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A retail business needs to analyse every aspect of their operations in order to improve efficiency and thus reduce costs.

POS Systems Enhance Efficiency and Reduce Overheads

A retail store entails a massive number of operations on a daily basis and the more you can streamline and automate these operations, the lower your costs will be

The 3CX Hotel Module is an add-on that turns the 3CX Phone System into a full-featured hotel PBX, and through the new integration, can now interface directly with Hotel Concepts’ IDPMS or Brilliant PMPRO. This enhancement provides hoteliers with a host of additional features relevant to property operations. Unlike other PBX providers that charge extraordinarily high premiums for these hotel-specific enhancements, the 3CX Hotel Module is extremely affordable, since it leverages low-cost VoIP technology.

Unique features of the 3CX Hotel Module now integrated with IDPMS and PMPRO include: The ability to automatically reset the guest PBX upon check-in and checkout, adding or removing the guest’s name on the voicemail system and deleting any leftover recordings; The option to block external calls to and from particular guestrooms upon request; The scheduling of automated wakeup calls; Guests’ names are displayed to receptionists when making in-house calls; Call billing automatically integrated into guest folios; The ability for housekeepers to deliver status updates and execute minibar charges through guestroom PBX phones.

As the hotel and travel market continues to trend toward integrated technology solutions that make operations more streamlined and cost-efficient, Hotel Concepts – Brilliant is an ideal partner for us to help meet that growing need,” Martin added.

The 2014 edition of PKF’s Caribbean Trends in the Hotel Industry reported that last year marked the third in a row that the region’s hotels saw double-digit percentage growth in net operating income, and it was the highest annual growth in operating profits since 2008.

Rooms rates accounted for 56.8% of total revenue, the largest source of revenue for the properties in the sample. Food and beverage sales accounted for 28.8% of total revenue, and retail and recreational outlets another 12.7%.

“Caribbean hotels have unique operating challenges that result in relatively higher expenses,” said Scott Smith, member of the Appraisal Institute and a vice president in PKF’s Atlanta office.

ome restaurants are already moving towards replacing menus with either M-POS tablets or fixed kiosks at tables which customers can use to

ome restaurants are already moving towards replacing menus with either M-POS tablets or fixed kiosks at tables which customers can use to

ome restaurants are already moving towards replacing menus with either M-POS tablets or fixed kiosks at tables which customers can use to

H°eats pads-for-delivery allows restaurants and caterers the ability to stay operational as they shift from on-premise dining to a take-out/delivery model or if the need for mobile, flexible and agile food services is required. H°eats pads-for-delivery is a water-activated, flame-free, self-heating pad that is placed between two food pans, disposable foil or stainless steel. It provides safe, reliable, flame free heat for up to two hours and offers a new way for foodservice operators to continue operations when take-out or delivery is the main focus or the demands on the operator extends beyond the limitations of the existing infrastructure. H°eats pads-for-delivery's low cost and 30 second activation, are the perfect choice for a restaurant's take-out/delivery contingency plan. H°eats pads-for-delivery also allows foodservice operators the ability to scale up their feeding operations immediately, to meet the demands of increasing demand for services during emergency situations. H°eats pads-for-delivery integrates seamlessly with existing equipment and supplies and does not require accessories or special equipment to purchase

Features and benefits of H°eats pads-for-delivery include: Activates and operational in less than 30 seconds Low cost per activation Safe, non-toxic, reliable flame-free heat Requires up to 90% less water than traditional food warming methods No special equipment to operate, integrates with existing equipment and supplies First orders can be shipped within 24 hours *subject to availability

Singapore’s Changi Airport Group (CAG), which operates the seventh busiest airport for international traffic and has received multiple awards for customer experience, has created a “digital factory” inside the airport to drive continued innovation.

“Picture a startup environment where employees begin by thinking about what the customer wants and work backwards from there - experimenting rapidly to develop innovative products and services,”

“DIVA is enabling CAG to re-evaluate how the airport operates and develop digital solutions to ensure that it remains a world-class leader.”

oving forward, the protection of personal health will now be on par with protection of personal financial information.  Whether restaurant operators like it or not, these responsibilities are now table stakes for the restaurant industry and the new fundamentals for delivering the ultimate dining experience

For those of us keeping an eye on technology in hotels, it can be difficult to discern what trends are here to stay and what trends are simply a marketing stunt.

Venture capitalists are finally starting to recognize the opportunity to invest in tools and platforms that allow hotels to capture new levels of hotel operations efficiency and revenue growth.

