Summary: A hotel management software simplifies all your tasks by automating the operations of your hotel. Hoteliers often are confused to select the right hotel software for their business. So here, we have given a complete step-by-step guide to help them solve their concerns. Also, it will provide a clear picture of how to choose the best hotel PMS.
Technology – The great booming engine of change.
Nowadays, technology is growing tremendously in the hospitality industry. Certainly, running a hotel takes much more than delivering impeccable services.
For that reason, hotels across the world are looking forward to adopting new technology i.e. a hotel PMS, for making their on-going operations smooth and efficient. This has given rise to new hotel management systems being developed every other day.
But obviously, if you go to the market to find and select the right hotel software for your property, you’ll be faced with a million dollar question.
HOW to do this?
We know what it takes to find an ideal technology set for a hospitality business. So, here, we’ve listed down the essential steps that are required in evaluating and choosing a proper hotel system for your property.
Table of contents
- Know what is a hotel PMS and its types
- Evaluate your property requirements
- Set a budget for buying a hotel PMS
- Search for a hotel software
- Features to consider in a hotel system
- Questions to ask before purchasing a hotel software
- Take (free) trials of hotel software
- Purchase the right software
- Addressing the frequently asked questions
So first, let’s start with basics.
What is a hotel PMS and its types?
Hotel Property Management System (PMS) is a platform that enables a hotel or group of hotels to manage numerous operations. It is a system that is used for reservation, availability and occupancy management, check-in/out, report generation and much more.
They’ve replaced the traditional pen-paper methods that tend to be quite unmanageable. At present, hotel software handles much more than just these traditional processes.
However, they have been extremely useful in automating day to day operations and enhancing the guest experience. At present, hotel PMS are of two types viz. on-premise or legacy-based systems and online or cloud-based systems.
Types of hotel PMS
Out of the N number of software available in the industry; we’ll be focusing here on its two major types.
Cloud-based Hotel PMS
Cloud-based hotel PMS, is next-gen software, that is generally offered on a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform. This allows the operators to access the software from any internet-enabled device or location.
Cloud or online solutions provide stable output with much less downtime. In comparison to on-premise PMS, cloud-based have fewer installation hassles and IT requirements.
On-premise Hotel PMS
On-premise hotel PMS is installed on the desktop and requires a software license for each server and/or end-user. They are generally easier to customize according to one’s specific needs.
These solutions are supplemented by paying annual maintenance charges (AMC) to ensure the smooth working of the program.
Summarily, both online as well as traditional desktop-based hotel PMS systems, have their fair share of advantages and disadvantages. Think twice and go for the one which perfectly suits your hotel needs and makes your operations easy.
To know more about a hotel management software – click here.
How to evaluate your property requirements?
Investing in property management software is important; but, choosing the RIGHT one is even more important. As it helps in, enhancing revenue and simplifying your hotel operations.
For this, it is very essential to understand the needs and requirements of your hotel and identify what kind of software you need before jumping onto its purchase.
Points to keep in mind before selecting the right property management system:
We’ve highlighted here the few essential questions that you should look into:
1. Will the software automate my day to day operations?
Installing a hotel PMS software will streamline your operations. And, in turn, help optimize every opportunity to boost your revenue. Review and test all the features of the software carefully.
Also, understand how and which operations will be beneficial to your hotel and can help in its smooth functioning. Likewise, many software providers offer FREE TRIAL for their systems to ensure the best customer service.
Try them out before buying!!
2. How can I decide to upgrade from my current hotel PMS?
Simply perform Gap Analysis!! This is a method that involves the comparison of actual performance with potential or desired performance.
Let’s assume, you are already using hotel software, but it doesn’t provide you proper reports of your daily transactions, check-in and check-out etc. This will in-turn hamper your on-going operations.
So, using a software that does not fulfill your basic requirements clearly states that it’s time for you to change or upgrade it to a new one!
Tip: Check out this blog and find out various reasons to replace your current hotel software.
How to set a budget for buying a hotel PMS?
This is the MOST important part that you should consider while evaluating your property requirements.
Case 1: You are already using a software, but are unhappy with what it offers to you. In this case, the first thought that strikes you is, of switching to a new hotel PMS. For this, consider the expense and budget that you need to keep in mind while opting for a new one.
MAKE SURE that the budget you set aside for purchasing the new software DOES NOT exceed more than 5-10% hike in the price you’re paying for your existing system.
Case 2: You are not using any software currently and so are looking to purchase a new one. In this case, make a proper budget and plan out how much you should invest in a property management system.
Keep in mind your capital needs and hotel expenditure. Also, check how effective it is to boost quick returns and enhance your revenue.
However, for both cases, if a particular service provider offers you its solution at a little higher stake with better features in comparison to another hotel PMS software, DO OPT FOR IT!!
Tip: Make a note of the various costs that you need to save up on. REMEMBER a penny saved is a penny earned!! Don’t forget to negotiate with your software provider.
