Markham, ON å- June, 2002—NORTHWIND today announced the release of a new configuration of its widely installed MaestroÌ? PMS suite for management companies and hotels.  Maestro EnterpriseÌ?, based on Maestro PMS, drives corporate control of all enterprise operations by creating an environment where data is updated regularly in real-time.  Using single image guest history, room inventory, rates and yield strategies, the scaleable, integrated product suite allows corporate operations executives to view data centrally for more profitable control over the management of properties. 

“When a person makes a reservation anywhere in the enterprise, it can now update immediately at the corporate database,” said Jacob Dehan, NORTHWIND’s founder and CEO, who said Maestro Enterprise is also available for independent hotels with their own standalone database and system. ” In the past, properties had their own availability and manually transmitted the inventory changes to corporate reservation centers, which often resulted in lost revenue.”

The Maestro Enterprise Suite

Maestro Enterprise is a flexible, full-function property management suite that is used to automate multi-property groups with on-site, ASP, or VPN architectures, or to operate standalone properties.  It also includes an on-line, real-time Global Distribution System (GDS) reservation engine interface that can increase room revenue and reduce labor costs through Internet bookings. The real time Corporate Reservations Office functionality:

á provides corporate call centers with instant two-way information sharing between property and corporate systems; á allows each hotel or headquarters to control property availability á ensures reservation staff works in sync to optimize rate and occupancy levels via the property management system yield tool. Additional benefits of Maestro Enterprise to multi-unit hotel companies are: á The ability to centrally manage reservations channels via single image inventory, rates with yield strategies, and guest history to increase profitability; á The capacity to administer loyalty programs and travel agency commissions from the corporate level via a common client profile to generate repeat business; á The capability to centrally access separate databases for each property for data mining and information sharing such as general ledger and A/R to better serve guests with accounting questions; á The ability to easily integrate third party systems and share the database; á The flexibility to install on Windows or UNIX, and thus be platform independent; á The ability to market from client records that are in a single corporate database, which includes reservation information from a client’s past, present and future stays; á The power to manage yield for all properties at the property level or by a corporate yield management specialist.

According to Dehan, Maestro Enterprise is rolled out in three phases, the first of which is to upload and update information from each hotel into a single database built at corporate headquarters. 

“Management all comes back to having accurate information,” said Van Jump, Director of MIS for Vancouver, B.C.-based Sandman Hotels, Inns and Suites, who is overseeing the planning of the phase one data upload from Sandman’s properties this month.  “Our goal is for guests to be able to check into a Sandman anywhere in Western Canada and find we always have their favorite preferences waiting when they arrive.”  Thirteen Sandman Hotels currently have Maestro installed.

Designed to adapt to any corporate systems environment for single image database operation, Maestro Enterprise runs under Windows 9X/NT/2000, Unix, AIX, or LINUX, and is Web enabled.  The Maestro Enterprise suite includes PMS, Sales and Catering, GDS connectivity, Central Reservations, Centralized Database, Centralized A/R, Centralized Travel Agent Payment System, Guest Loyalty, and Interfaces to third party corporate systems. 

NORTHWIND has also added to Maestro an Extended Stay module with specialized housekeeping functionality, new Shuttle Scheduling Management software, and a Wholesaler module to more easily manage all inclusive and group business. 

Northwind Canada, Inc., whose name is synonymous in the industry with state-of-the-art efficiency, is widely known for its dedication to providing hotels, guests, and corporate management companies with flexible software solutions.

Based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, and incorporated in 1978, NORTHWIND is a leading global supplier of software for hotel owners and operators who need to manage their enterprise in a real time environment for maximum operational control and profitability.  The company was first to market with an integrated Windows PMS and Sales and Catering solution. NORTHWIND’s web-enabled, enterprise property management system suite includes Maestro PMS, Maestro GDS+, Maestro Enterprise, and ResEze.  Maestro users include Benchmark Hospitality, Monterey Peninsula Inns,  Seaside Properties, and Sandman Hotels - Northland Properties Ltd.  NORTHWIND products are installed in 13 countries and supported seven days per week, 24 hours a day by hospitality industry specialists.

For more information, visit booth number 932 at HITEC 2002 in Chicago, or contact: NORTHWIND, 60 Renfrew Drive, Suite #235 Markham, Ontario, L3R 0E1 Canada; Phone Toll Free: 1-888-NORTH88 (667-8488); Phone Direct: (905) 940-1923 Fax: (905) 940-1925 Email: [email protected] or access the Web site at www.maestropms.com

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