Hospitality Industry Technology (HIT

Definition of Hospitality Industry Systems (HIS)

Hospitality Industry Systems is a collection of components that work

together to provide information help in the operations and management

of a hospitality organisation.

Components of Hospitality Industry Technology (HIT)

1.      Sales, reservations, rooms and revenue management

2.      Food and beverage (F&B) applications, inventory control,

purchasing, receiving and storage

3.      E-mail, intranet, extranet, voicemail, videoconferencing

4.      Human resource applications

5.      Personal Co

6.      Accounting

7.      Point of Sale (POS)

8.      Catering management

Information Technology Systems

1.     Work group information systems

2.     LAN

3.     WAN

4.     E-mail

5.     Organisation information system

6.     Global/international information system

Hospitality Information Processing

1.      Data

2.      Information

3.      Information sharing

4.      Electronic data exchange

Property Management System (PMS)

1.      Hub of information processing

2.      Rooms management module

3.      Guest accounting module

4.      Ving cards system

Energy Management Systems (EMS)

1.      Room occupancy status reporting

2.      Automatic lighting control

3.      Minibar access reporting

4.      Smoke detector alarm reporting

5.      Central electronic lock control

6.      Guest control amenities

Call Accounting Systems

1.     Track guest phone charges

2.     Available software application

3.     Coordination with PBX and PMS

4.     Discounts during off peak hours

Guest Reservation Systems

1.      Global distribution systems

2.      Central Reservation Systems (CRS)

3.      Affiliate

4.      Non-affiliate

5.      Springer Miller Systems

Factors in Choosing a CRS

1.      Determine whether property is affiliate or non-affiliate

2.      Size and design of database

3.      Application service provider

4.      Web reservation system

Other HIT Services

1.     Billing of guests (rooming cycle)

2.     Security

3.     Guest comfort and convenience

4.     Video games and Internet

Sales and Marketing

1.      Database of customers

2.      Email

3.      Voicemail

4.      Internet

5.      Meeting matrix

Catering

1.      Event management

2.      Software

3.      Caterease

4.      Delphi

Front of the House Systems in Restaurants

1.      Point of sale (POS)

2.      Kitchen display systems

3.      Guest services solutions

POS Systems

1.      Central Processing Unit (CPU) interfacing with individual units

2.      Acts as a cash register

3.      Guest transactions

4.      Sales and guest checks

5.      MICROS

Choosing and Implementing a POS

1.      Contingents

2.      Size and type of operation

3.      Security issues

4.      Guest identification verification

5.      Ease of training for manager and employees

6.      Compatible with financial applications

7.      Uses Microsoft Windows NT and SQL

8.      Scalable over time

Product Management

1.      Multiple costing methods

2.      Units and counting locations

3.      Maintains perpetual inventory balance

4.      Supports scheduled count

5.      Detailed recipe management

6.      Real-time depletion of inventory

7.      Batch recipes

Back of the House Systems

1.      Inventory and food costing

2.      Labour management

3.      Financial reporting

Beverage Management

Beverage management systems are:

1.     Scanbar

2.     On-going, real-time inventory control

3.     Tamper-proof reliability interfaced the major POS systems

4.     Bar coded label

5.     Wine module

6.     Keeps control of all wines by region, variety or vintage

7.     Bar coded

8.     AZ Bar America

Trends

1.      Online travel purchasing is rising dramatically

2.      Online reservation sites provide a place for independent

restaurants to advertise and book reservations

3.      Customer relationship management

4.      Use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)

5.      Hotels utilising wireless connections

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS [PMS]

In the hospitality industry a property management system also known as

a PMS is a comprehensive software application used to automate hotel

functions like guest bookings, online reservations, point of sale,

telephone, accounts receivable, sales and marketing, banquets, food and

beverage costing, materials management, human resources and payroll,

maintenance management, quality management and other amenities.

Hotel property management systems may interface with central

reservation systems and revenue or yield management systems, front

office, back office and point of sale systems.

Property Management systems integrate all of the information needed to

manage:

1.     front office

2.     back office; and

3.     office automation.

