Transfer Information From The Reception Computer example essay topic

Royal Oak Hotel Task 3 Tasks "h Outline the current ICT systems used "h Detailing how the ICT provision could be improved "h Explaining the benefits of the improvements Outline the current ICT systems used In order for the Royal Oak Hotel to function well, they need to use a variety of ICT systems in all of the areas. I will now list the different areas of the Hotel (accounts etc) and list which ICT systems they need to use. fae Accounts and Finance For the accounts, accounts and finance use an off-the-shelf program to keep a record of all money the hotel receives and pays out. As all of the computers are stand alone, each computer needs to have the appropriate information entered in, which means mistakes do often happen. To try and transfer information from the reception computer, the accounts clerk used a floppy, but the format of the data isn't compatible with the package. Finally, the accounts clerk uses a BACS (Bank Automated Clearance System) transfer to pay the staff wages directly into each of their bank accounts. fae Marketing In order for Marketing to be able to work appropriately, the bookings clerk is able to use the database that is installed, which contains customer data, to analyse different types of criteria to target promotions.

These different criteria types includes types of guests, lengths of stay and home regions. Mailing lists of previous guests can also be produced by the ICT system in use, allowing personalised letters to be made and sent. fae Personnel In the Personnel department, the administrator uses and updates a database where all the information of their staff is stored, containing their personal details, job etc. As well as this, the database contains all details of appraisals, pension and holiday entitlement and any medical cover that is needed. Each week the administrator has to update this database for the number of hours that each employee works. This data enable the database to calculate wages owed and to schedule staff.

As well as ICT systems to be used in the different areas of the hotel, there are also ICT systems in use for the billing and the checking in of customers. For checking in, the receptionist enters the reservation reference number into the computer and this brings up any details on the guest check in screen. The room card is detached and when the customer buys anything from the hotel, by EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), the customer is charged onto their account and at the end of their stay, is billed for it. How could the ICT provision be improved and the Benefits of all the improvements.

From reading the Royal Oak case study and noting on the ICT system that is being used, I have found many things that could be done to improve the ICT system. For example, if all of the computers were to have a modem, then all the computers would be able to speak to the suppliers rather than just the one. They could also improve the ICT system by updating the software so that the accounting package is compatible with a floppy disk, as in accounts and Finance, they need a method of transferring the data from the reception computer, to the stand alone computers in the main office. Another solution to this problem would be to connect all the computers into a LAN (Local Area Network). This would mean that all the information would be on one network, resulting in the accounts clerk not having to transfer information all of the time. Another improvement would be to install telephones in all of the departments.

This would mean that if there were any problems within the department, it would be easier to contact the main office. It would also mean that if the accounts had to get some information from the reception computer, they would be able to.