IFC8 FIAS Interface

FIAS (Fidelio Interface Application Specification) is the protocol OPERA uses, through the IFC8 interface controller, to talk to third-party systems. It encodes check-in, check-out, room moves, postings, wake-up calls and key requests as text records exchanged in real time.

How it works

1. Connect — IFC8 and your system open a TCP connection.
2. Handshake — exchange LS (Link Start), LD (Link Description), LR (Link Record) and LA (Link Alive). Your LR records declare the record types and fields you need.
3. Resync (optional) — send DR (Database Resync Request); OPERA replies with all in-house data wrapped in DS … DE.
4. Live events — check-in GI, check-out GO and guest change / room move GC arrive in real time; you can post charges (PS) and send room status back.
5. Keep-alive — exchange LA while idle; OPERA marks night audit with NS / NE.

<STX>GI|RN1203|G#100234|GNSmith|GA261020|GD261023|<ETX>

See the FIAS data dictionary for records and fields.

Integration steps

1. Scope — events and fields needed; the hotel’s OPERA and IFC8 versions.
2. Design — LR declarations, date/time formats (YYMMDD / HHMMSS), encoding, room number mapping.
3. Build and self-test — handshake, live events, reconnect and DR resync.
4. On-site testing — in the hotel’s test environment or an agreed window.
5. Go-live — monitor reconnects, night audit behaviour and rejected records.

Common pitfalls

• Not testing reconnect — after a network drop you must reconnect and resync, or guests end up checked in without a working key.
• Room moves — a GC carries both new and old room numbers; release the old room and set up the new one.
• Shared rooms — use the reservation number to tell sharers apart; one sharer checking out must not clear the others.
• Character encoding — guest names may contain non-ASCII characters; confirm IFC8 encoding settings with the hotel.

Last reviewed：2026-10