What is Hotel PMS Software and Why Use One?
Traditionally hotel PMS software included a set of functionalities to manage front-office operations such as booking reservations, guest check-ins and check-outs, assigning rooms, managing room rates, billing etc.
PMS software solutions became popular because they replaced the manual work which was time consuming, paper intensive and needed the involvement of lot of people. However the PMS software has evolved much farther beyond its traditional role and has become a very important component in the management of hotels.
PMS systems now include tons of other capabilities and features beyond the front office operations. They have evolved into comprehensive tools that have become critical to the business operations of a hotel and for delivering amazing guest experiences.
Benefits of Hotel PMS to Guests:
– Convenience and Self Service: In the modern world, people are becoming more and more accustomed to doing things on their own. They want the ease and convenience that comes when they can do various tasks at the click of a button.
In an interview, Tyler Craig, GM & VP of NCR Corporation’s Travel Business has said that customers these days are more accustomed to ATMs rather than tellers at the bank. They even check-in online for flights, so they want the same kind of facility when they arrive at a hotel.
In a lot of cases, travellers would prefer the option of self-service rather than having to wait in queues or having to deal with the hotel staff do things which they could easily do through their smartphones.
This trend can be beneficial to hotels because they need fewer staff members now. However they need to balance the automation with exceptional customer service. Automation shouldn’t take away the personal touch that only a fellow human can provide.
– Easier and Faster Service: Guests can save a lot of their time by being able to book a room from your website which is powered by a booking engine. The guests can check the room availability, view the rates and book whatever rooms they wish. They don’t have to get on the phone talking to someone, asking if rooms are available, etc.
If they have any issues they can also report through the website or contact customer support through email or text chat. All these are great time savers, making it much more easy and enjoyable experience for the customer.
– Personalized service: A sophisticated PMS system can store data about customer’s preferences and their earlier behavior. This way you can know beforehand the likes and dislikes of a customer and provide a tailor designed experience on their next visit.
Benefits of PMS to Hotels:
– Saves Time and Manpower: You can drastically reduce paperwork, manual labor, time and effort. Many of the front desk operations can now be easily automated with the help of Hotel Property Management System, Channel Manager and a Booking Engine.
– Save Money and Increase Revenue: Staff requirement will decrease as you automate a lot of front desk operations, thus saving you lot of money as you can manage equally well with fewer staff members. On top of that you may see increased revenues when you automate the room booking feature.