The document discusses selecting and implementing a property management system (PMS) for a hotel. It covers considerations like hardware needs, PMS workstation locations, networking requirements, and interfaces with other hotel systems. The key steps in checking a guest into the hotel using a PMS are outlined, including gathering guest information, assigning a room, and generating a registration card. PMS menus are organized in a hierarchy to grant different levels of access to front desk, housekeeping, and other hotel staff.

1. SELECTING
THE PMS

2. • Consider the requisite hardware
needs Hardware – Is understood to
be the actual machine the software
runs on.The software itself often
dictates the hardware needs. The
chosen software will require
specific processing speeds and
memory capability of its hardware.
• PMS Workstation - the areas where
an employee ormanager can
access the PMS. The end users of
the chosen configuration are the
hotel employees and managers.
Each PMS workstation will include
software, hardware and computer
monitor.
Questions the
decision makers
should ask
themselves:
-“How easy is the system
to learn?”
-“Does it do everything
I need it to?”

3. • PMS workstation will need to be placed in
many areas of the hotel. The workstations
are most often located in front office (at
the front desk; behind the front desk; in
reservation, PBX, and accounting).
However additional workstations are
generally needed at the bell stand,
concierge desk, in housekeeping, and at
various outlets throughout the hotel.
• A PMS network also referred to as LAN
(Local Area Network) allows each station to
communicate with the other. This
communication is vital, as hotels must
know the status of their facility in real time.
That is, every PMS station will know the
status of every room and every guest.
Consider
the
aesthetic
impact of
the
hardware

4. The PMS station will show a room as checked out as
soon as the front desk employee completes the
transaction. The house keeping department will
instantly realize that they have another room to
clean. Once the room is cleaned, the front desk will
immediately determine that they have another
room to sell. The efficiencies created by PMS
networks are very valuable in maximizing revenue.
PMS are more than communication tools. They can
also be thought of as extensive databases. They
store guest information and preferences. This
information is valuable because it enables a hotel
to target its marketing effort. PMS’s capture
demographic and other information on each guest.
Direct mail, newspaper, and other forms of
advertising media are much more effective when
targeted to a specific demographic or region.

5. Guest Account
The guest account contains two separate menus they
are:
The guest registration menu – contains all
the pertinent information garnered from
the initial reservation during the stay (i.e.,
name, arrival, room preferences, method
of payment, and other miscellaneous
information).
The guest accounting menu – will be used
to track all credit/ debit transactions
related to the guest’s stay.
Most PMS are organized based on a series of menus.
Within the PMS, the guest account tracks all the data
that pertains to an individual guest.

6. Each PMS will contain this information in some format. Though the
order and verbiage may differ, the following list the information
contained within the registration menu:
Required Field Meaning
Guest Name: Name of individual's account
Arrival Date: Date Check-in
Departure Date: Date of checkout
Address: Address of guest
Phone: Phone of guest
Reservation Status: This field is unique inm that it lists different information on one line. A guest's
reservation status will indicate two things: (1) Prioir to check-in, it will indicate
what type of reservations was made; (2) After check-in, it will list the status of
the guest's stay. Prioir to check-in the reservation status line will list a (G) for a
guaranteed reservation or a number(4 or 6) which would indicate a non-guaranteed
reservation (i.e., 4or 6 P.M. hold). Once the guest has checked-in, the reservations
line may indicate (I), which means they are in-house. An (O) would indicate they
cheaked out. (D) would indicate a deleted reservation, which might happen if the
guest cancels the reservation, or there was an obvious error in the reservation
itself (i.e., duplicate reservation).
Guest Registration Menu

7. Required Field Meaning
Room Number: Actual room assigned
Room: Lists the room type, configuration, and designation
Room Rate: Actual rate paid
Room Status: Lists the curremnt room status of the room reserved (i.e., V/R, O/D)
Method of Payment: Cash, check, credit, or direct billing
Billing Method: EPO (Each Pays Pwn), SRT(Sign Room and Tax), SAC (Sign All Charges). Note, some
PMS's may combine billing method and mnethod of payment on the same line like
this: CA/EPO (Cash/ Each Pays Own) or CC/SRT (Credit Card/Sign Room and Tax),etc.
Guest Loyalty #: Frequent stay program number
Frequent Flier #: Airline incentive partnership
Special Requests: Early/late check-in or checkout request for an update, etc.
Comments: This field s generally a " free form" field that lets front desk personnel communicate
to one another regarding a specific guest. This field may be used to notify the front
desk that the guest ha s mesage waiting, or that a credit card has expired.
Market Code: The market code is used to track the accuracy of the guest room rate.

