Why You Need a Web Based Property Management System – Part II

Better marketability of properties online via a branded website – Being able to effectively advertise your property online is considered quite critical in the hospitality industry today. It is important for the businesses to have their own customized websites that can be updated automatically based on the availability of rooms/facilities from the database. The website also acts as an important interface between the guests and the property. Guests can post their inquiries with their contact information on the website and can also make online reservations. All updations are done in real-time and any changes are reflected immediately on the website, leading to no confusions about the availability.

Software updates and maintenance – When your property management software is located on a remote server online, your company doesn’t have to be concerned about updating it regularly. You can have a prior arrangement with vendor, who can update the software on a regular basis as and when upgrades are available. There are two significant advantages of this feature. First, your system is always up to date, giving users the most reliable information and experience possible. All new features are made immediately available to everyone, as soon as they are incorporated in the software, no matter where all the users are located. Second, all this can be done with no additional cost to the property owner (depending on terms and conditions of software vendor). With this feature, you will no longer need the expertise of special IT staff, thereby reducing your budget and increasing your return on investment (ROI).

Data Recovery and Data Protection – Online property management system vendors normally have special contingency measures in place to ensure continuous access to the data and software in the event of any untoward circumstances. There are also data recovery methods in place to avoid any significant loss of digital property. This means that the databases are backed up regularly on to other servers based in different locations. Hence in the event of any disaster, data can always be recovered from the unaffected servers almost instantly. The cost of such service is normally spread across various users, so that no one company has to bear the high costs of hardware and software associated with such service.

If we review the increasing popularity of Windows live and Google docs that allow users to store information online and access it from anywhere any time, we’ll come to understand that we have moved on to a different era Of technology. Hotel establishments cannot neglect this fact for long. As more and more hospitality businesses adopt and take advantage of online property management systems, they will gain a natural advantage over their competitors.

I’ll suggest that you review one such very efficient property management system called Hotelogix that is rapidly changing the way small and mid-size hotel establishments are doing their businesses. I’m sure once you have gone over its features, you would want to graduate to a better way of doing things in your hotel.