One of the main functions of the hospitality service on the DV2000/DV4 (VMS) is to integrate with a property management system (PMS) via a serial or TCP/IP connection, in order that the PMS can control the status of room mailboxes and, possibly, be kept up-to-date on voice message and maid status for each room.

 

Use of this connection is optional.  If your site does not use a PMS or the PMS cannot integrate with a VMS, then you can configure the hospitality service not to use a PMS link.

 

Integration between the VMS and PMS requires the use of a communication protocol that both systems can support.  The DV2000/DV4 only supports a limited number of protocols, and not all protocols support all features.  For example, some protocols allow the PMS to schedule a wakeup call for a room on the VMS, but most do not.  Consult your authorized DV2000/DV4 reseller for the most up-to-date details on which protocols and features are supported.

 

Operation

PMS integration is handled by the hospitality service, which runs in the background (that is, there is no GUI window).

 

The service configures and opens the serial or TCP port at startup (if configured to do so) and handles all communication with the PMS.  It also handles communication via TCP/IP with various client applications, such as InnDesk and PMS Monitor.

 

PMS Monitor provides a GUI window that displays link activity being handled by the service in near-realtime (depending on network traffic, there may be some delay between an action occurring and the associated log statement showing up in PMS Monitor).  InnDesk is a web-based application for monitoring and managing room status and wakeup calls.

 

Logging

In addition to the information logged to the PMS Monitor client application, hospitality actions (such as check in, check out, etc.) are logged in more detail in the regular hospitality service log files, while the raw link activity is logged in the PMS link logs.

 

Multiple PMS Support

The DV2000/DV4 system can support up to 99 separate PMS links, with a separate instance of the hospitality service running for each one.

 

When using multiple PMS instances, consider the following limitations:

 

Limitation

Description

Location assignment

Each PMS instance must be assigned to at least one location, and may be assigned to more than one.

 

However, a given location may only have one PMS instance assigned to it.

Max number of PMS instances

No more than 99 PMS instances can be created.

 

This is the absolute limit; hardware resources in a given system may further limit the number of instances that can be supported before system performance is compromised.

 

The practical limit will vary depending on a number of factors, including but not limited to:

•The hardware platform used (CPU, memory, number of voice lines)
•The operating system used
•The number of rooms and users created for each instance/property
•The feature set used by each property (voice mail, wakeup calls, etc.)
•Any other factors that may affect typical and/or peak system usage for each given instance/property

 

Some factors may only be significant if one or more of the instances represent a sizable number of guest rooms.  Such factors may include but are not limited to:

•The typical turnover rate
•The typical usage of the wakeup call feature, especially during peak morning hours
•The typical usage of, and size of, groups — particularly the use of group messages and/or group wakeup calls for many and/or large groups

 

PBX link support

In many cases, only a single PBX link is supported for a given PBX type.

 

This is true for all PBX types that are configured in the PMS Pass-through page on the Connectors dialog, including: Aeonix, Alcatel OXE, Alcatel OXO, Avaya ACM, Mitel, Nortel, NEC NEAX Model 60 and NEC KTS-i.

 

Only one of these protocols can be used on a given system and any instance using it will be communicating with the same PBX.  That is, if a PMS instance is using the Avaya ACM protocol, then (1) no other instance can use Aeonix, Alcatel (either version), Mitel, Nortel or either NEC protocol and (2) any other instance using the ACM protocol will be talking to the same ACM PBX.

 

PBX connectors that can be configured on a per-location basis include: Cisco, HTTP Name Service, Avaya IP Office, Metaswitch and SIEMENS.  Because these systems are configured on a per-location basis, it may be possible to support having one or more PMS instances send name changes to one IP Office (for example) while other instances connect to a different IP Office.

Mailbox database

The mailbox database is shared across all locations, meaning no two locations can have a mailbox with the same number..

 

This also means that no two PMS instances can use the same room numbering plan for the room numbers sent by the PMS.

 

The DV2000/DV4 can be configured to translate from room numbers to mailbox numbers (and perform reverse translation when sending messages to the PMS).  Regardless of how they are entered in the configuration, all translations are stored as simple one-to-one replacements.  That is, room R maps to mailbox M, and vice-versa.

 

Whether translations are used or not, the resulting mailbox numbers must be unique across all PMS instances.