Property management systems also provide data that marketing can use

for various activities such as:

Revenue maximisation, better rooms’ inventory control, more accurate

management of room blocks, and yield management capabilities.

Automation helps hotels provide better guest service and related

recognition programmes. Indeed, guests can count on same room, same

seat, and same car preference as a result of guest history and preference

systems. By automation, guests will experience automated check-in and

check-out.

Similar technology has provided automated airline ticketing and car

rentals.

A variety of stand-alone applications may also be interfaced with an

installed PMS such as: point-of-sale, call accounting, electronic locking,

etc.

Computerised back office application typically included in back office

PMS packages contain modules covering accounting and internalcontrol

function.

Hotel Property Management System Interfaces

Point-of-Sale Systems

When the main processor of a POS system interfaces with a property

management system (PMS), data can be directly transferred from the

POS system to various front office and back offices POS place at:

1.     restaurants

2.     bar and Lounge areas

3.     room service stations

4.     gift shops

5.     pool areas

6.     pro shops

Telephone Call Accounting Systems

Telephone Call Accounting Systems (CAS) tracks guest room phone

charges. It thus enables hotel to take control over local and long-distance

telephone services and to apply a markup to switchboard operations. A

call accounting system can place and price out-going calls.

When a CAS is interfaced with a front office guest accounting module,

telephone charges can immediately be posted to the proper folios.

Electronic Locking Systems

Often these systems interface with a front office computer system,

thereby enabling management to exercise important key control

measure.

One kind of electronic locking system functions through a computer

terminal at the front desk. The terminal selects a code that will permit

entry and then produces a card for the guest to use. Once a code is

entered and a card produced, all previous codes are canceled, and cards

issued to previous guests no longer function.

Energy Management Systems

Interfacing energy management systems with a hotel computer system

links guestroom energy controls with the front office rooms’

management package. This technology is used to extend guest in-room

comfort. Passive infrared motion sensors and door switches

automatically switch off lights and air conditioning when a guest is out

of the room thus reducing energy consumption.

An energy management system monitors guestroom temperatures by

computer. This may lead to significant reductions in energy

consumption and lower energy costs.

Auxiliary Guest Service Devices

Automation has simplified many auxiliary guest services such as the

placement of wake-up calls and voice messaging for guests.

An automated wake-up system permits front desk employee to input a

guest’s room number and requested wake-up time. At the specified time,

the system automatically rings the room and calls back at predetermined

intervals until the guest answers the phone.

Electronic message-waiting systems are designed to let a guest know

that a message is waiting at the front desk.

1.     Traditional message-waiting device is capable of flashing a light

on a telephone or television in the guest’s room.

2.     Now, they actually display message on the television screen.

Functions of Property Management System

Enable guests to make reservations

Enable Guests to Check-in/Register when they arrive and

Check-out/Pay When They Leave

1.     at front desk

2.     remotely

3.     personal Digital Assistants

4.     remote terminal

Enable Staff to Maintain Guest Facilities

1.     room type

2.     status

3.     occupant

Account for Guests’ Financial Transactions

1.     credit card information

2.     address information

3.     business

4.     home

5.     room rate

6.     room charges

7.     night audit

8.     collects and posts room/guest data.

Track Guests’ Activities for Use in Future Sales Efforts

1.     Central Reservation System (CRS)

2.     Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

CRM is used to collect and maintain data about sales contacts. It is very

comprehensive and holds such data as: names, addresses, birthdates,

anniversaries, business, and other personal information

Interface with other systems

1.     Global Distribution System (GDS)

2.     Central Reservation System (CRS)

Must integrate seamlessly even if from different vendors.

1.     Sales and Catering Applications

2.     POS (Food and Beverage)

3.     Retail Points

4.     HVAC or EMS Systems

5.     In-Room Amenities

6.     Messaging

7.     Security

8.     Call Accounting System

Hotel Reservation Systems

Hotel reservation systems, commonly known as a central reservation

system (CRS) are a computerised system that stores and distributes

information of a hotel, resort, or other lodging facilities.

