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Integrated point of sale systems essential
by K.T. Scott
In this electronic age, every hotelier is familiar with point of sale (POS) systems. Indeed POS systems are vital to managing your property, your reservations and your food and beverage service. But there are many systems which do different things. Many POS systems collect and store valuable customer intelligence each time a transaction at your hotel occurs. As competition in the hotel business grows, it is more important than ever to know what your customers like and want. Your hotel needs a POS system which complements its current customer relationship management (CRM) practices.
What can these systems do with CRM information and how can they enable you to use it to your advantage? Can these systems really result in savings for your hotel?
All POS systems have reporting functions, some with customizable reports. All systems assist with CRM, but in different ways. Many integrate food and beverage modules, along with reservation and other property management functions. Many offer web-based software for reporting and reservations. The trick is to assess what your hotel requires and fi nd the right POS system for you.
Web-based for remote access and convenience
Internet-based software has some significant advantages. One big advantage is that it allows management to interact with hotel systems from off-site. Shannon Arnold, marketing manager, for POSERA Software, based in Montreal, described POSERA’s POS system. "Our POS covers the back office functions and anything to do with food service in a hotel. One of our most exciting features is our web-based reporting. If a manager is not on site or has more than one location, they can access management reports remotely via the Internet. E-mail alerts can be activated to notify a manager of an overrun on food or labour costs in real time. These alerts are fully customizable. For instance, the manager can be notified by e-mail if an employee voids a cheque over $500. This control is effective to keep food and labour costs within pre-set margins. The savings in food and labour are then passed on to the hotel customers."
Stability saves time/money
InnSource Solutions is releasing a new version of its hotel management system in the third quarter of 2008, taking its front office property management systems to the next level.
Ben Larsen, director of operations for InnSource Solutions Inc. in Victoria, BC provided some details. "This new version will set us apart from the competition. We have taken what works best for hotels, based on our customer feedback and competitive analysis and put our new system together. Customers benefit from our use of the new Windows platform, and the use of the industry standard SQL database which provides the system with more stability.
"The biggest thing that our system saves hotels is time. We have streamlined the process and added more tools to improve performance of the system. There is a faster and simpler flow of information to management. Saving time saves a hotel money."
Debbie Hannah, project manager new hotels, for Nova Hotels, based in Edmonton, had nothing but praise for InnSource. "I was actually a previous user of InnSource when I started here. I knew that InnSource was superior to the other front-desk management systems. InnSource is very stable, there is no downtime with them. They provide lots of support 24 hours a day - you can reach someone all the time. That is really important in this business as things tend to break down in the middle of the night."
Reporting flexibility
Hannah also loves the flexibility of InnSource’s reporting. "Their reporting functions allow us to control and track costs. For instance today I was pulling up some financial information from 2004 and 2005, which not all systems let you do. You can print old invoices off as well, if a customer needs them.
"We were really happy that InnSource had a Privacy Act option built into the system. It is something we have to comply with anyway, so it just made our job easier. It limits customer credit card information from being available to everyone using the system, so customers can rest easy knowing their information isn’t out there for everyone to see."
Guest-centric is great
Ben Larsen, director of operations for InnSource, says "Our application is "guest-centric", rather than process driven. It is driven by the customer profile, so that the hotel can get the guests’ needs right the first time. Better knowledge about the customer allows the hotel to offer the customer better service.
Hannah of Nova Hotels said, "In terms of CRM, InnSource provides little touches such as the fact that if a guest phones from their room, our phones display their name, so the person answering the phone can greet the guest by name. It makes the guest feel special, and in this business special is good. I’ve had some sneak previews of InnSource’s new product, and all I can say is I can’t wait to start using it."
Total system integration rocks
POS systems must be able to integrate into the existing software systems of your operation. One system that has made operation integration its priority is ResortSuite, based in Toronto. ResortSuite is an all in one solution, particularly well-suited to hotels with many different activities. "ResortSuite is used from the Caribbean to ski resorts, anywhere a hotel has a lot of different activities to track", says Frank Pitsikalis, president of ResortSuite.
"ResortSuite is one system for an entire property, instead of a different database for every activity. There is one customer profile, with all their preferences - when they golfed, what retail products they purchased at the spa, what they ate at the restaurant.