Check out this buyer’s guide to get a fair idea of your requirements and select the right hotel software - compare, analyze and get answers to all your questions.
How and where to search for a hotel software?
Obviously, when we read “search” the first thing that clicks our mind is to search on Google. However, for hoteliers like you, there are several websites available where you can find out the best hotel software for your property. Namely, Capterra, SoftwareAdvice, SoftwareSuggest, HotelTechReport, etc. They regularly create reports on the top-performing hotel software. And, based on them you can evaluate your property requirements.
Make sure while you choose a hotel PMS, you opt for a one that is:
- Easy-to-use
- Cost-effective
- Streamlines your hotel operations and
- MOST IMPORTANTLY fits your requirements as well as is budget-friendly.
Such software will help you to save time and increase efficiency. Thus, resulting in achieving higher returns and achieving your desired goals.
Which features should I consider in a hotel software?
A property management system (PMS) can be one of your property’s greatest assets. While the right software takes your hotel business to the next level; choosing the wrong PMS can make your life miserable too!
Look for these core features that, every hotel software generally offers you to ease down your operations:
- Cloud-based PMS
- Check-in & check-out procedure
- Reservations and offline bookings
- Easy rate management
- Organized hotel housekeeping
- Simplified folio operations
- Multiple profile management
- Manage pay@hotel bookings
- Mobile guest self-service portal
- Email and SMS scheduling
- Security and stability
Explore more such hotel software features from here.
Tip: Opt for a hotel software that gives you a free trial in your own data!
What questions should you ask before purchasing the hotel system?
Make sure that the PMS you choose is adaptable, expandable, and scalable with the emerging technologies and trends of the hotel industry.
Ask away these questions to your hotel software provider before you invest your hard-earned money:
1. Why should I invest in hotel management software?
A hotel management software has more benefits to your business than the costs incurred on its investment. It provides detailed reports on running your business efficiently and helps you make better business decisions.
This will improve your staffs’ efficiency as they spend less time on manual updates. Also, it’ll help to boost your marketing efforts and enhance your revenue.
However, not investing in a hotel software would definitely hamper your business developments.
2. How’s the user experience?
The whole point of using hotel software is to streamline and strengthen your operations. So naturally, it should also be easy to use. A user-friendly interface will help your staff to learn even the most feature-rich system quickly.
Do ensure that your software provider offers you a mobile-friendly PMS. This gives an optimal user experience on tablets as well as smartphones. Although, not considering an effective user experience would in turn toll your staff’s productivity.
3. Is it flexible to run my day-to-day operations?
It is important to check whether the hotel software is easily scalable to grow with your business requirements.
Regardless of whether you’re planning to expand, add rooms, or run with an innovative idea; the hotel property management system should meet all your functional requirements.
4. Can it manage other operations too viz. housekeeping, laundry, etc?
It is essential to have a centralized system to manage all your daily operations. Earlier, log in and log out of multiple systems, handling stacks of registers and utilizing other manual management practices took a lot of time and effort. This, in turn, led to errors.
But, now with an all-inclusive hotel PMS, you can easily manage your most critical tasks from one place. Stay organized and focus on guests rather than working behind the desk. Also, a hotel PMS does offer a single log in for handling operations of your property chains.
5. Is it open to third-party integrations?
Choose a hotel PMS that offers integration with your other systems as well. This would greatly reduce your workload and improve accuracy.
So, integrating your hotel PMS with your existing hardware or software tools is the key to streamline your operations. Viz. PABX, door locking system, cash drawers, payment gateways, ID scanners etc.
For example, integrating your payment gateway with PMS allows credit/debit card payments to be processed directly through the system. Automating such cross-system processes also saves a lot of time and effort.
In addition, having your hotel management software integrated with the booking engine and channel manager; will help in updating live inventories across different channels.
6. Will I be able to get comprehensive reports of transactions?
Reports are an integral part of a hotel business. They help to analyze hotel performance and provide various types of crucial data as required.
Such reports generally include no.of bookings, housekeeping, guest data, revenue management and so on.
Always check, whether the PMS system provider you choose offers a comprehensive set of reports and key performance data.
7. What about the hotels’ data security?
Data security is one of the most important aspects you need to know before selecting a hotel software.
Always look for a hotel PMS that has solid security measures to offer. A system that is PCI DSS certified, GDPR compliant, as well as that, meets regional compliance; suits best for a protected data environment.
In general, a desktop-based property management solution stores the database on a local server while a web-based server stores the hotel data on a dedicated online server.
8. How about the pricing, is it reasonable and budget-friendly?
THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP is, to find out, at what price does the software provider offer you and how would it help in forecasting your ROI.
DO NOT FORGET to consider the time it will save and the revenue it will make, to enhance your hotel business.
Make sure, the benefits should far outweigh the cost incurred and that, it is not heavy on your pocket.
9. How will the hotel software help to overcome challenges and boost revenue?
A complete hotel PMS will help to simplify and streamline your operations. Moreover, devote your quality time to core issues and enhance customer service at your hotel.
