How important is a Property Management System?

Before reviewing the Property Management System (PMS) more broadly, let's remember for a moment the experience when staying at a hotel with family, friends, relatives, or alone for a vacation and rest to unwind. Look back at how the flow is passed to stay at the hotel of choice. Usually starting from reservation or booking a room, payment, checking in, until finally we can enjoy the soft blanket of the hotel as well as the various facilities & facilities available.

Call it a swimming pool with a pleasant atmosphere, a gym to exercise, and breakfast in the form of a buffet or buffet. But how do big, tall hotels manage all their operations so well? How do they manage the availability of rooms and match them with guests coming and going? How do you ensure the cleanliness and tidiness of hundreds of rooms? Apparently, this is where the role of Property Management System as discussed in the following article.

What is a Property Management System and Its Functions

Property Management System is a software specifically designed to manage the daily operations of properties such as hotels, apartments, or other property assets. According to Kasavana and Cahill (2003), Property Management System refers to a set of application programs that are directly related to hotel front office and back office activities, such as revenue management, reservation management, room and rate assignment, check-in and check-out management, guest accounting, folio management, account settlement, and room status management. Property Management System is a comprehensive solution that enables property owners and managers to automate various administrative and operational tasks related to property management.

Property Management System can be used in various properties, often in the hospitality industry so it is also referred to as a hotel management system. This system provides efficiency in management because it is integrated with each other so that many parties can coordinate properly. Moyeenudin et al. (2018) in his journal entitled "Data management with PMS in hotel industry" emphasizes that the Property Management System as one of the best data management software that helps in knowing employee understanding and becomes a source of information in the hospitality industry to increase business potential. The features of the Property Management System help in managing the property effectively and can be upgraded according to their guest services with much higher facilities, also have access to all staff with appropriate rights in their respective departments.

Property Management System is an important tool in managing property industry assets that must be utilized properly so that owners can achieve much greater success. An example of using a Property Management System is in hotel management. Like the definition above, the function of a Hotel Property Management System is to manage reservations, check-in/check-out guests, monitor room inventory, manage finances, and track their business performance better. In addition, Property Management System can also be used in other commercial property management such as villas, resorts, or even the real estate industry to facilitate the monitoring and administration of property assets.

History of Property Management System Development

Long before technology developed, the early phase of the hospitality industry used a manual property management system in managing its daily operations. This administrative process used written notes on paper that served as worksheets. Apart from being highly dependent on human intervention, this system is also tiring and consumes too much paper so that management is less effective and efficient, both in terms of energy, time, and cost. The 1970s saw the arrival of computers in the property industry. The penetration of this technology became the basis for the creation of a computer-based property management system to help manage data and administrative reports.

In the 1990s, the development of the internet significantly affected the hospitality industry. Internet-based Hotel Property Management System opens up the opportunity for two-way communication between owners and tenants. The internet also allows tenants to have unlimited access to information about the hotel of their choice. The ease of reservation is also felt by tenants. Until the 2010s, cloud-based Property Management Systems began to be recognized by many people after previously also popular mobile application-based systems that could increase the responsiveness of hotel staff to guest requests. Cloud technology provides wider data storage capacity. Coordination of various parties in the hotel is also more flexible. Most importantly, the flow of data distribution that is carried out occurs in real time even in different positions or geographical locations.

Property Management System continues to grow until now. The number of marketing needs makes this system integrated with many other applications, for example accounting and marketing applications. The integration of existing systems helps hotel operations to be more effective and efficient. Data analysis can also be done better to provide more informed management decisions. Now and in the future, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly popular in Property Management Systems needed by the hotel industry and other properties.

Benefits of Hotel Property Management System

What can a Property Management System do for your property operations? What are the clear benefits to customer experience and retention? Here are the benefits of a Property Management System, especially in the hospitality industry:

Reduced risk of human error. Property Management System is software that automates many things including administrative tasks. The risk of human error is reduced, the accuracy of data is increased.
Operational effectiveness and efficiency. Effective and efficient operational management provides a reduction in costs incurred for property asset management. The profitability of the property business also increases.
Five-star testimonials from customers. Integrated services provided by the hotel provide a valuable experience for guests. Property owners get positive reviews, guests are sure to come back and even recommend it to others.

