TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Overview
- Setting Up the Digital Registration Portal
- Accessing the Completed Registration Form
- The Guest Experience
Overview
The Digital Registration Portal is an extension of your booking engine that allows guests to complete their pre-registration online prior to their arrival. Depending on your business model, this feature can simplify your check-in process or even eliminate the need for it altogether. Using this feature, you'll be able to text or email your guests a link to their unique Digital Registration Portal prior to check-in where they can review and confirm their reservation and payment information, upload a photo ID, agree to your Terms & conditions, and provide additional information according to your Custom Reservation Attribute selections. Below we will outline each element and provide guidance on the setup and implementation of the Digital Registration Portal.
Setting Up the Digital Registration Portal
Setting up the Digital Registration Portal has 2 components - the settings and customizations of the information in the portal, and the integration with text or email templates to effectively give your guests access to the portal.
Settings Configuration & Customizations
The settings for the Digital Registration Portal can be accessed by navigating to Settings > Digital Registration.
The first setting you will find is the activation window for the Digital Registration Portal. The portal can be automatically activated up to 14 days before the guest arrives. This prevents the unlikely scenario wherein guests who might accidentally be sent the link too early would try to complete their registration further in advance than you would like.
The next setting is the Welcome Message. This message appears on the landing page of the Digital Registration Portal, and can be customized to your liking.
The next setting allows you to add the Upsell Portal as an element of the Digital Registration Portal experience, giving your guests the opportunity to enhance their stay with any of your Upsellable Items available for purchase (read more about the Upsell Portal here). Following that, you have the option to require your guests to upload a Photo ID for your records. Lastly, you can include an additional checkbox below your basic policies (see "Policies" section further down) that simply asks guests to agree to your Terms & Conditions and Cancellation Policy. This functions just like the booking engine where the link to each opens in a modal on the guest's screen. To enable either of these options, simply click on the toggle to change it from orange to green. 
The next section allows you to gather more information from your guests, or prompt them to verify information already provided at the time of booking. This leverages the use of Custom Reservation Attributes you have already configured (read more about Custom Attributes here).
A few things to note :
- You can choose any Custom Reservation Attribute here, not just the ones shown on your booking engine.
- If the Attribute field in the associated reservation has information in it already, that information will be shown to the guest for their review/confirmation. For example, if the guest specified their arrival time at the time of booking, they will be shown their previous selection and prompted to confirm it is correct.
The next section allows you to highlight specific policies you would like the guest to acknowledge. This is a great place to highlight the key things you don't want people to miss - your guests will be required to check a box saying they agree to each element. Examples we recommend are policies surrounding check-in and check-out times, pets/pet fees, minimum age requirements, etc.
To add an additional element between existing elements, hover. your mouse over the divider between them until you see the blue ADD ANOTHER button appear. To add an element at the end, use the white ADD ANOTHER button below. To remove an element, click the X to the right of the text box.
Lastly, you can customize a Thank You Message that will be shown after the guest submits their digital registration.
There are a few elements that will always be included in the Digital Registration Portal by default, and, therefore will not be customizable within the settings page:
- The guest's name, arrival & departure dates, and confirmation number.
- A section where the guest will be required to add their signature
- A page where the guest will be prompted to review their credit card on record and provide a new one if applicable.
Once you have completed the configuration to your liking, click the SAVE button at the bottom. Now, you are ready to add the Digital Registration Portal to your text and email templates!
Integrating the Digital Registration Portal with Your Texts and Emails
Just like the Upsell Portal, the Digital Registration Portal can be added to any text or email template using a personalized variable. This variable can be found at the top of the Settings > Digital Registration page.
Simply copy this personalized variable, then paste into any text or email template using the following steps.
- Navigate to Settings > Message Templates or Settings > Email Templates
- Open the template you would like to include the Digital Registration Portal link, or click the NEW button to create a new one.
- Craft your message, and paste the following personalized variable into the body of your message: ${reservation.digital_registration_url} *(see note below if using this in an email template)
- Click SAVE.
*Note: If you are using an email, you can use this handy bit of HTML called an HREF to create a link that appears as text. Simply paste the following into the body of your email, and change the text "Pre-register for check-in online here!" as desired: <a href="${reservation.digital_registration_url}">Pre-register for check-in online here!</a>
Next, you may want to consider setting up an automatic text or email to seamlessly execute this communication for you.
In ThinkMessenger:
- Navigate to Settings > Message Rules or Settings > Email Rules
- In ThinkMessenger, click the toggle so it turns from orange to green to enable a Reminder Message (for email rules, skip this step)
- Set your parameters and choose the appropriate template
- Click Save
A Note About ThinkMessenger
Modern Travelers are gravitating away from email and towards text message communication. Although the Digital Registration Portal can be leveraged with both email and text messaging, the most effective use of this feature is in conjunction with ThinkMessenger. If you're not using ThinkMessenger yet, and you like to learn more, schedule a consultation with us today!
Accessing the Completed Registration Form
Once a guest submits their Digital Registration Form, the system will generate a PDF which will be uploaded to the history tab of the reservation. From there, it can be downloaded as a PDF for your records. The information collected in reservation attributes (like Special Accommodations or any custom attributes you've created) will automatically update the corresponding field in the left side panel of the reservation but will not be included in the PDF.
The Guest Experience
Your guests will begin their digital registration experience by receiving either a text message or email from you. This email will include a link to the unique Digital Registration Portal Page associated with their reservation.
When they follow the link, they will be routed to the landing page which shows their name, arrival and departure date, and confirmation number.
When they click the START REGISTRATION button, they will be prompted to review their reservation details, confirm details or answer any new Custom Reservation Attribute questions, check the box that indicates they agree to your configured Terms & Conditions, and provide their signature.
Next, if enabled, they will be prompted to add any additional upsellable items via the Upsell Portal.
Next, if enabled, they will be prompted to upload their photo ID. This step is required if enabled.
Next, the guest will be prompted to confirm and update their payment information. The last 4 digits of the most recently retained credit card on file will be shown, and the guest can elect to confirm that payment method or provide a new credit card.
Once the guest clicks submit, the last page on the Digital Registration Portal will display your customized Thank You Message.