Front Office Department

Sections & Layout of FO, Organizational chart of FO (Small, Medium & Large Hotels), Duties & Responsibilities, Attributes, Co-ordination with other departments, Equipment's used (Manual & Automated)

1. Unit No. 1 Front Office Department

2. Contents 1.1 Sections and layout of Front Office 1.2 Organizational chart of front office department (small, medium and large hotels) 1.3 Duties and responsibilities of various staff 1.4 Attributes of front office personnel 1.5 Co-ordination of front office with other departments of the hotel 1.6 Equipments used (Manual and Automated)

3. Sections of Front Office Department The front office department of a hotel comprises of various sections. Depending on the size of the hotels, the sections may vary. In small or medium sized hotels the sections may be merged and handled accordingly. The following are the sections of the front office department :- 1. Reservation Section is responsible for booking of rooms in advance. It is responsible for the receiving of the room requests, reservation analyzing and documentation of the room requests received. 2. Front Desk Section is responsible for receiving the guest, registering of the guest, assigning of room and room keys. 3 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

4. Cont… 3. Bell Desk is mainly responsible for luggage handling of the guests. It consists of group of uniformed staff for guest services. 4. Travel Desk Section handles the transportation facility of the hotel guest. It assists in the booking of air tickets, hiring of the car and other transportation facilities. It also arranges / organizes city tours, sight seeing tours to the guests on request. 5. Business Centre's serve the guests with laptops, internet, mobiles, facsimile, LCD projectors, and photocopier and also on request secretarial facilities. This is the latest addition in the large and medium sized hotels, in line with the electronic era. 4 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

5. Cont… 6. Concierge Section provides information about the hotel, its services and amenities, city, town, country, travel and transport, banks etc. They can also handle the guest luggage and bags if the hotel does not have the bell desk section. The receiving and distribution of mail and message, packets, news papers and magazines in the early mornings to guest room are also attended to. In addition, it may also handle the hiring of the car and booking of air tickets and other transportation facilities if there is no travel desk in the hotel. 7. Cashiering Section is responsible for maintaining and recording guest accounts and bills and folio of guest and either cash or credit settlement of guest folios at the time of departure. 8. Communication and Telephone Section handles the guest telephones and messages, both incoming and out going of the guest. 5 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

6. Layout of Front Office Department As the front office is the entry and exit point for a guest, the main entrance and approach play a very important role in the selection of hotel for a guest. A guest entering a hotel does so through the main entrance which leads to the reception area of the hotel which is also called the lobby of the hotel. The lobby is elegantly designed to accommodate the front office staffs and for the smooth service to the guests. Since the lobby usually serves as a meeting or gathering area for guests and their visitors it should be well planned and furnished to give a best intuition. The lobby of the hotel includes the general circulation and waiting area which leads to check-in, information, cashiers counter, bell desk, travel desk, cloak rooms etc.. 6 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

7. Below picture shows a typical layout of a lobby. The layout may vary from hotel to hotel. Some hotel may even have a coffee shop, restaurant and shopping arcade. 7 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

8. Organizational chart of front office department (small, medium and large hotels)

9. 10 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

10. Duties and responsibilities of various staff a. Front Office Manager • He is the head of the department. • He ensures the smooth running of the department • He sees to it that his staff reports to duty in time and in proper uniform. • He ensures that courteous and personalized service is given to the guests by his staff. • He deals with front office correspondence on reservations, enquiries, room booking etc. • He is responsible for the up keep of the front desk, lobby manager’s desk and their equipment. • He deals with the complaints against his staff and other complaints of the Guests. • Participants in the selection of F O Personnel • Conducts regularly scheduled meeting of F O Personnel. b. Lobby Manager • He ensures that all rooms are blocked as per reservation requests • He keeps a check on room position • He instructs the airport representatives regarding the list of arrivals to be met. • He checks pre-registration cards • He also checks housekeeping discrepancy report • He ensures that guest requests and complaints are followed up • He follows up on group and crew movement • He takes actions for all unusual events in the lobby like fire, accidents, etc. • He ensures the smooth running of the lobby. • He sends “C” Forms to the FRRO. 11 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

11. c. Reception Supervisor • To train all front office assistants on the job • To make the duty roster for the staff • To check the shift in-charge’s list on a daily basis • To check the next day’s arrival list and to brief the staff accordingly • He makes the requisition for the stationery required for the Front Office ensures the smooth running of the reception • Welcomes VIP guests • Attends to guest complaints • Assists the reception staff. • Maintains records of the reception d. Reception Assistant • To answer the queries of the guest to their satisfaction and to provide information • To promptly register guests and to assign rooms to them • To update the room rack regularly • To complete pre-registration formalities for VIPs • To execute government formalities regarding foreigners • To prepare room reports and occupancy statistics • Send messages to the guests • To print the arrival list for the next day. 12 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

12. e. Reception Shift in-charge • Performs the tasks of reception assistant • Supervises and checks the entire Shift Operation • Handles guest complaints • Checks all the reports before the end of the shift • Airline crew blocking and group blocking f. Reservation Supervisor • To help out Reservation Assistant in calls, courses and feeding reservation information. • To supervise the staff under her and impart training • To monitor all new movements • To follow up on billing instructions and other special requests • To check on credit facilities to Companies, discount policies and discounts offered to various companies. • Co-ordination with Reception, Information, Sales and Marketing Departments and Tour Operator. • Up-to-date information of the position of the house for the day and the next three days. • She draws up a weekly, monthly and quarterly forecast • Monitors VIP movements and informs all concerned • Monitors house status and keep Front Office Manager informed of sold out dates. • Deals with correspondence, vouchers, exchange orders, deposits, refund of deposits and actions thereon. • She handles the group and conference booking. 13 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

