Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

PROCEDURE FOR PERFORMING A NEEDS ANALYSIS 101than selecting hardware, computer equipment such as central processing units, keyboards,monitors, and printers. The effectiveness of a PMS depends on selecting software thatallows management to increase guest satisfaction and to access financial and informationaldata for control purposes. The information obtained from the needs analysis willprovide a framework for evaluating the numerous software packages on the market today.Each software package offers numerous features; it is important to choose one packagethat is most appropriate for your needs. Software on the market today includes thoseguest service, accounting, and information options that are standard in the hotel industry.Investigate the guest service features, accounting options, and information applicationsto determine which PMS is best for your property. If you feel that the applications of aparticular software package will not help you manage your property, that adding a particularguest service will not increase guest satisfaction, that no significant savings willresult from producing more sophisticated accounting reports, or that the arrangement ofhistorical information about guests will not be beneficial, then you should not adopt thatparticular PMS. You control the software selection; its function is to assist you in doinga better job. Only you can decide which applications are most useful in your facility.Some of the more common options for various departments are listed in Figure 4-3.Choosing HardwareChoosing hardware for a PMS is not as difficult as choosing software. Today most availablehardware is compatible with standard computer operating systems (such as MicrosoftWindows). This consideration is essential because most software programs are written torun on these standard operating systems. In short, you must choose your hardwarebasedonits ability to handle the software; check on this with your hardware vendor.Other technology factors to consider include the following working concepts:Processor speed: how fast a central processing unit (CPU) makes calculations per second;expressed in MHz (the abbreviation for “megahertz”)Disk drive: a place in the computer where data is stored or read; hard or floppy—3 1 ⁄2-inch versus Zip driveMegabyte: 1,024 kilobytes of formatted capacityGigabyte: 1,024 megabytes of formatted capacityAccess time: the amount of time required for a processor to retrieve information fromthe hard drive; recorded in millisecondsInternet: a network of computer systems that share information over high-speed electronicconnectionsI/O ports (input/output devices): keyboards, monitors, modems, mouse, joystick, lightpen, printers, and track ballsMonitor: a television screen with color or monochrome capacity to view input and outputdata, control column width and line length of display, adjust height of character display,and allow visual controlTLFeBOOK