The Secret Weapon: How PMS Software Boosts Hotel Efficiency and Revenue

Because the hotel business increasingly relies on digital data, and many parts of hotel management take place online, having the correct hotel software in place is more crucial than ever. Furthermore, customer support is now expected to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and bookings are made directly through your hotel's website, OTAs, and other channels. The ideal PMS hotel solution should make it simple for hotel management and personnel to deal with these numerous difficulties. Furthermore, the software can help to improve financial performance by making operations more efficient.

While the specific capabilities of a PMS software package are crucial, individuals in the hotel industry must also search for solutions that allow for the integration of other systems. As a result, you should look for a property management system that allows for integration with the third-party systems or vendors listed below.

1. Software for Revenue Management

Revenue management software can assist hotels in monitoring their financial success by automatically computing key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue per available room (RevPAR), average daily rate (ADR), and more. It will also usually have rate plan management tools, allowing room rates to be altered more readily in response to performance. Revenue management software integration should be available in your PMS software, with the PMS feeding pricing and availability information into the RMS program, which can alter things like recommended room rates.

2. Systems for Reputation Management

Because many clients read online evaluations before reserving hotels, reputation management tools are essential. These allow hotels to monitor and control the reviews that have been left on various platforms. Encourage guests to provide feedback on your social media or online review platforms. This is one of the most crucial parts of reputation management. A PMS with reputation management integration can do this automatically, delivering the feedback request through SMS or email based on the information provided by the guest.

3. Apps for Check-In

Most PMS software solutions have check-in functions, and integration with self-service check-in systems or applications is a logical extension of this. This gives your guests more freedom and can improve the customer experience you provide by eliminating waits at the front desk. When these self-service solutions are linked to your PMS, you can simply improve this by allowing guests to select their own room from your available inventory and pay their final payment without the need for employee help.

4. Key Card Management

Modern electronic key card systems can be configured so that guests are issued a key card that only functions in the room they have reserved on the days they have reserved it. In other situations, the key card system can even allow guests to manage the lock on their room from a smartphone app, eliminating the need for actual keys entirely. This helps to avoid issues with lost or stolen key cards, which may be canceled electronically. When you integrate your key card system with your PMS system, the PMS software may convey the pertinent information about each guest to your key card system, eliminating the need for details to be recorded manually.

5. Software for Marketing

Hotel marketing software is intended to aid in the management and distribution of promotional content. Integrating this software with your PMS system can help by automating the distribution process and making it more relevant to your hotel's visitors. This means you may program your systems to send out special offers to guests just before they arrive, or to send out a survey a few days after they check out, without requiring manual intervention.

6. Managers of Channels

Channel management systems are intended to help hotels manage the distribution of hotel rooms via several channels. It is customary for those in the hospitality sector to sell rooms via the hotel's website, OTAs, global distribution networks, over the phone, and other channels. Inventory information can be maintained up to current across all channels with channel managers, customized rates may be set for certain channels, and double bookings can be avoided. Integration with your project management system will save you time.

7. Systems for Energy Management

With the present emphasis on energy conservation, energy management systems, which allow things like heating and air conditioning to be managed remotely, have become considerably more common in the hotel sector. This can not only result in huge cost savings, but it can also significantly improve the customer experience. To promote increased automation, your PMS software can link with your energy management system. For example, heating can be switched on automatically when guests check in and off when they check out.

8. POS (Point of Sale) Software

Most hotels provide a variety of point-of-sale services to its customers, ranging from restaurants and bars to spas, gyms, and hotel shops. A POS system allows payments to be processed quickly and efficiently at the point of sale, and this data can then be incorporated into the main PMS hotel software. In fact, this means that a transaction can be made right away, the data from that sale can be synchronized with your PMS, and the guest's ultimate bill can be updated fast, precisely, and automatically.

9. Payment Systems

Hotels must have payment systems in place to accept credit and debit card payments at the front desk as well as online payments. Furthermore, many payment systems are set up to automatically generate invoices for guests and send out confirmation emails when payments are completed. You will benefit from faster payment processing, fewer errors, and more automated payment procedures if your property management hotel software interfaces with your payment system.

10. System of Entertainment

Many hotels, like point-of-sale services, provide paid entertainment systems such as internet access, pay-per-view movies, and music streaming. Integrating these technologies with your PMS software offers various advantages, the most important of which is increased accuracy and efficiency. When integrated with entertainment systems, costs can be automatically added to a guest's final bill, eliminating the need for manual adjustments and reducing the likelihood of errors.

11. Business Intelligence Software

Finally, hotels utilize business analytics software to track the overall performance of the facility. These software tools can manage large amounts of unstructured data and assist hotel employees in making sense of it. In addition, they enable hotel owners to track performance over time and provide automatic business reports. Integration with your PMS system, once again, can be crucial in ensuring the analytics software has real-time access to data related to room occupancy, room rates, revenue, expenses, and more.