"ResortSuite Web allows guests not to book just room reservations, but define their entire stay with one stop at the website. A guest can log on and book a spa appointment, a tee time, buy a gift certificate, book a restaurant reservation. They can defi ne their entire stay on a single credit card transaction. A guest can create their own profi le with their own preferences, for instance if they prefer a certain pillow.
"ResortSuite Web is exciting because it allows guests to go from a fragmented experience where they have to book every activity at a resort separately over the phone, and their information in many separate databases, to servicing themselves. The process is streamlined and more efficient."
Integration savings add up
"In terms of savings, our tracking features allow hotel management to compensate staff for exactly what services they provided a customer, whether they upsold them product. It also allows time savings in that a customer does not have to call the golf pro-shop separately for a tee-time, and this also means fewer errors entering a customer’s information. When all the booking systems are together in one place, there
are cost efficiencies. You are making decisions in real time and entering them into one guest profile."
One of ResortSuite’s customers can certainly attest to how integration has improved her operations. Jeanette Lambert, controller for Predator Ridge Golf Club in the Okanagan Valley in the interior of BC, raved about Resort-Suite.
"We are in our third year with Resort-Suite and we love it. Prior to installing Resort-Suite we had four different software programs, and we had all kinds of headaches where one software program couldn’t talk to another program. ResortSuite services the whole resort, which is a lifesaver!
"The reports are consolidated so it really saves time. Our accounting department saves a lot of time since they don’t have to reconcile a bunch of different reports.
"We have ResortSuite modules for food and beverage, retail, club members, and accommodations. It is really nice because we present a common front to our guests. A web module will be installed in a few months where guests can access all of our activities themselves online."
Big is good for MICROS
A leader in hospitality POS systems, MICROS Systems offers the 9700 HMS software for hotels, which is the most widely used POS solution in leisure and entertainment. Simphony is MICROS’ newest POS software product. Both POS software solutions are web-delivered and enterprise-enabled. Both systems fully integrate into MICROS’ hotel management software, OPERA Enterprise Solution.
OPERA fully-integrated modules include property management, sales and catering, quality management, gaming and comp accounting, and mixed use condo/hotel room management. OPERA’s web-based central reservation management system is called myfidelio.net. OPERA provides customers with real-time last room availability via the web.
Louise Casamento, VP of marketing and customer relations, for MICROS Systems, described Simphony. "Simphony is MICROS’ newest and most exciting POS product. Simphony’s basic function is managing food and beverage. It takes food orders via touch-screen monitors and ships the orders out to different stations. This ensures that an order is ready at exactly the same time - the steak order has been sent to the grill before the order to the pre-cooked baked potato - so the entire order can be assembled at exactly the right time."
"Mymicros.net is the reporting tool for Simphony. It allows hotels to take all transaction data and run customizable reports. A hotel could check to see if promotional menu items are selling well, or compare one restaurant on a property to another, or server to server. The exciting thing is it can provide a hotel a broad view across multiple properties or drill down as deep as one specific transaction. This is particularly helpful when certain patterns are emerging, such as a server who has a pattern of many returned items. You can catch staffing problems sooner and nip them in the bud."
Central hosting = information technology savings
"Simphony is centrally hosted and centrally deployed, which means that the software can either be self-hosted by a hotel in one location and deployed to other hotel locations, or hosted in the MICROS centre," said Casamento. "Because Simphony can be centrally maintained at MICROS, it means that a hotel does not have to have a large IT staff. Since hotels can use MICROS’ IT staff, it lowers the technology footprint at a hotel as well as the hardware footprint, since it reduces the need for servers on the hotel’s property."
Guest information = power
"Simphony’s "Autofire" function allows a guest checking in the night before to give his breakfast order to the desk clerk who can arrange for that order to be sent to the kitchen at exactly the time in the morning when the guest wishes to eat. So the ordering process is no longer a manual process. The "Guest Connection" feature captures guest information, takes care of table management, and allows any restaurant on a property to make reservations for any other restaurants on that property, or on other properties.
