Important Software Integrations in Hotel PMS and Their Benefits

Property management systems or PMS facilitates the reservation management and administrative tasks assisting in the day-to-day operations of the hotel accommodation business like reservations, front desk, housekeeping, maintenance, billing, channel management, etc. PMS is the backbone of operations in the hospitality industry. PMS integrations can help eliminate overbookings, improve room availability by coordinating with connected channel managers, and perform general housekeeping tasks. It can automate and improve a hotel’s operations by providing analytics, reports, etc. PMS systems can be integrated with third-party software like point of sale (POS) systems, payment processors, etc.

Some important software integrations that any PMS should have are…

Integration with channel managers: Hotel rooms are sold through websites, online travel agents (OTA’s), global distribution systems, directly over the phone, etc. Channel management systems allow hotels to manage the allocation and distribution of sales of rooms through multiple channels. Channel managers can keep and show inventory information in real-time and is kept up-to-date across all the channels. This helps avoid double bookings.

Benefits include:

• Automatic and real-time room inventory updates across multiple channel partners.
• Increase in the online visibility of hotel leads.
• Elimination of double bookings and overbookings.

Review and reputation management: Almost everyone looks at online reviews nowadays before booking which makes review and reputation management crucial. Integration of various social media platforms with the hotel PMS makes it easier for the guests to leave feedback and reviews, and for the hotel management to monitor and manage the reviews customers leave across various sites.

Benefits include:

• Collecting and collating guest feedback and reviews.
• Helps analyze guest sentiments.
• Increase hotel ratings and scores by working on the feedback and reviews and updating services as needed.

Integration with booking and check-in apps: PMS integration with a booking interface can help in making the hotel website into a direct booking and check-in window, while integration with mobile apps can allow guests to check in directly. Such integrations offer guests greater flexibility and freedom and improve customer experience.

Benefits include:

• Direct bookings and reducing dependency on OTA or channel partners.
• Savings on commissions.
• Increased revenue streams due to direct bookings.

Revenue management: Integrating PMS with revenue management systems can assist in revenue calculation and profitability by using SaaS artificial intelligence tech. It can go through consumer demand and generate optimal prices for rooms based on the guest flow and room demand. It helps leverage the business insights for room pricing and increases the hotel’s revenue and profitability.

Benefits include:

• Better price recommendations to maximize revenue and profitability.
• Implementation of optimal price strategy.
• Occupancy forecasting for a better booking experience.

Accounting system integration: Accounting is a crucial aspect of every business. A robust accounting system software should be an essential part of every PMS. A good accounting system helps in invoicing, tracking daily finances, generating profit and loss accounts, accounts receivable and payable, bank credit, etc., and can also help project future finances.

Benefits include:

• Management of invoices, receivables, payables, aging analysis, etc.
• Reduces manual intervention and human errors.

POS integration: Integration of PMS with POS systems is essential. It assists in handling and managing end-to-end operations across all point of sale (POS) locations like a restaurant, spas, gyms, gift shops etc. The sync of all billing from these POS locations with the PMS system helps in consistent and consolidated billing from the main desk. It also ensures that sales are posted under the correct heads. POS integration helps in the acceptance of payments in various ways like cash, credit or debit cards, cheques, coupons etc.

Benefits include:

• Efficient and streamlined billing process.
• Eliminates loss of sales due to multiple sale points and loss of revenue.
• Gives insights on POS performance across all sale locations.

Key card systems: Electronic key card system integration is possible with the PMS. This helps the hotel management to ensure that lost or stolen key cards are not used and can be electronically removed from the system to prevent fraud.

Benefits include:

• The keys can be reassigned for different rooms.
• They are easily replaceable.

BI integration: Businesses use BI to monitor different aspects of their business. Hotel management can also use BI to tap into the data that flows in through different sources and generate reports that can give them a real-time understanding of revenues, occupancy, ratings, and any other area of its business.

Besides such integrations, the property management system can be integrated with other third-party apps and software like loyalty programs, business intelligence software, IoT, email marketing programs, etc. Integration with such software can be very helpful in the day-to-day functioning of the hotel business. Using a professional property software development company to develop a PMS with all the necessary software integration, can help hotels get actionable reports, insights, and strategies to generate more revenue.