When it comes to increasing revenue in the hotel industry, more bookings are the name of the game. Today, hoteliers have technology at their fingertips that can help them increase bookings faster than ever before.
Hotel management software helps hotels function efficiently. This technology optimizes day-to-day operations, but also, optimizes marketing and online bookings to increase occupancy. Overall, the hotel management technology of today presents an exciting opportunity for hoteliers.
Latest Hotel Technology
It wasn’t so long ago when hotels were taking reservations by pen and paper. This process was inefficient, both for the customer and the staff, and resulted in wasted time and opportunities.
Luckily, technology has helped hotels evolve into much more efficient businesses. Problems of the past such as overbooking, human error, lacking word-of-mouth, and more have been solved with tech.
Two of the latest hotel technology tools are property management systems and channel managers. This software is crucial to any modern hotel’s success. We’ll explain why these technologies are so important below.
Property Management System (or PMS)
A property management system is a super tool to increase efficiency at any hotel. The functions of a property management system cover a wide array of purposes, including front desk tools, back-office tools, housekeeping applications, and more.
In short, the PMS provides all staff with a functional, all-in-one, central dashboard. From this dashboard, staff can easily access important information. The PMS stores and organizes data such as upcoming check-ins and check-outs, special accommodation requests, housekeeping progress, and more.
Some property management systems today are cloud-based. This adds another layer of utility to an already useful platform. With a cloud-based PMS, staff can access their property dashboard from any device.
Staff can log in on their smartphone, tablet, or laptop and utilize all features of the software. This makes it simple for staff to multi-task, a skill that is vital in hospitality jobs.
A housekeeper can mark off what rooms are ready for guests as they finish them, with a simple click on their smartphone. Front desk employees can help a guest bring bags to their car while simultaneously checking them out on their tablets.
Apart from the superb operational tools that a PMS provides, property management platforms are also able to aggregate data and create reports. These reports are useful for managers and executives. By automatically tracking the operational and financial trends of the hotel, the PMS ensures management never misses an opportunity for growth.
Channel Manager (or CM)
A channel manager is an important tool for hotels looking to increase their online bookings. Today, many online bookings for hotels happen on OTAs (online travel agencies). OTAs are websites like Expedia.com that offer a way for travelers to quickly compare and book hotels.
Taking advantage of OTAs is crucial to staying competitive in today’s hotel landscape. OTAs allow your hotel to garner more attention from a larger group of people. However, before the technology of a CM, there was one major problem: how does anyone keep track?
When you have bookings coming in from the dozens of OTAs, plus direct bookings, it would be hard to manually keep up. Double booking would be frequent, resulting in frustrated guests and staff! Thankfully, the technology of a channel manager is here to help.
A channel manager is an application that integrates between OTAs and your direct bookings. The channel manager can automatically update your OTA listings, to reflect your current availability. With a channel manager, you can ensure your OTA listings are always accurate.
Channel management systems help hoteliers make more money, without more work. Using a CM is proven to decrease vacancy and benefit the overall health of the hotel.
How Integrating a CM and a PMS Help Hotels Function More Efficiently
A hotel’s PMS oversees its direct operations, which include direct bookings from the hotel website. A property management system is a robust and effective tool on its own but is even better when paired with a CM.
A channel manager will integrate into your PMS software to understand what rooms are already booked. The channel manager will then update all third-party listings to ensure they are reflecting accurate availability information.
When hoteliers use a CM that’s integrated with their property management system, they get the best of both worlds. A property management system can effectively manage its operational and direct bookings while relying on the integrated CM to increase its revenue by accurately listing available rooms on OTA sites.
Although a PMS is helpful on its own, it’s not truly complete until integrated with a channel manager. The channel manager makes the biggest difference when it comes to seeing positive changes in revenue and occupancy for hoteliers.
Hotelogix PMS Integration With CM
When you integrate a channel with Hotelogix PMS, you can expect a seamless and error-free experience. Hotelogix Channel Manager Connect is user-friendly and easily integrated with front desk software.
Hotelogix Channel Manager comes with a 2-way interface. What this means is hotels get the ability to post available listings across several channels while ensuring any bookings, whether direct or indirect, are being updated in real-time by the CM.
When hoteliers choose Hotelogix Channel Manager Connect, they enjoy several benefits, including:
- Quick and automated updates of available rooms across all channels.
- Ease in generating more reservations quickly through implemented Flash Sales or similar methods.
- Real-time room availability, updated constantly, available to the on-site staff through the Hotelogix front desk application.
- Adaptability to guests booking trends and mentality.
- 2-way integration that ensures the direct booking engine and OTAs display accurate information at all times.
- Smart occupancy management with lists of updated inventory, one-click cancellations, and detailed check-out lists.
- And more!
Hotelogix is the premier option for hoteliers that want a PMS and CM that work seamlessly in unison.
Plus, Hotelogix Channel Manager Connect software easily integrates with the most popular channel managers today.
Unlike other PMS software, Hotelogix PMS is compatible with a wide variety of channel managers. We can usually integrate outside of the most common channel managers. Our PMS is agile and adaptable for every hotelier’s needs.
Bottom Line
Utilizing a CM and PMS that can work seamlessly together results in a more efficient and profitable hotel. When implemented in unison, these tools can greatly increase revenue and decrease operational errors.
Every savvy hotelier knows technologies, like a property management system and integrated channel manager, are the way forward in this competitive industry.
