The modern hotel runs on software. You use software to schedule your employees, track housekeeping supply usage and inventory, and check guests into and out of the property. The problem is that when you have multiple software platforms that you must use every day, the process can become fragmented, time-consuming, and frustrating. There’s good news. Your hotel PMS and POS integration can offer major benefits. What advantages might you find when you combine a PMS and POS together? We’ll explore that in this post, as well as what you should look for in the best POS software for your hotel.
What Is the Difference between a PMS and POS?
Before we go too far, we should explore the differences between a hotel POS and a PMS. While they sound similar, the truth is that they are very different.
PMS – PMS stands for property management system. This is used for both front desk and back-office operations, such as managing housekeeping, making reservations for guests, generating reports, and more. Basically, your PMS handles every single task related to your property outside of selling rooms.
POS – POS stands for point of sale and this system is responsible for managing all the sales on your property, such as restaurant sales, spa sales, and all the rest.
Why Integrate Your Hotel POS and PMS?
Now that we have a bit more clarification on what PMS and POS mean, we need to tackle the obvious question of why you should bother integrating them in the first place. Traditionally, these were standalone systems, so shouldn’t they remain separate?
In a word, no. Why not, though? It all goes back to what we mentioned at the beginning – it leads to a fragmented experience, greater time consumption, and challenges connecting the dots. In short, not integrating your hotel POS system with your PMS is a major mistake that could be costing you a lot of time and money. It also means that you’re missing out on some key benefits.
Make Upselling Easier
Having a spa, a restaurant, or offering other services can be great ways to add to your bottom line. However, they make things more complicated, as well. Many hotels struggle to upsell things like food and beverage, spa services, tour options, and the like because their POS and PMS systems are separate. By integrating your hotel POS with the PMS, you make it easier to upsell all these things to your guests as add-ons.
Simplify Billing on Checkout
How accurate is the billing aspect of your checkout process? Chances are good that things slip through the cracks or that it takes a long time to check guests out because of the need to integrate add-ons and other charges to their stay. By integrating your hotel POS with the PMS, you can take advantage of important features like transfer-to-room and city ledger to make it easier to bill guests during checkout.
Sell Packages More Easily
Packages offer your guests a lot of value while providing an additional stream of income for your property. However, they can be challenging to manage without the right tools. By integrating a POS module into your hotel PMS, you have access to in-depth financial reports that provide you with the information necessary to make selling packages easier.
Choosing the Right Hotel POS System
While PMS/POS integration offers a lot of benefits, it is important that you choose the best POS software for your needs. That can be challenging if you’ve never shopped around for this type of software, though. The best option is to compare your choices based on features and capabilities, but that requires knowing which features are most important.
- Unlimited POS Outlets – Look for a hotel POS system that can support unlimited POS outlets so you can manage all the services at your property. This can include everything from your restaurant to minibars to the spa and even your travel desk.
- Direct Billing – In addition to unlimited POS outlets, make sure that the system you choose offers direct billing to the guest’s room, to the guest themselves, or the company (in the case of corporate travelers). With multiple options available at the time of purchase, you never have to worry about a sale falling through the cracks.
- Touchscreen Technology – The best POS software should be easy to use, but that goes beyond the design of the software itself. You should have access to a touchscreen that enables you to complete tasks faster and navigate through the various features and functions with ease.
- Cloud-Based – You’ll find that you have two choices when it comes to hotel POS software: on-premises software and cloud-based software. Cloud-based POS systems offer flexibility and ease of access, ensuring that any staff member with a mobile device can access the system.
- Custom Deal Creation – Look for a hotel POS that allows you to create custom deals and discount programs, and then manage those programs easily. The POS should support automatic discount application when guests are eligible for services provided by any POS outlet, whether that’s at your spa, your restaurant, or somewhere else on the property.
- Restaurant and Spa Management – The hotel POS that you choose should make it simpler to manage your restaurant and spa by supporting multiple menus, menu customization, and custom order processing for your guests to ensure that they get what they want every single time.
Choose Hotelogix for PMS and POS Integration
At Hotelogix, we offer a feature-rich hotel POS and PMS system. Skip the hassle of integrating separate systems and see for yourself just how simple managing your entire property can be with the right tools. Cloud-based and powerful, flexible, and customizable, our hotel management system with POS functionality ensures that you’re able to run a profitable hotel while delivering an outstanding experience to your guests every single time.
Don’t take our word for it, though. Claim your free trial and put our feature-rich software to work right in your hotel with no risk. Alternatively, schedule a demo with one of our representatives to learn more about the various features on offer and how they can fit your needs. It has never been simpler to sell packages, upsell add-ons, and accurately bill guests at checkout while providing them with a seamless experience.
