Tag: new features

Freetobook’s Digital Registration Feature

Posted on by craig

automated, integrated and contactless

Digital registration for hotels
Digital registration

With the new Digital Registration form you can make your guests’ lives easier and safer. Guests simply complete their forms remotely before arrival making social distancing at check-in easier whilst also saving you time and paper.  It takes seconds for them to complete and when completed it appears neatly in your new diary on their booking.

Digital Registration (d-reg) is part of freetobook’s Messaging suite meaning it’s a fully automated process that’s also integrated into the booking diary.

Key advantages of d-reg are:

1) Contactless – guests complete their registration before arrival.

2) Integrated – the form is automatically updated and stored in your diary.

3) Automatic – set up and schedule your forms once, Messaging does the rest.

4) Value add – collect all guest names/contacts plus real email addresses for OTA bookings.

5) Branding – look professional by using your own logo and colours.

automation robot for messages
message automation

We’re listening too, the second version of d-reg is due for release shortly and it’s smarter than ever. Using new “logic jumps” your guests will skip certain questions based on their nationality and answers e.g. you may not want local guests to be asked for their passport details.  This makes it quicker and easier for your guests, thereby helping to ensure they complete it.

You will also be able to add your own question tips to the d-reg form e.g. ask for a mobile number rather than a landline, plus much more….

There’s also an icon/alert in the new freetobook diary so you can quickly see who’s completed their d-reg forms.

With Messaging so elegantly integrated into your diary you can add images, attachments and set your text in seconds, making your messages a key part of your service offering.  Scheduling your Automated Messages means your work flows much easier and you don’t lose hours of your time sending out the same email, again and again. Added to that, your guests get the right information at the right time.

More automation is on its way to help you manage your business in these difficult Covid-19 times. Digital Registration is just one small part of what Messaging offers, based on your feedback we continue to build better ways to solve the challenges facing your businesses.

Freetobook has the technology you can trust….

Messaging is £49 per year…

All paid services are optional and pay-as-you-go so you never have to pay for anything you don’t use. If you are not already with freetobook why not try it today at no cost …

Email Confirmations Are Old News….Speak To Your Guests Directly!

Posted on by craig
Guest messaging for hotels, guest houses, B&Bs and cottages
Smart Messaging

Have you ever thought about how easy it would be for a guest to simply click a reply button to get in touch with you ? In the freetobook labs we have 🙂

Today’s guests expect so much and easy communication is now a given, looking for emails to reply to just isn’t good enough anymore. That’s essentially why we have upgraded the freetobook email system.

With the new smart messaging upgrade (which replaces emails) you can:

  1. Send guests automated messages as soon as they book or a set number of days before arrival or after stay.
  2. You can add gorgeous images to show off and boost your brand
  3. Increases your read and reply rate because its so easy to use.
  4. Quickly spot any failed messages and fix them instantly.
  5. Works with all bookings including OTA fake email addresses.
  6. Conversation thread keeps your chat together.
Smart messaging for automatic messaging of guests
Boost your Guest replies

Smart messaging is getting even better. In the next few weeks we will be adding “guest actions” where guests can interact with their booking through their smart message.

You can send them a guest action and they will be able to change it, the first one will be “arrival time” – guests will be able to click to re-confirm their arrival time and it will change automatically in their booking, no need for you to do any more work.

Smart messaging will keep getting better, just let us know what you want it to do for you. There are so many ideas just a taster includes Stripe payments from smart messages, branding for the messaging page so guests connect with your brand setting the scene for their stay.

Read about the 7 pledges that make freetobook so different. A high tech company with family values is a rare and wonderful thing 🙂

Guest Messaging: Using It To It’s Full Potential

Posted on by craig
smart messaging for accommodation owners

When you are looking to stand out in your guests mind then get messaging. Smart Messaging will take your communication with guests to the next level, making messages and stays memorable.

