Housing technology took another step forward in September with the upgrade of eMeetingsOnline. Now integrated with Pegasus Solutions, a Dallas-based electronic hotel distribution service, eMeetingsOnline's Web-based housing system allows traditional room block management (in which registrants select among rooms in a negotiated block) and Internet booking in the same database.

Planners can now allow registrants to view and book non-block rooms on their housing Web site. While some might argue that attendees would be more tempted to book outside the block with such a system, others would say that booking at discount Internet sites is already an epidemic among meeting attendees. The benefit is that planners can track all the hotel reservations made on the system, both those inside and outside the block.

Another benefit of the new eMeetingsOnline/Pegasus relationship is that registrants get instant hotel-issued reservation confirmations. This is because the Pegasus connection allows registrants to make real-time reservations through a hotel's central reservations system. The system is not, however, a two-way interface. If attendees cancel or make changes directly with the hotel, that information does not automatically get communicated back to the meeting organizer.

Housing is just a piece of the eMeetingsOnline product. In addition, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based e-solution handles registration, attendee management, consolidated budgeting, scheduling, abstract submissions, and vendor management. Air and car rental reservations are soon to be integrated. “That's our next step,” says Russell Hood, vice president, sales and marketing, eMeetingsOnline.