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I intergrated with GVR 3 weeks ago and it still shows pending. Why is that?
Big drawback I see of Enso is their use of biometrics on guest IDs.
Guests have a hard enough time trusting their IDs with just me to have on file, a lot are going to resist this Prison Planet malarky that the young Enso techies are all giddy about.
Their product looks beautiful! I'd love to see how the OR rental agreement flows into their system if anyone is already integrated and cares to share!
It also looks like currently there's no 2-way-sync of check-in/out times -- which is enough of a drawback to make me need to hold off for now. Any ETA on if/when that may be added to the integration?
Hello Susan,
Would you please send in a helpdesk ticket for your Schlage app issue for further investigation.
also if I start with directing to my OR hosted site, can I switch to Google global landing page later? And vice versa? Is it an easy switch?
Good question, John! Yes, switching to the global landing page, or back to your OR hosted website, is always an option and available to you by changing your Landing Page selection on your GVR API Integration page.
So if I already have a direct booking wordpress website not in OR, will I also need to create a landing page from OR to use for Google Vacation listing? I also have landing pages through another platform so I wanted to better understand whether it will be possible to use any of these or if I have to create a new product. Is the landing page for instance part of my subscription or will I have to purchase that separately? Thanks!
Since your website is not hosted by OwnerRez, you'll only have the option to use the global landing page when configuring your GVR API integration, and it will be automatically created for you and hosted by OwnerRez. No, it is not possible to use landing pages from another platform. There are no additional fees outside of your regular subscription fees for the use of the global landing page. Hope this answers your questions, Karen!
also if I start with directing to my OR hosted site, can I switch to Google global landing page later? And vice versa? Is it an easy switch?
Forgive the poor wording on my question.
of the two options:
1. OR hosted site
2. Global Landing Page
it seems like using the OR hosted site is the better option. Is that the consensus?
It depends on what is important to you....
If you use the hosted site option the guest is shown your website/brand directly when they come over from Google. If you use the global landing page, the guest will be taken directly to the quote/booking funnel and not see your website.
Going to your website means that the guest is shown your brand and web pages which gives them a good idea of who you are and what else you offer. They might be more likely to return in the future if they remember your website.
However, going to the quote/booking funnel directly means they will be pushed to book with fewer distractions. Sometimes, when guests visit a travel website, they click around and get distracted without focusing on booking. The global landing page does one job - show the guest pricing and encourage them to book that property.
Thank you for this insight. My tendency is to direct travelers to my OR hosted site. However, it sounds like maybe they may be more likely to book if not distracted by jumping to my site? If this is true, I would rather get the booking now and convert them to my brand later. But is true that it is more likely they will book if not "distracted"? Do we have data that shows this, or at this early stage is it speculative? Thank you!
So if I already have a direct booking wordpress website not in OR, will I also need to create a landing page from OR to use for Google Vacation listing? I also have landing pages through another platform so I wanted to better understand whether it will be possible to use any of these or if I have to create a new product. Is the landing page for instance part of my subscription or will I have to purchase that separately? Thanks!
Thank you so much for the detailed response!
if GVR simply "displays your property listing information from OwnerRez on GVR." Why couldn't the plain text of our cancelation policy be displayed?
You can do this now. Simply edit the description of your property to show the cancellation policy in the body of the description.
And if you want this to only show for GVR (and not the listing body on Air, Vrbo, etc) then create a description override just for GVR.
Forgive the poor wording on my question.
of the two options:
1. OR hosted site
2. Global Landing Page
it seems like using the OR hosted site is the better option. Is that the consensus?
It depends on what is important to you....
If you use the hosted site option the guest is shown your website/brand directly when they come over from Google. If you use the global landing page, the guest will be taken directly to the quote/booking funnel and not see your website.
Going to your website means that the guest is shown your brand and web pages which gives them a good idea of who you are and what else you offer. They might be more likely to return in the future if they remember your website.
However, going to the quote/booking funnel directly means they will be pushed to book with fewer distractions. Sometimes, when guests visit a travel website, they click around and get distracted without focusing on booking. The global landing page does one job - show the guest pricing and encourage them to book that property.
Once the messaging API is released, we will provide more information about how this will work with third-party apps. The messaging API will allow third parties to view any messaging coming into OwnerRez and send messages back via any of the messaging options through OwnerRez. It will be dependent on the third party to determine how message templates are set up/sent on their side. More information to come in early Q3 of 2024!
Reach out to Enso Connect to learn more about all their features.
Forgive the poor wording on my question.
of the two options:
1. OR hosted site
2. Global Landing Page
it seems like using the OR hosted site is the better option. Is that the consensus?
What are the chances that we can set the cancellation policy to generate from the OR settings for each property instead of the generic "Relaxed, Moderate, Strict, No Refund" settings?
Great question, Matt. Remember, GVR does not host a live booking engine but rather displays your property listing information from OwnerRez on GVR.
Without passing some cancellation policy information, GVR would assume that you always offer full refunds. Ultimately, all GVR bookings are direct bookings and are subject to your property's cancellation policy. It's probably best to set your "GVR cancellation policy" to a stricter policy than you actually have letting you have the option to be less strict on a case-by-case basis for these direct bookings.
I understand passing "some" information to GVR. I am more concerned with accurate information.
We have a minimum cancelation charge no matter what and have a policy that falls between the "moderate" and "strict" options.