A central reservation system is a tool to reach the global distribution

systems as well as internet distribution systems from one single system,

namely a central reservation system. A CRS is mainly assistance for

hoteliers to manage all of their online marketing and sales, where they

can upload their rates and availabilities to be seen by all sales channels

that are using a CRS. Sales channels may include conventional travel

agencies as well as online travel agencies. An hotelier using a central

reservation system eases his/her tasks for online distribution, because a

CRS does everything to distribute hotel information to the sales

channels instead of the hotelier.

Information commonly stored in a CRS are:

 room types

 rate plans architecture

 room Rates and conditions (guarantee, deposit, customised

cancellation rules, minimum length of stay, maximum length of

stay, closed to arrival, arrival not allowed, departure not allowed)

 room inventories

 generic hotel information (address, phone number, fax number)

 distribution content (descriptions, amenities, pictures, videos,

local attractions) are stored in the CRS or in a content

management system

 reservation information

 geocode information.

nearby IATA cities and airports.

Roles of Reservation Systems:

 selling individual reservations

 selling group reservations

 displaying room availability and guest lists

 tracking advance deposits

 tracking travel agent bookings and commissions

 generating confirmation slips and various reservation reports.

Front Office Applications

Front Office System

Guest registration

Retrieve reservation

Assign a room

Collect payment

Verify room status

Telephone services

Phone calls

Wake up call

Messages

Room status and

housekeeping management

room discrepancy report

room status report

etc

Cashiering and guest check-out

generate folios

post transactions

open and close cashier shift

guest check out

Reservation Module

A reservation module enables a hotel to rapidly process room requests

and generate timely and accurate rooms, revenue, and forecasting

reports. Reservations received at a central reservations site can be

processed, confirmed, and communicated to the destination property

before the receptionists finish talking with the caller on the telephone.

When the destination property uses a PMS, the reservation module

receives data directly from the central (or global) reservation system,

and in-house reservation records, files, and revenue forecasts are

immediately updated.

Functions of Reservation Module

1. Reservation Inquiry

This inquiry typically collects the following data:

 date of arrival

 type and number of rooms requested

 number of room nights

 room rate code (standard, special, package, etc.)

 number of persons in party.

The receptionist enters the data through a computer terminal according

to rapidly defined inquiry procedures. Once the inquiry is matched with

rooms availability data, the PMS assigns and blocks a room, thus

removing it from the availability file.

2. Determination of Availability

Once entered, the reservation inquiry is compared to rooms’ availability

data according to a predetermined system algorithm. The algorithm is a

computer-based formula designed to sell rooms in a specified pattern

(by zone, floor, block, etc).

Processing a reservation request may result in one of several systemgenerated

responses appearing on the display screen:

 acceptance or rejection of the reservation request

 suggestion of alternative room types or rate

 suggestion of alternative hotel properties.

3. Creation of the Reservation Record

Once the reservation request has been processed and the room blocked,

the system requires that the receptionist completes the reservation record

by collecting and entering necessary data, such as:

 guest’s personal data (name, address, telephone number)

 time of arrival

 reservation classification (confirmed, guaranteed)

 confirmation number

 caller data (agency or secretary)

 special requirements.

4. Confirmation of the Reservation

PMS can automatically generate letter of confirmation on the day a

reservation request is processed. Information can be retrieved from the

reservation record and printed on a specially designed hotel form.

5. Maintenance of the Reservation Record

Reservation records are stored in an electronic file and commonly

segmented by date of arrival:

group name; and

 guest name.

File organisation and the method of file retrieval are critical to an

effective reservation module because callers frequently update, alter,

cancel, or confirm their reservation.

For example, if a caller requests a cancellation, the receptionist must be

able to quickly access the correct reservation record, verify its contents,

and process the cancellation.

Reservation record data can be:

 printed onto pre-registration cards to facilitate faster check-in

procedures

 used as the basis for printing in-house guest folio and guest

information lists

 transferred to commission agent files for later processing

 formatted for eventual inclusion in a guest history file.

Generation of Reports

Similar to many computer applications, the number and type of reports

available through a reservation module are functions of the user’s needs, software capability, and database contents. A computer-generated room’s availability report lists, by room type, the number of rooms available each day.