Cloudbeds offers an all-in-one suite of tools, including a property management system, channel manager, booking engine, and revenue manager, growing revenue and automating workflows at more than 20,000 properties.

Is cloud computing secure?If you invest in a cloud Hotel Property Management System (PMS), then you won’t need to store any data onsite; it simply resides on a server elsewhere (it could even be in another country)

In reality, the opposite is true, because if you choose the right cloud-based Hotel PMS, then your operations will benefit from some of the best cybersecurity in the business. You’re unlikely to have enterprise-level security and firewalls, intrusion detection and industry-standard SSL encryption in-house, but the cloud PMS delivers all those protections for a fraction of the cost.

Cloud computing relies on a robust Internet connection and a device of your choosing.

Underpinning this is an intermeshing of technology development, shifts in demographics, and globalisation which has also brought about rapid urbanisation

This in turn has led to a change consumers’ expectations and needs

Although disruptions are commonly perceived by incumbent players as threats to their businesses, disruptors could also be sources of significant opportunities for incumbent players to create newer and better services as well as experiences for their guests, hence entrenching themselves even more within the industry. 

Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading provider of innovative information technology and hospitality software solutions, today announced that Indigo Sky Casino and Hotel in Wyandotte, Okla., has selected a comprehensive software suite from Agilysys, including solutions for property management, point-of-sale and inventory and procurement.

"Casino-hotels that want to be successful in a competitive market must implement technology that helps them strengthen operations across the entire property," said Jim Dennedy, president and chief executive officer of Agilysys.

"Our comprehensive and feature-rich solutions for property management, point-of-sale and inventory and procurement will help Indigo Sky maximize staff productivity, enhance efficiency and increase revenue. Moreover, these systems will help streamline guest service from arrival through departure."

Firstly, upfront investment is lower with the cloud as there are no initial hardware costs or associated expenses such as full time, in-house IT staff to maintain the system. Secondly, hotels like the idea of taking the headache and distractions of IT off their site, leaving them free to focus on the day-to-day business of looking after their guests.

tablets and smartphones revolutionise the way we interact with technology.

City Nites accesses its hotel management system on Apple iPads to eliminate old-fashioned, manual registration desk processes. This enables hotel team members to 'meet and greet' their guests at any location, improving the personalisation of the check-in experience and reducing the costs associated with static reception desks and all their technology at each location.

These results show that there is still a lack of the optimal use of the PMS in hotels as there is not enough training for its use provided to the employees

The hotels in our sample show higher occupancy levels when hotels allocate more budget to training for PMS. Also, occupancy levels are higher when a combination of BOTH in- house training PLUS training through the PMS supplier is employed

This research supports that the (previously reported) under-utilization of the PMS may be due to the lack of training and budget! This research indicates that the training provided is mostly internal and not with the PMS supplier.

Whether you are into hospitality & housekeeping, guarding & security or maintenance & engineering services, you actually put the smile back on customers’ faces. However, this is no easy task. You need to manage major roadblocks like attrition, disconnect between operations and payroll, service continuity, on-time and accurate billing, compliance, etc., which hamper your day-to-day operations and strategic growth. Allow Abaris to transform your business process, to accelerate your success.

We cater to different segments in this industry, namely: Hospitality/ Housekeeping Services – Hospitality/ Housekeeping Service Providers can manage all aspects of their business including lead management, sales, operations scheduling and billing, to contract termination. They can benefit from special features such as zone-based deployment to sites, and Rostering to improve employee-wise plans.

Security/Guarding Services – Security and Guarding Service Providers can use Abaris ERP on Cloud to mount hurdles specific to their industry, often characterized by unorganized departments spanning multiple sites & customers, and complex processes. Apart from a complete view and integrated management of their business, they can also improve resource deployment and timely billing.

