Guest Services Mobile App!

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Guest Services Mobile App!

Topic: Guest Services Mobile App!

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 15, 2016 06:13 AM:

Vacation Rental Guest Services Concierge Mobile App

Give your guests everything they need to maximize their vacation, right on their phone! Bookerville's new Guest Services mobile app is the perfect way to provide your guests instant access to everything they will need or want. It can also save you time by answering their questions without calling or emailing you. And - you could even earn commission on tourist sales by providing your own affiliate links!

What's In It?

The Bookerville Guest Services app. provides the following (when applicable, per your settings):

Your custom Arrival Instructions.

Property address - and with a tap of the button, their phone's navigation app starts and guides them to it!

Local weather - so they can see what to expect when they arrive.

Check-in, check-out dates and times.

Local Attractions - as you've entered them in your Features & Amenities.

Payment Status - lets them know where the booking stands and they can remit payments right on their phone.

View the contract.

Your custom Departure Instructions.

Link to leave a review.

Your contact info. (phone and email address).

Nothing to Download

Unlike Glad to Have You and other concierge-oriented apps, the Bookerville Guest Services mobile app is already available on any smart phone. And there's nothing to install or download - no "permissions" or terms and conditions needed to use it. You can provide a simple link for them to click right inside your Email Templates. Perfect for the Arrival Instructions email!

Customize With Your Special Deals!

Perhaps the most exciting part is that you can set up your own special deals/offers. Each of these can have a photo, title, description, and link to local tourist attractions. Golf courses, restaurants, theme parks, water sports - anything you want to offer. The links can be your own Affiliate Links, which can lead to commissions for you when guests click them.

How Do I Use It?

Simply place this (or something like it) into any of your Email Templates:

Here's a link to a handy page for your phone; it includes directions, local information, and special deals to help you get the most out of your stay: [URL=[GUEST SERVICES PAGE LINK]]Guest Services[/URL]

The best place to put it is probably in your Arrival Instructions Email Template, and schedule it to be sent just a few days prior to the arrival date, using Bookerville's much-loved Automatic Scheduled Emails. Note that depending on how new your Bookerville account is, this verbiage might already be in one or more of your Email Templates.

Need Help?

As always: just ask. We can also help you set up your own special deals or offers so that they appear in the Guest Services app.

Sabeli Villas.c.b. - E30811939
Joined: Dec 28, 2013
Topics: 15 Replies: 47

Posted by Sabeli Villas.c.b. - E30811939 on Jan 15, 2016 09:54 AM:

Wow, this looks great, can wait to try.- Sabeli

shenandoahwoods
Joined: Nov 19, 2013
Topics: 0 Replies: 1

Posted by shenandoahwoods on Jan 15, 2016 09:56 PM:

Whoa! This is huge! Thanks!

Danna Swenson
Joined: May 8, 2015
Topics: 0 Replies: 1

Posted by Danna Swenson on Jan 16, 2016 09:14 AM:

Can we customize the "Local Deals"? We are fairly remote ... but it would be great to show the local lake or golf course?

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 16, 2016 01:44 PM:

Yes the local deals can be your own. We are working on a nice UI for you to use to control them, but that's at least a week away. In the meantime we are asking that you contact us about what you want and we will make them appear in your Guest Services page.

dhouin
Joined: Sep 2, 2014
Topics: 2 Replies: 13

Posted by dhouin on Jan 16, 2016 03:56 PM:

I don't understand how to set this up. Where do I find it on the dashboard?

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 16, 2016 07:43 PM:

Go to your Booking Details page for any booking, and look for the "Guest Services" link at the top (or bottom). Write back if you can't find it...

abracasa
Joined: Apr 11, 2014
Topics: 16 Replies: 30

Posted by abracasa on Jan 17, 2016 01:08 AM:

First of all a big thank you for this app, its everything and more that my guests would require.
A big thank you for the extra work you did for me using long/lat instead of postal codes it works flawlessly now - may need to put a general long lat in the weather Icon that does not work for me although it opens a link where goa goa india is recognised?
Already had some positive feedback from a guest
Thank You

abracasa
Joined: Apr 11, 2014
Topics: 16 Replies: 30

Posted by abracasa on Jan 17, 2016 01:14 AM:

one thing useful maybe a currency convertor?

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 17, 2016 01:20 PM:

I like both of those ideas, but the currency converter will take longer.

Mailie Green
Joined: Jan 26, 2012
Topics: 1 Replies: 2

Posted by Mailie Green on Jan 18, 2016 11:04 AM:

What a fantastic tool - thank you. Is it possible to link your review straight to Tripadvisor so they can leave a review there?