Rooms Management Module

Rooms’ management module maintains up-to-date information on the

status of rooms, assists in the assignment of rooms during registration,

and helps coordinate many guest services. Rooms’ management

modules perform the following functions:

 identify current room status

 assist in assigning rooms to guests at check-in

 provide in-house guest information

 organise housekeeping activities

 provide supplementary services

 generate useful reports for management.

Rooms’ management module alerts front desk employees of the status of

each room, just as room racks do in non-automated operations. A front

desk employee simply enters the room’s number, and the current status

of the room is displayed immediately on the terminal’s screen.

Once a room becomes clean and ready for occupancy, housekeeping

staff change the room’s status through a terminal in their work area, and

the information is immediately communicated to terminals at the front

desk. The hotel property management system (PMS) routes data through

the rooms’ management module and, thereby, helps coordinate the sale

of rooms.

Computer-based hotel technology is capable of instantly updating the

housekeeping status of rooms, which enables front desk employees to

make quick and accurate room assignments to guests at the time of

check-in.

Guest Account Module

Guest accounting module processes and monitors financial transactions

that occur between guests and the hotel. When remote electronic cash

registers (ECR) or POS, situated at various revenue centres throughout

the hotel are interfaced with a guest accounting module, guest charges

are communicated to the front desk and automatically posted to the

appropriate electronic guest folio

.

Front  of-the-House Restaurant Systems

The front-of-the-house systems include:

• point-of-sale systems

• kitchen display systems

• guest services solutions.

Point-of-Sale Systems (POS)

Point-of-sale systems are systems mostly used in restaurants and hotels

in which a computer replaces a cash register. Point-of-sale systems are

common in restaurants and other food service settings such as stadium,

theme park, airport, or cruise ship. These systems are also used by hotel

properties that have food and beverage service retail outlets. They are

used to track food and beverage charges and other retail charges that

may occur at the hotel or restaurant.

A point-of-sale system is made up of a number of POS terminals that

interface with a remote central processing unit. These terminals may

also have their own microprocessors so that processing can be done at

the terminal, and all the terminals are networked.

A POS terminal may be used as an electronic cash register. The POS

system is usually interfaced with a property management system at a

hotel to record guest transactions during their stay at the hotel.

Terminals are placed anywhere in the hotel or restaurant where

transactions are taking place.

For example:

A hotel may have POS terminals at the front desk, at the food and

beverage service outlets, and at any retail outlet in the hotel.

Examples of POS systems:

A. Restaurant Point-of-Sale System

B. Wireless Order Taking

With Restaurant POS you can use a normal PDA to take orders

wirelessly minimising the time to serve your clients. Orders are

immediately printed in the kitchen ensuring a better customer service.

Restaurant POS Software

The waiter selects the category and the items in the category are

displayed. The waiter touches the screen to enter the items. Note that

there can be up to 54 menu items on a single touch screen.

Users of POS

POS has many users. In the hotel, front-desk managers and employees

are some of the most frequent users. This is because they have the most

contact with guests and guests’ transactions. The room service manager

and employees also use POS. The restaurant manager and employees as

well use POS. They use it to keep track of sales and guest checks.

Kitchen Display System

Kitchen display system further enhances the processing of orders to and

from the kitchen. Printers in the kitchen are replaced with video

monitors. This systems presents not only orders to the kitchens, but also

presents information on how long orders are taking to be prepared.

Orders change colour or flash on the monitor to alert kitchen staff when

orders are taking too long.

Kitchen monitors are widely used in quick service restaurants, and they

are also gaining momentum in table service restaurants.

Kitchen videos systems also post order preparation times to a central

data base for later reporting and analysis by management to determine

how the kitchen is performing.

Guest Services Solutions

Guest services solutions are applications that are designed to help a

restaurateur develop a dining relationship with guests. The applications

include:

• Frequent dinner management programme

• Delivery management with caller ID interface

• Guest account receivable to manage home accounts

• Gift certificate management.

