Front Office Management - Terminology

Following are some common terms used in relation to the front office department −

S. No.	Term & Meaning
1	Account receivables The amount of money an organization has the right to receive within some specified period (say 30 days) against the delivery of products/services.
2	Bell desk An extension of front desk that deals with personalized guest services.
3	Cancellation charges They are the charges borne by the guest on cancellation of a confirmed reservation or for not showing-up on confirmed reservation.
4	Concierge Information desk that assists guests for transportation, booking of events outside the hotel.
5	GRC Guest Registration Card, which the guest needs to fill in with personal formation at the time of registration.
6	Guest Customer of the hotel business being served.
7	IP-PBX Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange, where internet protocol is used for call transmission.
8	MICE Acronym for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions.
9	Non-guest Customer of a hotel business not being served at the moment.
10	No-show A guest who has reserved an accommodation neither turns up nor cancels it.
11	OHMS Online Hotel Management System, a software system to manage all back-office operations of a hotel.
12	PBX Private Branch Exchange, a private network of telephones within an organization.
13	POS Acronym for Point of Sale. It is the revenue generating place in the hotel where retail transactions are carried out.
14	Rack rate The price at which the hotel rooms are sold before applying discount.
15	SMERF Acronym for Social, Military, Educational, Religious, and Fraternal.
16	Trial balance It is a report of accounts that represents ending balance of each account in the list. It is prepared at the end of an accounting period.
17	Uniformed services Personalized services provided to the guests.
18	Valet A male attendant to park and clean the car.
19	Whitney System An old reservation system for hotel accommodations.
20	Yield Management A variable pricing strategy, based on understanding, anticipating and influencing consumer behavior in order to maximize revenue from a fixed, perishable resource.