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In 2012, with an eye on becoming more competitive, hotels are looking in to becoming more effective in their revenue management strategies and maximizing business efficiency by integrating their online distributions with their PMS and RMS systems.

SiteMinder is the world's leading online distribution company used by thousands of accommodation providers. It helps increase revenue through online services, and lower acquisition costs. Online bookings sites like Orbitz, Expedia, and Booking.com can be accessed for a monthly flat rate and 0% comission fee. This article also discusses the importance of social sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and an increase in consumer sites like Groupon.

A key focus for hoteliers around the world in 2012 will be the integration of their online distribution with their Property Management Systems (PMS) and Revenue Management Systems (RMS) to make their online reach faster, simpler and more powerful. It means that many accommodation providers will switch their channel management strategy from the "legacy" manual channel management products of yesterday to technologies capable of providing fully automated, two- way, seamless integration between online booking channels and their PMS, CRS or RMS systems.

In the highly competitive hospitality industry, it is the intangibles that encourage guests to spend more, provide positive feedback and return to the property in the future. The most powerful of these intangibles is service. No amount of hiring, training or incentives can ensure top-notch service if employees don't have appropriate systems providing information at their fingertips. In addition, as properties incorporate more services and amenities, the need to integrate these functions becomes increasingly challenging - and important. Here more and more hotels use the PMS, Property Management System. As we know, the PMS also has the function that developed to administer a seamless process in the management of a hotel's room inventory and audit, customer relations, as well as invoicing and billing, the Amadeus PMS features inter-hotel communication capability for hotel chains and an email confirmation facility. We compare PMS to the other system webrezpro. We find that the PMS is more and more comprehensive now. The functions of PMS are useful and improve day by day. Another important thing is that PMS links to GDS technology, which means PMS should collect the data more and more effective and quick. From the GDS system, the materials that GDS provides are in details which are very useful for PMS to deal with and save the time for hotel. From the view of manager, it means more gross profit for hotel.

This article talks about Hotel H2O and Amadeus, they have come together in order to operate the Amadeus Property Management System. This system was developed to manage the inventory of room and audit of a hotel, as well as customer relations, invoicing and billing. The General Manager of the Hotel H2O mentions "We have conducted an extensive survey of the various hotel property management systems available in the market and have come to the conclusion that the Amadeus Property Management System (PMS) best meets Hotel H2O's requirements. With the growing sophistication and demands of hotel guests, the Amadeus PMS will enable us to properly cater to our guests' needs and provide them with the unique experience that only Hotel H2O can offer". Amadeus is the system that global travel and tourism industry chose to partner transactions processor. The company delivers distribution and technology solutions to assist its customers in the fast changing industry.

The debate over "high-tech" or "high-touch" is largely a thing of the past in the hospitality industry as emerging technologies drive unprecedented change in the way hotels operate and serve customers. It is clear that investments in technologies can generate greatly improved operating efficiencies, higher hotel revenues and enhanced guest services. The pace of change, however, has been so extreme as to leave many hotel organizations uncertain about what types of technology to adopt and the best ways to create a seamless integration of systems company-wide. In addition, investments made by many hotel owners and operators during the last five years have lagged as a result of the serious downturn weathered by the industry. Many hotel organizations are using technologies so outdated as to place their companies at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace. The technology life cycle provides a model to assess how and when companies and individuals adopt new technologies. Pioneers are generally the first to acquire new technologies and take the greatest risk. A second category of technology users -- leaders -- adopt relatively unproven technologies, but the risks are known and accepted. Obsolete technology at the other end of the spectrum may seriously impair a company's ability to compete. In terms of costs and benefits, the best balance appears to be with the leaders who invest significantly less than pioneers and incur reduced risks, yet their technology investments can yield similar benefits.

