What is PMS Software and Why Your Hotel Needs It Today?

What is a Hotel Property Management System?

Most hotels today run their business using a cloud-based hotel property management system. It helps them coordinate reservations, availability, payments, inventory, and sales to create a centralized management software for your business’s core functions. A hotel PMS software is an intelligent platform that unites all the different operations of a front desk, housekeeping, and back office.

Choosing the correct PMS with the most suitable features for your hotel can help you understand hotel operations’ real-time demand and performance. Whether you run a small boutique hotel or a massive resort, PMS can streamline your business functions on one platform.

Key Features of a PMS

1. Guest check-in and check-out
2. Reservations management (both OTA and direct bookings)
3. Housekeeping/maintenance
4. Rate management
5. Payment Processing

Benefits of PMS

Below you can read about the most critical benefits that hotel property management systems offer –

1. Efficiency Oriented Solutions – A PMS software can help automate mundane tasks to help your staff utilize their time better. The time saved through a hotel PMS can be devoted to guest interactions and customer service. As your business grows and your hotel operations get more complicated, efficiency will be critical to running your business. A property management software offers efficiency-oriented solutions for many business functions.
2. Transparency Based Communication – Keeping all your business verticals on the same page is essential to the smooth functioning of your hotel. A hotel property management system promotes transparency and enables all departments to synchronize their functions better. Every department can view the occupancy rates, and key performance metrics of other teams, making it easier for them to work in tandem with one another.
3. Channels of Distribution – Integrate your hotel PMS software with an intelligent channel management system to maximize your sales. Using the combination of PMS and channel manager, your hotel can advertise on several different distribution channels. Manually updating multiple distribution channels can lead to errors or inefficient management. PMS software auto-updates inventory on all channels with smart pricing to avoid over-booking and under-booking.
4. Helps Hotels Manage Revenue Effectively – Hotel management software gathers critical data using key performance indicators like ADR (average daily rate), RevPAR (revenue available per room) and others to give a real-time picture of business performance. It helps the management draw valuable insights from revenue data to create room type-rate plan combinations to respond to demand changes. Your hotel functioning and performance metrics are crucial for agility in the hospitality business.
5. Front Desk Operations – Front desk managers need to view and update room reservation status, manage guest check-ins and process payments. Property management systems streamline all these functions to create a single platform that automates the process of check-in, check-out and guest relations to improve efficiency in front-desk operations. It reduces the scope of human error and discrepancies in front-desk operations to enhance the guest experience.
6. Digital Check-in – Digital or contactless check-in is preferred by guests during COVID times. Digital check-in is a contactless technology that allows guests to complete the check-in formalities using a mobile app. The hotel software syncs automatically to update inventory and occupancy information after the check-in. This hotel technology is not just helpful in pandemic times; it also reduces the workforce needed at the front desk. It enables your front desk to focus more on guest interaction rather than paperwork.

Hotels are always looking for newer ways to make administrative tasks more efficient and simpler to manage. A hotel property management system enables hoteliers to coordinate reservations, guest information, billing, operations, housekeeping, and sales on one platform. It allows you to integrate cloud-based apps and software for different functions within your property management system for customization. Add to that the convenience of data security, automation, and improved customer experience – and it is a must-have for every hotel.

Author Bio:

Karan Iyer is an end-to-end digital marketer and blogger who inherently understands the hotel industry with his hospitality background. Karan knows how to convert the pain points and challenges of the hotel industry into business opportunities, and that’s what he writes about for his readers. He also shares industry trends, insights and news to help his readers stay up-to-date.