Besides, the automated and detailed reports along with overall data analysis will further, assist you in strategizing future business plans.
Along with these few solutions noted here; we have listed down the common challenges that hoteliers like you face.
Tip: Opt for a software provider that offers you an all-in-one integrated hotel solution.
10. Will my hotel staff require extensive training?
Absolutely not, PMS software is very easy-to-use! All it requires is just basic computer knowledge. You can also easily assign different roles and specify access levels to your hotel staff.
Nowadays, software providers also offer you full-fledged product training and demo videos that are easy to understand. They also include training your staff and are always available to solve your queries.
11. Is the PMS vendor company reliable?
Before evaluating or choosing any hotel software, you should always keep in mind whether the company is reliable.
Below are some points to take care of:
- DO check the company’s experience in the hospitality industry.
- HAVE A LOOK at its clientele
- CHECK if it has a substantial and growing customer base.
- MAKE SURE that the company has good credibility in the industry.
- DO READ its product reviews, customer testimonials and case studies.
Note: If all of these seem fine then you are good to purchase the software!!
12. Is the system accessible anywhere anytime?
When it comes to hotel software, make sure that it is up-to-date and offers you the latest technology. Having such a software provider, will not only make your work easier but will also keep you ahead of your competitors.
Choose a hotel PMS system that is easy to use on your mobile device too!! This would maximize your hotel’s productivity and ease your operations.
A mobile-friendly PMS will help you to keep your staff free from the front desk tasks and empower you to provide personalized guest service.
13. Does it have after-sale support, if I get stuck somewhere?
We all know that hotels run 24×7. For this, you may require support at any time of the day. So, it is advisable that the hotel solution you choose should offer you 24×7 online and offline after-sale support.
Along with that, ensure that the vendor has a dedicated technical support team to help you in case you are stuck somewhere or require any support.
Tip: Check reviews of existing clients; this will help you to understand the company’s market position and the support they offer.
14. Does your hotel property management solution meet regional compliances?
When you decide on a PMS for your hotel, don’t forget to ask the vendor whether the system is compliant with the region’s rules and protocols.
For example: India follows a comprehensive single indirect tax called Goods and Service Tax (GST). So, hotels using a property management system (PMS) must ensure that their system is compliant with GST and helps them perform all the GST related functions effortlessly.
Lastly, take (FREE) trials of hotel software
By far you must be well versed with the questions to consider before purchasing a hotel PMS. Now, it’s time for you to actually try out software that meets your hotel’s requirements.
Earlier, we saw the basic features that you should consider while opting for hotel software. Although, you should look for some advanced features that we’ve mentioned here; which very few software providers offer:
- Hotel PMS mobile app
- Guest statistics
- Meal plans and packages
- Third-party integrations.
- Single login for hotel chains
- Free trial of the hotel system in your own data.
- 24*7*365 days customer support
- 100% on-boarding
- Complete product training
If you have a complete set of these features in your hotel software; you are all set to jump high in your business.
Time to purchase the right hotel software
A hotel management tool varies from hotel to hotel, as every property has its own requirements based on their operations. If it meets your requirements, then it is the best software for you to purchase.
eZee is one such company that offers an on-premise as well as online hotel software apt for all property types. Try them out NOW to simplify your hotel operations.
BONUS: eZee Absolute is a cloud-based software that provides all the features mentioned above along with a 14-day free trial!!
Commonly asked questions
On researching a lot, we came up with the below FAQs that generally hoteliers like you may ask. Let’s have a look on it:
There is no such tool as the best hotel management software; it all depends from hotel to hotel. Based on your property requirements you can either opt for a cloud-based or on-premise hotel PMS. If you find any of these software types suitable, then consider it is the best tool for your hotel.
A hotel PMS is suitable for all types of business be it small, mid, or large-sized. The hotel software caters to all property types viz. Hotels, Restaurants, Resorts, Hostels, B&Bs, Serviced Apartments, Guests houses, Chain of Properties as well as Vacation Rentals.
The pricing varies on the number of rooms that your hotel has. Generally, software providers offer multiple subscription plans. So, it completely depends on the type of plan that you select and as per your business requirements.
On the same lines, to know how eZee offers its online hotel management software, you can check out our pricing here.
Here’s a link that shows the most popular software that hotels generally use: Click here! To highlight, eZee’s hotel software ranks 2nd in this list! So, why wait? Start using NOW!
Streamlines your business operations, ultimate guest satisfaction, reduces manual efforts, provides complete hotel performance reports, enhances your revenue, and much more. To check out how eZee’s best in class solutions provides all these benefits, click here!
In conclusion
A hotel management system automates operational processes from check-in to check-out, reports, housekeeping, laundry, user privileges and many more. Adopting a hotel PMS has become a strategic necessity in order to offer quality guest services.
Defining the needs of your property and keeping the above questions in mind will help to choose the right suitable software for your hotel.
Select wisely!