NORTHWIND launced its Maestro iPad Xpress Check-In app at the HITEC this year. This app allows hotel properties to use tablets/iPads to perform basically every aspect of a guest's check-in/out experience, while still maintaining access to Maestro's PMS. With Xpress Check-In, hotel properties can check guests in before they arrive and even encode their room keys and have them waiting. The use of this app results in a less crowded, more efficient lobby, in that larger groups can be processed before their arrival, or in a designated room on the premise. This technology is innovative because it frees customers from the restriction of checking in only in the lobby when they arrive. With Maestro Xpress Check-In, a hotel employee could board a tour bus and process all the customers at once so that when they enter the hotel, they can move seamlessly to their rooms. This prevents the lobby from being crowded and disorganized, which can be overwhelming to front desk employees. Of course, these actions are also posted to the property's main property management system. While there are many innovations out there that increase customer satisfaction, I feel this technology will result in increased employee satisfaction, especially those employees used to dealing with large groups and crowded lobbies.

The Intelity's ICE is a new virtual concierge program, as a digital supplement to its renowned "GEM" (guest engagement manager) service, which is established in Mogans hotel in New York. By launching the Intelity's ICE, nearly all guests' requirements can be accomplished quickly, for guests can explore the amenities in the hotels, search for events in the city, buy tickets and communicate with the hotel working staff through an ipad in each room. Not only that, but the hotel managers also find it a great program to communicate with the working staff. To the hotel managers, they think that the program can enhance customer service and increase communication opportunities as well as heightening operational efficiencies

I found the mobile app to be most interesting because my article disscussed that as well. I feel that the mobil app will certainily create a unique experience for the visting guest. By going digital there are many benefits to not only the guests but the environment as well. There will be longer be a need for plastic room keys, or large amounts of paper. Hotels will be able to save expenses and man power by providing systems like the new virtual concierge program. In particular, you won't need to hire so many people to book reservations over the telephone. Everything can be done through the Ipad which most people have now a days anyway. However, I would feel better if there was trouble shooter around should the guest not be able to comprehend the technologic system.

This article talks about the nexus reservations software and how it makes the lives of hotel managers much easier. Some of the things mentioned within the article are that the system is a quick and simple way to make reservations, saving the hotel manager time and money. Another great thing that this system is able to do is keep in touch with people that have already stayed at your establishment. Nexus reservations has the function of emailing previous clients and keeping in contact with them by sending birthday wishes or letting them know about upcoming events. Another important aspect of this article is that it talks about the company service that Nexus provides. Reservation Nexus is 100% web based and can be accessed at work, at home and on vacation. There are no additional costs for having it on more than one computer in your business. There is no software to install so there is no limit to its potential. It removes the headache of dealing with updates and the fear of possibly becoming obsolete. Reservation Nexus is a living system, with new innovations every quarter. With Reservation Nexus , you avoid having to buy a new software version every couple of year

As indicated in the title, this article is about the once in a lifetime deal between HRG and TravelSky. This collaboration is quite advantageous to both parties since HRG is a prestigious international provider of corporation services and TravelSky happens to be the preferred GDS provider in China. Traditionally, the booking of travel in China has been a manual process for users. However, this integration will provide clients with convenience and cost effectiveness thanks to the CRS technology. Travelers will be able to access real-time information and wide search criteria - which in return will guarantee an increase in productivity and overall winning formula for all parties involved.

/This article was interesting because it talk about how the Regal Hotels Group was able to connect their custom built PMS to the world via Room Distribution Exchange, a direct connectivity platform. This new technology helped Regal Hotels to gain two-way access to the world's leading booking sites. Regal did not have to change its existing PMS system which could have been costly. RDX gives hotels with traditional PMS the opportunity to reach the world.

Building their own PMS puts Regal Hotels Group above everyone else; making them more efficient thus reducing cost and impacting their bottom line. Its interest how a company can see the big picture in technology advancements and implement those cost saving features.

This new study details the transformation of technology and the ever changing social values of the next generation of travelers. In this article it summarizes the next generation of experience, automatic transit, payment with memory, intellegient recommendation, among others. I agree with the article as travelers are already savy when it comes to searching for hotel and flights, now they will want the entire experience to become less stressful and more seamless. When this article refers to the study that explains using mobile devices and biometric technology to facilitate faster check in process, it details by country that is more comfortable using this technology. Intelligent recommendation is already being used for locals, and it will be more accessible to tourists to toughly enjoy the city's true offering. As the demographics of travelers change so will their desire for what is a pleasurable experience.