LBA Hospitality Partners with M3 Accounting + Analytics to Enhance Accounting Processes and Increase Efficiencies July, 31 2013 M3 Accounting + Analytics Seeking to update and streamline accounting processes for its 70-plus Southeast properties, Dothan, Ala.-based Larry Blumberg & Associates, Inc. (LBA Hospitality) recently announced an expanded partnership with M3 Accounting + Analytics, the national leader in hotel-specific accounting software, operations reporting, and business analytics. “If we are to continue to be an industry leader, we must have the ability to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and provide accurate, real-time and relevant information for our management team and owners,” said LBA President Beau Benton.  LBA sought the ability to swiftly handle budgets, forecasts, and reports, and to dissect business data, all while insuring that the back-office accounting platform functionality was state-of-the-art and industry-specific.  In choosing M3, Benton cited how the company integrates accounting, business intelligence, and reporting, while eliminating most redundancy, software investment and annual hardware/software maintenance. In addition, Benton and LBA were looking for continual and automatic upgrades, backup and disaster protection, and minimized downtime.  LBA is implementing the full suite of M3 products: accounting through the AccKnowledge platform, time, attendance and labor management through the newly released RightTime solution and LaborWatch, and payroll services through RightPay. The company will also continue to use M3 Link business intelligence reporting, as LBA will be expanding it to bring financial data, operating stats, Smith Travel feeds and guest satisfaction data (including verbatim responses) into one completely customizable dashboard. LBA, which launched its business by developing a Sheraton Inn in 1973, is rapidly growing its management business and securing more and more agreements from sophisticated owners and investors.   Scott Watson, M3 Vice President of Sales & Marketing, said, “While our core product remains our accounting solution, we’ve continued to evolve and offer new products and services that meet the current and future needs of the hospitality industry. It is truly exciting that our product platform will help Beau and LBA achieve the aggressive growth they are anticipating over the next five years.”  The implementation and training process for all LBA properties is expected to be complete by December 1.  About LBA Hospitality Based in Dothan, Ala., LBA Hospitality is a hospitality management company focused on maximizing return, safeguarding assets and enhancing value. Founded in 1973, the company now manages 70 properties throughout the Southeast, from Texas to Virginia. More information is available at http://www.LBAHospitality.com.  About M3 Accounting + Analytics M3 is the national leader in hotel-specific accounting software, operations reporting, business intelligence and analytics, processing more than $8 billion in financial transactions for more than 3,000 properties. M3’s integrated suite of hospitality accounting products includes: AccKnowledge, Link, payroll and labor management services, and document imaging and retrieval – all designed to help provide hotel operators, owners and managers unsurpassed access to the information they need in the most integrated and cost-effective manner. The company was founded in Gainesville, Ga. in 1998, and also has a base of operations in Tampa, Fla. More information is available at www.M3AS.com. 

“If we are to continue to be an industry leader, we must have the ability to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and provide accurate, real-time and relevant information for our management team and owners,” said LBA President Beau Benton.  

continue to be an industry leader, we must have the ability to meet the requirements of our stakeholders and provide accurate, real-time and relevant information for our management team and owners,” said LBA President Beau Benton.  

Several vendors are developing new systems, though none have yet approached the rich functionality of older products with years of enhancements built into them.  At the same time, many multiproperty brands are looking to replace their existing standard property management systems, but as their strategic emphasis has shifted from central reservations (CRS) to customer relationship management (CRM) they’ve been wondering whether the new PMS really needs to have as much functionality as the old one.

Some brands developed their own PMSs, such as Marriott’s FSPMS and FOSSE, Starwood’s Galaxy and Hilton’s OnQ; others standardized on third-party systems. However, in all cases they mandated only the PMS and left it up to the individual properties to decide what to use for their other operational areas.  As a result, several vendors who concentrated on chain-hotel business focused on producing pure PMSs, with functionality covering the traditional core of individual and group reservations, check-in/checkout, folio charges, housekeeping/rooms management and the all-important CRS interface. MSI, RoomKey, Galaxy, SkyTouch and Infor’s epitome and HMS are examples.

Other vendors looking more to the independent and resort market expanded their PMSs to include sales and catering, spa/golf/activity management, CRM and sometimes even POS, both retail and food and beverage. For this segment of the market these integrated PMS applications (from vendors such as Agilysys, IQware, NORTHWIND and PAR Springer-Miller Systems) became their most strategic system. A few companies (including Cenium, IDS, Indra and Prologic First) have taken it even further, extending out into full ERPs that cover every operational area including financial and supply chain operations. MICROS falls between the two camps, offering a well-integrated PMS/S&C/CRS suite but relying on third parties for guest activity management and financial systems.

rGuest Stay is a next-generation property management system ('PMS') that helps hotel operators streamline guest service, ensure payment security and boost efficiency.

rGuest

rGuest Stay is a next-generation property management system ('PMS') that helps hotel operators streamline guest service, ensure payment security and boost efficiency.

Aptech Computer Systems announced La Corsha Hospitality Group implemented the PVNG Enterprise Accounting System across 10 properties.

La Corsha (LCHG) operates a mix of managed and owned properties across Texas that includes hotels, restaurants and a multi-city parking company.

"We converted to PVNG Enterprise Accounting because LCHG wanted a web-based system that could handle its varied mix of hotels and restaurants with the flexibility of remote operations.