Hotel property management systems (PMS) manage all aspects of hotel business operations, including the delivery of superior guest experiences. Traditionally, a hotel PMS was defined as software that enabled a hotel or group of hotels to manage front-office capabilities, such as booking reservations, guest check-in/checkout, room assignment, managing room rates, and billing. A hotel PMS replaced time consuming, paper-intensive processes. Today, hotel PMS technology has evolved well beyond the front desk. A hotel PMS is now a critical business operations system that enables hoteliers to deliver amazing guest experiences.
The importance of a property management system for hotels can’t be over-emphasized. A good property management system will lift a heavy load from your front desk staff and create a happy guest experience. In this digital age, it is a must to have a good property management system. Let’s delve into the importance of a property management system for your hotel.
The integration between a hotel PMS and a channel manager system is an unquestionable requirement every hotel should have. Channel Manager is able to channel and update room allotment over all the associated OTAs / sales channels. Bookings on OTAs would likewise get right away refreshed on the PMS. It helps in managing overbooking and double-booking issues.
When the checking in and checking out process in your hotel is easy, it will create a pleasant experience for your hotel guest and also make your staff tasks easier and faster. Making your guests wait for a long time before they are checked in or checked out will result in an unpleasant experience and may even discourage them from visiting your hotel again in the future.
The housekeeping functionality handles all the house cleaning assignments already pre-allocated in the system. It helps the front desk to keep track of the hotel room that needs cleaning and the labour required to clean the hotel guest rooms by the housekeeper. It also keeps track of the room supply’s and toiletries that hotel guest needs on a daily basis.
Having a PMS means lesser paperwork for your hotel staff and it is more automated. A good PMS will do most of the work for you and free your staff time to focus on more important things that will increase the pleasant experience of your guest. With the latest innovation in technology, most hotel tasks are automated by PMS, therefore, eliminating the use of paper.
For every business customer data is important. This includes the hotel business. Having a hotel PMS will enable the hotel to keep a record of all their guests in their customer database. This helps the hotel to make good decisions that will increase their revenue. PMS usually comes with other reporting databases as well, which include payment databases, invoice databases, tax databases, and more. These databases help to make the life of the hotel staff easier by keeping records that are useful for the hotel.
The ultimate function of any PMS is to automatically consolidate data from all hotel departments for unified control, better decision-making and eliminating paperwork. Program integration (or interfacing) with external third-party systems, such as payments processors or revenue managers, is its fundamental feature. Therefore, further incorporation of digital marketing platforms, energy efficiency, reputation management systems, etc., is the evolutionary way for PMS that will create even more value for hoteliers.
Here are some of the main components that an efficient Property Management System for hotels must have:
The Reservation’s interface was made for you to easily collect payments and automatically schedule new bookings in the calendar. It also helps property managers to view and change room status, check guests in and out (via App or a Self-check-in kiosk), and send automatic confirmation or follow-up emails.
A Channel Manager is synchronized with your Property Management System for instant updates of the room info on various platforms. It eliminates the need to update prices, cancellation policies, and inventory on each of the many channels that you use. It also protects your hotel from price discrepancies, booking errors, and over bookings.
These software components guarantee an uninterrupted workflow for any hospitality business. They are an absolute must in the operation of large hotel chains and bring added value to independent hotels. However, given that each business has its own needs and traits, its up to hoteliers to decide what kind of software they really need. The only thing to keep in mind is that hoteliers need a property management system that would perfectly integrate with their current or future software.
On all stages – from booking a room on a website to sharing feedback – property management system allows understanding the needs of each particular client, create a comprehensive profile and provide customized services. Peer-to-peer accommodation is getting increasingly popular and creates a huge competition to hotels. However, a professional approach and personalization might be a distinct advantage for the latter. With such software, you learn about your guests’ preferences and may even predict their desires. By the same token, it makes your marketing, for instance, via emails, more effective, as you know better what information is relevant for your potential or existing clients before, during or after their stay.
Mobile-based PMS untether hotel staff from their desk, which leads not only to their ability to provide guest services, such as check out, anywhere on the property. Effective communication is crucial for any business, and management on mobile devices allows notifying personnel on any issues in real-time, so they can be fixed immediately. And last but not least, innovative approaches are appealing to tech-savvy employees.
PMS can substantially improve a hotel’s financial results with smart revenue management. Through sophisticated algorithms, the system analyzes trends in demand, related to events, season, weather, and other factors, makes forecasts and allows adjusting rates accordingly. By processing year-on-year revenue and budget figures, the software can predict future sales. It generates market segment reports on a regular basis, which can be compared with competitors data. All KPIs for a given period can be viewed in a convenient format and contrasted against past data or future goals.
Alongside the right pricing strategy, selling as many rooms as possible through many channels is essential for profitability. The multi-channel approach also allows reaching different audiences. A channel manager within a property management system synchronizes availability and rates across various platforms to avoid overbooking and handle late cancellations as all developments are accessible instantly from a single interface.
Some of the must-have features of the best PMS include:
There are many well-known PMS brand in Malaysia and Singapore, such as Softinn, Ezee, Esoft, IDB, ABS, Oracle, Fidelio, etc.
In conclusion, as a hotelier, the PMS you decide to use should be able to handle your guest experience and journey right from the time they start searching for a room on your website to the period they decide to check out from your hotel.
The experience your guests has with your hotel and your staff will determine if they will return to your hotel. Therefore, implementing a good Hotel PMS that will give your guest a wonderful experience is paramount.