This article is starting from an agreement made between Travelclick which is a leading provider of profitable revenue generating solutions for hoteliers and Castle Resorts & Hotels on GDS connectivity and IDS distribution. The Castle Resorts will use Travelclick's central reservation system (CRS) to distribute inventory to thousands of travel agents on the Global Distribution System (GDS). Because of the alliance between the two organizations, Castle Resorts has become the largest iHotelier customer in Hawaii. The president of Castle Resorts believes that Teavelclick's GDS connectivity solutions will help them achieve a higher level of performance and allow them to connect with travel agents instantaneously and seamlessly to further potential guests. From this article, I fully realize how important the GDS system is and what it could do for hospitality industry. It is just like providing a closer link between hotels and potential guests by connecting with travel agents.

Choice Hotels International has established thousands of Cloud Based Property Management Systems in its hotels. It can track every aspect of a guest stay in one centralized location and store it in the much cheaper and more efficient Cloud System. This system is being used in 5000 locations globally and is contributing to Choice Hotels' increasing profits.

Choice Hotels International Inc. manages its 5,000 hotels using a cloud-based hotel PMS named choiceADVANTAGE. It provides user-friendly functionalities to assist with guest services and revenue management, and gives the company's employees remote access through any computer that offers Internet access. The system provides companies a competitive advantage by providing them an easier form of checking guests in and out which in turn leads to superior guest interaction. The program is designed to provide seamless interaction with the central reservation and customer relationship management system supplied on the Internet, providing a higher value to the hotel. ChoiceADVANTAGE is a great investment for large hotel chains because it requires a small initial investment and eliminates the need to purchase, store and maintain the infrastructure and hardware usually associated with traditional property management systems.

This choiceADVANTAGE allows the Choice Hotel to integrate different systems without too much start up cost. I think its really a great investment helping hotels adding their value.

In this weeks reading, the article, "Why Investing in Hospitality Technology is Investing in Good Business", mentions how due to the economic downturn hotels have turn to cutting technology and staff levels as a method to minimize costs, yet this is a recipe for disaster, if not conducted adequately. Technology is continuously evolving, it is important to make decisions regards IT investment that will be useful in the coming 3-5 years. Technological infrastructures should operate to facilitate a process or procedure for the overall benefit of the hotel, rather than take a day-by-day approach. In an ever-demanding industry, it is critical for hoteliers to be adequately prepared with automated systems, reducing if not eliminating important manually conducted tasks which are damaging the operations of the hotel due to the lack of real time information which will help revenue maximization. In moments of recessions, companies minimize their cost reducing what is foreseen as unnecessary such as IT investment, yet is important to maintain a level of preparation and not losing the opportunities presented by the market.

Hotel owners and managers are putting eyes on technology in the hospitality industry slow recovery period. All pundits agree this method can bring some recovery. The international hotel organizations have made many plans of improving investment in technology and staff. Progressive hospitality organizations have updated and invested in new technology and training, change the industry requirements and market. Before investment, the most important is to look at what operational efficiencies the technology can bring and how the technology will benefit the hotels. There are many technologies are good choices for investment, such as Revenue Management Systems. This technology is efficient and can help hotels track historic data, forecast future demand and so on. We also need to technology is changing all the time. So this is a big challenge of managers to make decisions for a long development. We also need to realize that the hospitality industry is changing, strategies will not always be applicable to new, unique situations. It is important for hotels to increase advantages in the competition.

Those hotel groups that fail to recognize the speed of change in technology and what this can bring to the business will find themselves significantly under prepared when the market starts to strengthen. While "its never too late" to act - there is a significant opportunity cost in doing nothing or worse still, cutting technology out of the day to day operations. For a hotel to effectively operate and ensure it is maximizing its incoming revenue, the right technologies needs to be in place. Through investing in the right technology at the right time, savvy hoteliers will be ensuring that their facility(s) are able to effectively maximize their ongoing revenue capability now and into the future.

