GM Functions Overview

Article Code

Product

Version

GMFMEN

Chorum

6.0

 

In This Topic

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The GM Functions module is arguably one of the most diverse menus in Chorum, offering a wide array of options related to your hotel's setup and configuration and plays heavily into your day-to-day operations. This menu will typically be where managers and hotel administrators spend a significant portion of their time while working in Chorum, handling tasks like managing new and existing rates, room types, clerks, and more. If you don't see this module on the left-hand navigation menu, and believe you should have access to it, reach out to your hotel's manager or administrator for assistance updating your clerk login.

The GM Functions module is divided into five main folders, each of which may contain additional folders to further sort and organize available options. We'll detail each one below. Just like the modules on the left-hand menu, a user that does not have permission to access a particular folder (such as Accounting) will not see it as an option to select when browsing the GM Functions module. Access to these folders is controlled based on the user's assigned security role, which will typically be controlled by the same user(s) that manage logins and module access.

Accounting

Menus

Description

Groups

Accounting groups are a means of categorizing your hotel's department codes, outside of simply designating the codes as debitsClosed A debit addresses any amount charged to the customer (room charges, housekeeping services, etc). or creditsClosed A credit addresses any amount paid by a customer or reducing the overall debits billed to the customer (cash or credit card payment, coupons, etcetera).

Department Codes

Department codes are essentially the bread-and-butter of your hotel's accounting via Chorum. Any account designation you wish to track - room revenue, payment types such as cash or credit cards, fees, or anything else your hotel might charge to or collect from a guest is built here before it can be used elsewhere in Chorum.

Taxes

Use this menu to set up and manage your hotel's tax rules, as well as designate which department code each tax should use.

Auto-Adjust Taxes

If your local governances designate a certain length of stay where a guest is no longer taxable, use this menu to define what and when taxes will stop posting against a guest's stay, as well as whether the tax should be refunded after "expiring".

Fiscal Calendar

Use this to control how Chorum tracks your hotel's finances over each fiscal year by first creating a year, then defining the "periods" within each year.

Exchange Rates

If your property regularly handles multiple forms of currency, such as US dollars versus Canadian dollars, use this menu to define each currency, set your default currency, and set the value of another currency's exchange rate.

Ex. Rate Change Log

Any time someone makes a change on the Exchange Rates menu, the change will be logged here.

Shift Close Settings

Use this menu to configure your property's shift close handling policies into Chorum.

 

Rooms and Rates

Menus

Description

Market Segments

If your hotel tracks the purpose of each guest's stay to identify business trends, use this menu to set up each possible reason your property might try to track.

Rate Plans

Use this menu to set up and configure your hotel's offered rates.

Rate Code Display Order

Use this menu to control the "priority" assigned to each of your rates and the order they will be shown for selection in guest bookings.

Daily Rate Manager

This menu is used to track your hotel's day-to-day availability and rate offerings for specific room types, presented in calendar format starting from the current business date and extending 28 days (four weeks) into the future.

GTD/Cancel Policies

Set your guarantee and cancellation policies from this menu.

Fees & Surcharges

This menu is used to establish additional charges and premiums tacked on to guest rates, though shouldn't be confused with add-ons like packages or special requests. Use this menu to include such items as late fees, or processing fees if the guest uses a particular method of payment that your hotel must pay extra to support.

Booking Rules

Also called "restrictions," use this menu to add rules and restrictions on when a guest may book with your hotel and what requirements they must meet in order to book on the noted date(s), if at all.

Managing Packages

This menu is used to create one-time use or recurring add-ons that can be applied to a guest's booking in addition to their rate. These can be discounts or premiums for additional services like access to local amenities.

Note that packages should not be confused with package rates - see Package Rates for more information.

Managing Special Requests

This menu is used to create special add-ons that may or may not tack additional fees or discounts to a guest's stay. Special requests vary from general notes like tagging a guest with allergies to unique services offered at a premium.

Room Class

If your hotel offers different "classes" of room type (for example, standard double-queen versus deluxe double-queen), use this menu to define each category for use when building rooms in Chorum.

Room Types

Use this menu to define the different room types your hotel offers for guest stays.

Room Features

Use this menu to define any special or unique features individual rooms may include.

Rooms

Use this menu to build your individual rooms, attaching room type, features, and more to each room.

Housekeeping Zones

If your property divides the hotel into sections for housekeeping, use this menu to create each "zone" for use when building rooms.

 

Property Settings

Menus

Description

Reservation Deposits

If your property requires some or all guests to pay a deposit prior to their arrival, typically as a means of guaranteeingClosed A reservation secured by a credit card number or advance payment. A guest whose stay is guaranteed is promised a room regardless of when they arrive, but will be charged for a portion (or all) of their stay even if they fail to arrive (depending on hotel policy). each guest's stay, use this menu to set rules for Chorum to handle the process automatically.

Default Settings

Many of your property's core settings and controls derive from the options on this menu, such as which department code is used to post room revenue during audit, the default room type selected on new bookings, and a wide variety of other settings.