Freetobook Smart Messaging is your work horse taking the hassle and bore out of email communications. It replaces the old email system with a simple and intuitive interface that your guests can engage with, whilst making your administrative work quicker and simpler.

First up: you can set automated messages to go out before and after the guests stay. No need to worry about sending critical information.

Add images: spice up your message with gorgeous images that show off and boost your brand.

Communicate: a smart message thread is available to the guest making replies so easy and your interaction so natural.

Emojis: it’s brilliant when guests start sending emojis, it means you have connected in a fun and friendly way.

Spot any fails: you’ll see a failed message immediately so you can fix the email address that notifies your guest of a new message.

All channels: you can Smart Message all of your bookings as long as they have an email address (even to the fake emails from the OTAs).

Freetobook customers can setup Smart Messaging in matter of seconds in the “PLUS” tab. For properties not yet using freetobook, why not signup today and enjoy all the marvelous solutions we provide for accommodation owners worldwide.

The Smart messaging system is getting massive investment from us, there are already over twenty new features waiting to be implemented. These include “guest actions” where the guest can change their arrival time or other interactions with their booking.

We really believe the freetobook messenger will help you communicate better and save time… so we will continue to make it even better.

Not sure about freetobook ? Read our 7 pledges to see what makes us so different.

Stripe with ApplePay and GooglePay

Posted on by craig

Stripe on freetobook is now upgraded to include ApplePay and GooglePay

ApplePay and GooglePay

ApplePay and GooglePay are so convenient for customers, they simply pay using their fingerprint on their smartphone. Freetobook has been busy working to integrate the new functionality so your customers can now pay with ultimate ease.

This fantastic functionality makes it easier for customers to book so you get more direct bookings. “Paying for a booking is now as easy as paying for a cup of coffee” said Ele at the office..

There is no extra cost, the card transaction charges are the same low cost as they always are with Stripe and we have implemented this with no extra costs.

  1. When customers book online, we detect if their mobile device has ApplePay or GooglePay enabled and offer them an option to pay that way.
  2. If you send a payment request by email and they receive it on their phone with GooglePay or ApplePay they can simply pay with a single click.
ApplePay GooglePay Stripe Freetobook

There are no extra costs whatsoever so we have automatically enabled it for all customers already using Stripe.

This adds further brilliant functionality to the Stripe product on freetobook. It already has over 90% approval rating with freetobook users, just as a reminder these are the 5 reasons to use Stripe for card payments.

  1. Quick and easy to setup
  2. Low cost
  3. No monthly charges
  4. Secure and PCI compliant
  5. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, ApplePay and GooglePay
  6. All cards including channel cards from Booking.con and Expedia

Coming Soon: Upgrades in the pipeline include pre-auth functionality so you can automatically pre-auth a card to make sure the customer has the funds to cover their booking before they arrive.

Freetobook Connects With Airbnb

Posted on by admin

A full two-way Airbnb Channel Manager connection is being developed for freetobook customers. Airbnb will soon join the many other channels available on freetobook including Bookingcom, Expedia, Hotelscom, TripAdvisor, Agoda, Hostelworld and many more.

Over the last few years we have watched Airbnb grow. Many freetobook customers are already using Airbnb and more would probably like to.

This month we started a full integration for a two-way channel manager exchange so that bookings, rates and conditions on your Airbnb account can be managed from within freetobook.

We expect to be ready with the Airbnb integration within two months so if you are interested in connecting keep an eye on our emails and sign up for a listing if you don’t have an Airbnb account.

Recent releases

New group booking process is live. When you go to add manual bookings in your freetobook diary you will find a slick new process to add bookings for any number of units making it quick and easy to add single unit or group booking.

Mobile app for Apple and Android will notify you of new bookings, modifications and cancellations. While the mobile app is very simple (it’s a first release) it’s perfect if all you want is to get booking alerts on your smart phone.

Other developments 

We also have a fabulous automated messaging system in the development queue for release in the next few months. The new messaging system will enhance your ability to communicate with your guests and save you invaluable time with automated messages.