Hospitality Technology

According to the news. One of the major trends for the hotelier in 2012 will be the integration of their online distribution with PMS and Revenue Management Systems. Hotel will benefit from making its online reach faster and automating business processes, thus, generate higher revenues with lower costs of acquisition.

This article discusses a company that has released a software what lets managers and employees access the PMS and POS remotely from a mobile device. This allows a more personal feel when checking in because the person who is checking you in doesn't have to be behind a desk or behind a computer. A hotel in canada actually is using this technology to check guests in directly in front of their own villas. When a person is walking down the hall and needs something for their room such as towels and other amenities, and stops an employee in the hall that employee can help them right away there in the hall instead of having to direct them to the front desk or to someone else that can assist them. The company is called front desk anywhere. and i believe that this will bring back the more personal feel to travel that used to be. This will allow every guest to feel special which i believe that not been the case the last couple of years.

I really like the idea of making relationships between hotel agent and customer less linear more mobile. Customer should feel help and comfort. Furthermore customers love to try some innovations and will definately choose hotels with new and unusual practice just to experience something really interesting.

The fact that employees can now serve customers basically immediately will be very valued by many customers. This type of service is what generates more repeat customers and great reviews by word of mouth.

The article is talking about the yield management system for hotel. It first introduced the importance of the yield management in hotel, and by using the proper yield management hotels can maximize their profit. Then the article showed us how a yield management works for a hotel and the regular pattern of the peak days in a week. The author wrote all of these just want to show us what the YM system can do better for the hotel, but I will take it to reconsideration. This system must be based on the data source to do the yield management, however, besides the price, the outside events or economic changes will have a very strong influence on the hotel occupancy. So this system is helpful for the hotels, but the hoteliers should not rely on it.

Yield management is the way of influencing consumer and getting more profit by manipulating the prices according to what season, month or weekday. The price of the room and the value of night is zero if this date passes. The owner must be very careful when changes the prices when its time to populate empty rooms, rates cannot be dropped dramatically. Customer can learn it and will always book at the very last day when the prices are the lowest but if your hotel focus on business travel weekdays make more revenue, if its more a leisure travel hotel holidays and weekends should bring more profit. The prices can be higher in peak season and holidays. The software for yield management might be afforded in order to get best results in price management, bookkeeping, human resources, customer service and what not. If you don't have enough resources you should subscribe this software and not risk with creating your own software for same purposes.

Interactive apps are more effective than tradional ones, because they allow guest's to be more informed. This Hotel Evolution app is also a point of sale, as guests can order things with ease of a touch. Apps like this enhance guest expereinces and drive sales, ultimately increasing the bottom line!!

The article starts off by explaining that management systems are needed in order to compete in the hotel industry. It explains that having a system put in place will give you the competitive advantage needed to compete against other hotels. The writer explains how these systems make the operations of these companies so much easier and efficient. The best quality of this software is that it secures your data and makes it available anywhere that you can log in to view. The article explains of it allows your customers to do all their booking from anywhere and access information provided to them. Another point the article touched on is how having this system cuts costs as it relates to having IT available to assist with issues. Additionally the software is said to be very easy to operate and the staff would catch on quickly.

Very interesting! I hope they are right!!

This article touches on Property Solutions' new ResidentUtility initiative to bundle billing and utilities for the multifamily industry. Property Solutions is the nation's largest provider of apartment community websites and management software tools. The new system will enable property managers to manage billing and utilities through electronic payments. It solves the industry's utility billing problems, like costs associated with inefficient standards. ResidentUtility combines billing and utility management with en electronic payment systems that will increase extra incomes for properties, especially given that option that utilities and rent and be billed on the same invoices, properties will have extra cash inflows earlier in the month. As a result of extra income, properties can also reduce working capital and pay their own bills in a timely fashion. In addition, residents can reap the benefits because their bills will have more transparency and be bundled so that they only need to worry about paying one large sum. I think this is a great idea for properties, I used to be a leasing manager for residential condos and we offered this billing system to residents and it was very successful. Although I do see residents getting scared by one large invoice as some prefer to pay everything separate. From the management perspective, it is very beneficial because accounts payable and receivables become easier to handle when it is all done under one invoice and electronically.

