# Introduction

**Purpose and Integration Mechanism**

**RateGain's Channel Manager**:

* A premier channel management system for distributing Availability, Rates, and Inventory (ARI) to Online Distribution Systems (OTAs), and for collecting reservations from them.
* Used by thousands of the world’s most renowned hotels and chains.

**Purpose of this Document**:

* **DirectConnect**: A set of services for integrating OTA systems with RateGain's Channel Manager.
* **Updates and Notifications**:
  * **Hotel Updates**: As availability and rates change, the hotel sends updates using Channel Manager, which processes these messages and sends updates to the subscribed OTAs.
  * **Booking Notifications**: As bookings/reservations are made by consumers, the OTA sends booking notifications to Channel Manager.

**Sections Overview**:

1. **Section 2**: Specifies the interface that OTA needs to develop so that RG Channel Manager can push ARI update messages.
2. **Section 3**: Specifies the interface that RG Channel Manager makes available to OTAs to push reservations.

**Integration Mechanism**:

* **PUSH Mechanism**:
  * **ARI**: RG Channel Manager will push ARI (Availability, Rates, and Inventory) updates to OTA.
  * **Reservations**: OTA will push the reservation information to RG Channel Manager.