Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

108 CHAPTER 4: PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMSDetermining the payback period—the period of time required for the hotel to recouppurchase price, installation charges, financing fees, and so forth through cost savings andincreased guest satisfaction—will also assist management in deciding whether to installcomputers. If the controller reports a series of financial problems such as the following,the payback period becomes clearer:• 5 percent of all local phone calls are not posted at the front desk• 2 percent of sales are lost every month because guest checks are inaccurately totaledin the food and beverage department• Ten hours of overtime could be saved through internal preparation of paychecksfor each pay periodAs the department directors go over their respective profit-and-loss statements withthe controller, additional areas for cost recovery can be noted. The time invested in preparingan accurate needs analysis will pay off in the long run.The above concerns of the controller include areas in addition to the front desk. Rememberthat the adoption of a PMS includes the management of all guest services andaccounting functions. While the needs of the front desk alone—for a call-accountingsystem or the rental of a reservations system—may not justify the expense of a PMS, theneeds of all departments can make such a system cost-effective.PMS ApplicationsThe property management system is organized around the functions needed to assist indelivering service to the guest. The software options listed earlier in this chapter are onlya few of the many that are available to hoteliers. For purposes of this review, assume thatthe lodging property has been equipped with a state-of-the art PMS and the system is upand running. The software program main menu lists on the screen all the available individualprograms (modules) that are included in the system. Refer to Figure 4-6.The options shown in Figure 4-6 are similar to those previously listed in this chapter.The front desk clerk can access any of these individual programs by typing the designatedkeystrokes or following directions on a touch screen, a type of computer monitor screenthat allows the operator to input data by the touch of a finger. The documentation, whichconsist of either printed or on-screen (monitor) instructions, explains how to operate thehardware or software that accompanies a specific PMS. This documentation will consistof written step-by-step instructions as well as a flowchart of individual programs andsubprograms, all of which is very valuable in training staff. The flowcharts are comparableto the blueprints of a building. The following discussion of individual modules and subprogramswill highlight the applications of these software options in a property managementsystem.TLFeBOOK