National Assessment: Front Office Services NC Ii
National Assessment: Front Office Services NC Ii
National Assessment: Front Office Services NC Ii
National Assessment
for
ASSESSOR’S GUIDE
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND CERTIFICATION ARRANGEMENTS
1. Assessment shall focus on the core units of competency. The basic and common
units are assessed concurrently with the core units.
EVIDENCE PLAN
Questioning
The evidence must show that the candidate …
Update Reservations
Records or updates reservation payments and deposits of the reservation
X
accurately in accordance with the property standards *
Receives, process and records amendments and cancellations of
reservations in accordance with customer request and property X
standards. *
Advise Others on Reservation Details
Communicates general and specific customer requirements and
X
reservation details to appropriate departments and colleagues.*
Follow ups and addresses customer’s requests, and ensures that all
X
specific requirements in his reservation details are prior to guest arrival.
OPERATE A COMPUTERIZED RESERVATION SYSTEM
Welcomes guests* X
1. Using the given materials, tools and equipment, instruct the candidate to perform
the following tasks:
4. Give the candidate feedback on the assessment result. The feedback should
indicate whether the candidate is:
COMPETENT
Answer:
Overbooking is a serious mistake when the FO accepted reservations over how much
the hotel can accommodate. To address the problem, close monitoring of the
departures with the Housekeeping Department should be done, and take the guests
to other partner hotels for temporary accommodation. Fetch the guests every time a
room is available, and offer freebies to comfort the guests
2. Describe an availability board.
Answer:
It is a convenient visual guide for controlling overbooking. It reflects the true picture of
the room availability status for a six-month period.
3. Differentiate a Guaranteed Reservation from a Confirmed Reservation.
Answer:
When the guest paid for the first night’s stay, by giving his credit card or paying cash,
it is a guaranteed reservation, but when the guest just told the FO over the telephone
that he is coming, then it is a confirmed reservation. He may not really arrive.
4. What is a central reservations system?
Answer:
It is a system controlled by an independent company where the reservations across
countries pass through. This system can very well be controlled with a fee especially
for international bookings.
5. What is a FIT?
Answer:
Refers to an individual who frequently travels and reserves in the hotel, thus the hotel
has maintained updated record of the guest.
6. Name at least four (4) sources of reservations.
Answer: The mails, telephone calls, CRS, walk in guests and corporate accounts can
be good sources of reservations.
Answer:
Most of the hotels are not using the computerized reservation with different soft wares
like Opera, Micros Fidelio and other customized soft wares. However, there are still
hotels that maintain manual reservation that requires so much attention and careful
management.
8. How does a no show affect the hotel?
Answer:
A No Show reservation definitely affects the hotel revenue especially when it is only a
confirmed reservation during a lean period. Some hotels have policies to hold the
reservation up to 5:00 p.m. A room left vacant for a day is a revenue lost forever.
9. What are the information needed to be asked by a reservation agent from the
guest?
Answer:
Expected Time of Arrival (ETA)
Departure date (ETD)
The names of all parties desiring reservations
Convention or group or business affiliation
Type of accommodation (double, king, suite etc.).
Contact numbers
The name and address of the party to whom the confirmation is to be sent.
The form of payment to be used and the name and the address of the party to
whom the bill will be sent.
The rate of the room
Special instructions or special request, no matter how minor.
PROVIDE ACCOMMODATION RECEPTION SERVICES
PROVIDE CONCIERGE AND BELL SERVICES
10. What comprises product knowledge and what is its importance?
Answer:
The following are some of the products that must be known by heart by every FO
personnel. The knowledge of the details of the following will make the FO clerk
confident and efficient in handling concierge services:
Floor Plan and the specific features including scenic views
Number of guest rooms
Sizes of the rooms
Hotel amenities/facilities
Types of accommodation (single, double, etc).
Room Rate structure
Guest room features and amenities
Time of hotel services
Other hotel services
Answer:
Arrivals report which includes the number of guest arriving by date and the type
of room each has requested.
Departure report which includes the number of guest checking out on a particular
date
VIP report (optional) which includes the names and requirements of guest
arriving on a particular date who will receive special gifts and services.
Night audit report
Other important information needing attention
12. Explain the general flow in rooming a guest.
Answer:
A sincere friendly smile, greet and say, “How may I help you?”
Determine if the guest has a reservation or not by asking “Are we holding any
booking with you Sir?”
If there is no reservation, perform the reservation process for the guest.
If there is a reservation, front office agent verifies the data taken by the
reservationists, check for the spelling and pronunciation of the guest’s name,
mailing address, rate, method of payment and departure dates
Assign the room
Let the bell attendant assist the guest with his luggage as he escorts guest to his
room
13. What are the things you may do in preparing for a group arrival?
Answer:
Needed rooms are blocked off on the room rack
Keys are sorted out for each room
Individual or group registration cards are prepared in advance so that guests need
only to sign on arrival.
Ask for rooming list in advance containing relevant information like sex category
If group billing is to be used, an account is opened.
If individual accounts have been arranged, they are generated in advance.
On arrival, a separate counter is to be set-up to keep congestion to a minimum
from the main desk.
The hotel may opt to give a kit containing the welcome note, key, charge
instructions, tour or convention details, map of the city and so on.
Bell staff members standby to move the guest to their rooms in small groups.
Coordination with other departments is performed for a smooth flow of guest stay.
