Sorry for the long delay in blogging, folks. The blog may have been quiet but development hasn't.
In fact, we've been busier than ever, figuring out the 2011 roadmap and which items to prioritize over others. We've also been gathering feedback from new users.
We released an unannounced update in December that allows users to create new merchants directly in OwnerRez (switching away from Authorize.Net or PayPal). This allowed us to work with a few users directly and gather feedback before telling everyone about it. We're going back to work on it, actually, to deal with areas that need to be improved and streamlined.
Just this morning, we released a huge update to the rate engine. I'll be discussing the new features and fixes in a set of blog posts this week.
Time To Get Official
As we burn through 2011, it's time to remove the 'beta' rubric and make this thing official.
We've come up with a set of great prices - even a free option - that we'll be discussing in a few weeks. Here's a quick teaser on that free option: if you use an OwnerRez-created merchant account, you won't pay any monthly fee no matter how many properties you have.
Here's the top items on the roadmap:
- Refunds
- Daily summary email
- Surveys
- Inquiry management
- Inquiry interception
- Analysis
- Surcharge customization
- Quickbooks integration
Those items are somewhat in the correct order, but things are constantly shifting as we experience new feedback and continue to evaluate our longterm goals.
We're also working on several partnerships which, depending on the urgency, may pop up and suddendly steal focus for a few weeks as we work to meet the partners' needs. For instance, we've been in talks with both HomeAway and FlipKey/TripAdvisor to integrate both calendar data and reviews. We know the importance of eliminating double-entry for users. As vacation rental owners ourselves, it bothers us too.
Continue sending us emails or posting on the forum. It's very important that you tell us what you like or dislike about the system. We know that the booking model is slightly different for each owner, so what fits our booking model may not fit yours.
We love talking to OwnerRez users so keep those requests coming!