13. g. Reservation Assistant • To update regularly the reservation chart and computer • To properly and courteously handle all reservation requests • To keep all reservations correspondence up to date • To handle amendments and cancellation of reservation. h. Senior Bell Captain • He controls the movements of Bell Captains and Bell Boys • He briefs the Bell Boy and ensures that they are always well groomed • Takes stock of the luggage, parcels and any other material • Has thorough knowledge of the hotel, shops, airline offices, executive offices etc. • Thorough procedure on arrival and departure • To carry out different errands for the guests • Responsible for the proper distribution of newspapers • Keeping stock of the equipments, trolleys and ensuring that they are in good working order • Vigilant and alert on duty • To initiate action against guests having scanty baggage • To assist in crew and group wakeup call procedures 14 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

14. i . Bell Boy • Take the baggage front the porch to the room • Escort the guest to the rooms on arrival • Place the baggage in the room • Explain the operation of light switches and air conditioning control to the guests. • Bring the baggage down in case of departures. • Checks the room to ensure that the guest has not left any articles in the room • Obtain the clearance from Front Office Cashier on the errand card regarding the bill. • Check that mail and messages are timely distributed to the guests. j. Front Office Cashier • Operates front office posting equipment • Completes cashier pre-shift supply checklist • Completes guest check in procedures • Post charges to guest account • Handle paid-outs • Completes guest check-out procedures • Settles guest account • Makes account adjustments 15 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

15. k. Night Auditor • He posts room charges and taxes to guest accounts • Processes guest charge vouchers and credit card vouchers transfers charges and deposits to master accounts. • Verifies all account postings and balances a summary of cash, check and credit card activities • Summarizes results of operations for management knows how to operate position machines, typewriters and Front Office equipments. • Understands and knows how to perform check-in and check-out procedures • Handle errands requested by guests and Front Office staff • Handle baggage of guests when they are shifting to another room • Distribute news papers age (with the use of Page Board) guests in the lobby. • He reports about scanty baggage to the bell captain issues postage stamps against cash. 16 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

16. Attributes of front office personnel 17 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

17. 18 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

18. 19 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

19. Co-ordination of front office with other departments of the hotel The front office staff interacts with all departments of the hotel, including marketing and sales, housekeeping, food and beverage, banquet, controller, maintenance, security, and human resources. 20

20. Co-ordination with Marketing and Sales Department - The marketing and sales department relies on the front office to provide data on guest histories, details concerning each guest's visit. Some of the information gathered is based on zip code, frequency of visits, corporate affiliation, special needs, and reservations for sleeping rooms. Co-ordination with Housekeeping Department - It is very important to have coordination between Front Office and Housekeeping. The reception must have control over the status of rooms in good order to be offered to the guests. The Housekeeping has the responsibility to keep room in clean and hygienically proper shape. 21 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

21. Co-ordination with Engineering Department - There is a need to have some staff round the clock from the Engineering department to maintain and upkeep the facilities and equipment in order. If the equipments or facilities at the guest room does not function, the guest demands a replacement of room and the room get out of order for offer and the hotel looses revenue from sale of such rooms. Co-ordination with Human Resources Department – The HR department coordinates with the Front Office in cases of misconducts on part of employees of the hotel as per the SOP 22 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

22. Equipments used (Manual and Automated) 23 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

23. NON AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS - 1. Room Rack: It is an array of metal file pockets designed to hold room rack slips (registration records) that display guest and room status information. One glance at the room rack will immediately inform front desk agent of the occupancy and housekeeping status of all rooms. Front desk agent normally use this information to match available rooms with guest needs during the registration process. 2. Key Rack: It is an array of numbered compartments used to store guest room keys. 3. Reservation Rack: A series of pigeonholes where cards are put to show which room have been booked. 4. Information Rack: It normally consist of aluminum slots designed to hold guest information slips which consist of guest name and room number. It is use to assist front office employees with proper routing of telephones calls and mails. 5. Folio Tray: It is a bucket where the guest folio are stored and arranged by guest room number. Ones these accounts are settled, the folio are moved to permanent storage location. 6. Voucher Rack: It is a container storing vouchers for future reference and verifications during the night audit. 24 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

24. SEMI AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS – 1. Telephone Equipments: It consist of call accounting system, automatic call dispensing, fax machine ,call detection and wake up calls. 2. Credit Card Imprinters: Imprinters presses a credit card voucher against a guest credit card. 3. Magnetic Strip Reader: It reads data magnetically encoded and stored on the magnetic tape strip on credit card. 4. Cash Register: is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions. It is usually attached to a drawer for storing cash and other valuables. The cash register is also usually attached to a printer, that can print out receipts for record keeping purposes. 25 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

25. AUTOMATED EQUIPMENTS – 1. Security Monitor: CCTV camera for security personnel to monitor certain areas of hotel. 2. Multizone Clocks: Indicators of the time at different time zones across world. 3.Computers: Computers are the greatest innovation of the mankind. It is the front office personnel most useful equipments. It helps in typing of mails, printing receipts ,letters, surfing net. It also helps in storing information regarding guest. 4. EDC: Electronic Data Cash helps in validating or scrutinize the authenticity of the credit card given by the guest in time of check in and check out. 26 Prepared by - Syed Rana Safiuddin, MGM-IHM

26. Thank You !!! Prepared by – Syed Rana Safiuddin Assistant Professor, MGM-IHM, MGM University, Aurangabad. 27