What is Front Office Department?

Every multi-departmental physical business needs to have a front office or reception to

Receive the visitors. Front Office Department is the face and as well as the voice of a
Business. Regardless of the star rating of the hotel or the hotel type, the hotel has a front
Office as its most visible department. For a business such as hospitality, the front office
Department comes with an aspect of elevating customer experience with the business. It is
one of the many departments of the hotel business which directly interacts with the customers
when they first arrive at the hotel. The staff of this department is very visible to the guests.
Front office staff handles the transactions between the hotel and its guests.

The staff receives the guests, handles their requests, and strikes the first impression about the
hotel into their minds. Front office happens to be the face of the hotel. It is the first and the
last point of contact of the gust with the hotel. Hence the front office staff and front office
department play a major role in making or breaking an impression on the Guest. Hence In
order to deliver satisfaction to the guest, it is not only the contribution of the front office, but
it coordinates with several other departments in the hotel to deliver excellent service to the
guest. The front office staff should know the various stages through which guest passes when
he/she stays in the hotel, so that a proper service procedure can be designed and with the help
of other departments a much satisfied guest can be achieved who gives repeat business and
thus the revenue of the hotel increases. The front office gives out the first impression of
the organisation right from when the guest first steps into the organisation and comes in
contact with the front office staff, in other to create a good first impression in the mind
of a guest it is expected of the front office staff to ensure that quality service is delivered
to the guest all through his or her stay and customer satisfaction is achieved, as it is
often said that a satisfied customer is a happy customer, the front office staff welcomes
every guest with a smile, attend to them appropriately and timely in terms of room
allocation, enquiry, reservation or any other service the guest might require from the
hotel or organisation. Staff of the front office department should always ensure that
every guest they come in contact with does not leave unsatisfied by ensuring that they
exceed the expectation of the guest all through their stay in the hotel, that way the
organisation or hotel gives a good first impression of the hotel to a guest.

The front office department is divided into the following sections;

1. Reservation
2. Reception
3. Information desk
4. Cash and Bills
5. Travel desk
6. Communication
7. Uniformed services which includes (bell desk and concierge)

 Reservation; the reservation section of the front office department of a hotel is

responsible for receiving and processing reservation queries. Depending upon the
level of automation, volume of business, and house customs, the procedure of
 processing reservation queries may differ from hotel to hotel in terms of reservations
handling, maintenance of reservation records, confirmation, amendment, and
cancellation of reservation. This section is headed by a reservation manager, who is
assisted by a reservation supervisor and a team of reservation clerks or assistants.
 Reception; this section of the front office receives and welcomes guest son their
arrival in the hotel. It is headed by a supervisor and comprises a team of receptionists
and front desk assistants. The personnel of this section procure all the necessary
information about the guest to complete the registration process. After finishing the
registration formalities, a room is assigned to the guest, and a bell boy carries the
luggage and escorts the guest to her room. The entire process is carried out
professionally in a warm and friendly atmosphere.
 Information desk; as the name suggests, the information desk provides information
to guests. It is manned by an information assistant. In a small hotel, the same function
may be performed by the receptionist. The need of a separate information desk is felt
in large hotels where the traffic of guests is higher. The information desk may be
located next to the reception.
 Cash and bills; the cash and bills section records all the monetary transactions of
guests. It maintains guest folios and prepares the guest bills to be settled by the guest
at the time of departure. This section is headed by a cashier.
 Travel Desk; the travel desk takes a care of travel arrangements of guests, like air-
ticketing, railway reservations, sightseeing tours, airport or railway station pick up or
drop e.t.c the hotel may operate the travel desk or it may be outsourced to an external
travel agency.
 Communication Section; the communication section maintains the communication
network of the hotel, which is generally quite complex. The hotel may have its own
post and telegraph lines. Earlier all outgoing calls were routed through the telephone
operator. Switchboard operators were required to place wake up calls, monitor
automated systems, and coordinate emergency communications. Recent technological
advancement in telecommunication has revolutionalized the way hotel operations are
run. Now guests are able to make outgoing calls without routing them through the
operator. Wake up calls may also be registered on the system, which dials the guest’s
extension at the pre-registered time and plays a pre-recorded message when answered.
 Uniformed service; the uniformed services in the hotel include the bell desk team
and the concierge
 Bell Desk; the bell desk is located very close to the main entrance of the hotel. This
section is located very close to the main entrance of the hotel. This section is headed
by a bell captain, who leads a team of bell boys. They handle guest luggage from the
guest vehicle to the lobby and to guest rooms at the time of arrival and from their
rooms to the guest vehicle at the point of departure. They escort guests to their rooms
and familiarise them with hotel facilities, safety features, as well as in-room facilities.
 Concierge; a concierge is a hotel employee who provides information and
personalised services to guests like dinner reservations, tour and travel arrangements,
and obtaining tickets for special events in the city. A concierge is often expected to
 achieve the impossible, dealing with any request which a guest may have, relying on
an extensive list of personal contacts with various local merchants and service
providers.