8.  The guest accounting menu will contain a limited amount of
information relating to the guest’s reservation. Its primary
purpose is to document every financial transaction relating to
the guest. Each time a charge is posted, a credit issued, or a
payment made, it will be reflected in this display.
Required Field Meaning
Guest Name: Name of individual's account
Arrival Date: Date of check - in
Departure Date: Date of Checkout
Room Number: Actual room assigned
Payment Method:
Reservation Status:
Cash, check, credit, or direct billing
Lists the current room status of the room reserved (i.e., V/R,
O/D)
Guest Accounting Menu

9. • The remainder of
the accounting
menu summarizes
the financial
transaction of the
guest. Each
transaction is
issued a line
number so that the
record is easy to
follow. The date of
the transaction is
also recorded. A
reference space is
usually provided as
a free- form cell for
any additional
information needed
to a document the
transaction.

10. THE CHECK - IN
• For the front desk, the PMS is used
continuously to check guest in and out of
the hotel. This process, as has been
reviewed, is crucial in effectively
managing room inventory. It also a very
good way to illustrate the operation of a
PMS. This section illustrates the check- in
of a walk - in guest, that is, a guest with no
prior reservation.

11. The following series of PMS screens shows step by step what
information is needed to check in walk - in guest.
Step 1
is to identify
the arrival and
departure
information,
and if need be,
verify with
management
the availability
of sleeping
hours.
Step 2
is to identify
the room type
the guest
prefers. The
agent should
do their best to
match the
guest’s room
preferences
with what is
available.
Step 3
is to use the
PMS to
determine
what available
rooms in the
hotel inventory
match guest’s
room
preferences.
Step 4
is to assign a
specific room
number based
on what PMS
indicated was
available.

12. Step 5
is to determine the tax status of the guest.If the guest
works for agencies of the government, or certain non-
profit organizations, he or she may be tax exempt.
Step 6
is needed to determine method of payment.
Step 7
In this step, the front desk agent is able to make notes
relevant to the guest for other employees. Because this
guest is paying by check, a good practice is to note the
check number in the registration menu. Also, this
disabled guest may need assistance later, so another
note was made.

13. Step 8
is to gather personal identification information, such as name,
address, phone, and company name, if applicable. A driver’s
license or some other proper form of identification should be
shown.
Step 9
is to verify the rate market code. Every rate inthe rate structure
is assigned a market code in PMS. This code is read by the
system and the company determines the appropriate rate. The
market code is needed to serve as a “check and balance” to the
sleeping room rate assigned. The market code must match the
rate. This needed to uncover any possible fraud by front desk
employees (e.g., reducing a rate for a friend).
Step 10
is the final step. The rate is typically assigned at the same time a
market code is issued. However, because this was walk-in, and
the walk-in rate changes, this rate was assigned last.

14. • Registration card- summarizes
much of information contained in
the guest registration menu of
PMS. The information on the card is
used to verify the accuracy of that
information in PMS.
Arrival/departure information,
spelling of the guest’s name, and
assigned rate should be reviewed
by the guest to ensure that both
parties understand and approve
the transaction.The registration
card is the successor to the hotel
registration book, or log. Prior to
the advent of computers, hotel
guest would “sign in” to verify
that they were staying at the hotel.
•Arriving guest should sign the
registration card as they would
the hotel log.

15.  Each PMS menu contains
specialized information and
reporting capabilities for a
specific rooms- division area.
Several of these menus lead the
user to even more specialized
menus and reporting options.
The organization of these menus
and their interrelationship is
called a PMS hierarchy.
 A front office menu can then
lead the user to other menus,
namely:
• Reservation menus
• Registration menu
• Night audit menu
• Housekeeping menu
• Uniform services menu

16. Each of these menus, based on
their position within the hierarchy,
requires a specific level of
authorization for access.
A PMS hierarchy starts with the
broadest menu (front office) and
narrows its scope as each menu
gets more specific.
As the illustration showed, each
rooms division areas was allowed
access to only the options it
needed to get the job done.

17. PMS System Interface
The PMS must be able to communicate with other
hotel computer system in order to maximizeefficiency.
The point of sale (POS) system
may also be running on different platforms. In an
automatic posting environment, a similar process of
“passing along” occurs. Outlet/ ancillary charge data is
given to the PMS. The difference between this and the
information shared from the reservations system is
that this information is passed along and posted to
the guest account immediately. This is to ensure that
the guest does not check out prior to paying for all
incurred charges.