Overview
AdvanceCM's Multi Unit feature now includes a new Automatic Compaction toggle.
Automatic Compaction helps optimize unit availability by rearranging bookings across units so that a unit can be made fully available for a continuous date range whenever possible. This reduces the risk of overbooking when availability is pushed to connected channels, particularly Booking.com (BDC).
What is Automatic Compaction?
When multiple units belong to the same Main Unit, bookings can sometimes be distributed across different units in a way that leaves no single unit available for the entire required date range.
Although the total availability count may indicate that a unit is available, the availability is fragmented across different units. When this availability is sent to a channel, the Main Unit may appear available and a new booking can be assigned to it, potentially creating an overbooking situation.
Automatic Compaction addresses this by reorganizing bookings so that the least-priority unit is fully freed up for the relevant dates whenever possible.
Example: Before Automatic Compaction
Consider a Main Unit with multiple rooms from 8 January to 14 January.
The rooms have availability on different dates, but no single room is available for the entire 8–14 January period.
When availability is pushed to channels:
Availability is calculated for each individual date.
The Main Unit may still appear available because there is at least one available unit on each date.
A channel, particularly Booking.com, may therefore accept a booking.
The new booking can be assigned to the Main Unit, creating a potential overbooking situation because no single underlying unit is actually available for the complete stay.
Before Automatic Compaction
The bookings may look fragmented across multiple units:
Unit 1: Available on some dates
Unit 2: Available on different dates
Unit 3: Available on other dates
As a result, there is no completely free unit for the entire date range.
Solution: Automatic Compaction
When Automatic Compaction is enabled, AdvanceCM automatically reorganizes the bookings across the available units.
The system attempts to compact bookings together, freeing one unit completely for the relevant date range.
The least-priority unit is freed whenever possible.
After Automatic Compaction
After compaction, the bookings are rearranged so that one unit becomes fully available:
Unit 1: Bookings compacted together
Unit 2: Bookings compacted together
Unit 3: Fully available from 8–14 January
This creates a complete, continuous availability window for one unit instead of fragmented availability across multiple units.
How to Enable Automatic Compaction
Navigate to the Multi Unit settings.
Locate the Automatic Compaction toggle.
Turn the toggle ON.
AdvanceCM will automatically compact bookings where possible to optimize unit availability.
Additional Availability Change for Main Unit Bookings
Along with Automatic Compaction, AdvanceCM has also improved how availability is calculated when a booking is assigned directly to the Main Unit.
Previously, if a booking somehow reached the Main Unit, the system could continue sending availability for that date as available.
For example, if a booking existed on 12 January for the Main Unit:
Previous behaviour: Availability could still be sent as 1 for 12 January.
New behaviour: Availability for 12 January is fully blocked because the Main Unit already has a booking.
This ensures that the availability sent to connected channels accurately reflects bookings assigned to the Main Unit.
Why This Matters
The combination of Automatic Compaction and improved Main Unit availability handling helps:
Reduce potential overbooking.
Create fully available units instead of fragmented availability.
Optimize the distribution of bookings across Multi Units.
Ensure channel availability accurately reflects Main Unit bookings.
Improve availability synchronization, particularly with Booking.com.