Relationship between front office and other departments in the hotel

The front office staff interacts with all departments of the hotel, including marketing and
sales, housekeeping, food and beverage, banquet, finance, maintenance, security, and
human resources. These departments view the front office as a communication contact in
providing guest services. Each of the departments has a unique communication link with the
front office staff.

Marketing and sales department

The marketing and sales department relies on the front office to provide data on guest
histories, details concerning each guest’s visit. Some of the information gathered is based on
zip code, frequency of visits, corporate affiliation, special needs, and reservations for sleeping
rooms. It is also the front office’s job to make a good first impression on the public, to relay
messages, and to meet the requests of guests who are using the hotel for meetings, seminars,
and banquets. The guest history is a valuable resource for marketing and sales, which use the
guest registration information to target marketing campaigns, develop promotions, prepare
mailing labels, and select appropriate advertising media. The front office staff must make
every effort to keep this database current and accurate. The process of completing the
booking of a special function (such as a wedding reception, convention, or seminar) depends
on the availability of sleeping rooms for guests. The marketing and sales executives may
have to check the lists of available rooms three, six, or even twelve months in the future to be
sure the hotel can accommodate the expected number of guests. A database of available room
is maintained in the property management system by the front office. Messages for the
marketing and sales department must be relayed completely, accurately, and quickly.
The switchboard operator is a vital link in the communication between the prospective client
and a sales person in the marketing and sales department. The front office manager should
instruct all new personnel in the front office about the staff in the marketing and sales
department and what each person’s job.

Housekeeping department
Housekeeping and the front office communicate with each other about housekeeping room
status, the report on the availability of the rooms for immediate guest occupancy.
Housekeeping room status can be described in the following communication terms:
• Available Clean, or Ready— which means a room is ready to be occupied
• Occupied—which means a guest or guests are already occupying a room
• Stay over— which means guest will not be checking out of a room on the current day
• Dirty or On-Change— which means guest has checked out of the room, but the
housekeeping staff has not released the room for occupancy
• Out-of-Order—which means room is not available for occupancy because of a mechanical
malfunction or a fault in the room.
Housekeeping and the front office also communicate on the details of potential house count
which means (a report of the number of guests registered in the hotel), security concerns, and
requests for amenities such as (personal toiletry items which may include shampoo,
toothpaste, mouthwash, and electrical equipment). These issues are of immediate concern to
the guest as well as to supervisors in the hotel.

Food and beverage department

Communication between the food and beverage department and the front office is also
essential. Some of this communication is conveyed by relaying messages and providing
accurate information on transfers, which are forms used to communicate a charge to a guest’s
account. Communication activities also include reporting predicted house counts, an estimate
of the number of guests expected to register based on previous occupancy activities, and
processing requests for paid-outs, forms used to indicate the amounts of monies paid out of
the cashier’s drawer on behalf of a guest or an employee of the hotel. These vital services
help an overworked food and beverage manager, restaurant manager, or banquet captain meet
the demands of the public. Incoming messages for the food and beverage manager and
executive chef from vendors and other industry representatives are important to the business
operation of the food and beverage department. If the switchboard operator is given
instructions on screening callers (such as times when the executive chef cannot be disturbed
because of a busy workload or staff meetings, or vendors in whom the chef is not interested),
the important messages will receive top priority.