3 Best Property Management System Recommendations

Tomps Building

One of the best Property Management System is Tomps Building, one of the products from Tomps which is a pioneer of project management applications in Indonesia, and is cloud-based. Apart from hotels, Tomps Building is widely used by government and private companies to manage the operations of their property assets because of the various features offered. Tomps Building provides various conveniences for owners and tenants in property management, such as informative asset tracking, stock availability reporting, property monitoring and maintenance, and tenant complaints and requests. All are served quickly and in real time. Especially regarding problem complaints through the application, not long afterward a technician arrived.

Another advantage of Tomps Building as a Hotel Property Management System is the automation of billing to residents and a cashless payment system. This makes it very easy for property owners, both residential and commercial, because the bills are paid without any effort. For example, IPL bills, starting from the calculation standardization formula to the billing period, all can be determined easily by the property management admin. Moreover, the data visualization in the application is very pleasing to the eye and easy to understand.

Tomps Building can customize the needs of customers, in this case property owners. It is certain that all the mandatory features in a Property Management System are available such as managing reservations and finances, guest check-in/check-out data collection, inventory monitoring, and others. In fact, this platform has a Booking Facility feature to facilitate the event venue booking process and a Maintenance feature to monitor the building maintenance schedule regularly. Regarding the price of the service, Tomps Building offers affordable packages with complete features including training for managers.

Cloudbeds

Besides Tomps Building, another Property Management System is Cloudbeds from the United States. As one of the leading hospitality software, Cloudbeds offers a simplified world of OTA (Online Travel Agent), payment, reservation, reporting, and various other hotel operations. The goal is to provide continuity in the relationship between property owners, working staff, and tenant guests. The platform is also cloud-based, providing a convenient and easy-to-use application interface. There are quite a lot of features available, and the best is the financial management. Many of its users are from the Americas and Europe. Cloudbeds also integrates with many world-renowned Point of Sales (POS) platforms or cashier applications such as Lightspeed and Revo.

Oracle OPERA PMS

One of the best Property Management Systems in the world that is widely used by many international branded and luxury hotels. Based in Colombia, it is again cloud-based. Oracle OPERA PMS offers comprehensive capabilities that hotels need to deliver exceptional guest experiences, improve operational efficiency, and increase employee productivity. Over the years used by many hotels in managing property operations, the platform is also used by many of the world's leading casinos. The comprehensiveness of the features provided is a concern for many potential users. Oracle OPERA PMS caters to all front office tasks such as reservations and room blocking, as well as back office such as revenue management. Both are top-notch features.

Choose the Most Advanced PMS at an Affordable Price

Property Management System (PMS) is an important aspect in the sustainability of your property business. This system works with an automated process to make it easier for you to manage your property operations, both daily and periodically. Therefore, choose a PMS platform with complete features and affordable prices. Don't let the PMS you use actually complicate operations so that it can harm your business performance.

Tomps Building comes with a high feature set of Property Management System. Reservations, guest management, inventory monitoring, and all property industry operational issues can be done well. Complaints about building problems are also easily done by tenants and quickly resolved. This can avoid conflicts between owners and tenants that have often occurred in the property industry. IPL bills are also automatically informed to tenants with a predetermined time period. Payment is also cashless which does not make it difficult. All Tomps Building features can increase operational effectiveness and optimize business profitability.

So, make it easy to maintain your property and try the Tomps Building demo now!

Reference:

Commey, V., Akonnoe, O., Commey, D., & Mensah, N. O. (2023). Prospects and Challenges of Property Management System in the Hotel Industry in Ghana: Evidence from Selected Hotels in the Kumasi, Ghana. International Journal of Innovation and Development, 1(1), 25–33.

Hotel Tech Report. (2023, May 17). Best 10 Hotel Property Management Systems 2023. Hoteltechreport.com. https://hoteltechreport.com/operations/property-management-systems

Moyeenudin, H. M., Parvez, S. J., Anandan, R., & Narayanan, K. (2018). Data management with PMS in hotel industry. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(21).