All these applications are accessed through the POS system. They give

restaurateurs the opportunity to offer convenience to their guests, while

allowing them to track who their best customers are.

Guest activity is posted into the central database and management can

develop targeted marketing programmes based on this information

Back-of-the-House Restaurant Systems

The back-of-the-house restaurant systems are called product

management, and they consist of:

• inventory

• food costing

• labour management

• financial reporting.

Inventory

Technology for beverage management has improved as it offers

beverage operators a system that accounts for every ounce of beverage

with daily, weekly, or monthly results. The real-time inventory

interfaced with major POS systems, allows viewing results at any time

and place with tamperproof reliability.

A particular liquor model (Scan bar) has a bar-coded label on each bottle

making it easy to track bottles from purchase to recycle bin. Each bottle

variety has the same ribbon allowing for easy calibration. The bar coded

ribbon is used as a measuring tool to give accurate results.

Inventory taking is done with a portable hand-held radio-frequency bar

code reader. Once the label is scanned, the level of alcohol in the bottle

is recorded and the data is sent from the user’s hand-held reader to the

computer in the office for real-time results.

The wine module keeps control of all the wines by region, variety, or

vintage. Once the wine has been configured within the directory, the

received wine is identified by scanning the bar code already on the

bottle, or selected directly from the portable hand-held radio-frequency

bar code reader. A bar-coded tag is placed around the collar, and this

creates a unique identity for each bottle.

Once the bottle is ready to be served either at the table or the bar, the

bar-coded tag is removed from the bottle and scanned out of inventory.

Scanning the tag around the neck of the bottle accomplishes inventory

taking.

Another beverage system (AZ2000) offers a POS system that runs the

operation from behind the bar. It rings up the charge as the beverage is

being poured, while automatically removing the product from inventory.

Instead of holding up bottles and guessing what is left in them, or even

weighing each bottle at the end of shifts, the AZ2000 controller can at

any time give a report of what was sold, who completed the transaction,

how the system was used, and actual profits by brand, transaction, or

product group. This system offers the convenience of remote monitoring

either from home or vacation by just dialing into the location and

inventory to make changes such as price changes or even monitoring

sales activity.

The AZ2000 is the heart of a dispensing system. It interfaces with a

variety of products. For example, it “spouts” a cocktail tower, beer,

wine, juice, soft drinks machines and soda guns. The system even runs

cocktail programming such that should the bar tender not know what

goes into a certain drink, he/she can hit the cocktail button, and it will

tell them what liquor bottle to pick, and also control the recipe pour

amounts.

Food Costing

Food cost of menu items sold through the POS system is linked to

recipes, which are made up of inventory items. Each time an item is

sold, the appropriate inventory items are automatically depleted through

the software application. For example:

When a hamburger is sold, the inventory is depleted by one hamburger

patty, bun, slice of tomato, ounce of lettuce, and an ounce of onion.

The system can also determine when inventory is low and time to place

order.

Labour Management

Most front-of-the house systems have the ability to track employee

working time. A back-of-the-house labour management package adds

the ability to manage all of a restaurant’s payroll and human resource

information. A labour management system includes a human resource

module to track hiring, employee personal information, vacation,

security privileges, tax status, availability and any other information

pertinent to employees working at the restaurant.

A labour management system would also include scheduling capability

so that managers can create weekly schedules based on forecasted

business. Schedules will now be enforced when employees check in or

out so that labour cost can be managed.

A labour management package also presents actual work time and pay

rate to a payroll processor so that paychecks can be cut and distributed.

It also collates tips data and receipts data from the front of the house so

that proper tips allocation can be reported according to IRS guidelines.

Financial Reporting

The back-of-the-house and front-of-the-house systems post data into a

relational database located on the central server. The restaurant manager

uses these data for reporting and decision making. Profit and loss

reports, budget variances, end-of-day reports, and other financial reports

are generated from the central database.

Both back-of-the-house and front-of-the-house systems must be reliably

linked so that POS food costs, labour costs, service times, and guest

activity can be analysed on the same reports. This will enable restaurant

managers make critical business decisions armed with all necessary

information.