When setting up an online travel agency in Mews Channel Manager, the system asks you to confirm the connectivity partner on the agency's extranet. If you have not used a channel manager before, this step can be misleading as you need to set the connectivity partner to SiteMinder, not Mews, even though you are setting up Mews Channel Manager. This article explains why, how to do it, and how to check that it worked.

 

In this article, you can learn about:

• Confirming the connectivity partner on your channel extranet in Mews Channel Manager
  • What a connectivity partner is
  • Why the connectivity partner is SiteMinder, not Mews
  • How to set the connectivity partner on the agency extranet
  • How to test the connection from Mews
  • What to do if the test fails
  • What to do next

 

Confirming the connectivity partner on your channel extranet in Mews Channel Manager

What a connectivity partner is

A connectivity partner is the setting on the online travel agency's extranet that tells the agency which external system is allowed to send it your rates, availability, and restrictions. Every channel manager has to be authorised on the agency side as the connectivity partner before it can send anything.

Different agencies call this setting different things, such as connectivity partner, channel manager, or integration partner, but it does the same job.

 

Why the connectivity partner is SiteMinder, not Mews

Mews Channel Manager is powered by SiteMinder. Mews handles the setup, the day-to-day management, and the interface you use, but the actual connection to the online travel agency runs through SiteMinder. That is why the agency's extranet needs to know SiteMinder, not Mews, as the connectivity partner.

Once SiteMinder is set as the connectivity partner, Mews can send your rates and availability to the agency through SiteMinder, and receive bookings back the same way.

 

How to set the connectivity partner on the agency extranet

You set the connectivity partner on the agency extranet, not in Mews. Open the agency extranet in a separate tab, log in, and find the setting.

Because every agency organises its extranet differently, the setting sits in a different place on each one. Look under sections such as connectivity, integrations, channel management, or partner settings.

 

Set the connectivity partner to SiteMinder and save the change on the extranet.

 

How to test the connection from Mews

Once you have set SiteMinder as the connectivity partner on the agency extranet, return to Mews and select Test connectivity. Mews sends a request to the agency to check whether SiteMinder is authorised.

If the test passes, you see a confirmation message and can move on to Step 3 of the setup.

 

What to do if the test fails

If the test fails, Mews shows an error message. The most common reasons are:

• SiteMinder is not set as the connectivity partner on the agency extranet. Return to the extranet, set SiteMinder as the connectivity partner, and save the change.

• SiteMinder is set on a different property in your agency account. If you manage more than one property with the agency, check that you set the connectivity partner on the correct one.

• The change on the agency extranet has not yet taken effect. Some agencies take a few minutes to apply the change. Wait a short while and test again.

 

What to do next

Once the connectivity test passes:

1. Select Next to move to Step 3 of the setup.

2. Configure the channel settings. See How to configure channel settings.

3. Continue through the remaining setup steps. See How to set up an OTA channel in Mews Channel Manager for the full flow.

With SiteMinder set as your connectivity partner and the test passing, the agency knows to accept updates from Mews Channel Manager, and you can move on to configuring how the channel behaves.