14. What are the personal safety measures to be observed in lifting guest luggage?
Answer:
Place your feet shoulder-width apart to maintain your balance
Grasp the item with both hands
Bend your knees; don’t bend your waist
Keep your back straight
Use your leg muscles as you keep the item close to your body.
Get help if an item is too heavy or when you are in an awkward shape.
TRSFOS213-0919 ver. 1.00 6
Front Office Services NC II
15. When riding an elevator, what are the things to remember?
Answer:
Riding an elevator gives you a chance to provide superior service. Always be the last
one on the elevator and the last one off to get hold of the door open for all the guest.
Give way for the other guests and tell your guest that you will follow to the room with
his/her luggage
16. What do you do when guest loses luggage?
Answer:
Get a complete description of the bag; the type, size, color markings, luggage tag,
etc.
Look into the bell closet and allow the guest to do the same
Check at overflow areas for the bag. Find out if a large group checked out today,
and whether their bags were stored somewhere other than the bell closet.
Coordinate with the transportation dispatcher. They may help you find out if the
luggage was accidentally sent with one of their vehicles. Check also with your
colleagues.
If wrong guest has the bag, work with a front desk agent to call the guest.
Answer:
a) Loss of coordination
Being clumsy
Eyes seem unfocused or glassy
Bumping into furniture and other people
Staggering
Falling down or tripping over things
Inability to walk in a straight line
Inability to do basic tasks like lifting a glass
Knocking things over
b) Change in speech
Having trouble talking in a normal manner
Speech becomes slower and slurred
Volume of speech becomes louder
Person becomes outspoken
e) Smell of alcohol
f) Body language
Answer:
Talk to the customer or their friend
Briefly explain your responsibilities
Promote non-alcoholic drinks
Offer beverages with low-alcohol content
Offer water / food
Slow down the service
Inform other staff about the situation
19. What are some concerns to note when asking an intoxicated patron to leave the
premises?
Answer:
Give a polite final warning
Notify friends
Identify transportation
Arrange assistance
Explain why the person is being asked to leave
Explain transportation options
Follow the person to the door
Ensure the person is safely off the premises.
CONDUCT NIGHT AUDIT
20. Describe the functions of night audit.
Answer:
The night audit includes the following functions:
Verify posted entries to guest and non-guest accounts
Balance all front office accounts
Resolve room status and rate discrepancies
Monitor guest credit limits
Produce operational and managerial reports
Answer:
The night audit requires attention to accounting detail, procedural controls,
and guest credit restrictions. In this sense, the night auditor shall track record
of room revenues, occupancy percentages, and other standard operating
statistics. He/she shall also, prepare a daily summary of cash, check, and
credit card activities that occurred in the front office department on a daily
basis.
The end of the business day is the vital time for auditing when most of the
hotel outlets are closed and the activities are stopped or lessened.
The night auditor performs cross-referencing by comparing the data
conveyed in different folios against points of sales outlets daily reports,
housekeeping room status report. After comparing, the night auditor should
come up with the guest, non-guest, and departmental accounts. This total
should match the daily POS totals (i.e. in balance). The night audit shall
compare all credit limits of guests and non-guests accounts with credit card
floor limits, hotel's house limit, guest's status and reputation. If high balance
accounts (i.e. balances for which the guest or non-guest limits are very near
to an established limit) are detected, the night auditor shall note and report
this to management the following day.
Under the manual, a daily transcript and a supplementary transcript are used
to track daily transactions of guest and non-guest accounts respectively.
22. What are the main steps of the night audit process?
Answer:
Complete outstanding posting
Reconcile room status discrepancies
Verify room rates
Balance all departmental accounts
Verify no-show reservations
Post room rates and taxes
Prepare required reports
Prepare cash receipts for deposit
Clear or back up the system
Distribute reports
Answer:
a) All telephone calls must be answered within 3 rings.
b) All calls must be answered with a greeting to include:
The appropriate time of day “Good Morning/Afternoon/ Evening”
The hotel name or department
The associate’s name
An offer of assistance, e.g., “How may I help you?”
Answer:
In handling guest complaints, bear in mind the following acronym to guide you:
Answer:
The guest greeting including the eye contact, smile, use of guest name and a
standard phrase of meeting a guest will give a positive first impression of the hotel,
thus, it will greatly affect the image of the hotel
Answer:
Some guests settle their accounts in advance or prior to their arrival either by
depositing partial payment through the bank or using their credit cards.
Most of the guests settle their accounts on site with their credit card by allowing
the hotel to block the required amount.
For corporate and government accounts, the hotel grants a credit line that can be
used for company personnel through Bill sending Arrangement with corporate
rates.
For clients like Travel Agencies, the deposits for the guests are done on specified
periodic settlement with special rates.
Answer:
The ‘++’ sign reflected in the guest’s bill constitute the following:
Value Added Tax (VAT), national mandatory charge
Local Tax – City tax
Service Charge – an added amount for hotel employees
Answer:
Guest can settle their account through the following cash, cash equivalents or non-
cash documents:
8 Pen 10 pcs
18 Vouchers 1 pad
5 Luggage 1 pc
6 Printer 1 unit
8 Trolley 1 pc
C. FACILITIES
The quantity of tools and equipment to be used for the conduct of assessment for this
Qualification is estimated based on ten (10) candidates. The most important consideration
is to make sure that tools and equipment are adequately provided to all candidates when
needed.