As a hotelier, you have done the right thing by adopting a hotel property management system. Now, let’s assume that the Hotel PMS is also helping you automate and streamline daily operations.
NB: This is an article from Hotelogix
This means, you have now managed to reduce operational errors and save on man-hours, right? But you are still struggling to sell more rooms via online channels. Additionally, you are finding it extremely difficult to manage your hotel’s online reputation.
What, then, do you think is the reason for these operational bottlenecks even though you have a Hotel PMS Software in place?
Well, this could be the reason – your hotel property management system is not an integrated one. This means, as a standalone application, the Hotel PMS you have adopted is doing a great job by bringing in the much-needed higher degree of automation. But it lacks integration capabilities with a host of operationally imperative third-party hospitality technology solutions like channel manager, online reputation management solutions and many more.
So, in this article, we will walk you through several operational benefits of an integrated hotel property management system. Here are some of the must-have Hotel PMS Software integrations for today’s smart hotelier –
#1 – Channel Manager Integration
In today’s world of digital travel, selling more rooms via online sales channels is must for hoteliers like you. For this, you generally work with OTAs. To be precise, you need to work with multiple OTAs. Once connected with OTAs, you then have to distribute your rooms and rates on all of them in real-time.
However, distributing inventory and rates on multiple OTAs (suppose you are working with 10 OTAs) is not an easy task. You have to log into each OTA’s extranet to feed your inventory and rates. Suppose, 1 room gets booked through a walk-in, then you have to manually reduce 1 room across all the 10 OTAs. You have to keep doing the same thing every time a room gets sold. Doesn’t it sound like an extremely time-consuming task? And what if you forget to take off 1 room on one OTA and if the same OTA ends up selling the room to a guest? In this case, you are certainly looking at overbooking or double booking which would lead to guest dissatisfaction and loss of business opportunities.
The solution to this issue is a cloud Hotel PMS like Hotelogix that comes integrated with a host of channel manager solutions including Vertical Booking, HotelRunner, SiteMinder, STAAH, RezGain, Maximojo, AxisRooms, Busy Rooms, RezNext, Omnibees, etc. The two-way integration between the Hotel PMS System and the channel manager software helps you update all the OTAs with your rates and inventory in real-time. reservations made on any OTA will reflect in your Hotel PMS in real-time, making sure that there is no discrepancy on the availability of rooms on various channels. Similarly, this integration updates reservation cancellations/modifications on all the sales channels.
Benefits
- Real-time and automatic update of inventory & rates across multiple OTAs
- Increased online visibility of your hotel leads to more booking coming from OTAs
- No more overbooking/double booking
- Save time
#2 – Reputation Management Solution Integration
Do you know that around 96% of travelers look at hotel reviews and their online reputation when searching for hotels? Many of them even filter out hotels based on star ratings below 3 out of 5. Imagine the repercussions of this stat! Your hotel’s online reputation and ratings, therefore, are paramount when it comes to attracting more guests.
But, how would you manage your hotel’s online reputation without having the right set of hospitality technology solutions? The answer to this is a Hotel PMS that is integrated with online reputation management solution?
A hotel property management system that integrates with a tool such as Review Express by TripAdvisor is a must for you to automate the guest review collection process. With this integration, you can customize your emails to easily obtain feedback from your guests. The Hotel PMS System automatically sends out the email to the guest seeking their feedback on your services. This process helps increase your chances of getting more reviews from your guest and displays latest reviews online. All these help you to generate more bookings.
In this context, another important integration could be with RepUp, a Customer Experience Management platform. This integration helps you see all your hotel reviews from various online platforms in a single window.
Benefits
- Collect personalized feedback from your guest
- Analyze guest sentiment, understand their concerns and serve them better
- Read and reply to reviews from 150 plus platforms
- Effectively increase your online score and rating
#3 – Booking Engine Integration
The Hotel PMS Software and Booking Engine integration turns your hotel website into a source of driving more direct bookings. Moreover, see if your Hotel PMS partner can help you with a booking engine that can be integrated with your Facebook page. This helps you get more bookings from your Facebook page. In both cases, you get to save a lot on OTA commission.
