Reception operations
Hotel Front Desk Software for the Reception Shift
Front desk work is the shift at the counter: who arrives, which room is ready, who checks out, and what sits on the folio. O.S.S reception tools run that daily desk workflow inside the hotel PMS—without turning this page into a full property-management overview.
What the desk runs
- Arrivals and departures on the calendar
- Check-in and checkout on the stay
- Guest records at the counter
- Room status from housekeeping
- Folio charges, cash and card
A reception shift on one stay record
See the day
Reception works from a room calendar with stay dates, booking status and who is due in or out—walk-in bookings can be created at the desk.
Check in and check out
Check-in and checkout update the same booking record. Reception does not keep a separate arrivals spreadsheet.
Guest at the counter
Open the guest profile, stay details and service-request context while the guest is at the desk.
Room ready or not
Housekeeping room status—ready, occupied, dirty, cleaning or out of order—is visible in operational views so the desk does not assign a room that is still being cleaned.
Close the stay
Open the folio, post charges or adjustments, take cash or card, and issue an invoice PDF when the stay is ready to close.
Who uses the front desk workspace
Reception
Primary users: calendar, arrivals, check-in, checkout, guest records, folios and service requests from the reception dashboard.
Owner and manager
Configure rooms and staff, then oversee the same operational picture. They are not the shift operators this page is written for.
Housekeeping
Updates room status that reception relies on. Cleaning assignment lives on the housekeeping page, not here.
Who it is for
Hotels that run a staffed reception desk
Independent and boutique properties that need a browser reception workspace for the daily shift.
Teams coordinating with housekeeping
Desk staff who must see room readiness before they hand keys, without leaving the hotel workspace.
Open the reception workspace
Create a hotel account, add rooms and give reception a staff login. The trial does not require a credit card. Broader PMS setup is covered on the hotel PMS page.
Reception workflow, not a second PMS page
Hotel PMS is the connected operating system. This page is the desk: arrivals, check-in, guest handling and folio close. Owners still configure properties and plans on the PMS and owner dashboard.
- Hotel PMS Software for Connected Daily Operations
- Reception dashboard for the shift
- Owner reporting stays on the owner dashboard
Arrivals, calendar and stay status
See who is checking in and out, assign or confirm the unit on the stay, and keep walk-in bookings on the same calendar reception already uses.
- Arrival and departure visibility
- Room calendar without a second tool
- Hotel Reservation Management Software for the Booking Lifecycle
Guest records and folio at the desk
Reception opens guest profiles and stay history during the interaction. Charges and payments post to the guest folio; cash and card are recorded at the desk. Night-audit period close is a related hotel workflow, not this page’s center.
- Guest profiles and service-request context
- Hotel Folio Management
- Hotel Night Audit Workflow
Coordination with housekeeping
When housekeeping marks a room dirty, cleaning or ready, reception sees that status in operational views. Task assignment and supervisor lists belong on the housekeeping page.
- Room status visible at the desk
- Hotel Housekeeping Software for Room Readiness
- No separate reception hardware required
Frequently asked questions
How long does setup take?
Most hotels can create an account, add rooms and start managing daily operations in minutes. O.S.S offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Is O.S.S a cloud-based system?
Yes. O.S.S runs in the web browser on desktop, tablet and phone — no local server installation required.
Does front desk staff need a separate login?
Yes. Reception users get a role-specific dashboard. Owners create staff accounts with the reception role; reception does not use the owner configuration screens as their daily workspace.
Can reception see housekeeping room status?
Yes. Room status updates from housekeeping appear in the operational views reception uses, so the desk can see which rooms are ready.
Is this the same as O.S.S hotel PMS software?
Front desk tools sit inside the hotel PMS. This page covers the reception shift. The hotel PMS page covers the connected property workspace—reservations, housekeeping, maintenance, reporting and multi-property plans.
Can reception take online card payments at check-in?
Reception records cash or card against the guest folio. Public booking is pay-at-hotel. Online card capture at the desk is not claimed.