Before the computer was invented and perfected, it was such a hassle to do any kind of business because of the old-fashioned, paper-based methods to operate and coordinate even the most basic functions. The existence of computers helps everything to be done faster, more effectively, and mostly paperless.
The advancement of computers created the PMS or Property Management System which will greatly help you manage your properties by using computerized and automated systems. Ruby will tell you everything you need to know about the property management system.
What Is PMS?
PMS or Property Management System is a software specifically designed to help operate various businesses involving properties. One of the biggest users of this software is the hospitality industry and people sometimes even call PMS a Hotel Management System.
Even though widely used by the hospitality business, the property management system can also be used in other fields and industries such as manufacturing, real estate, government, rental or commercial properties, logistics and intellectual property.
If it is quite hard for you to tell how exactly PMS works, the best way to think about PMS is a centralized system that will manage everyday operations like occupancy management, account management, scheduling and organizing.
Property management system is a must-have software if you want to run a business related to properties since this software will maximize the functionality of your business and will maximize efficiency and automate the workforce.
History
Property management system sometimes referred to as hotel management system not only because the hospitality industry is the biggest user, but also because PMS was introduced to the industry in the 1940s. It was then developing through the years and in the 1990s, the software systems were finally incorporated into the niche of property management systems.
Before the incorporation of software systems, the property management system was heavily dependent on exhausting spreadsheets, hand written registers, and any other paper-based methods to operate and coordinate.
Ten years after the incorporation of software systems, technology in property management saw a rapid growth of usage. Because of that, the PMS slowly modernized and in 2010, the first generation of cloud PMS was introduced. And since then, PMS continue to advance and provide ease and solutions that changed the hotelier and properties industry.
The Goals of PMS
Property management system is specifically designed to help with everyday operations, a good software of PMS should be able to do several things, the first one is to improve the experience of the guests. Any guests or customers expect easy basic treatments like being able to make online reservations, easy way to communicate with the staff and more.
The second thing a good PMS software should be able to achieve is to provide contactless service. The need for contactless services like deliveries, making complaints or leaving feedback, and booking appointments is now at a very high demand.
Another thing a good PMS software should do is , obviously, automating tasks. Property management system is created to enhance effectiveness and efficiency and to save time. A good PMS should be able to automate tasks like scheduling appointments, employee and property maintenance, receiving payments and paying bills.
PMS also should be able to collect data for the benefit of the company because by collecting data, updated reports and analyzing them, you can predict your customer behavior. Proper data collection and analysis is also important for other things like measuring success, risk assessments, gauging the rate of work completion, or finding trends from competitors.
One of the biggest advantages of a property management system is to enhance the productivity of your employee. With a good PMS software, you should be able to monitor your employee productivity by having applications that can be accessed by all employees, and can update their various work activities.
Features
Property management systems offer a lot of different features that will greatly help the operation of a business, especially a hotel. The first one is the reservation system so you can digitize your reservation calendar and make it easy for future guests and customers to make online reservations and make payments.
This feature is not only exclusive to the hotel industry, and can be used in several other industries such as transportation, tours, special activities, and other events. This automated reservation system is very important since even the sharpest eyes could miss any small details like wrong date or wrong information.
Automated reservation systems can also update the room availability in real time when guests left or someone canceled their reservation to prevent overbooking. This can also help your employee to easily modify or cancel reservations according to the requirements of the guests.
Another important feature of the property management system is the accounting feature that is crucial to any business. The larger the business, the more crucial it is to have an accounting system since studies have revealed that most businesses saw a significant drop in financial errors by using an automated accounting system.
Automated accounting systems that are integrated into the property management system can centralize all the information, making it easy to look for the history of past transactions. It will also help you to compute income and expenses with minimal errors.
The Importance of PMS
Despite the many advantages of the property management system, many property-related business owners still don’t want to invest in one. Now, people want a fast system for booking, checking in processes that are contactless and safe, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using PMS is important to run your hospitality business because it will give you more control. For example, how would you operate a hotel chain in different locations at the same time without PMS? With Bluestay PMS you can have adequate control over your properties and monitor what is happening.
Any successful property-based establishments are using PMS to run the business. This is because the property management system is helping you maximize the efficiency of work and time, and therefore will boost your revenue and save some costs.
