FRONT OFFICE

The office or reception is an area where visitors arrive and first encounter a staff at a place of business. Front office staff will deal with whatever question the visitor has, and put them in contact with a relevant person at the company. Broadly speaking, the front office includes roles that affect the revenues of the business. The term front office is in contrast to the term back office which refers to a company’s operations, personnel, accounting, payroll, and financial departments which do not interact directly with customers.
The front office receives information about the customers and will then pass this on to the relevant department within the company. The front office can also contact the marketing or sales department should the customers have questions. The company needs to give training to the front office manager as this position will come in contact with customers the most.
The most common work for the front office staff will be to get in touch with customers and help out internally in the office. Staff working at the front office can also deal with simple tasks, such as printing and typing tasks and sorting emails. Although front office staff might only need to perform tasks such as answering the phone, using the printer and fax machine, training is still needed on these tasks.

At hotels, front office refers to the front desk or reception area or the core operations department of the hotel. This would include the reception and front desk, as well as reservations, sales, and marketing, housekeeping and concierge. This is the place where guests go when they arrive at the hotel. Employees working in the front office will confirm guest reservations and also attend to guest complaints and queries.
The employees who work in the lobby of the hotel are also part of the front office as they deal with guest directly. The concierge, cashier, porter, and mailing service are included in the front office.
The important area of Front office is

a) Reception

b) Information

c) Cash