Beginning with version 2.0.1 the Hotel PM provides a set of preferences for the handling of "In Room HVAC" units. That is single room HVAC or PTAC units. You can create these units with the "Room Setup Wizard" when the hotel database is first created. You can also create these units on a room by room basis from the Data-Rooms command.
The Hotel PM program also provides a set of preferences that control how the "In Room HVAC" units are handled by the program. In this section we will look primarily at the "in Room HVAC" preference settings. To open the system preferences window, select System->Preferences from the Menu Bar, as seen below.
This will open the the "System Preferences" window the the System Settings tab selected, as seen in the next figure. The get to the "In Room HVAC" preferences click on the tab which reads "In Room HVAC", second figure below.
These settings determine how the Hotel PM program handles "In Room HVAC" units. The upper check box can be used to turn all "In Room HVAC" functions on or off. If you hotel does not have "In Room HVAC" units click on this check box so that the check mark is no longer visible. Once this choice has been selected all commands that deal with "In Room HVAC" units will be inactivated when the Hotel PM program started again. Most functions are inactivated immediately but some cannot be inactivated until the program is exited and restarted.
By default the "In Room HVAC" units are hidden from the Equipment List. Since these units are associated with a specific guest room they are usually accessed from the specific rooms in the Room List and not the Equipment List. If you place a checkmark in the second box the "In Room HVAC" units will be shown in the Equipment list. This was the default prior to version 2.0.1.
The majority of the preferences window is used to display the default settings used when defining "In Room HVAC" units. Each "In Room HVAC" unit is given a unique identifier, similar to other equipment in the hotel. For these units the name is created by placing the Prefix in front of the guest room number. Using the Prefix shown above the "In Room HVAC" unit for room 316 would be "PTAC-316". The Description for an "In Room HVAC" unit is created by appending the room number to the default "Description" in a similar manner.
Like all other equipment "In Room HVAC" units must have a Category, Subcategory, Location and Service Area. The category and subcategory are used to define the maintenance tasks for the units. To simplify record keeping the Location and Service Area are identified as "Guestroom." The name of the unit will identify which guest room the equipment will be found in. Using this approach saves the necessity of creating a location and service area for each guest room in the hotel.
If you are going to change the defaults for Category, Subcategory, Location or Service Area the new values must be stored in the appropriate list before it can be saved in the Preferences. You should also be aware that changing preferences in mid-stream can lead to confusing information between new and existing "In Room HVAC" units.
Clicking the "OK button will save any changes that you make in this or other Preference tabs. Clicking the "Cancel" button will leave the system preferences unchanged.