Learn more about PMS channel managers, how a channel manager and PMS integration works, and how you can increase hotel revenue using the world's #1 channel manager.
A PMS channel manager is a tool that will allow you to sell all your rooms on all your connected booking sites at the same time. It will automatically update your availability in real-time on all sites when a booking is made, when you close a room to sale, or when you want to make bulk changes to your inventory.
PMS channel managers are incredibly powerful pieces of technology that will save you plenty of time and a lot of frustration. Your job of selling rooms will become much easier and you’ll experience significantly less double-bookings with the right provider.
A PMS channel manager like SiteMinder is a robust platform designed to empower hotels in efficiently managing their distribution channels. With its wide range of features, it offers substantial benefits to hoteliers seeking to boost their revenue.
Let’s explore these top four features in more detail, illustrating their value with relevant examples:
This functionality ensures that crucial information such as availability, rates, inventory, and property content remains synchronized across all connected distribution channels.
By maintaining accurate data in real time, hoteliers can avoid overbookings and inconsistencies. If a room is booked on one channel, the system instantly updates the availability on other channels, preventing double bookings and potential guest dissatisfaction.
Our PMS channel manager boasts an extensive network of more than 400 distribution channels and seamless integration with over 200 property management systems. This comprehensive connectivity allows hotels to maximize their reach and exposure.
For instance, a boutique hotel integrating with a global online travel agency (OTA) can effortlessly distribute its inventory to a wider audience via another regional or niche OTA, expanding its market reach and attracting potential guests who might not have discovered the property otherwise.
Our PMS channel manager enables hotels to adjust room rates in real time based on demand and market conditions. For example, during a period of high demand, the system can automatically increase rates to maximize revenue.
Conversely, during low-demand periods, the system can lower rates to attract bookings and maintain optimal occupancy levels. By leveraging dynamic pricing, hotels can strike the right balance between competitiveness and profitability.
Our PMS channel manager’s Activity Dashboard feature provides hoteliers with a centralized view of their distribution channels’ performance in real time. This visual representation enables them to monitor bookings, revenue, and occupancy levels efficiently.
Hotel managers can easily track which channels are driving the most bookings and revenue, identifying trends and patterns. This data-driven approach helps inform strategic decisions, such as allocating resources to channels that yield the highest returns.
In addition to the Activity Dashboard, SiteMinder’s Channel Analytics feature offers granular insights into each distribution channel’s performance. Hoteliers can track metrics such as conversion rates, average daily rates, and revenue generated from each channel.
By analyzing channel performance, a hotel might discover that a certain OTA consistently delivers a higher average daily rate and revenue compared to others. Armed with this knowledge, the hotel can prioritize that channel, allocate marketing efforts accordingly, and potentially negotiate better terms with the OTA.
The main difference between a PMS and a channel manager is that a property management system primarily serves as the front desk system of a hotel, while a channel manager helps you manage rates and availability across all booking channels. There’s no need to log in to all connected OTAs such as Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb.
OPERA PMS is an example of a PMS, and SiteMinder is an example of a channel manager.
OPERA PMS forms part of the OPERA Hotel Management System which is a family of integrated and scalable products. The OPERA hotel system is designed to meet the requirements of any property, from small independents to large groups and chains, and provides tools to help you run your operation at a greater level of productivity and profitability.
Using the OPERA PMS saves you time by automating the necessary front office operations such as reservations, check-in, and check-out, minimises human error and provides a detailed business report on processes, the property, and personnel. This way, you can identify the ineffective tactics and take early precautions for possible problems and action new strategies.
It is also configurable to your specific requirements making it easy to use and enabling you to obtain fast, accurate, up-to-date information.
On the other hand, using SiteMinder helps ensure your hotel inventory is selling and updating in real-time on the right channels. A channel manager is essential for you to reach and sell to travellers effectively, but it’s just as important that you don’t manage this manually.
Your PMS and channel manager need to be in sync, communicating via two-way integration to ensure data is accurate and up-to-date. This enables you to control your inventory in a much more sustainable and profitable way.
PMS channel manager integration is an essential factor in running a profitable hotel business. Your systems simply must work together, and by integrating your PMS with a channel manager, you can update all your data and records automatically.
When a booking is made on an online travel agent for example, the channel manager will send this information to the PMS which will then record the reservation and update inventory, sending this information back to the channel manager which will update all your connected OTAs. You don’t have to touch a thing because the systems do it all for you.
PMS integration in general is vital for bringing your hotel under complete control. By converging all the core departments of your property into a central point at the PMS, you can minimise admin errors, avoid duplicate data, and save hours of your time.
Channel management is a significant part of this ecosystem, so you need a reliable provider like SiteMinder that can also integrate seamlessly with OPERA PMS.
OPERA PMS is the world’s most advanced property management system, while SiteMinder offers the world’s most powerful channel manager. It makes a lot of sense to pair these two products together to ensure your property runs as smoothly as it possibly can.
The process of PMS channel manager integration involves SiteMinder’s two-way Extensible Markup Language (XML) interface with OPERA’s property management system, allowing you to manage your inventory, rates and restrictions via OPERA PMS.