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 18, 2016 12:42 PM:

Mailie - no, at least not at this time. Trip Advisor does not share reviews through any kind of API (that I know of...)

KathyandJim
Joined: May 25, 2014
Topics: 3 Replies: 14

Posted by KathyandJim on Jan 18, 2016 02:16 PM:

Is there a way to include clickable links under local attractions?

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 18, 2016 05:51 PM:

No - and the reason is because the Local Attractions field (in your Property Setup page >> Features & Amenities button) are used when participating in the APIs. That field is sent to listing sites, which I don't think permit links in them. However, you can establish your own special offers (at the bottom) - let us know if you'd like to do that and we can help you get them in there.

KathyandJim
Joined: May 25, 2014
Topics: 3 Replies: 14

Posted by KathyandJim on Jan 18, 2016 05:57 PM:

Excuse my ignorance, but I don't know what an API is...

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 18, 2016 06:59 PM:

Sorry, I should have stated (most people don't): API = "Application Programming Interface". It's what enables distinct pieces of software to talk to each other. Bookerville provides an API which is used (for example) to talk to BookingPal - a Channel Manager that integrates with AirBnB, Booking.com, and soon several others like FlipKey and HomeAway/VRBO. If you participate with BookingPal, then you can have your data (including features/amenities, rates, taxes, photos, etc.) automatically sent to listing sites, managing everything from within your Bookerville Dashboard.

kblair2010
Joined: Mar 5, 2013
Topics: 2 Replies: 9

Posted by kblair2010 on Jan 18, 2016 07:01 PM:

Once again, you never cease to amaze me, John! Looking forward to integrating this new app for our guests. Mahalo!

kblair2010
Joined: Mar 5, 2013
Topics: 2 Replies: 9

Posted by kblair2010 on Jan 18, 2016 07:03 PM:

I noticed that my logo is off a little bit to the side. Is there something I can do to tweak it so that it shows up centered?

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Jan 18, 2016 07:34 PM:

Kelli can you please email me a link to the page so I can have a look? Thanks...

Sun N Fun Vacations
Joined: Apr 6, 2015
Topics: 0 Replies: 3

Posted by Sun N Fun Vacations on Feb 26, 2016 10:13 AM:

Hello John, this is such a nice feature, well done! What is the code we must embed into arrival instructions email? thank you

Sun N Fun Vacations
Joined: Apr 6, 2015
Topics: 0 Replies: 3

Posted by Sun N Fun Vacations on Feb 26, 2016 10:20 AM:

Just noticed the Guest Services code is already embedded into my arrival instructions email. I guess I need help on how to setup my own promotions/offers into that.

kblair2010
Joined: Mar 5, 2013
Topics: 2 Replies: 9

Posted by kblair2010 on Mar 24, 2016 01:58 PM:

Aloha John!
I'm wondering how we can edit the new Guests Services code to include links to our favorite concierge, etc. Thanks!

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Mar 25, 2016 03:56 PM:

Hi kblair2010: please email me about this...

Thanks,

John

Pam Martin
Joined: Jul 2, 2013
Topics: 15 Replies: 38

Posted by Pam Martin on Apr 1, 2016 12:17 PM:

Hi John,

I would like to begin using the Guest Services App, but I don't quite understand.

When does the guest service app become available to view? When I click on the guest services app for some guests, it is viewable. On others, I am prompted for a PIN number.

Please help me understand! Thank you

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Apr 2, 2016 09:34 PM:

Hi Pam - please email me about this so we can check out some specific cases. Sounds like there might be a glitch we need to iron out, but I can't be sure until I see it. Thanks...

iroper
Joined: May 16, 2015
Topics: 1 Replies: 6

Posted by iroper on Apr 13, 2016 07:07 AM:

Hi John,

I've pasted the following link [GUEST SERVICES PAGE LINK] onto my Departures Template which displays as
http://www.bookerville.com/GuestServices?booking=1xxxx7&pin=4xxx
on the email generated to the customer.

What I want is for the link to be "Please go to your Guest Services Page on your mobile phone or Tablet" without showing the embedded URL. I tried using your example ]Guest Services replacing Guest Services with my text, however the link displayed was incorrect. See below.

]Please go to your Guest Services Page on your mobile phone or Tablet

It started with an [ bracket before the text. When I clicked on it opened a blank page in Chrome.

Any advise on what I'm doing wrong please?

Regards

Ian

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on Apr 13, 2016 08:20 AM:

Hi Ian - I believe I have corrected this for your account, but please verify. The correct syntax for this is:

[URL=[GUEST SERVICES PAGE LINK]]Please go to your Guest Services Page on your mobile phone or Tablet[/URL]

Let me know if it's not working as expected, Ok?