Not only this, some of the leading cloud Hotel PMS vendors have integrated their systems with tools like TripConnect to help you drive more direct bookings. It helps you turn lookers into bookers on your TripAdvisor page. Here too, you can save on hefty OTA commission fees. You can also look at Vertical Booking’s online booking engine integration that helps you ensure higher conversion rate on your website.
Benefits
- Get more direct bookings
- Lower your dependency on OTAs
- Save significantly on huge OTA commission
- Earn more room revenue and increase your profitability
#4 – Revenue Management Integration
Practically, it is not possible for you to manually keep an eye on competitors pricing strategy, seasonality and other relevant aspects to tweak your hotel rates. It involves complex calculation and even expertise to do so. Not done properly, it may lead to errors. So in this case, it is advisable to adopt a hotel property management system that comes integrated with a host of smart and intuitive revenue management tools like Beonprice, BookingSuite and Buzzotel, etc.
It helps you increase your property’s profitability by finding the best combination of consumer demand and hotel supply through patented SaaS Artificial Intelligence technology. It considers the different client segments of your hotel as the fundamental criterion to help you determine the optimal price for various room types, markets and nights of stay to increase revenue.
In simple words, such strategic Hotel PMS integration is designed to help you leverage business insights to price your rooms better and increase your hotel’s profitability.
Benefits
- Follow the price recommendations and maximize your hotel’s RevPAR
- Implementing an optimal price strategy
- Keep any eye on occupancy forecast
- Get updated rate intelligence on your competitors
#5 – Accounting System Integration
Hotel accounting is one of the most important areas of hotel operations. A robust accounting software helps you efficiently track daily finances and to project the future forecast. However, when handled manually, this vital aspect of hotel operations might not help you to see the desired result.
In order to help you in this, a cloud hotel management software must integrate with accounting systems like QuickBooks, Oracle Netsuite, Infor Sunsystems, Xero, Alif, Tally, etc. Such a critical PMS integration helps you keep track of accounts receivable and accounts payable. You can also help them with several key reports on profit & loss and trial balance.
Benefits
- Easy management of invoices, payables, ageing reports and deductions
- The automatic sync of all hotel ledgers from the Hotel PMS to the accounting system eliminates manual intervention and reduces errors
- Save time as you don’t have to spend time reconciling folios and other financial reports
POS Integration
The integration between a Hotel PMS and Point of Sale systems like POSist and ShawMan is a must for hotels to manage end-to-end operations across all the POS outlets at your hotel – restaurant, spa, bar, gym, gift shop, etc.
Due to this integration, all the bills from across multiple POS outlets get synced with your hotel PMS. The PMS captures all types of discounts and refunds given on orders created at the POS in real-time and also captures category-wise POS details, so that sales are posted on appropriate account heads. Moreover, the integration also enables you to accept payments in multiple ways including cash, credit card, debit card, cheque, coupons, via online transfer methods like wallets, etc.
Benefits
- Ensures efficient and streamlined billing process
- Zero billing discrepancies, no loss of revenue
- Get insights on performance of all the POS outlets at your hotel
Apart from the above mentioned operationally imperative Hotel PMS integration with third-party solutions, there are a few more other critical integrations that can help you run your hotel business with ease. Some of those integrations are – loyalty program, business intelligence, in-room device, email marketing, payment gateway, etc.
As a globally trusted cloud hotel Property Management System provider, we understand how an all-in-one, highly comprehensive and integrated Hotel PMS can help you streamline your end-to-end process, sell more rooms and make more revenue. That’s why we have launched our Hotelogix Marketplace to help you evaluate and choose the right technology solution for efficient hotel management.