Maintenance or engineering department

The maintenance or engineering department and front office communicate on room status and
requests for maintenance service. Maintenance employees must know the occupancy status of
a room before attending to plumbing, heating, or air-conditioning problems. If the room is
reserved, the two departments will work out a time frame so the guest will be able to enter the
room or be assigned to another room. Cooperative efforts produce the best solutions to
sometimes seemingly impossible situations.

Security department
Communications between the security department and the front office are very important in
providing hospitality to the guest. These departments work together very closely in
maintaining guest security. Fire safety measures and emergency communication systems as
well as procedures for routine investigation of guest security concerns require the cooperation
of these departments.

Human resources department

The human resources management department may rely on the front office staff to act as an
initial point of contact for potential employees in all departments. It may even ask the front
office to screen job candidates. If so, guidelines for and training in screening methods must
be provided.
Banquet department
The banquet department, which often combines the functions of a marketing and sales
department and a food and beverage department, requires the front office to relay information
to guests about scheduled events and bill payment.
The front desk staff may also provide labour to prepare the daily announcement board, an
inside listing of the daily activities of the hotel (time, group, and room assignment), since the
majority of banquet guests may not be registered guests in the hotel, the front office provides
a logical communication centre.

Laundry department
The laundry department is the department of the hotel that handles the cleaning of guest
garments both in- house guests and external guests. This department also handles the cleaning
of housekeeping beddings such as bed sheets, duvets, pillowcases, cottons, and other
materials used in the hotel rooms and also materials used in restaurants and banqueting halls
to include table clothes napkins e.t.c. the front office and the laundry department
communicate when hotel guests require dry cleaning services during their stay. Most times
the guests contacts the front office and request for the service, the front office now
communicate such request to the laundry department which then sends someone from the
laundry department to the guest’s room and picks up the clothes for dry cleaning after which
the guest either pays cash or the bill is added to the guest's account with the hotel.

Finance Department
The finance relies on the front office staff to provide a daily summary of financial
transactions through a well-prepared night audit. This information is also used to measure
management ability to meet budget targets. Since the front office provides the finance
department with financial data for billing and maintenance of credit-card ledgers, these two
departments must relay payments and charges through the posting machine or property
management system.

Benefits that Exist In Fostering Positive Relations between the Front Office
and other Departments of the Hotel

1) It retains customers
When the front office and other departments of the hotel work together in positive relation it
increases the quality of service delivered. Naturally, when the customer is happy with hotel
service, they will stick back with the hotel brand and will not shift to competitors. This in
itself is a big plus point for the hotel as customer retention is far cheaper then customer
acquisition.

2) It leads to more customer references

When front office staff and other department staff work together to give good customer
service, customers talk about such hotels to others. They tend to do so even more when they
have been receiving good quality service over a period of time. These references mean
money to the hotel business. The more the references, the more customers acquired without
spending much money.

3) Increases profitability
When a hotel service is good due to positive relations between the front office and other
departments, and the word of mouth and references are good, the hotel will acquire new
customers. A normal hotel business spends a lot in advertising, promotions e.t.c to get
customers to walk in to their doors. But with good customer service, all that is being done by
existing customers. This ensures fantastic profitability as hotels get maximum returns on the
investment already made.

4) Improves employees confidence

When front office and other departments of a hotel works together in positive relations it
tends to improve their confidence in dealing with hotel customers knowing that they can
always rely on corporation from staff in other departments to ensure quality service delivery.

5) Greater customer loyalty

Hotels that make an effort to forge relationships with their customers are positioned to earn
their loyalty. As customers are satisfied with the experiences they have, they will recognize
the efforts made to win their loyalty and are far more likely to continue patronizing such
hotels over the long term. In addition, loyal customers are often willing to share their
enthusiasm by word of mouth and over social media, and these referrals can lead to new
customers.
6) Better employee engagement
When employees in hotels work together in harmony, it leads to a positive workplace, they
work harder, are more focused, and are more engaged in the work they need to do. When
employees are unhappy, stressed, or exposed to a negative workplace environment due to
lack of positive relations, they tend to disengage, which negatively impacts productivity.