Cheers,

John

iroper
Joined: May 16, 2015
Topics: 1 Replies: 6

Posted by iroper on Apr 13, 2016 10:24 AM:

Hi John,

Sorry, no it still does not work. I am getting a ] at the beginning of the link:-

]You can access this information on your mobile phone or tablet, by accessing our Guest Services App here.

The link however does not open the Guest Services page, I simply get "about:blank" in Chrome URL field.

Regards

Ian

iroper
Joined: May 16, 2015
Topics: 1 Replies: 6

Posted by iroper on Apr 13, 2016 05:44 PM:

Hi John,

The following link works perfectly well in a standard email template.

] P.s. You can access the information about your booking from our Guest Services App.

The same link does not work in the "Arrival Instructions" template when you add the link to the "Edit Departure Instructions Template" which makes up the "Arrival Instructions" template.

I hope this makes sense?

Regards

Ian

iroper
Joined: May 16, 2015
Topics: 1 Replies: 6

Posted by iroper on Apr 14, 2016 05:28 PM:

Hi John,

Any news on the Guest Services App issue?

Ian

Tloveland
Joined: Jan 4, 2015
Topics: 1 Replies: 4

Posted by Tloveland on May 26, 2016 03:11 PM:

Hi John -

How do you set this up? .....
Perhaps the most exciting part is that you can set up your own special deals/offers. Each of these can have a photo, title, description, and link to local tourist attractions. Golf courses, restaurants, theme parks, water sports - anything you want to offer. The links can be your own Affiliate Links, which can lead to commissions for you when guests click them.

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on May 31, 2016 08:45 AM:

Sorry Ian for my delay on this, let's move this to an email Ok? I have just emailed you about this...

John Amato
Joined: Jan 30, 2009
Topics: 133 Replies: 831

Posted by John Amato on May 31, 2016 08:49 AM:

Hi Tloveland - I got your recent email with these, hope to get to these today (Tues).

kblair2010
Joined: Mar 5, 2013
Topics: 2 Replies: 9

Posted by kblair2010 on Jun 14, 2016 06:31 PM:

Aloha John! Would love to start being able to adjust the message in the app. How do I go about doing that?

Steven Talbott
Joined: Jun 3, 2015
Topics: 0 Replies: 2

Posted by Steven Talbott on Nov 5, 2016 10:06 AM:

Hi John,

I love the special deals section and would absolutely love to include links for airport transfers, tours, event tickets and more. Is there a way to access this or are requests still going one-by-one to you for you guys to take care of it for us?

Essentially, I want to add [some of] the things found here: http://vacationside.com/start/go/nashville.

As a side note, assuming many users don't have special affiliate links setup at all, much less ones that include hyper-local activities and tours, I could offer to facilitate getting them access to commissionable affiliate links anyone who needs it. I think it's the owners and managers who offer a fully immersive experience by offering these types of extras, that will out shine their competition!

If you still don't have the UI, I could easily help with this as well. You could just take a url, add it to your guest services app as an iframe and voila! The content is fully structured, formatted and responsive and will look seamless.

Check out: http://vacationside.com/tours/. This is dynamic content generated on my website that I use in iframes on other websites, pages, projects, platforms and portals.

One of the links is generated automagically using php. The second one is javascript and the help of a tour/activity platform I have setup so that when the target url hits the server with the affiliate parameters, it automagically returns a dynamically generated page where every tour or activity anchor link displayed, also includes the specific affiliate parameters.

Let me know if I can help and also the best way to get this in my guest app. Thank you so much!

gene_galindo
Joined: Jul 24, 2014
Topics: 0 Replies: 2

Posted by gene_galindo on Feb 19, 2017 03:55 PM:

John ,
I like the app would like to add my own special deals at the bottom and was wondering how to get a weather app at the top like you have if possible maybe even a 3 day weather outlook.

Michael Wiack
Joined: Aug 22, 2012
Topics: 10 Replies: 18

Posted by Michael Wiack on Feb 27, 2017 05:13 PM:

I would love to use this feature but I still can't figure out how to configure it.
I don't get where in bookerviile I enter the information that ultimately appears in this app. I entered the long/lat under the amenities page but that's not what appears in the app. The app lists the street address of the property which really doesn't exist. How can I get it to show the location based on the long/lat I entered?
I would like the app to show the name and contact info of our property manager, which is not me. Is this possible?
Why is there a section in the amenities page that asks for distances to various destinations in meters? Why can't we change the units of measure?
So if I entered url's under local attractions the app will show a snippet of the website? How does that work?