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Hotel IT Disaster plan | Hotel Computer failure back up plan | Hotel Network Failure plan

Sample Hotel IT Emergency Action Plan / Contingency Plan

Currently most of the hotel operations are directly depended on computers, software applications like Property management system (PMS), Point of Sale (POS), Interfaces and internet or network connectivity.
On an unforeseen event of the Hardware, Operating System layer or Application Software fails, we will have no alternative but to switch over to manual operations for immediate uninterrupted operations. In case of a problem IT Dept. would inform Resident Manager or Lobby Manager about the failure.
 
 
A team consisting of the following should coordinate the manual operations under the leadership of the Resident Manager or Lobby Manager :

  • Lobby Manager / FOM

  • Manager Food and Beverage Operations.

  • Executive House keeper or Desk Control supervisor.

  • IT Manager and IT assistants

  • Accounts Manager and General Cashier on duty.

  • Telephone Operator / Guest Service associate.

Distribute Emergency back up reports:
 
Emergency batch reports are printed and saved by the Front desk team on a regular intervals, The latest set of this report to be distributed to relevant department heads in case of emergency. These reports should be generated daily and the concerned department will print and save them.
 
In case of a failure of the server, Lobby Manager give the intimation to the FOM, would inform the GM/HOD and other members of the team. Operationally no additional manpower would be required Lobby Manager / FOM and Finance team would distribute pre-numbered, GR cards, Guest Bills and points of sale bills etc to concerned officials. 
 
List of Emergency reports Printed and Saved:

  • In house guests by room number

  • In house guests sorted by guest name

  • Remaining arrivals for the day by room number

  • Remaining arrivals alpha with VIP and guest preferences

  • Remaining departures by room number

  • Departures Checked Out -Today

  • Arrivals Checked in - Today

  • Airport Pickup report

  • Airport Drop Report

  • Rate Variance Report

  • Reservations on the books ( all )

  • Availability as per room type

  • Arrival List Next 3 days

  • Departures next 3 days

  • All Open Traces for next 3 days

  • Banquet Functions list for the day

  • Housekeepers List showing current rooms status.

  • Room Status detail report

  • Out of Order rooms list

  • Out of service rooms list

  • Guest balance detailed report

  • Open balance report

  • High Balance guest report

  • Guest Ledger Balance with Ageing

  • City Ledger / AR Ledger Balance with Ageing

  • Cashier Status

  • Payments by Cash Register

  • Current Exchange rate

Following pre-printed/ pre-numbered stationery needs to be kept in ready state for taking check-in /check -out in custody of Lobby Manager/FOM to be handed over to respective department:

  • Pre-printed Blank Guest Registration cards 

  • Pre-printed Blank Point of Sale Bills

  • Pre-printed Blank Kitchen order ticket (KOT)

  • Pre-printed Blank Guest Folio 

  • Pre-printed Blank paid out 

  • Pre-printed Blank receipt book

All department should switch to manual operations, And a breif description of the  manual operations for each department is given below:

Front Office: 

Check-in: The Front office staff will work on the Arrival list generated above to block the rooms. Pre printed guest Registration cards will be used for taking manual check-in. After check in of a reserved guest, the corresponding reservation will be marked on the expected arrival list. The reception staff will have to inform other department like Telephone, Room Service and Housekeeping and other restaurants about the guest check-in which was taken manually. The Signed registration card and advance deposit details to be kept separate so that the same can be updated immediately once the system is online.

Check-out: Front office staff should check the 'Guest balance' detailed report to find out the outstanding balance as per the report. Cashier will use the Guest outstanding report for taking the opening balance of the In- house guests (as per the latest report available), for the rest of guest the physical bills would be required to prepare the bills.   Check with other departments and if there are any charges incurred which needs to be collected from the guest. At check out, the Cashier will have to prepare the bill manually as per the supporting documents in the guest folder. 
 
Collect guest email address so that the copy of the bill can be emailed to guest as soon as the system is online. The settlement details will have to be written on the Cashier's copy of the bill. Once the system is online cross check if all the postings had picked up correctly and tally with the manual bill made and show check-out.

Reservations:

All reservations to be taken manually on Reservation forms. No reservation would be confirmed and the reservation confirmation number will not be shared. All reservation will be identified by the name of the guest and arrival date & time.

The manually taken reservations will have to be filed separately so that they can be entered into the system when system is operational again. Call back the guest or email the reservation confirmation letter once the system is back online.

Telephone:

In case of failure of communication software where there is no interface available between the Property management system and EPBX (Telephone Exchange), Telephone Billing has to be done manually and the details to be passed to the front office to add to collect while guest checkout.
 
Activation and de-activation of outgoing dialing facility will not be automatically enabled for those guests who had checked-in and checked-out during this period same needs to be done manually. Also any inquiry regarding the guest in a room/ room of guest can be handled using the copy of in- house report by room no./name.

Housekeeping:

The in-house guest list by room number will indicate the current room status. The housekeeping staff will write the changes in the room status on the Room Status Change sheet. This sheet will be filed so that the correct room status can be entered into the system after it becomes operational. All changes in the room status will have to be informed to Front office. 

F&B outlets - POS (Point of Sales):

F&B outlets can check the available report 'In house guests by room number' to verify the details of the resident guests. KOT ( Kitchen Order Ticket) to be written manually on the pre-printed format and send to the appropriate kitchen.

The Restaurant team have to prepare manual bills on separate stationary kept especially for this purpose. The pre-printed bill stationary used for computer printed bills will not be used.

The settlement details will be written on the bills. A copy of the bill will be dispatched to Front Office (Cash) as soon as possible. Before handing over the shift the Restaurant Cashier will make the sale summary and bill register before depositing the cash and credit card slip. 

Important Support number:

Property Management system (PMS)

1) Name and Hotline Number 

Point of Sale (POS)
 
1) Name and Hotline Number 
 
Augustine's Avatar

Augustine

Authored and managed by Augustine, a hotelier with over 20 years of experience in the industry. He has a 3-year diploma with 'honors' from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute and a Bachelor of Computer Application - BCA Degree.