Time to Invest on the Next-Gen PMS for Smart Hoteliers

The software to manage the entire operations of the hotel has undergone a makeover. It has equipped itself to faces the challenges of the new age customers and fulfills their desires making the stay at the hotel blissful.

FREMONT, CA: Hotel Property Management System (PMS) was one of the foremost technologies designed to automate operations to create optimal services and boots the quality of the guest experience.

PMS has recently arrived at a point where it can incorporate multiple standalone platforms to create an integrated end-to-end system and function-specific software programs. While all hotel owners are bound to reap benefits from the latest advancements, mobility, for example, the features and functionality of the system have augmented the value of the technology.

The system is designed depending on the services provided by the hotel. In the case of a full-service hotel, a robust, comprehensive, sophisticated system must be utilized. It may also require a complicated reservation, inventory requirements, group scheduling, and concierge service. Similarly, a small-scale hotel will require a limited-service system to streamline daily functions like guest bookings, guest charges, housekeeping, and maintenance management.

In all cases, the PMS can be used to supplement hotel functions, regardless of the scale and the detailing required. It can be carried out via built-in capabilities or by initiating a seamless integration with add-on modules by the third-party solution providers. The addition of modules is conducted seamlessly without hassle, security breaches, or excessive permissions. The hoteliers can readily create a property-wide system and even a chain-wide system with the upgraded PMS.

Innumerable systems are readily available for integration to improve the guest response programs, keycard, accounting software, and access control systems. Even extras like self-service kiosks, internet, in-room refreshments, telephone systems, and entertainment applications—in many cases dry cleaning and transportation shuttles. The hoteliers are recently open to experimentation, and are testing the waters with AI-enabled smart devices; chatbots with voice activation are being run for trials. Some major brands are even taking a dip into IoT-based “connected room” technologies that comprise sensor-activated thermostats, digital room keys, and streaming directly to the private smart TV. The owners have realized the acute need for technology connectivity, interoperability, integration of data, and even if the hotel’s system is not transitioned yet to a next-gen PMS.

Review: CIOReview