UNIT-5 PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

CONTENT

❏ PMS

❏ IMPORTANCE OF PMS

❏ FACTORS FOR NEED & PURCHASE OF PMS BY HOTEL(FIDELIO,

IDS, SHAWMAN, OPERA)

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PMS)

A property management system (PMS) is a software application for the operations
of hospitality accommodations and commercial residential rental properties. PMS is
also used in manufacturing industries, local government and manufacturing.

A generic term used to describe the application of computer hardware and software in
managing the interface of various departments of a hotel.

Examples of PMS:

● Fidelio
● IDS
● PMS
● Visual Oui
● Opera PMS
 ● In Front
● CLS

Interface with other softwares –

1. Energy Management System (EMS)

2. Human Resource System (HRS)
3. Material Management System (MMS)
4. Accounting System
5. Point Of Sale System.

SELECTION OF PMS

The steps involved in selection of a Property Management System are:

STEP 1: Identification of Need

Firstly an analysis is done to determine whether there is a need for a computerized

system or not.

The following steps are followed in this process:

1. Selection of a team comprising the representation from all the departments at all
levels from all the shifts to analyse the needs. .
2. Analyze the flow of guests through the visit to the hotel i.e. an analysis of the
guest cycle.
3. Analyze the flow of information from other departments to the front office e.g.
billing information, room status information etc.
4. Analyze the administrative paperwork produced in other departments.
5. Evaluate the needs that have been identified in terms of importance.
 6. Combine the needs to determine the desired applications.

STEP 2:Software Selection

● Today, software is available in modules to cater to different areas in a hotel.

● Based on requirement, as deduced from the needs analysis in step 1, a hotel may
go in for the entire PMS or parts thereof.
● Proper software selection is very important, as it involves a heavy investment.
● Configured or customized as per the need of the hotel.

STEP 3: Hardware Selection

● The hardware should be selected to run the needed software.

● The basic factors to consider here are the Processor speed, Disc drives, I/O Port
for connecting peripheral devices & for networking, Monitors/ touch screens,
Keyboards, Printers, Modems and Supplies: paper, forms, ribbons, ink, toner,
cartridge, floppies, DA T, CD-RW etc.

The other factors to be kept on mind while selecting the hardware are:

Positioning of hardware: based on the workflow analysis done during needs

analysis.

How does it benefit the guest, who will operate it, who all will require access to
the system at that position.

Climatic condition: whether air-conditioning required/not esp. in back-of-the-

house areas.

Ergonomics: psychological & physiological effect of computers on people.

STEP 4: OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

1. Vendor Claims: Claims made by the supplier. One must inquire about the
product from the current users of the same; whether they are satisfied using the
system, problems faced by them in using the system.
 2. Installation plans: Proper planning of installation is essential for maintaining
guest services & employee morale. One must have a complete plan laid out for
installation of hardware & cabling in different areas of the hotel; also, who shall
be installing the hardware & who shall be installing cables.

3. Training: Classroom & on-the-job training provided by the vendor or not. If

yes, charged or inclusive. Whether a training module has been provided or not.
Documentation of procedures.
4. Back-up power sources: Provision of UPS.
5. Maintenance agreement: The cost of repair & replacement of hardware &
software. Emergency services.

STEP 5:FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS

● The decision regarding purchase or rental of a PMS since heavy investment can
tie-up the cash flow of an organization.
● Also, if cost benefits are not realistically projected, profits may be difficult to
come by.
● analyse the savings in terms of overtime paid to the employees, losses due to late
charges, cost of marketing database collection, wastage of
● advantages of outright purchase, discount for full payment in cash, finance
charges, depreciation.
● advantages of lease: continuance of cash flow, application of lease payments to
purchase price, tax advantages of leasing etc.

