A number of databases in SMS|Host do not have an historical component – they just get bigger in perpetuity thereby affecting the speed with which many reports will run. This requires occasional intervention by users and SMS provides just the tool for the job.
Your System Maintenance menu offers an option to Delete Miscellaneous Data related to eleven areas of functionality. In each case, the user provides a cutoff date so that only data associated with prior dates will be considered for removal. Furthermore, the data is either linked to reservations that have already been moved to history or it has passed the point of being useful.
Data associated with historical reservations that can be permanently removed includes Correspondence (Letters) along with any attachments, Change Log entries, closed Messages, closed Notes or closed Traces. Closed Messages, Notes or Traces attached to historical Membership or City Ledger accounts will also be deleted while the removal of those linked to Guest Tiles is dependent solely on the Closed date.
Other types of data can be removed based on their dates of validity having expired. These include Bulletins, Special Events, Waitlist entries (date driven ones only), Housekeeper work records and Rate & Package codes. Phone Call records from a PBX interface can be deleted if they have never been posted (e.g. admin calls.)
There really shouldn’t be any drama surrounding these actions but questions always arise about clearing out old Rate & Package codes and what effect their removal may have. If you limit codes for removal to only those with End usage dates prior to the cutoff from your last move to history, the only consequence would be that codes referenced in historical reporting would not be able to display a description or offer any information on how they had been configured to be used in the first place. The Values, as applied to any historical reservation, are permanently recorded on that record so they would continue to be viewed or reported.
Next time, we’ll look at some additional ways to remove unproductive data and keep your system running smoothly.