The only "stricter" option would be "no refund". We cut our own throat when we are forced to advertise a more strict cancelation policy.
Also, variability in our advertised policies causes confusion and an immediate point of potential conflict for both the guests and us as owners.
Lastly, if GVR simply "displays your property listing information from OwnerRez on GVR." Why couldn't the plain text of our cancelation policy be displayed?
Seems like a simple thing to ask for.
I'm sure it is probably something GVR would have to develope on their end but it would be far more accurate and consistent for both guests and owners/managers.
Will GVR be available for those of us using the WordPress Plugin?
Hi Sloanish. Just to be clear, GVR is available to all users right now, whether you use a WP Plugin website or not. If you use a WP Plugin website, you'll need to use our "global landing page" option for the landing page that Google should use when referring booking traffic.
If you are asking if you can refer GVR booking traffc directly to your WP Plugin website (instead of the global landing page), we don't have an ETA for doing that at the moment. We started building the GVR integration with that in mind - allowing custom websites - but it proved too difficult because of the "price accuracy" that Google enforces. Custom websites (including both WP Plugins and widgets) have a very high rate of inaccuracy when it comes to price matches - this is for a variety of reasons that don't necessarily include actual pricing. For instance, the style of the page (headline, photos, etc) can make price accuracy fail as well.
It seems like linking GVR to our OR hosted website is the better way to go, rather than using the GVR platform.
Hi Trinity. I'm not sure what you mean by "using the GVR platform". Google does not offer any shopping-cart or payment screens on their side when guests go to book a property. All booking traffic comes across to OwnerRez. You can either use a OwnerRez hosted site or our new "global landing page" as discussed and shown above. Both the hosted site and global landing page are hosted and run on the OwnerRez side.
Will GVR be available for those of us using the WordPress Plugin?
Thanks
Where can we learn more about these features?:
It seems like linking GVR to our OR hosted website is the better way to go, rather than using the GVR platform.
is this the consensus from those of you using GVR?
Will in-app messaging via Enso also be relayed to OR conversations? Does that mean Templates and Triggers would also run through Enso?
If we currently have it setup as Criteria > Listing Sites > All, (which includes GVR), can we just keep it this way??
You can, but keep in mind that some surcharges may not work on Google the same way they work on other channels. That is why differentiation may be important. You can set 2 surcharges : one for Google vacation rentals "only", and another for "everything but" google vacation rentals to account for those differences.
What are the chances that we can set the cancellation policy to generate from the OR settings for each property instead of the generic "Relaxed, Moderate, Strict, No Refund" settings?
Great question, Matt. Remember, GVR does not host a live booking engine but rather displays your property listing information from OwnerRez on GVR.
Without passing some cancellation policy information, GVR would assume that you always offer full refunds. Ultimately, all GVR bookings are direct bookings and are subject to your property's cancellation policy. It's probably best to set your "GVR cancellation policy" to a stricter policy than you actually have letting you have the option to be less strict on a case-by-case basis for these direct bookings.
What are the chances that we can set the cancellation policy to generate from the OR settings for each property instead of the generic "Relaxed, Moderate, Strict, No Refund" settings?
We are pleased to announce our partnership with Enso Connect to offer our users an AI-powered guest experience platform.
Enso Connect is an AI-powered guest experience platform for hospitality businesses that seamlessly plugs into OwnerRez and helps personalize and monetize interactions all along the guest journey. Enso Connect’s operating system works on “if this then that” principle, allowing for full customization of all features.
Enso Connect’s Boarding Pass digitally navigates guests from inquiry to checkout and beyond. It is customizable by property, channel, travel reasons, etc. Boarding Pass allows travelers to instantly access anything they need for a great stay in one place, at any point of their journey.
Enso Connect will be one of the first integrations to utilize our new Messaging API! This will allow Enso Connect to view and send messaging via the OwnerRez API. This means if you receive an SMS, Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com message in OwnerRez, you can respond via Enso Connect or have their AI service respond for you. This new update is scheduled for release in early Q3 of 2024.
Visit the Enso Connect pricing page and request a quote here. Enso Connect is offering a special deal for OwnerRez users. Get 30% off with a yearly subscription or 15% off with a quarterly subscription. Offer valid until April 20, 2024!
Get started with Enso Connect by visiting here and checking out the OwnerRez support article for integrating OwnerRez with Enso Connect.
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Steve Clark, our Engagement Manager, and Paul Hall, Head of Partnerships & Marketing, will be live to answer all your burning questions about OwnerRez. Please write your questions on the CrowdCast registration page prior to the webinar so we can start off by answering those right away. It is free to join, but you need to use the sign-up for OwnerRez Q&A link to register.
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That’s what I was hoping you would say. As always Ken, thank you.
If we currently have it setup as Criteria > Listing Sites > All, (which includes GVR), can we just keep it this way??
Sure - the example was if you wanted to have a surcharge that applied only to Google. If you're content with a surcharge that applies in every case, that's just fine.
"Users can apply Discounts and Surcharges to only Google Vacation Rentals by navigating to Settings > Surcharges > Additional Guest Fees > Change > Criteria > Listing Sites > and selecting Only Google Vacation Rentals. "
When you say "Only" this makes it sound like we have to select "Only" Google Vacation Rentals, like creating different D's & S's specifically for GVR only, which is confusing. I'm sure I'm just making this complicated.
If we currently have it setup as Criteria > Listing Sites > All, (which includes GVR), can we just keep it this way??