In hotels, international eMarketing is very significant because this service industry ensures sales by connecting and interacting with consumers across the globe. So the writer of this article introduse his/her opinion about that Facebook could be a international eMarketing tool, in order to attract international leisure travelers and increases potential sales. Also, the author mentioned that the internet exposure is a determinant of eMarketing adoption, the eMarketing is a kind of varying use of viral marketing, and the social networking websites which mapping social connections to widen relationships and spread information. There are seveal benefits and several ways of using the social networking website to promote the hotels.

I pretty believe that social medias are playing an important role in marketing of hotels, such as facebook. But something I have to say that facebook can not been accessed all over the world. The simple example is that we can not use it in China. The thing I mean that social media also have some negatives and we need to improve.

The EcoTex Advanced Laundry Oxidation System enables to use the power of Ozone (03) and Oxygen (O2) to save money and improve in commercial laundries as well as detergent and water savings. This is great for hotels, spas, cruise ships, etc. Use of chemicals and hot water will be replaced with cold-water programs that use the power of ozone for disinfection and detergent activation.

The article is talking about that FastBooking, one of the world's leading e-marketing and online technology solution providers announced FastBooking Updater Premium which has been added new functionalities to industry-leading channel management tool. New features include the powerful reporting tools that collects and stores reservations made on internet distribution sites in a single database and generates business reports for the hotel, the centrally managed inventory that allows allotments to be automatically adjusted and dispatched to all channel, and the automatic, real-time booking of the PMS to minimize manual intervention.

The functionalities of FastBooking seem very interesting such as collecting reservations made in different websites. In this manner the productivity and performance would be more accurated providing a best service for the potential guests.

Property Management System (PMS) is a software application that is designed and can be implemented to meet varied requirements of any size hotel or hotel group. A property management system should include the ability to handle daily task such as check-in, check-outs, to assigning rooms and billing rooms and even the accounting aspect of the hotel. It should cater to each hotel specifically and uniquely as each hotel has their own requirements and functions. With the added PMS, a hotel can reduce their cost of hardware/software investments and labor expenses used to accommodate traditional PMS. A centralized software such as a PMS software application can make everything more easier and convenient for the guest and the hotel staff.

Currently, there are many different types of property management systems available like Opera and Guest360. However, business want to work with the different companies to determine which property management system best fits their needs. Nowadys, there are some new pms systems which are cheap and powerful such as webrezpr.

PMS are very important for hotels therefore it is necessary to choose the most adequeate for the property. As Wei said Opera is very common among hotels.

The ATRIO is a platform that would make big changes in the hospitality industry. ATRIO will be installed at the boutique Hotel Diva of Personality Hotels which will make a competitive advantage among its competitors. "The ATRIO platform represents the most significant technology development to occur in the global hospitality industry in the last 25 years." By implementing ATRIO to the property it is assumed that the service and financial goals will exceed expectations. Larry Hall, President & CEO of PAR Springer-Miller states "We look forward to the world coming to know Personality Hotels as an operator of some of the finest lifestyle properties in the world and the launch client for ATRIO, the platform that moved an industry." ATRIO will follow cloud computing which will bring significant financial benefit to Personality Hotels "Deploying ATRIO in the cloud helped reduce our implementation costs considerably," said Lembi-Detert President & CEO of Personality Hotels.

This article discusses how to select the right Property Management System (PMS) for hotels and specifies procedures that the hotels need to follow. The first step in selecting a PMS is that hotels need to foam an evaluation team that includes managers, staff from different departments, such as front desk, accounting, housekeeping, and IT, in order to make sure the PMS works for everyone. Then, the hotel should determine its budget, making sure they don't waste time for a PMS out of their price range. Once the budget is set, the evaluation team should conduct a needs assessment to ensure that they only buy features they need. Next, researching the PMSs that meet the hotels' requirements and fit the budget is necessary. This article emphasizes some key features, such as user-friendly design, guest-oriented functionality, integration with other system, etc., to consider when evaluating the PMSs. After the hotel has completed its research, they need to narrow the options down to top two or three, and to have the selected vendors demonstrate their products in front of the evaluation team. After all, the hotels can choose the right one which works the best for them. Competition in the hospitality business has been intense, so it is essential to invest in technology, such as Property Management System (PMS), to streamline operations, enhance guest service, and ultimately win competition over others. However, there are so many PMS options to choose on the market, so it is also critical to know what procedures to follow, and to choose the most suitable PMS for each business.