Housekeeping (Defaults)

The default options and controls for your hotel's housekeeping module are contained here, as well as the ability to set and define automated housekeeping plans to control how frequently guests receive housekeeping.

Email Setup

If you would like to take advantage of Chorum's built-in message services, your property should start by adding an email here for Chorum's use.

Hotel Information

This menu is used to note your property's identifying information (name, address, etc), which is then referenced elsewhere in Chorum such as on reports and receipts.

Incidentally, if anything on this menu should change, be sure to notify the Chorum team via the button in the upper right-hand corner of this topic so they may update their records as well.

Credit Card Settings

Use this menu to map credit cards your hotel supports to existing department codes and control your property's authorization policies. Keep in mind that the majority of your credit card functions are managed via the Settlement module.

Configure Night Audit

Use this menu to adjust many of your hotel's default audit settings and included reports, as well as whether the audit runs automatically without needing a clerk to begin the process.

Purge Settings

For larger properties or properties that have been using Chorum for extensive periods of time, system memory is a valuable resource that can have significant impact on your property's ability to use Chorum. Use this menu to decide if and when inactive or closed records are deleted from Chorum to free up memory space for new data.

Electronic Keys

If your property has interfaced an electronic key maker with Chorum, use this menu to set the key maker's configuration options.

Electronic Signatures

If your property has interfaced with an electronic signature device for use with registration cards, use this menu to control which labels and additional conditions prompt the guest for a signature.

Central Reservations

If your property has interfaced with a central reservations system (such as Chorum CRS), use this menu to map your property information (rates, inventory, booking rules, etc) for online use.

CRS Message Log

If your property has interfaced with a central reservations system (such as Chorum CRS), use this menu to check the interface's communication history. This is a quick way to search for information like when a guest's booking was first received by Chorum (if at all).

In most cases, this menu is reserved for use as a troubleshooting tool if and when necessary.

CRM and RMS

If your property has interfaced with a customer relationship manager and (or) a revenue management system, use this menu to identify the system you have connected to and configure it for use with Chorum.

Call Accounting

If your property has interfaced with a call accounting service, use this menu to configure the phone extensions used by the system to identify each room (including back office and front desk phones) for billing.

Stations

Whether your hotel uses any station-specific interfaces or devices, your property should always list each workstation where Chorum might be used at your property here.

Devices

For physical devices used with Chorum (such as credit card readers, ID scanners, or key makers), use this menu to map which workstation a device is connected to. Some devices can only be used if you are logged into and working from the correct workstation.

  

Misc. Codes

Menus

Description

Reservation Source

Besides your market segments, properties can use this menu to detail possible origins for individual bookings. Did the guest walk-in? Book over the phone? Etcetera.

VIP Codes

If your property has different "rankings" of guests (for example, a chain hotel may flag a corporate visit as a VIP stay; others might use this for different loyalty levels), use this menu to build each ranking for use in Chorum.

Hold Type

For properties that allow guests to guaranteeClosed A reservation secured by a credit card number or advance payment. A guest whose stay is guaranteed is promised a room regardless of when they arrive, but will be charged for a portion (or all) of their stay even if they fail to arrive (depending on hotel policy). their stays, use this menu to set what available guarantee options are available for selection when booking a new guest.

Denial/Cancellations

Use this menu to provide possible reasons or explanations a clerk may choose if a guest starts the booking process but declines finishing, or cancels their stay.

Grp. Booking Method

Similar to Reservation Source, use this menu to define the potential sources a group booking might come from.

Maint. Request

Use this menu to provide a list of possible maintenance codes for your staff to use when creating or updating maintenance requests.

GTD/Cancel Codes

This menu is used to define your property's cancellation policies, whether the guest's stay has been guaranteed or not.

E-Mail Opt-Out Reasons

If your property has made email a required field on guest bookings but still offer guests the opportunity to decline providing an email, use this menu to provide a list of reasons the clerk may choose from in the event the guest declines.

Wait List Priority Levels

If your property allows guests to add themselves to a wait list when your occupancy is at 100%, this menu can be used to define additional "ranks" to apply to a wait listed guest to determine who should be contacted first when inventory becomes available.

Estimated Arrival

If your property surveys guests in advance to learn when they plan to arrive at your hotel (if different from the standard check-in time at your property), this menu can be used to define approximate arrival ranges for use on guest bookings.

 

Security and Permissions

Menus

Description

Security Roles

In essence, use this menu to build your property's various job titles into Chorum and control what permissions each job has by default.

Security Users

This menu is used to add, modify, and remove your property's users, or "clerks," in Chorum.

Remote Access Restrictions

This menu is used to control how property staff are permitted to log on to your system, whether it be limited to on-site access only, from home, or abroad.

Message Manager

Use this menu to create a variety of automated notifications and reports that run based on criteria set by your property.

Message Manager

For general communications, like guest confirmations, cancellations, or other message-based notifications your hotel would like to automate, you may use this menu to format the messages sent to customers (via the Message Manager).

Distribution Groups

For internal staff to make use of the Message Manager, Chorum Mobile, or any other notification-oriented function in Chorum, use this menu like Security Roles to define groups of users in similar roles and map email addresses, phone numbers, or both to said users.