PMS APPLICATIONS

The modules of an ideal PMS are as follows:

Reservations

1. Guest data
 2. Room inventory
3. Deposits
4. Special requests
5. Blocking
6. Arrivals
7. Departures
8. VIP
9. Projected occupancy
10. Travel agents
11. Guest messages
12. Reports

Registration

1. Reservations
2. Guest Data
3. Room inventory
4. Room status
5. Security
6. Reports
7. Self check-in

Room status

1. Room inventory
2. Availability
3. Reports

Posting

1. Point of sale
2. Room
 3. Tax
4. Transfer
5. Adjustments
6. Paid out
7. Miscellaneous charges
8. Phone
9. Display folio
10. Reports

Call Accounting

1. Guest information
2. Employee information
3. Post charges
4. Messages
5. Wake-up calls
6. Reports

Checkout

1. Folio
2. Adjustments
3. Cashier
4. Back office transfer
5. Reports
6. Guest History

Night Audit

1. Guest charges
2. Department totals
3. City ledger
 4. Cashier
5. Financial reports
6. Housekeeping

Inquiries! Reports

1. Reservations
2. Registrations
3. Checkouts
4. Housekeeping
5. Credit balances

Back Office

1. Accounts payable
2. Accounts receivable
3. Payroll
4. Budgets
5. General ledger
6. Reports

Housekeeping

1. Room availability
2. Personnel assignments
3. Analysis
4. Housekeeper’s report
5. Equipment supplies inventory
6. Maintenance requests

Food and Beverage

1. Point of sale
 2. Posting
3. Cashier reports
4. Food/beverage inventory
5. Recipes
6. Sales control
7. Sales production analysis
8. Labour analysis

Maintenance
1. Review work ordeR
2. Status
3. Cost/ labour analysis
4. Inventory
5. Repair cost analysis
6. Energy usage analysis
7. Guest room power start

Security

1. Keys, 2. Fire alarm

2. Burglar alarm, 4. Security code transactions

Marketing_ and sales

1. Guest history, 2. Word-processing, 3. Client file, 4. Banquet files, 5. Desktop

publishing, 6.Reports, 7. Travel agencies

Personnel

1. Employee file, 2. Job control list, 3. Word processing, 4. Analysis, 5.Reports

Electronic Mail
 1. Security codes, 2. Mail, 3. Hard copy

Time clock

1. Security codes, 2. Personal identification number, 3. In, 4. Out, 5. Analysis, 6.

Reports

FIDELIO

A Hotel Management System (HMS) Fidelio is a completely integrated system package

designed to maximize the efficiency of the hotel. Fidelio is one of the world’s best selling
front office systems, and it is the system of choice for Hilton International, Inter
Continental, Mandarin Oriental, Forte, CIGA and many other chains and
independents around the globe.
Fidelio created the original electronic room rack. Complete, graphical plan illustrations
of each floor allow your front office staff to monitor and control the occupancy of
every room in the building. Using a system of twelve different colour codes, the status
of each room is visible at a glance – either currently, or at some future date. Yellow
indicates a room is “clean and vacant”, blue is “dirty and arrival expected”, and so on.
Reservations data can also be shown in tabulated form to give an overall occupancy
picture for any specific day.
For group bookings, from the most complex convention to airline allotments, the
group and block management functions handle it all. Master billing, split rates,
staggered arrivals, package plans, group history, room type control, block forecasts and
traces – they all help to optimize group business, without the time consuming
paperwork.
As well as handling room management, FIDELIO Front Office maintains all guests’
accounts, and offers numerous other facilities such as mailing, word processing, and
customized printout of confirmation letters, guest messages and other documents.
( Source : Fidelio’s brochure).
It is highly flexible and user friendly interface which means that the hotel staff learns the
system easily. It has a special training module which enables the learner to work and
learn quickly. Fidelio is one of the most advanced Hotel Management Software and is
Munich based. To save Fidelio from any virus, the software has its own special file. If
the virus gets into the system Fidelio detects it and leads it into a non-usable file from
the main database file and locks it. An additional software called ‘Red Alert’ can also be
used with this system.