Hotel Concepts- Brilliant, a leading global provider of advanced PMS, recently announced its integration of Flip.to into RezExchange. For a small monthly subscription, Flip.to acts as marketing platform for hotels, restaurants, and airports. Customers can use it to comment, post feedback, and recommend the establishment to friends who in turn can get discounts. It also allows loyal guests and customers incentives to spread the word. RezExchange allows customers to manage their sales channels directly from the hotel management system and will receive all reservations from these channels directly into their own database. With this integration customers don't have to present printed coupons and any earned incentives are automatically credited to their hotel profiles. Hotels, restaurants, and airports that already use RezExchange and integrate Flip.to into their system will become more streamlined making it that much easier for customers and guests to build up and use their incentives.   L'Auberge Carmel hotel in California is the first property to go live with this integration and thus far, this integration has proved successful. Approximately 15 to 25 percent of guests who book rooms at participating hotels engage with Flip.to, and for every 100 engaged guests, an average of 10 to 20 additional room nights are booked within six months. 

I have found this creative system which is "innovation software" hotel PMS. Like the cloud-based PMS system, it is low cost and saves money. And it is also flexiable and simple to use. Which is more special it's that it has online training via its elearning portal which save time and money that all staff are fully competent in using the system. The most important reason for this system is that the SaaS is not like the others that the data is hosted locally at the hotel so if the internet is disconnected, the PMS system doesn't. This advantage is more pirior than the others because most of the cons for the other system will face this internet problem. And also, this system doesn't lock the company into a long-term contract which means it is possible to change or stop the contract if the hotels not satisfied with it. I think it is a good choice for the small hotels to choose. What's more, this system releases software to all clients every quarter, at the meanwhile, it would deeply value the clients feedback and use it. In its website, the client has the right to calculate the savings for detailed requirements. For instance you can enter the no. of the bedrooms and the average room rate, then the % commission charged on web bookings and so on. After you follow the fomula that it presented, it will calculate for you. It also has a online demo for free as long as you quickly sign up. And the clients are available to see clearly about all the services listed on the website. One of the service I want to mention is the ePOS integration which this software completely re-developed the way POS & PMS communicate with each other and eradicated the dreaded "Micro interface" standard. It's just like a wonderful package to deal with all the complex situations.

Unlike traditional collaborative software ventures which emphasize open communication across an entire organization, innovation management software is more selective in how different members of the company interact. It is ranked by reputation which reflect more accurate information.

This is a very comprehensive article that talks about the web-based, Software as a Service systems (SaaS). It is different from the traditional PMS and it has advantages over the traditional one. The author gave us five advantages of SaaS. All of the five advantages are so good that after read this article, I think there will be a trend that it will be the SaaS world in the future and this trend will continue.  However, the author didn't write any disadvantages. Usually for a company to make a decision before the company knows not only the pros and but also the cons.

The advantages offered by SaaS systems are very similar to that of which property managers have to solve. It controls property's operations such as processing reservations, check-ins and check-outs. Saas stands for Software as a Service which drives the attention of new technology for property management which includes moving tenant services online, offering web site creation and integration, eliminating the need for extensive software training and maintenance, enhancing communication between the owners and managers and it helps improve record keeping and security.

With technology evolving the property management  software.  Most  vendors are now offering  web-based, Software as a Service  is being  adopted by most property managers are adopting it because  they the advantages of the SaaS model help them accomplished most of their goals.which are to move tenants services online,  offering website creation and integration, eliminate the need for software training and maintenance ,improve  record keeping and security as well as better record keeping.  Furthermore this service can be accessed on smartphone as well as tablets. And also one of the primary characteristics of SaaS property management vendors is that they've designed their systems specifically to be easy-to-use and to appeal to those who aren't especially tech savvy. This results in a faster learning curve for property managers who are not technically proficient. And also it offers  better record  keeping since it  back up the data.

