WindsurferCRS Sails Past Competition with Industry-Leading Channel Management Enhancements, Big Data Innovations & Unprecedented Reliability

Sceptre Hospitality Resources today announced the latest update to its industry-leading central reservation system (CRS), WindsurferCRS, at the hotel industry's annual HITEC conference. Significant improvements include enhanced channel management capabilities and unprecedented access to booking and reporting information, all the while maintaining complete reliability; a claim no other system in its class can make.

"A hotel's CRS is its lifeline, and therefore must be completely reliable and fortified with features that capture bookings," said Bill Linehan, chief marketing officer. "WindsurferCRS established the gold standard for speed and reliability more than two years ago, and today we are raising the bar by providing our clients with unprecedented amounts of easy-to-interpret data and a comprehensive channel management offering."

Enhancement Overview

Technology Leadership:

According to Estella Hale, Windsurfer product manager, WindsurferCRS outperforms its competition in several crucial areas: speed, reliability and convenience.

1. Speed: At 0.25 seconds response time, Windsurfer is up to 14 times faster than the competition.

2. Reliability: In the past 24 months, WindsurferCRS has experienced ZERO measurable down time.

3. Convenience: Windsurfer is the only CRS where hoteliers can access the system through desktop-, tablet- or smart phone-specific applications.

"A slow, unreliable CRS is a costly anchor to hang on a hotel," said Hale. "We live in a fast paced world where guests will quickly move elsewhere if the booking experience is sluggish. Hoteliers need to be able to respond to changing business conditions anytime, anywhere, and they need the peace of mind that comes from a CRS that works fast and without fail."

Channel Management:

Hotels powered by WindsurferCRS now have seamless connectivity to more channels. Sceptre recently enhanced its direct connects and added access to all channels available through SiteMinder, eliminating the time consuming and sometimes cumbersome process required to access hundreds of channels.

"Windsurfer directly connects to all of the major channels, and by enhancing our channel manager features, hoteliers now can access every major and secondary or specialty channel seamlessly through our CRS application," said Hale.

Big Data Analytics:

WindsurferCRS now offers hoteliers more than just booking information. With new analytic capabilities, hoteliers can review statistics ranging from availability requests to the system to detailed booking information.

"As we expand and refine CRS capabilities, hoteliers benefit from fully understanding consumer behaviors and how that relates to the booking process," said Hale. "Windsurfer is the first CRS that can provide this level of granular data to help hoteliers develop and execute smart revenue and channel management strategies."

Sceptre Hospitality Resources

Sceptre Hospitality Resources maximizes revenues for hotels and resorts. With the addition of Whiteboard Labs, the company now serves nearly 3,500 properties on its reservation platform. In addition to Windsurfer, a state-of-the-art central reservation system (CRS), Sceptre's other software include MotionNotes, a video messaging platform, SpaLinx, a spa management and appointment booking application, HotelIQ business intelligence, custom internet marketing services and revenue management services.

Sceptre specializes in electronic distribution, reservations connectivity, channel management, revenue management strategies, reservation call centers and direct booking engines. Sceptre also provides interactive marketing programs, including custom applications, website design and other guest communication systems.

Additional information about Sceptre and hospitality industry marketing trends and tools may be found at the company's website: www.sceptrehospitality.com.

SOURCE: BUSINESS WIRE