Hotel Property Management System (PMS): Functions, Modules & Integrations

0:00 president and CEO at providence hotels Bashar Wally in his 2017 TED talk called himself a hotel fanatic and noted that hotel buildings are nothing more than brick and mortars glass and steel without people that through simple gestures show they do care about their guests I walk in the room it's midnight there's the sweaty cheese there's the wine and there's the note I walk up to the card and as my soul is being crushed reading the same junk again blah blah blah welcome we hope you enjoy your stay on the bottom the card said PS blackish on ABC is on channel 12 at 8 o'clock tonight holy my brain is racing why how how did they find out so I

0:49 quickly run to my computer whip it out I go to Google in private and yes I know how to do that and at Google my name and there it is the third entry down is my facebook profile the public portion of it said that I liked the show your wine be damned your cheese be damned you got me wall a story shows how a bit of online research can make a huge difference whichever detail and presses the guests a comfortable airport transfer fast check in and check out a freshly-cleaned suite or a satisfying morning coffee with local pastry all of these are the signs of a well-run hotel a hotel whose employees aim to connect with guests on a human level beyond service standards but on a broader scale it's the effective use of customers data

1:35 that allows the staff to create a memorable guest experience in a good way the main software tool to help you and your employees do their job efficiently is a property management system a property management system or PMS is a software that helps with reservation management and administrative tasks a modern PMS is like a single command center for managing all essential functions from sending booking confirmations to issuing key carts and reporting on basic KPIs the software may include a few or many functional components aka modules which modules the PMS consists of and what functions each component has depends on

2:20 the vendor a hotel's custom system or a combination of commercial and custom tools a vendor may develop solutions for properties of different sizes and types and the number of modules will depend on their needs and operations but there are some modules every property management system has these modules can be grouped into three categories reservation and distribution in stay experience and back-office and reporting reservation so imagine your hotel your'e the first thing that you want to do is manage reservations and the rooms ultimately the main assets of any Hotel a reservation system is a place where you define all your rooms and track their bookings by dates also a central reservation system or CRS keeps room

3:07 rates processes bookings collects payments sends booking confirmation via email and sometimes lets users book activities the reservation system is integrated with the website booking engine that processes direct bookings and other distribution channels like meta search engines and online travel agencies but having rooms isn't enough to run a hotel you must define their prices revenue management price is one of the main considerations for most travelers so your next task is to choose the right price for your rooms but hotel prices are never stable they may change because of different demand and the number of occupied rooms the more unsold rooms you have for the approaching date the lower you want the price to be you risk losing a substantial amount of

3:53 money if you don't adjust room prices based on these factors the practice of choosing the right price at the right moment is called revenue management and perhaps revenue management modules are amongst the most critical ones than a PMS the revenue management module allows you to get the most complete information about factors that influence the price and make a pricing decision some revenue management modules support dynamic pricing they take into account demand supply an internal and external data to estimate optimal rates rates that customers are willing to pay at a given moment internal data includes customer segments and profiles inventory prices and occupancy rates competitor prices booking patterns weather conditions national holidays and events in the area

4:39 is external data but even if you have the most competitive prices you still need travelers to see them on different channels including online travel agencies metasearch engines or hotel bed banks and here's when you need a channel management system channel management guests may come into your hotel without a prior reservation due to over bookings and they're hoping to find available rooms yes there is still a place for spontaneous travel decisions somebody may call the front desk to book a room that happens too but in other cases people booked online in 2018 roughly half of all accommodation bookings in the US were made online how do people search for accommodations simply google it check dozens of options on online travel

5:26 agencies like Expedia or booking.com or read reviews on TripAdvisor people may also compare prices on Meta Search sites like trovato while some may go further and check your brand comm website so you must showcase your properties on numerous websites simultaneously to reach new guests channel management software allows for managing inventory and price rates across multiple online travel agencies and automating booking some property management systems that you can buy already have channel management modules however there's a variety of options on the market to choose and integrate with your existing PMS the channel manager sets a two-way connection between a hotel's PMS and online channels to ensure that availability and data is up-to-date the channel manager