"MICROS’ handheld POS units can be brought out poolside so a guest doesn’t have to leave his lounge chair, and ships a food order directly to the kitchen. There is a signature-catcher feature which allows a guest to sign for an order and stores the guest’s signature, which saves the hotel from having to scan all the guests’ invoices into a central database at the end of the day."
Off-line capability awfully good for training and menus
Greg MacNeil, assistant food and beverage manager at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, has nothing but good things to say about MICROS. "I’ve worked with MICROS systems for about 12 years and they are the top hotel system. They are one step ahead of everyone else. The areas where they really benefit us are their training capabilities and the system’s ability to allow us to change menus off-line.
"If a new staff member needs to be trained, I can train them on our MICROS 9700 HMS software system in an off-line training environment on any POS computer in the building. It is great because it doesn’t interfere with anything in the computer. MICROS’ systems save us training dollars.
"I love the fact that I can change the menu at any time. If the chef wants to take the Caesar salad off the menu tonight, I can go to the computer in my office and make the changes to the menu off-line. Then
I can upload it whenever I want to with the push of a button. We can work on an entire menu changeover
and upload it overnight."
Maestro conducts webbased communication
NORTHWIND-Maestro PMS also offers hotel POS products for retail and fine dining.
NORTHWIND-Maestro PMS’ newest product is Maestro’s Web Connection Suite and their online table reservations for guests and groups. The first phase of the Web Connection Suite is being installed now, and will continue to be implemented in a multi-phase approach throughout 2008.
Maestro’s Web Connection suite enables guests and groups to make table reservations for property dining online from the hotel’s website. Maestro’s Retail POS and Fine Dining POS systems reside on Maestro Property Management Suite’s (PMS) single-image database.
This enables all charges to be posted in real time to guest folios without interface software. There is instant two-way communication between all outlets and the PMS for personalized guest service and more accurate guest accounting. Maestro’s retail and fine dining POS systems operate seamlessly, sharing
the same database as the Maestro Property Management System. Since there is no interface software between systems, operators do not have to pay interface software fees often charged by other vendors.
Additionally, since all information entered in both POS solutions is accessible by any staff member with the proper security clearance, from any terminal on the property, guest data may be quickly located and conveyed to guests or managers. This saves time and establishes more efficient business operations.
The benefit of Maestro’s single-image database platform for its POS and other systems is a more productive working environment that results in better guest service and more accurate charge posting and tracking.
So whether you have a single location or a big chain, the most important thing is to determine what POS system is right for your operation. While technology plays an important part in your hotel management, it must be the right fit for your business. With the right analysis of your own needs first, you will
be able to fully utilize all the features of your chosen POS system.
ResEze makes reservations easy at Minto Suites Hotel
OTTAWA - The Minto Suites Hotel is a 417-room, four-diamond all-suite hotel in downtown Ottawa.
All-suite means that all rooms provide kitchen facilities ranging from kitchenettes in single or studio units to full kitchens with en suite washer and dryers in the one-to-two bedroom suites.
"So you’re not leaving too many of the comforts of home," says Dan Greer, reservations manager for the hotel.
Much of the hotel’s business is government; corporate accounts are the second largest group, and then leisure market customers. "Ottawa is not as big of a leisure destination except for specific dates - the Tulip Festival, Winterlude, Canada Day and fall colours," Greer adds.
The Minto Suites implemented the NORTHWIND ResEze reservations management system in 2003. NORTHWIND also does the Maestro Property Management system, and part of the attraction was that of a one stop shop for any changes, service and maintenance.
ResEze has not substantially affected the hotel’s number of bookings, says Greer. What it has done is to give all potential customers online access to the hotel’s full inventory. "They get a crystal clear picture when they check our inventory. The types of rooms are reflected online, and they can see what is available, and book by phone or online.
"It cuts staff workload way down, because everything is inputted directly into the system." Prior to that, the company they were using for their online reservations would fax the reservations to the hotel, and then they would be input manually.
Greer sees great gains in customer satisfaction - both internal and external. "I don’t see anyone complaining about not being able to find what they want - it is mirrored exactly on the site and they know exactly what they are getting.
"It’s much easier and seamless to work with. It clears up a lot of time with the number of reservations that come in online every day."
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