Channel Bridge Overview

Instead of depending on iCal-synced calendars and the Channel Bridge tool, OwnerRez suggests using our Channel Management feature for a smoother experience.

The OwnerRez Channel Bridge Chrome browser extension enables you to log in to your Airbnb and Vrbo accounts (including contact info, guest counts, charges, and transactions) and access the data stored there.

With Channel Bridge, you can download your data and upload it directly into OwnerRez. When you are connected to Airbnb or Vrbo via iCals, you will need to regularly use Channel Bridge to bring in information about your bookings and guests that the channels don't send by iCal.

• Video - Bringing In Bookings From Channels
• Channel Bridge Setup
• Run the Channel Bridge
• Import Bookings for the First Time
• Import Booking Information into OwnerRez
• Channel Bridge Limitations

Channel Bridge Setup

The OwnerRez Channel Bridge extension can be installed directly from the Chrome Web Store. If this link doesn't work, go to the Chrome Web Store and search for "Channel Bridge" or "OwnerRez." You must use the Chrome browser (only) to get this extension.

Install Channel Bridge from the Chrome Web Store

When you've found the extension in the Chrome Web Store, click on "OwnerRez Channel Bridge" to open the extension details.

• After the extension details open, click the Add To Chrome button at the top right of the extension.
• Chrome will notify you that it's installed, and you'll notice that the OwnerRez Channel Bridge is installed in your Extensions menu.

Run the Channel Bridge

Ready to run Channel Bridge? Just click that OwnerRez Channel Bridge icon.

The Channel Bridge allows users to download booking information from Airbnb and Vrbo. Click the appropriate "Download" button to start the process. The Export bookings from pop-up lets you choose which properties and bookings to download.

First, pick a property (or leave it at all properties to get bookings for everything). There are three options to select which bookings to download:

• Modified Since - This option will download all bookings created or modified in the channel (i.e. additional payments/refunds/charges) since a certain date. It's useful if you have a regular process where you update bookings every so often (for example every week) and you only want to download bookings changed since the last download
• Staying Between - This option lets you enter a start date and end date and download all bookings that stay between those dates. This is useful for initial setup where you want to download a larger chunk of bookings, or when you want to update a specific subset of bookings.
• Reservation ID - This option lets you enter a specific reservation ID (like HA-AB2CD3) and download just that booking. Useful when you know a specific booking has just changed and you only want to update that one booking.The data Channel Bridge collects is not automatically imported into OwnerRez.  Instead, it's written into an Excel file that your browser downloads.

Once you've selected your criteria, hit the Start Processing button, and the Channel Bridge will find matching bookings, download the reservation info, charges, and all related transactions—including resolution payouts and surcharges. It will compile everything and download an export file to your machine. This may take time for hundreds of bookings, so for initial loads, we recommend exporting a few months at a time.

Import Bookings for the First Time

The first time users import bookings with this spreadsheet, they should ensure that the Send Create Triggers box in the Email section is unchecked to prevent previously booked guests from receiving duplicate email notifications. Unchecking this box does not impact regularly scheduled future messages.

Import Booking Information into OwnerRez

After the file is prepared and downloaded, you're ready to upload it into OwnerRez and update your bookings! If you want to review the file first, you can open it in Excel and see all of the data that was downloaded.

1. Go to the Import bookings from OwnerRez Channel Bridge section in the Tools > Import/Export (Settings > Channels > Channel Bridge) area.
2. Select the file which was just created by Channel Bridge.
3. Click the green "Next" button. Note: If this is a large import of historical booking information, you may want to uncheck the Send Create Triggers checkbox.
4. On the next page, choose the Import button. The channel bridge import will identify the listing channel where the download originated and process it accordingly. This will upload the data into OwnerRez and merge it with any existing bookings created by Calendar Imports.

Once the import is complete, you'll get a results page detailing all of the bookings that were imported and the transactions added to them.

Review the bookings and check for any issues. If there is a negative balance on a booking, that is likely because you recorded a payment in OwnerRez with a different date than the one in the download file. To fix that, you can set payments to Overwrite mode so the existing payment will be removed and all payment data will be filled from the download file.

Channel Bridge Limitations

Channel Bridge requires capabilities that are only provided in the Chrome browser.

• Channel Bridge doesn't work on iOS devices, even in Chrome, because Apple requires all App Store browsers to use Safari. Therefore, Chrome on an iPad isn't true Chrome, so Channel Bridge won't operate. On MacOS, Chrome is genuine Chrome, so Channel Bridge functions there.
• Chrome doesn't allow plugin extensions on Android. Therefore, Channel Bridge will not work in Chrome running on an Android device.
• Brave, Dissenter, Kiwi, and Yandex are independent Chrome browsers that may support the Channel Bridge, but might have unpredictable results.