Frequently asked Questions for Club Industry Software Vendors

Booking Plus is a Booking and Reservation system designed for the Health and Racquet club industry. It is an outsourced, Internet delivered solution that allows clubs to set up and manage their bookable resources in real time, while their members can self-book those same resources via the World Wide Web. In addition BookingPlus allows members to pay for services at the time they are booked. The product’s goal is to make a club’s in-house booking function more efficient and professional while allowing clubs to empower their members to self-book.

Booking Plus Inc. recognizes that many other quality software vendors are servicing the club industry. It is a goal of the company to be a good “software citizen” and make the Booking Plus system co-exist as seamlessly as possible with the other software products that our mutual customers are using. By doing this we allow our common customers to extract the maximum amount of value from our products and flourish in the club business.

The purpose of this FAQ is to foster an understanding of Booking Plus within the Club business software vendor community. Please review this document at your leisure, and feel free to contact
If you have any questions on this document, please call Robert Volpe 877-266-5758 x-350 or email him at

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Does Booking Plus install a software system and database on the club’s Servers?
No. Booking Plus is Internet delivered. Both the club’s staff and their members access it over the Internet and World Wide Web.

2. Where is the software and booking database stored?
On secure Internet servers in Internet data centers around the country.

3. How secure is the software and data?
Very. The Internet data centers have 24-hour physical security, redundant power and environmental systems, redundant generators, firewalls, and redundant connections to the Internet backbones. In addition all Booking Plus servers, software, and databases are password protected. The Booking Plus systems are protected by a level of security far higher than any club could provide for it’s in-house computer systems.

4. Since it’s on the Internet, can anyone access a club’s booking system?
No. Only staff and members whom the club has authorized.

5. Is Booking Plus a Club Management System?
No. Booking Plus is a system for booking resources and people.

6. Is Booking Plus a Membership Accounting System?
No. It does not perform membership accounting functions.

7. Does Booking Plus need access to member information in a club’s
Membership Accounting system?
Yes. It needs that information to validate a member’s status, privileges, and rights when resources are being booked for a member.

8. Does Booking Plus access member information directly in the
Membership Accounting Packages data files?
No. Membership data is exported from the membership accounting database using an export utility or menu option native to the specific membership accounting system. Then the data is uploaded into the Booking Plus database.

9. How often does the membership information transfer take place?
It’s up to the club’s management. We recommend doing it daily.

10. Can the process be automated?
Usually. Most operating systems have a batch scheduling mechanism that can run the data upload process automatically every night.

11. Once the data is extracted, how does it get uploaded to the Booking Plus database?
The Booking Plus Administration Utility contains a function to read the extracted data and send it to the Booking Plus Server.

12. Does all the member information get re-sent every day?
No. Our software is smart enough to only send new and changed members. The transfer typically takes less than 5 minutes.

13. Do Membership Accounting Vendors need to modify their software to enable the membership data to be transferred to Booking Plus?
That depends. Our experience so far has shown that membership accounting vendor software has built in capability to extract membership data. However, all vendors we have partnered with have “wrapped” this data extract function in a menu item or procedure as a convenience to the customer. Member Data Interface Upload Specification

14. What are the key pieces of membership data that need to be extracted?
Member ID, name, address, membership type and status, credit status, and aged AR balance information etc.

15. Does Booking Plus collect any data that must be sent back and imported
into the Membership Accounting system?
That depends. If the club is using the “Pay When You Book feature”, BookingPlus is also serving as a front-end payment capture system. When this is the case, the Payment transactions can be sent back (downloaded) to the Club Management system through a defined interface on a daily basis so that all transaction detail is available in the Club Management system.
Payment Transaction Interface Specification

16. What if Booking Plus captures demographic data about a person who books something?
Can that information be interfaced back to the club management system? Yes it can. Booking Plus can book people who are not yet members of a club. When it does, it captures some of their demographic data. In these cases Booking Plus can download that demographic data so that it can be automatically added to the club management system. If Booking Plus captures changes to the demographics of an existing member, that is also included in the download.
Member Data Interface Download Specification

17. When a club uses the “Pay When You Book” feature, can members pay
for items other than their booking through Booking Plus?
Yes, for example if a member books and pays for a tennis court, it makes sense to let him/her pay for a can of balls that he/she will pick up on the day of play.

18. How are these stock item sales interfaced?
These are included in the same transaction interface mentioned above.

19. How can we make sure that the same Inventory item codes are being
used in Booking Plus as in our system?
We have defined and an interface so that the valid inventory items can be uploaded to BookingPlus. This assures that only items that are valid in the Club Management system will be used in BookingPlus. Valid Stock Item Interface Specification

20. What about “Sales Account Codes”?
These codes (sometimes referred to as “Charge Codes”) are used for categorizing sales transactions. We have defined an interface so that the valid Sales Account Codes can be uploaded to BookingPlus. This assures that only codes that are valid in the Club Management system will be used in BookingPlus. Valid Sales Account Codes Interface Specification

21. What is the “Booking Plus Certified” program?
Once we have confirmed that a vendor’s software can export/import the needed data, we will notify that vendor that they can be “Booking Plus Certified”. If the vendor chooses to accept certification, the vendor will have the option of including our “Booking Plus Certified” logo in their marketing material.

22. What are the advantages to being “Booking Plus Certified”?
Booking Plus helps clubs increase retention, improve member service, reduce costs, and increase the bottom line. Membership Accounting Software that is “Booking Plus Certified” will have an advantage when selling to clubs that are using Booking Plus or planning to use it because the buyer will know that the two products will operate together smoothly to improve his business. In addition, Booking Plus solicits feedback and suggestions from “Certified” vendors for ways to better service the industry.

23. Which Club Industry Software packages are currently BookingPlus Certified?
The current list is always available on our website at:
Current list of BookingPlus Certified Club Management Systems

24. Can my Membership Accounting software be “Booking Plus Certified” now?
Yes, please call Robert Volpe 877-266-5758 x-350 or email him at

Earlier versions:

Payment Transaction Interface Specification (Version 1.3)

Frequently asked Questions for Club Industry Software Vendors

Frequently Asked Questions:

Related Documents:

Earlier versions: