a link to the old screen.

Self Check-In

  • We have added a new setting related to the credit card screen - "Require Credit Card". If disabled, the credit card step is skipped.
  • We have further developed the credit card screen and it can now be used, even if you are not connected to the new payment providers. In this case, a credit card will be added to the booking that can be used for manual charging through a POS terminal, for example.
  • The new "Store ID processor images" setting of the ID Processor is also applicable to the Self Check-In feature, it determines whether the ID document images are stored or not.

Other

  • We have added a new right - checkout of a booking with opened folios. The new right is part of the new features aimed at controlling and preventing the forgotten open folios. It has been granted automatically to all users already having the "Folio - Close" right. In addition, the right is the "Control Event" type. In other words, when a given user takes advantage of this right and leaves open folios at the booking checkout, a record will be added to the Control Event Report.
  • New Report - Credit Card Transaction Report. Through the report you can see all initiated successful or unsuccessful transactions related to the new payment providers:: Elavon, Six Payments, Stripe, Adyen v2.
  • Stripe. To let you perform tokenization with a real card check, we have added a setting for Stripe - "Tokenize with amount". If you enter a value into field (e.g. 0.5 ), during tokenization instead of a standard Stripe operation that does not check a card, a pre-authorization will be made for the already mentioned amount. If the operation succeeds, the card will be tokenized. This way the issue with the missing functionality in Stripe will be solved. Please note that this method will block the amount from the card of the customer, as they might receive a message about this operation. For the time being, it is the only possible solution.
  • Cancellation policy - if you have the Close folio option enabled, you can now select a specific type of document. Up till now, in these cases the default option was Folio that was not always the best choice.
  • Bookings - with a change to the number of adults and children, the system now  runs automatic recalculation of the booking prices. This change is intended to improve the use of guest level rates and decrease the total number of rates to be managed. It is also useful in other cases - city taxes that depend on the number of adults and children, as well as for package elements related to adults and children. Please note that it is only applicable to  the number of adults and children. In case of a change to the ages of children (years), no automatic recalculation is run.
  • WRS - hotel location map. If the map of your hotel location is set to be shown in your WRS, it will be shown in the following way. If in the found results there are Apartments at different locations, the map will be dynamic. If there is only one location, then the map will be static with a link below to open it.
  • API users - now these users can be added or edited only by users of Clock. Through the app, users can be deactivated only. Please contact our Support Centre for more info.

Integrations:

  • API: New endpoint for the creation of bulk charges. More info available in our API documentation.
  • BRP: We added a configuration for how the order number to be created. Select Booking human in Numbering type to create the order with a leading Booking# (Booking#123 for example). Select the Booking number in Numbering type to create the order without leading Booking# (123 for example)
  • IDeaS: There was an issue with the MinLOS overriding the other restrictions for the day.
  • We have launched a data security updatethat will transform the way we deal with third-party/custom integrationsand API users. We are aiming to minimize the data security risks related with such integrations by granting the connected apps access only to the data needed for their normal work, as well as to facilitate the activation of such integrations. To achieve that we are in the process of creating preset certified connectors for third parties and custom hotel tech applications ("App connectors"). The new App connectors will replace the current API users. The App connectors will be created by our team and the required credentials will be delivered directly to the app developer, so you don’t have to coordinate this process further beyond requesting the connection to our support team.
  • Additionally to the QR code for downloading the Salto mobile app, we have added a link to the self check-in process, so the guests can conveniently access GooglePlay / AppStore when using their own devices.

Fixes

  • Six Payments - the submittal of a blank CVC/CSV used to cause an error. Now if the field is empty, it is not sent to Six Payments.
  • WBE - Availability Calendar. If the link to it contained a Bonus Code, it was lost when proceeding to a new search.
  • A fixed bug with the manual prices in the booking and the stay change with an overlap of days.
  • Adyen. The tokenization of the credit cards  in the Events returned an error.

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