PMS refers to Property Management Software. It is commonly used by hotels that wish to stay competitive in today’s technological climate. PMS integration ensures that your PMS seamlessly integrates with your other software, such as your booking engine, your payment processing, and your channel manager.
Your PMS system should be the driving force behind your property. It will be much more effective if it is integrated with various departments such as the front desk, sales, housekeeping, marketing, and booking. Combining processes creates a system that is cost and time efficient.
How Integration Works
PMS integration works by building a link between the PMS hotel system and the hotel’s preferred booking channels. It forms a two-way connection that sends information to online travel agencies. When a customer purchases an accommodation through one of these platforms, the PMS system updates automatically preventing overbooking.
In addition to cutting down on errors, the integration also eliminates the need for time-consuming manual processing. It frees staff up so they can spend time providing an optimal guest experience. It also automates inventory and rate updates and minimizes revenue lost in delayed cancellations.
What are the Benefits?
Automatically Updates Your Listings:
Integrating your PMS hotel system with your other channels means your rates, availability, and inventory are updated automatically in real-time. It eliminates manual processing that is time-consuming and increases the risk of errors.
Eliminates the Need to Log into OTAs:
Once upon a time, the hotel staff would need to log in to Online Travel Agency (OTA) platforms to update reservations and cancellations to ensure optimal bookings and prevent overbookings. Integration updates manually so you save time and cut down on mistakes.
Reduces Overbookings:
Overbookings make a hotel look bad. If a customer deals with an overbooking, they are likely to submit a bad review of your hotel. An integrated system will update automatically making it nearly impossible to overbook.
Increases Bookings: When your PMS system is integrated with your channel manager it will allow you to connect to more channels for a broader range of exposure. Some channel managers can connect with OTAs around the world helping you attract a global audience. It can also help you target demographics, so you reach the type of clients that frequent your hotel.
What are the Various Types of Integrations?
Your PMS hotel system can integrate with other systems as follows:
POS System:
Your PMS can integrate with your point of sale (POS) system to add spa and shop charges to hotel room fees. It will work in real-time to authorize guest status, room number, and billing information and add fees automatically.
CRM:
Integrate your PMS with your CRM to create a guest profile that allows you to offer targeted incentives that boost sales.
Revenue Management:
The integration feature allows you to send rate and availability data to your revenue management system (RMS) to make pricing recommendations according to demand. The rate recommendations are sent through systems automatically, so you don’t have to update them manually.
Mobile Messaging Platform:
Your PMS can integrate with your mobile messaging application to send guests information on reservations and simplify the check-in process.
Reputation Management Systems:
Integrate your PMS with your reputation management system to monitor social media activity and increase online reviews. The PMS will automatically send reservation information to your reputation management system to request and post guest feedback on your platforms.
In-Room Entertainment:
You can integrate your PMS system with your entertainment system to provide a more secure service. The integration will ensure that only registered guests can connect to paid services. More sophisticated systems can automatically charge pay-per-view and internet fees to the reservation.
Energy Management:
Your hotel business can save money and energy by integrating PMS and energy management systems. The system will put rooms into energy-saving mode after checkout ensuring air conditioning and lighting are turned off when they are not in use.
PMS offers its share of conveniences. It will be even more effective when integrated with other systems. Which integrations will you be making to help your hotel run more efficiently?
