If you enable the PMS interface and provide a free or fee-based login page, the Public Spot portal page displays new input fields, which guests can use to authenticate by entering their surname, the room number and, if applicable, a further security identifier. The type of this identifier is set in the Setup menu; options include a registration number or the guest's arrival/departure date. If you have allowed access to your hotspot as a fee-based service, a drop-down menu additionally appears, which guests use to select the prepaid time quota or tariff/rate that they want to buy (e.g. 1 min for EUR 0.20, or 1 hours for EUR 1). The PMS working in the background automatically charges the costs to the room bill.
Every time a guest logs in to the Public Spot, the device initiates a comparison of the entered login data with that in the PMS. The PMS informs the device if it detects a valid match. The device then creates a new session for the guest and makes an entry in the corresponding accounting table (WEBconfig: ). The device records all hotel guests, and the corresponding prices, who have logged on via the PMS interface, irrespective of whether the connection is free or charged. The device then activates user access to the Internet.
A user with charged access can purchase additional time while logged on. Users who log off before the time quota expires can resume the session at a later time by selecting the corresponding field on the login page. The device stores the session until it becomes invalid, i.e. when the time quota is used up or when the PMS informs the device that the guest has departed. For a new login and synchronization with the PMS, the device recognizes that there is still a valid user account and continues using it instead of creating a new one.
If there is a change to the registration information (such as the room number), then an existing session initially remains unaffected. Only when the current session is closed an the guest logs on to the Public Spot again is it necessary to authenticate with the modified credentials. An exception occurs when a guest is checked-out of the PMS: In this case, the device immediately terminates an existing session.
Using Station monitoring, you can automatically log off these users after a specified idle time. This feature is off by default. However, for fee-based access, you absolutely should enable this. Otherwise, the device's automatic internal logout will only occur after the user account has expired, i.e., when the purchased time credit has been used up completely.