6:12 sends bookings made on third-party portals or a hotel's website to a central reservation system once a customer reserves a room for specific dates via one of the channels the property management system marks this room booked at the rest of the channels in real time that means you won't need to change reservation status across different channels manually anymore so you can prevent over booking while using your inventory to the fullest and you want to make sure that this data arrives at a central reservation and a front desk front desk operations front desk managers are usually the first hotel employees that guests interact with upon arrival these are also the guys that customers reach out to with requests and questions that way the front desk module becomes the main tool for receptionists

6:58 perform their primary tasks the staff can check and update room reservation status check guests in and out process payments make receipts and issue key cards these systems can be integrated with check-in solutions and vice versa so hoteliers can deliver to tech savvy customers to some PMS vendors like clock software make kiosks for the self check-in and checkout part of their Suites the front office managers can also do night and shift audits with this module but the front desk is also the main spot where travelers talk to the hotel it's not only for checking in and out and these interactions may draw the line between a mediocre experience and a stellar one knowing their guests means knowing how to meet and exceed their expectations so new guests provide

7:45 information for a receptionist to check them in the front desk manager saves this data to a customer relationship management or CRM system CRM and customer data management customer relationship management is an approach to managing interactions with current and past and potential guests it means analyzing data about customers such as the purpose of a trip room type the length of stay or ancillary services used by means of this data hotels can offer bonuses like city tours or activities to improve their guests and stay experience and maintain the relationship after checkout featuring personalized emails with and news CRM is also the place to keep an eye on loyalty and corporate customers the CRM module must integrate

8:32 with the front desk and reservation system to gather all customer data from these sources if you already use CRM make sure the property management system integrates with it wouldn't have warm your heart to find a review from a guest that your employees made them feel special by delivering a birthday cake in a suite or a soft bed for their pet other travelers may also notice such a gesture and become your next customers after leaving the front desk a traveler goes to their room while hotel yers can run housekeeping operations with a dedicated system housekeeping more irritating for a guest than finding fewer towels in the bathroom than needed is to notice that a housekeeper forgot to clean their room the housekeeping module when used appropriately helps Hotel yers avoid such failures the

9:18 housekeeping module allows the staff and managers to coordinate their actions managers can assign rooms for housekeepers based on a block or floor location specify an update task lists and monitor how the staff proceeds with duties in real time housekeepers can update room status add details about minibar usage and request a refill or report on any malfunctions they notice in a room also the module makes it easy for the staff to manage cleaning supplies toiletries bed linen and other inventory point-of-sale services guests may need makeup or hair dressing before the event or want to try fresh seafood from an ala carte menu in your on-premises restaurant some too tired to go out may take advantage of

10:04 chips and beer from the minibar whichever products or services they choose their orders will be entered into point-of-sale systems using a point-of-sale system you can increase the speed of service and manage operations in these facilities Hotel years and managers can create and edit menu items and service packages implement gift cards and loyalty programs manage staff shifts and payroll and much more all POS software provides analytics and reporting via dashboards so real-time data on sales can be used to optimize the supply chain and gain insights on customer preference and overall experience the POS system may assist you with tracking expenses guests mostly feel the most anxious to pay for during checkout minibar spendings and there are some aspects of running a

10:50 hotel that remain behind the scenes for customers but are critical for hotel yers back-office management with the back-office management module you can perform inventory analysis and calculate and manage consumption costs such as utility bills taxes insurance or marketing expenses also the module may include event workforce and reviews management by monitoring and managing back-office operations you and your team have a complete view on how the property is working today and what yesterday's gains and challenges were so you can decide on the steps to improve performance and the level of service it's easier to grasp operational data when it's presented with visuals on dashboards from the reporting and analytics module reporting and analytics

11:37 this PMS component lets you monitor property performance against various measures managers can generate reports on such metrics as an average daily rate daily occupancy rates revenue per room as well as food and beverage revenue for given periods these metrics are used for calculating for hotels revenue performance the reports an analytics module may allow you or your colleagues to conduct month to date and year to date analysis or compare current metrics with the same last year values to understand Hotel trends the providers may also include automated report generation and the ability to create custom reports making guests feel welcome and comfortable in their temporary home is the essence of the hospitality business and if you want travelers influencers and entrepreneurs

12:24 like the Ted speaker we mentioned to put in a good word for your hotel remember a service with a human connection a property management system is a tool that can help you provide that kind of a desirable service