There are three reasons why point of sale retail systems are easy to use, first of all,this software was designed with merchants like you in mind, not computer programmers or web designers. Once you have the hang of it, you may find that the program is almost intuitively simple. All you have to do is follow the instructions. seondly,.These programs were created to make running a retail operation as smooth and seamless as possible. Rather than making your day more difficult, With an Internet-based system, you can even manage your store remotely, from any computer with an online connection. Finally, your software provider to offer hands-on guidance and support. If you have any further questions down the line, call or email them for instant support.

Interesting article. I agree with you its easy to use.

SKY Hospitality and Widewaters Hotels select ed Aptech's Profitvue enterprise back office solution to provide accounting processes across multiple-branded properties. SKY Hospitality: performance-based decision making. This could provide a hotel-specific accounting system to grow their business and enhance their resource panning. Comparing with other performance management systems, the Profotvue and Aptech's are superior to others. Widewaters Hotel: "solid accounting". The evaluation from the industry consultants showed that Aptech was the most experienced hotel accounting company, its systems were solid and it provided excellent professional service.

After owning and developing properties for Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood, Widewaters recently launched its own management company. "Aptech has a track record of supporting hundreds of hotels and multi-property groups," says Arigo. "They also have experience with the largest chain flag operations.  As we expand our management organization, we can rely on Aptech to provide systems that support our growth and are easy to use." Profitvue handles single hotel operations, and multi-property and multi-company accounting.       Profitvue is available as a standalone application or as a thin-client Internet-enabled ASP hospitality back office solution.  Aptech hosts the application at its secure data center and manages responsibility for data backups and system maintenance. Hotel operators require only a PC and Internet connection to manage all their property financials, corporate accounting, and reporting needs.

iTesso is a cloud-based PMS which offers interface with the property's CRS, GDS, and other third-party systems.  What caught my eye in this article is that it specifies that it is Windows compatible and offers high-level security.  Compared with WebRezPro, iTesso seems to be a better system in that it claims to be appropriate for all hotel chains regardless of size, secure, able to be updated to stay relevant, and covers all of the functionalities that a PMS should be able to handle.

The article I read was called, "What is a Hotel Management System?" In the article it states that in the early 90s Gartner came up with the term ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) that automates a large number of business functions such as finance, accounting, and human resource. "A hotel is a hive of numerous operations such as front office, booking and reservation, banquet, finance, HR, inventory, material management, quality management, security, energy management, housekeeping." All of these activities need to be taken care of at hotels and doing so can sometimes be a lot of work. This led to the introduction of property management systems, an automated software which can optimize hotel operations and keep a tight control on costs. It important for hotels to understand the needs of their guests, if they want them to come back to their hotel, they need to know what they like and dislike. Using the PMS it allows them to make a profile of each guest and they write in if they want a beach view room or if they want a mini bar in their room. There is a difference when it comes to PMS and ERP. "A property management system usually consists of front office software and other best of breed solutions." The ERP, is usually a comprehensive solution from a single vendor. I really enjoyed reading this article and it helped me get a better grasp on how hotels use property management systems.

I completely agree that technology is making deep inroads into the hospitality industry, and hotels across the world are looking to use technology to make operation smooth and efficient. Any operating system that can help optimize the hotel experience is going prosper in their business.

I didn't really care for the passage that talked about PMS vs ERP, I though they could have been more specific... they just said ERP is better, could someone provide an example? Also, they mentioned how when a hotel becomes more complex problems arise in the PMS, how? All the hotel would have to do is come up with another PMS system that would provide them with greater resources, etc whats the problem??

One of the greatest challenges a hotel faces is ensuring that all of its booking channels are updated on a real-time basis. With this tool, a Revenue Manager can quickly manage all inventory from a single place. With instant 2-way integration, On the property side, changes can be made easily and efficiently and applied to all sites. The reservations will also be dropped directly into the PMS or CRS so there is no more manual input necessary. On the consumer side, every booking will reduce inventory across all sites so that there is no chance of overbooking. This is a very valuable tool.