This article is focussed on the risk involved if the proper impact study is not undertaken prior to implementation of extensive IT projects. Several multinational companies were referenced in the article, highlighting failures with smooth implementation resulting in the loss of millions and sometimes billions. Below is a summary of some companies referenced in article and the impact of IT implementation gone wrong: 1. Levi Strauss: In 2003 Levi Strauss examined its technological capabilities and concluded that its systems were inadequate for its multi-national corporation operation within 110 countries. A budget of US$5 million was created for a system upgrade. Many challenges along the way resulted in the inability to sufficiently report financials resulted in three distribution canters in the USA closing for a week. As a result of this, the company lost US$200 million and the termination of the chief information officer in 2008. 2. Hong Kong Airport: IT problems resulting in glitches in flight information system and database for tracking cargo shipment resulted in a US$600 million loss between 1998 and 1999. 3. Hershey: About 10 years ago Hershey wanted to implement a new order taking system. Problems with implementation resulted in the inability of the company shipping US$100 million worth of candy in time for Halloween thus impacting the company's bottom-line of an 18.6% loss in earnings during the quarter. 4. Kmart: in 2000 Kmart embarked on aUS$1.4 billon IT modernization project. In the midst of the project Kmart discovered that the project had too many customized application which would result in an exorbitant maintenance costs. An additional US$600m was spent on integrating a supply chain management system. Failure of this project led to bankruptcy filing by Kmart in 2002. This resulted in the closure of 600 stores and the loss of over 60,000 jobs in the USA. 5. Auto windshield (UK): Auto windshield was considered to be the second largest auto glass c

"Facebook ads (except for major placements like the home page) work like Google's AdWords. The advertiser creates ad content; selects targeting options; and sets budget, scheduling and payment parameters." Based upon one's "likes" or interests, facebook ads pertain almost exclusively to proximity marketing, allowing companies to advertise for people based upon recent google searches, in addition to facebook. Their job is basically to anticipate and manage what people like, in order to succeed in their advertising. One of the downfalls to this is that you have to consider the people who know nothing about what is being advertised, thereby eliminating a potential new client completely. You have to be very careful about this.

This article talks about the advantages that the implementation of MICRO'S OPERA ENTERPRISE to all of the MGM properties, will give to the company. By making this, MGM will be able to integrate all the information of their guests as well as the global distribution system. According to Aldo Manzini, EVP and chief administrative officer of MGM Resorts International this integration is an extremely important step in order to become more efficient, it will decrease the training time for employees and it will improve their reward program. This will also create a single image inventory from the main property management system to the different channels. This made it easier for the implementation at the two City Center properties were 1,500 employees were trained on the system. MICRO'S system is used by seven of the ten largest hotels in the U.S. This shows how they are solidifying their PMS market share not only in the U.S but all around the world.

Its really amazing to see how these systems such as Micros and Maestro have evolved. I remember when Micros was simply used as a POS system in the hotel I worked at. But according to your summary it is now fully integrated and used an overall PMS as well. I'm glad to see they are remaining competitive in the market. In the past I had predicted they would become outdated and not relevant in the future market. I was obviously wrong.

According to the article, independent operators are taking advantage of vendor-mandated property management system upgrades to review alternative systems that offer more value for their investment. Rather than defaulting to a system upgrade, many independents are evaluating solutions that provide greater mobile versatility, loyalty functionality, and social media marketing capability. Maestro Enterprise Property Management hotel software is developed to provide a suite of business tools and services to meet the needs of independent hotels, resorts and multi-property groups. Maestro's Diamond Plus Service reduces operating costs, keeps staff productive and generates revenue. Diamond Plus Service also includes on-demand training, live webinars, PCI assistance, lifetime version upgrades, management strategies, property productivity audits and online marketing services to increase profitability.  Moreover, Maestro offers mobile-capable ResWave Booking Engine that enables guests to book reservations from virtually any directly from social media sites like Facebook to increase revenue and lower reservation costs.