Through an API (Application Programming Interface), your data in OPERA PMS is brought directly to your channel manager and distributed to all your channels in real-time. All reservation interactions are managed through the integration.
Data that can be shared across the PMS channel manager include:
The ability for OPERA PMS to accept and share relevant data with other internal systems, including data from external channels, eliminates any need for time-consuming manual work on your behalf. This is why it’s important you use a PMS with strong connectivity and look for large industry-leading tech providers for your other systems.
Using SiteMinder’s channel manager will build a link between OPERA PMS and your hotel’s chosen booking channels. Two-way integration cuts down the cost of acquisition substantially because for every reservation that is automatically populated, the hotel can then use that time to manage their guests effectively and spend more time on the overall guest experience.
There are many other advantages of two-way integration, such as retaining revenue that would otherwise have been lost due to delayed cancellations, and increasing revenue by maximising online exposure with automated inventory and rate updates.
Interested in acquiring the OPERA property management system? Here’s everything you need to know about OPERA PMS and why it’s so important to find good channel manager integration.
A simple reason to choose OPERA PMS is that it’s one of the most advanced systems the market has to offer. Once you get the hang of OPERA, it’s highly likely you’ll never see the need to switch to a different product.
Choosing OPERA means choosing one of the most advanced property management systems in the world. Although there is a variety of PMS systems available, the OPERA PMS is the market leader. Used by the large majority of hotels worldwide, it’s considered to be the Rolls Royce of the PMS world!
OPERA PMS is the most comprehensive program because it allows for the highest standard of guest care at every stage of their journey – from the booking stages right through to post-stay. It’s a system that is used not only at the front desk or reception, but by the reservations, housekeeping and accounting departments, as well as for conferences and events.
OPERA is so unique, many of its functions are actually copyright protected. Other PMSs may try to replicate what OPERA does but it can’t be done; the result is never quite the same.
Due to its extensive set of features and capabilities, OPERA PMS is priced higher than some systems. Although the value is well earned and it remains the most popular property management system, not every hotel will choose to invest due to budget.
Pricing is not publicly listed, as Oracle (OPERA provider) says it needs to consult with customers to determine their specific needs first. Your price tag will probably depend largely on your company profile.
It’s likely that the amount of rooms, property type, and desired features will significantly impact how much you pay for OPERA PMS.
OPERA also doesn’t offer a demo, but you can place a product inquiry at Oracle to set up a conversation with a sales representative who can determine your needs and the best solution for you.
Even though OPERA PMS is an advanced system, it strives for a user-friendly interface by facilitating the work of employees and the management in all operations.
This focus on ease of use will hopefully make training easier. Training services for OPERA include:
Support for OPERA PMS will obviously be important to you, as it will be with any system. Your property runs 24/7 and can’t afford to be brought to a standstill at any stage due to software breakdowns or a lack of expertise.
OPERA promises 24/7 support with experienced team members available at all times. This includes being able to interact with customer service representatives in a live environment, so that your business is never unduly interrupted.
It should be noted that Oracle offers three levels of support, presumably for different fees. These include:
OPERA PMS will make its value plain to see in all the daily operations of your property. It will be a touchpoint whenever you accept reservations, payments, check-in and check-out guests, organise housekeeping or maintenance, produce reports, analyse data, and more.
The OPERA PMS front desk module is designed with powerful features that dramatically cut check-in time and provide a higher satisfaction level for both guests and staff, including:
The Opera reservation system (ORS) is a reservation module, designed for chain hotels. It ensures express assessment of inquiries that arrive at the call centers and automatically adds reservations into the operating system for the relevant hotels by creating call centers.
This is not a property management system, but a central reservation system and shouldn’t be confused with OPERA PMS. It’s also designed for enterprise operations only so if you are an independent hotel it’s likely not suitable for your property.
However, ORS can be unified with OPERA PMS and other systems such as the OPERA Sales and Catering System. It’s also typically integrated with the OPERA Customer Information System (OCIS)
The OCIS is a solution for chains and groups to help apply loyalty programs.
Opera PMS integration with the SiteMinder Channel Manager
Your property management will benefit greatly from using OPERA PMS, with its ability to create a control hub for all your property’s departments. Given it’s the world’s most prominent system of its kind, you probably won’t go wrong with OPERA and its advanced range of features.
However your property management picture won’t be complete without PMS and channel manager integration. If you decide OPERA PMS is the right system to manage your hotel, SiteMinder can provide the perfect channel manager solution to integrate with.
Just like OPERA, SiteMinder is known for its advanced features and ease of use for customers. The two systems are already used in combination by many hotels around the world to optimise daily operations and increase property revenue, so it’s a proven partnership that will put your hotel ahead of the competition. Find examples here of the Urban Hotel Group and Hellsten Hotels.
Hellsten Hotels said the integration had made the property much more efficient;
“SiteMinder has made a world of difference to our day-to-day processes. With the automatic delivery of reservations to our property management system (PMS), we have saved hours of time per day.”
Features of SiteMinder include: