Property Management System (PMS)
Property Management System (PMS):
A PMS is a computer based management system. In the hospitality industry, it is a computerised system used to manage guest bookings, online reservations, points of sale, telephone, and other amenities.
In recent times, hotels have started using PMS in order to manage and respond to guest needs efficiently and effectively. A PMS is a single site version and is need-specific to an individual property.
A PMS is a generic term used to describe the computer applications (computer hardware and software) in managing the interface of various departments in a hotel in order to manage the property effectively.
Property management systems (PMS) interface with stand-alone systems:
A PMS is important and essential to front office operations in modern hotels. It includes the process of reservations, registration, guest accounts, guest check in and checkout, handling discounts and allowances and the night audit. Interfacing, electronic sharing of data of departments such as Front Office, F&B through points of sale, Maintenance through monitoring of energy and heating and cooling systems and Security through control of guest keys are a few of its applications in a hotel, mentioned below:
· Energy Management System (EMS)
· Material Management System (MMS)
· Point of Sale (MICROS)
· Human Resource Information System (HRIS)
· Accounting System
· Call Accounting System (CAS)
· Management Information System (MIS)
Importance/Benefits of a Property Management System (PMS) in the Hotel
The right property management system (PMS) is a key factor in hotel success. Having a system that makes front desk workflows easy, will create a seamless guest experience.
Following are few advantages of PMS in a hotel:
1. Guest’s first impression
Upon arrival, a guest’s first impression is created as they walk through the doors and interact with the first point of contact, your front desk. A property management system should easily display arrivals for the day and have any important information about stay preferences attached to a guest’s booking. This will ensure you make a good and memorable first impression.
2. Easy check-in and check-out
There is nothing more frustrating than waiting a long time to be checked in or out, these processes should be fast and easy to provide a seamless guest experience. Having streamlined and easy check in and checkout processes is important for both the guest experience and hotel efficiency. A property management system will help you perform these tasks with ease, increasing productivity and delivering that exceptional guest experience.
3. Clear communication
Having clear lines of communication between all departments of your property and with the guest is integral to a successful accommodation. With a property management system you can facilitate easy communication, and ensure that all departments are operating effectively and efficiently.
4. No double bookings
A PMS that connects to a channel manager means all your availability is constantly being updated. This means no double bookings, saving you and your team time by eliminating double bookings. When the guest arrives there won’t be any complications with their room or booking, making for a pleasant guest experience.
5. More focus on the guests
The guest experience is such an important aspect of your accommodation, and is the key to returning guests. Using a streamlined and intuitive PMS will save you time on your day-to-day processes. So you’ll have more time and opportunities to interact with your guest and offer them a truly personalized experience.
PMS application for front office department Or “Modules of PMS” in Front Office
There are different modules of PMS to mange individual departments of a hotel, such as front office module, housekeeping module, restaurant management system, and back office module. These PMS solutions can be modified to meet the requirements of the hotel.
The PMS application for the front office has different modules for the efficient functioning of the entire department. Following are the different modules of PMS in front office department of a hotel:
I. Reservation Module:
The reservation module is used to create and manage guest reservation, both for individual as well as groups. The reservation module includes the following features:
1. It can provide status records when the date of arrival, date of departure and the type of guest room are entered in the system.
2. It can colour code the room status by using different colours.
3. It can check the reservation status of a guest quickly as it can search by guest name, company name, or arrival and departure dates.
4. It can display room availability status by simply selecting a date.
5. It can post an advance deposit on a room.
6. It can enter remarks, which are visible upon reservation retrieval.
7. It can attach guest’s messages to relevant reservations, to be delivered to the guest upon arrival.
8. It can create special group rates.
9. It can reserve and track the availability of service items such as rollway beds, cribs, and refrigerators.
II. Registration module:
This is linked by information transferred from the reservations module. Pre-registration, quick guest room assignments and online verification of room status increase the efficiency during the check in process. The information gets updated automatically which further speeds up the process of handling guest check in, issuing of key cards and card keys as well as handling group arrivals.
III. Rooms management (housekeeping):
This module allows for constant updating of room status and maintenance status of all room types in the hotel. This information can also be communicated and made accessible for confirmation to the Front Office. It can display work area allocations of different staff on the floors and can create room occupancy reports and other reports required by housekeeping. It can store statistics related to occupancy with room history records that can help in future planning and in providing better maintenance services to keep rooms in shipshape condition.
IV. Night auditing:
The most important function of daily operations of a hotel is the night audit. This process posts room tariff and taxes automatically on the guest’s folio and helps confirm and reconcile the final balance of the entire day’s transactions. During the night audit procedural rights of front office staff are limited and therefore the PMS needs to have features that can allow other non-accounting tasks to be carried out during the night audit process.
V. Sales & catering ( banquets):
This function of the PMS deals with banquet activities and reservations regarding the booking status for any function space, specific occasions as well as days and time of the booking. More advanced systems also record the number of pax and employee assignment. The most important function is billing or posting of transactions to the Sales ledger which can be handled efficiently by the F&B staff.
VI. Guest accounting & check out:
This provides accurate online posting of guest charges when interfaced with the POS. Split charges and multiple folios with specific billing instructions that have been set for each guest speeds up the accounting process. Master and Incidental folios can be monitored easily and effectively. Foreign exchange vouchers control flow of foreign currency and helps in handling settlement of guest folios with different payment methods. Guest check outs can be handled more efficiently and smoothly.
SELECTION OF A PMS
Hotels often make the mistake of choosing a lower end PMS solution that doesn’t fulfil their basic requirements or else, they opt for a high end solution that comes with a lot of features which may not be of much use to the hotel.
Since the PMS is a capital investment, great thought goes into the decision for the shift of a manual working system to a fully automated one. Following are some factors to be kept in mind while selecting a PMS for a hotel.
I. NEEDS ANALYSIS
Needs analysis enables to know what is needed and what is not needed and will help choose from the many PMS available in the market. It includes such issues as analysing the ease with which the telephone system can be used; the availability of room status; the length of time taken to complete a reservation request; analysis of needs includes such issues as how do the F&B report guest charges? How does Engineering monitor and control energy usage in guestrooms?
II. SOFTWARE SELECTION
Today, software is available in modules to cater for different areas in a hotel.
Based on requirements based on the conclusion of the need analysis in step 1, a hotel may go in for the entire PMS or parts of it, i.e. certain modules. Many hotels combine modules for different departments from various PMS available. A hotel may have the rooms’ module of Fidelio, the payroll and accounting module of Shawman, and so on.
a. Proper software selection is important as it involves heavy investment.
b. It should be configured or customised as per the need of the hotel.
c. Other features of a software that should be considered are:
i. Growth and flexibility:
It should be able to handle present needs and grow with the hotel; i.e. can be added on with increased number of services.
ii. User friendliness:
Should be well designed with clear menu prompts, self-explanatory input screens, simple error correction, should require minimum training, etc.
iii. Operating system:
Should be carefully selected and compatible with the hardware.
iv. Multi-user capability:
Several users can have access to and enter data at the same time.
v. Report generator:
To meet special requirements of the hotel those are meaningful to management.
vi. Stability:
PMS should be able to operate without crashing and causing loss of information.
vii. Secure:
The PMS should be able to incorporate security needs of the property- establishing user rights, tracking changes with user ID, etc. in order to establish accountability of actions of the users.
III. HARDWARE SELECTION:
Hardware selected should be appropriate to run the selected software with the basic concept to:
a) Processor speed:
How fast a CPU makes calculations per second
b) Disk drive:
In megabytes is the access time- the time taken by the processor to retrieve information from the hard drive in milli- seconds.
c) I-O ports (Input and out put devices):
Keyboards, printers, monitors, mouse, modem, CD drives, etc.
d) Other supplies:
Paper, ink, toner, CDs, DVDs, etc.
IV. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:
a) Vendor claims:
(Claims made by the supplier) One may inquire about the product from current users whether they are satisfied using their system.
b) Installation plans:
Proper planning of installation is essential for maintaining guest satisfaction and employee morale. One must have a complete plan laid out for hardware and questions such as who would be installing the hardware and cables, etc. should be clearly identified.
c) Training:
Is classroom and on-the-job training provided by the vendor or not? If yes, is it charged for separately or is inclusive in the price quoted? Whether a training module is included or not?
d) Documentation of procedures:
Clear-cut procedures and instructions, guides and manuals provided- yes/no?
e) Back-up power supply:
Provision of UPS sources- yes/no?
f) Maintenance agreement:
The cost of repair and replacement of hardware and software; provision of emergency services should be considered. Annual Maintenance Contracts- AMC- may be a good idea to keep the system functioning smoothly.
V. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The following should be considered:
a. The decision regarding option of purchase or rental of a PMS since it is a heavy investment it can tie up cash flow of an organisation.
b. If cost benefits are not realistically projected, profit may be difficult to come by.
c. Analyse the savings in terms of overtime paid to employees, losses due to late charges, cost of marketing, database collection, etc.
BACK OFFICE SYSTEMS OF THE PMS
Other modules used by the hotel management for operating efficient hotel operations usually include:
I. MATERIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM-MMS- (Stores & Purchase):
This covers the entire material management operations such as requirement planning, purchase, receiving of stock, costing, etc. The system also provides information for effective decision making and budgeting.
a) Purchase requirement is effectively managed helping in better management.
b) It stores the history of purchase vendors in order to efficiently study cost analysis for lower purchase costs.
c) It gives automatic reminders on pending purchases which is helpful during high occupancy this ensures orders for timely supplies.
d) Easy monitoring of stock.
e) Assists management in making effective purchase in relation to proper storage area.
f) Provide for automatic stock accounting details.
g) Facilitates on the spot checking of stock.
h) Facilitates comparison of market trends for analysis and decision making.
II. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS):
The MIS should provide statistical information to the management to assist in decision making and revenue control.
a) MIS provides the database regarding forecasts and budgets which helps management in establishing room rates.
b) Comparison of budgeted figures along with actual figures established by sales & marketing department in relation with front office helps the management to address the problem in case of losses.
c) An MIS should provide data which is comprehensive, accurate and detailed with business and sales analysis to ensure increased revenue and higher occupancy.
III. FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING SYSTEM:
This module provides information required for basic accounting as well as financial management of the hotel. Its main features are:
a) Integration of account receivable, account payable, material management, ledgers, and payroll in the financial accounting system.
b) An accounting system facilitates the administration in audit reconciliation on a daily basis, comparing of cash with raised vouchers, etc.
c) Monthly information regarding balances, profit and loss statements is also prepared.
d) Provides timely updated and accurate financial information to accounts receivable for future financial control.
e) Forecasts daily cash flow for better cash management.
f) Comparison of budgeted to actual revenue and related expenditure is efficiently managed.
g) Timely financial statement of account is made available.
IV. F&B CONTROL SYSTEM
This is the most important area of concern as a major POS which can raise revenue and create a lot of savings through control of F&B by minimising wastage of material.
a) An efficient control system should establish standards of raw material usage in order to minimise wastage.
b) This should highlight raw material consumption reports in case consumption is exceptionally high.
c) It should automatically pick up sales details for the POS system.
d) This should also control and check beverage consumption through the POS.
V. HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (HRIS):
The human resource of the hotel is the most important and the most expensive asset. A good HRIS should integrate the requirement for effective career planning, personnel administration, and payroll information.
a) The system should include comprehensive data regarding personnel career development as well as future manpower requirements.
b) Should facilitate extensive reporting on appraisals.
c) Should facilitate a complete database on leave and attendance.
d) Should facilitate comprehensive and detailed payroll system with automatic salary calculation and printing of payslips.
MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS OF A PMS
I. HOTEL SECURITY:
This includes electronic locks and computerised card systems.
a) Other locking systems such as recording signatures, fingerprints (for biometric scanners and access), and attendance of employees are all a result of technology.
b) This also facilitates guest room video check in and checks out in some hotel properties.
II. ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM- EMS- (Engineering &Maintenance):
An EMS is used to keep track of energy consumption as this provides a more effective control by highlighting excessive consumption an important application of this is in monitoring and adjusting lighting and temperature requirements in guestrooms and public areas of the hotel.
III. TV INTERACTIVITY
Through this interactive system guests can view and have access to their favourite programmes at their convenience. The tv can also be interfaced with the telephone and front office for viewing their folios and even settlement. The TV can also be used for accessing local or city information in many hotels.
IV. E-CONCIERGE (Electronic Concierge):
This facility helps the guest to make a multimedia graphic and sound assisted virtual tour of the hotel. This also provides and facilitates a virtual tour of the city, local areas and attractions, restaurants and shopping centres in addition to guest rooms. This may even assist a guest in making reservations at local restaurants and theatres, etc.
V. POINT- OF- SALE (POS) SYSTEM:
A POS system is made up of a number of terminals located at various outlets or points of sale in the hotel. Each POS terminal contains its own input and output components which are interfaced with a remote central processing unit. The interface allows the electronic data to be processed, and transferred to guest folios when required, thus reducing the time required to post a charge in the appropriate guest folio and recording of the F&B sale at the same time.
VI. CENTRALISED RESERVATION SYSTEM (CRS):
A CRS is used for a chain or group of hotels to enable the sale of their rooms more effectively.
a) The CROs (Central Reservation Offices) are linked for an effective and real time management
b) It primarily works on WAN- Wide Area Network
Examples are:
i. MARSHA, TAJ, Leading Hotels of the World,
ii. WELCOMNET, Holiday Inn World Wide,
iii. OCC (Oberoi Call Centre), and more
a) The CRS can operate in two ways. One, it can be a CRS for one group of hotels in different locations (affiliate members). Second, it can sell rooms belonging to different hotels which are not connected or linked to each other but use the services of the CRS to sell their rooms on a wider scale thus reducing their investment and reaching a greater market which may not have been possible on their own.
b) Repeat guest history data for each hotel can be stored in the CRS. The past stay information on each guest history is updated at the time of the last departure. When the guest wants to return to the same hotel, this data can guide the reservationist to offer appropriate rooms.
Amadeus
Amadeus is a computer reservation system (or global distribution system, since it sells tickets for multiple airlines) owned by the Amadeus IT Group with headquarters in Madrid, Spain. The central database is located at Erding, Germany. In addition to airlines, the CRS is also used to book train travel, cruises, car rental, ferry reservations, and hotel rooms. Amadeus also provides New Generation departure control systems to airlines. The company is structured around two key related areas – its global distribution system and its IT Solutions business area.
Various Modules/ Customer Solutions offered by Amadeus:
1. Amadeus Air
2. Amadeus Rail
3. Amadeus Traveler
4. Amadeus Office
5. Amadeus Cars
6. Amadeus Hotels
7. Amadeus Tours
8. Amadeus Cruise
ADVANTAGES OF AMADEUS
1. Increased revenue: Travel industry-leading solutions help customers to maximize their revenue from existing channels and explore new ones, thus keeping their businesses successful, both now and in the future.
2. Reduced costs: Amadeus solutions are designed to maximize productivity through ease of use.
3. Continuous innovation and enhancements to the solutions include the incorporation of state-of the-art graphical interfaces, making it easier to book travel while Business Management solutions include value added features that increase efficiency saving time and cost.
4. Service Differentiation: Amadeus designs solutions may be customized and personalized so that travel providers and sellers can deliver the most effective customer service and benefit from increased adoption and customer loyalty.
5. Easy system migration/connectivity: The combination of Amadeus robust leading–edge technology and inside knowledge of the travel industry allows seamless integration of solutions.
AMADEUS HOTELS (PMS)
With the integration of Optimism, the leading hotel IT provider fully owned by Amadeus since 2005, Amadeus has added to its hotel distribution technology a sample of portfolios of IT solutions for the hotel industry. In 2010, Amadeus is reported to have sold its PMS division to SoftBrands, a provider of business software.
Features of Amadeus-Hotels
1. Technology to distribute hotels in both online and travel traditional environments.
2. PMS for individual hotels.
3. Centrally managed PMS for hotel chains and hotel groups.
4. Revenue Management System both for hotels and central reservation offices.
5. Direct connection to GDS to streamline the distribution.
6. Central Reservation System to connect individual properties and hotel groups to the GDS and online distribution.
7. Amadeus Property Management System (PMS) is a fully integrated solution for hotel chains that offers a single view of rates, inventory, content, guest information and reservations for all properties within the chain.
Benefits/Advantages of Amadeus-Hotels
1. Time saving as it provides all travel, client and agency information through single screen access to travelers round the clock.
2. Easy to find and understand information.
3. Better control as the entire travel agency business can be integrated and hence increase profitability.
4. Possibility of cross selling the products and larger offers to clients is possible.
5. Amadeus caters to all hotel needs from hotel management software to distribution to all sales channels.
6. Amadeus can anticipate the needs of the guests in advance and be ahead of the competition in delivering them.
Fidelio
Fidelio is a complete integrated system package designed to achieve maximum efficiency of the hotel. This PMS was produced in Munich, Germany.
FRONT OFFICE MODULE
The main modules of Fidelio used are:
1. Reservation
2. Rooms management
3. Front desk
4. Cashier
5. Options
6. Menu
1. RESERVATIONS MODULE
The creation of booking is possible for an unlimited number of rooms, guests and for unlimited time unless that period has free capacities. If you do not have the available capacity, the rooms can be added to the waiting list. Booking entry module includes reservations for individuals as well as group reservations and block (allotment) reservation. There are different options to post charges (individual, group, etc.).
2. FRONT DESK
Automated system to check in guests by reservation. At any moment you can check the expected arrivals, expected departures, and the view of guests in the hotel. This module allows you to enter messages for guests with printing option, and to track the status: delivered or undelivered.
3. CASHIERING
Using module cashiering you will have access to the balance of each guest, as well as invoicing in a user-defined format invoice in multiple languages. There are different styles of the standard invoices. There are no restrictions on combinations of payment: credit cards, cash, invoices, check.
4. ROOMS MANAGEMENT
A complete overview of the rooms’ status with the possibility of changing their status. Graphical display makes it easy to access floors to the status of the room, and in the availability of capacity also. In addition to monitoring the status of basic rooms, you can change the room status to “out of use” with a defined reason.
5. OPTIONS
Contains various functions of which report creation and printing is a major task. The various functions contained here are:
· Reports
· Word processing
· Printer
· Users log file
· Batch Folios