We’re excited to bring you our newest update for internal bookings and messages, which is sure to make your experience with Host Tools even better. Our latest features are designed with both hosts and guests in mind, helping you easily keep track of reservations, communicate quickly and efficiently, and provide the best service possible. Read on to learn about our exciting updates!
Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today!
Sending Event-Based Messages to Internal Bookings
Previously, hosts could only send scheduled messages to internal bookings (bookings that weren’t made with a channel manager like Airbnb or Vrbo).
With our newest update, we’re pleased to announce that effective immediately, Host Tools will send event-based messages to all internal bookings.
What is the difference between scheduled and event-based messages?
Scheduled messages are communications that are part of the flow of a standard guest stay. For example, hosts may have a scheduled message sent 24 hours before every self-check-in.
Event-based messages are communications that are triggered by actions. These actions can happen at any time, like a booking confirmation or reservation change. For example, when a host manually adds a reservation to Host Tools with an email listed in the email field, Host Tools will now immediately send the guest a booking confirmation message via email.
What does this update mean for hosts?
When adding an internal booking to Host Tools, remember to include the guest’s email in the listed email field. Once completed, guests, and cleaners will now receive the same communications and updates that Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com guests do. Ultimately, this is yet another way for hosts to automate their short-term rental business and save time.
Need a refresher on manually adding reservations to the booking calendar? Read this help article.
Internal Messages Now in Your Inbox
Thanks to our recent update, when hosts add an internal reservation, hosts will now see these reservations in the Host Tools inbox. Plus, they can see the messages that have been sent and are scheduled to send via email to these guests.
In the above image, the gray boxes are SMS messages that have been sent to a cleaning crew to notify them of a new job. The blue boxes are communications that have been sent to the guest via email.
Note: Any replies that guests write to these emails will not go to the Host Tools inbox, but rather the Host Tools user email. However, as shown above, hosts can still email guests from the Host Tools inbox.
What does this mean for hosts?
This update will allow hosts to see all of their scheduled and sent messages to guests, whether booked internally or via a channel, in one convenient spot.
See Messages Sent via Host Tools Email & SMS in Your Inbox
Finally, hosts can now see scheduled and sent messages for email and SMS message rules in their inbox. These messages are generally sent for a booking (through a channel like Airbnb, VRBO, etc) to an SMS or email (usually to a cleaner) and will now show up in the host inbox so they can see them as sent.
In the above image, the gray boxes are SMS messages that have been sent to a cleaning crew to notify them of a new job. The blue boxes are communications that have been sent to the guest on Airbnb.
Final Thoughts
Our newest update provides hosts with a more automated and efficient way of managing their short-term rental business. Through event-based messaging, internal bookings can now receive scheduled and sent messages in the same manner as guests who book through a channel manager like Airbnb or Vrbo.
Additionally, all scheduled and sent messages, both via email and SMS, will now show up in the Host Tools inbox. By keeping all these communications in one spot, hosts can easily track who they’ve communicated with and what messages were sent out. With this update, we hope to make managing your short-term rental business a smoother experience.
Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today!