Importance of Fidelio in Inter-Department

1. Promotes functionality of all departments wherever installed.

2. Reduces paperwork and saves money on extra stationery.
3. Eliminates communication gap between departments and helps in providing
quality service to the guests. The inter-departmental coordination leads to an
attitudinal development in the staff.
4. Between departments it saves time and reduces workload, thereby increasing
productivity.
5. Helps in upkeeping of the hotel’s goodwill with the guest.

IDS

IDS or internet distribution system is one of the most important tools in promotion of
the hotel globally. IDS for hotels is highly recommended which has pioneered online
booking and reservation of hotel rooms worldwide.
IDS for hotels is highly recommended for the small and midsize hotel entities that are
trying to force their place in the competitive hospitality market. The IDS for hotels
connects your hotel with around 11,000 online travel portals including some popular
hotel booking websites like Expedia, Orbitz, Hotwire, TravelNow, Travelocity,
Booking.com, hotels.de, hotels.com, Agoda, Priceline, Lastminute.com and many
more.

Benefits of the IDS for hotels:

Presence across the Globe: Most important and vital advantage that IDS offers to the
hotels is the worldwide presence. The Internet has simplified life and online booking
and reservation of hotel rooms has specifically made things easier for the customer to
plan and schedule visits to different destinations without sweating around the offices of
travel agents.
Online booking is very popular and when it comes to hotel rooms it is the most
preferred medium to reservation. Being an online entity, anyone can visit the website
and search you – hotels, without any problem to book the rooms. This gives hotels a lot
of visibility among the customers and it can be accessed from any part of the world
without any help from anyone else.
Easy Connectivity: because the internet distribution system is totally an online thing,
hotel management systems can easily connect with different distribution channels
without any problems. Over 11,000 websites and 6, 50,000 travel agents across the
world are reachable on the internet. IDS for hotels allow the travel agents to see the
hotel rates and availability in real time with photos and information that helps travel
agents and their customers in making a decision.
Broaden Market Reach: In the conventional system hotels used telephones and travel
agents to create a market for their business but the reach was always constrained. The
internet has no such hurdle. It is easily accessible and reachable beyond boundaries
which means anyone can access the hotel from any part of the world through the
internet. This open for all system allows hotels to penetrate deeper into the global
market.
There are many other benefits of the IDS for hotels which is why most of the hoteliers
are now choosing to step up to the IDS and make themselves visible to the world.

Shawman

The ShawMan POS is state of the art plug and play software supporting multiple styles
of operations ranging from a small Fast food outlet, Coffee shops, Fine Dining
operations, large Mall to a large Leisure / Spa Resort. ShawMan POS is currently in use
by leading hotel chains, restaurants, fast food chains, malls, entertainment centers and
corporations.
Key features of ShawMan POS
● Enables control of remotely located outlets from a central head office with rule
based setups & process definition and consolidation of data, which is automated
at time of day-end/closing.
● Support for multi – currency
● Orders can be taken for “A la Carte”, No charge, Board
● Choice of different style sheets for F&B operation like Fine Dining, Regular,
Counter Sale, Around-the-Clock, Room Service as well as Non F&B Direct
Biller & Leisure.
● Provision for Franchisor – Franchisee style of operation
● Can constantly update the Chef’s specialty, Seasonal and Non-available items,
Happy hour and On the house items.
● Descriptive free flow text / coded modifiers with or without a charge
● Software Supports Multiple Food & Beverage & non F&B Outlets at Hotels &
Clubs & service apartments.
● Automatic prompts for compulsory modifiers, parcel orders, remotely
communicate with the kitchen every variation and customer request
● Multiple settlement types possible
● Reservation diary for guest bookings
● Remote Printing of KOT’s to 20 pre-defined distant locations per outlet.
● Member entry management system using magnetic cards
● Debit card system enabled
● Canteen management system
● The POS software also supports Smart cards for CRM applications.
● PoratPOS – The Pocket PC (PDA) application for complete Wi-Fi operations
● Digidiner – A virtual view of the restaurant
● KDS – Kitchen display system
● Supports touch screen as well Keyboard operations