#What is ical means in computer update
#What is ical means in computer software

Say, for example, you find out that a major event has just been announced for your town and you would like to hike the rates. This means that you can centrally manage your prices, and as soon as you make a change, get it to propagate not only to your direct booking website, but also to all the channels that you are using to sell your inventory. Moreover, channel managers that integrate to OTAs using API connections can also push pricing across.

#What is ical means in computer update

Using API integrations, a channel manager can actually ‘push’ an update as soon as a change occurs, which vastly reduces the window of time during which a double booking could occur. As an end user you should not experience any noticeable difference due to this. JSON integrations based on RESTful APIs are generally considered to be superior to XML integrations, however most OTAs will have their API built based on XML. These refer to the type of technology used to build the integration. API connections are usually of one of two types – XML or JSON. In the context of the synchronisation of calendars across websites used to advertise vacation rentals, this helps reduce overbookings. These enable real-time connections and flow of pretty much any type of data. What is an API? API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface and refers to the language that different apps use to talk to each other.

Whichever your use case may be, the interesting question is how channel managers integrate via API connections to the OTAs (often referred to as channels, hence a channel manager). In the former case the information flows from the PMS to the channel manager, in the latter case it’s all shared in-house. How can channel managers offering API connections reduce this risk?Ĭhannel managers can have API integrations with a PMS (Property Management Software), or could be built into one. Thus, there is ample risk for overbookings to occur. Hence, remote calendars are only updated whenever the OTA ‘pulls’ an update, and this could be as rarely as once a day. Rather, the third-party site has to ‘pull’ the link to request an update. The block does not happen instantly as there is no ‘push’ of the event. This means that whenever your main calendar has availability blocked out due to an event, the same dates will be blocked out on a remote calendar.

#What is ical means in computer software

So your central calendar provider (Central Reservation System – CRS, Property Management Software – PMS, or Channel Manager – CM) may provide iCal links that you can import into OTAs and other listing sites. However, it offers an easy way of pulling ‘events’ (whether this be a blocked date or an actual booking) from another system. It is not a technology that is exclusive to hospitality applications, nor was it developed specifically for this purpose. You may have come across these when trying to import events from your Google Calendar to your iCloud Calendar for example. iCals are real time data feeds that allow you to synchronise calendars between each other. iCal stands for Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar). In order to know you should use either iCal or API, you must know what is an iCal. It is thus crucial that you adopt a system that allows you to quickly block off dates across all sites as soon as you get a booking through one of them. This results in overbooking, which can prove very time-consuming to resolve and could turn out to be extremely expensive if one of the sites charges you relocation fees when finding alternative accommodation for the guest. This usually happens when two people book the same room shortly after each other before you get the chance to update the calendars on all the sites you are advertising on.

When advertising across multiple websites, you risk overbooking or double booking the same unit for the same night.

What are double bookings and how do channel managers help prevent them? They provide you with a channel through which you can sell your accommodation nights – whether you are running a serviced apartment, a guesthouse or a boutique hotel. Although the latter two are sometimes referred to as listing sites rather than OTAs (Online Travel Aggregators), they all basically perform the same function. These websites where guests can book their stays from a selection of hospitality providers, include the likes of, Expedia, VRBO and Airbnb. A channel manager is a software that allows you to synchronise your vacation rental calendar to multiple third-party websites. What is a channel manager, and what have OTAs got to do with it?īefore learning about using iCal or API, you must know what is a channel manager and how it is related to iCals and APIs. How can channel managers offering API connections reduce this risk?.What are double bookings and how do channel managers help prevent them?.What is a channel manager, and what have OTAs got to do with it?.