Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 1 Front Office Property Management System (PMS)

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 2 The Four “Rs” of Front Office Information Management FOMs could do an effective job if they understood: –The desires of their guests –The rooms and hotel services available for sale –The price(s) to be charged for rooms and hotel services –The accounting and data management methods required for proper recordkeeping

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 3 The Four “Rs” of Front Office Information Management R1–Reservations Management MLOS (Minimum Length of Stay): A designation that instructs reservationists to decline a reservation request from any guest who will not reserve a room for the minimum number of days allowed as predetermined by the hotel.

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 4 The Four “Rs” of Front Office Information Management R2–Rooms Management The PMS must interface with many other data- and information-generating systems –Example: The front desk requires up-to-date information from the housekeeping department regarding clean/inspected guestrooms.

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 5 The Four “Rs” of Front Office Information Management R3–Revenue Management The PMS helps forecast demand for the hotel’s rooms, allows FOMs to rapidly adjust room rates, and performs sophisticated mathematical calculations resulting in suggested RevPar maximization strategies.

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 6 The Four “Rs” of Front Office Information Management R4–Records and Accounts Management The PMS can easily and quickly allow the front desk agent to establish, receive, and record the proper payment from each guest.

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 7 PMS Report Development, Distribution, and Analysis PMS Report: A specific set of data or information taken from a hotel’s property management system. –Understanding past performance –Forecasting future performance

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 8 PMS Report Development, Distribution, and Analysis Advantages of precise guestroom sales forecasts: –Accurate revenue estimates –Better guest service because of improved staffing decisions –Lowered labor costs because employees can be more accurately scheduled according to productivity standards –Improved budgeting abilities –Increased operational efficiencies –Improved profit margins (revenues minus costs) –Maximized owner (shareholder) profits

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 9 Reservations Management Data Guest information Guest request information

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 10 Rooms Management Data Room Status: The up-to-date (actual) condition (for example, occupied, vacant, dirty, and clean) of all the hotel’s individual guest rooms. Room type

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 11 Revenue Management Data Forecasting demand: Booking Pace: Often shortened simply to “Pace,” this term refers to the amount of future demand for rooms. Pricing inventory

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 12 Records and Accounts Management Records management Accounts management: –Creates guest folios (bills) –Updates the hotel’s accounting records

Woods et al., Professional Front Office Management © 2007 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ All Rights Reserved. 13 Selecting a PMS Important characteristics to consider: –Reliability –Cost of operation –Ease of installation –Ease of use –Ease of interface integration –Maintenance requirements –Ease and frequency of upgrading & updating –Quality and availability of support services