IDS Next Partners with Pine Labs to Integrate a Payment Solution into Your Hotel ERP

Travel is burgeoning, be it for leisure or business, but travelers rarely pay with cash and prefer using their credit and debit card while on the move. Thus settling the bill at check out, purchases during the travel, food and all paid for by card.

To help our growing customer base simplify payment acceptance, IDS Next has partnered with Pine Labs. This partnership enables IDS Next hotel software users to integrate Pine Lab’s point of sale (PoS) payment solution into their FortuneNEXT 6i Suite of Hotel ERP.

“This integrated solution from IDS Next and Pine Labs empowers a hotel to have an effective payment processing system to receive payments. It enables hotels to focus on providing efficient service with user-friendly software, packed with range of value added services to enable higher productivity and greater profitability,” says Mr. Jacob KI, Vice President – Business Development at IDS Next. Read More

Published in: IDS Next Blog

By: Lilian D'Costa

All You Want to Know About Hotel Night Audit

Hospitality properties close each day’s business with a ‘hotel night audit’. This ‘day end process’ covers the changeover from one business day to the next. The hotel night audit process starts with verification of all critical information which has happened across the day and proceeds for collation and grouping of that day’s transactions ending with generating crucial business reports and Management Information System (MIS) information of the concluding business day.

Why is a hotel night audit important for operations?

Night Audit process is mandatory for a hotel operation, as it is part of the accounting section of the hotel. In a 24/7 business environment, guests check-in and check out at all hours and pay their bills either through cash, cards or other ways of settlement. At the end of the business day, hotels need to ensure that guests folios and their transactions are properly recorded and reconciled. The night audit process performs tasks of collating revenue against various revenue heads including collections and posting transactions.  Read More

Published in: IDS Next Blog

By: Myra Allen 

Tourism Arrivals Increasing in Sri Lanka

The tourism industry in Sri Lanka is looking sunny. According to a recent study by HVS, a prominent hospitality research organization, approximately 1.1 million visitors have been into the country till September 2014. International arrivals to Sri Lanka were an impressive 22% up from the same period in 2013. The increased number of tourist was from regions like Eastern Europe, the Middle East and countries like China.

The single largest growing feeder market during this period was Indonesia. Tourists from this country increased almost 500% from 2,900 to 17,300 arrivals. With a target of 2 million international arrivals in 2015 and 2.5 million in 2016, Sri Lanka is slated to become one of the region’s premier tourist and leisure destinations. In response to the increasing demand of quality accommodation on the island nation, many international hotel brands are expected to enter the market in next few years.Read More

By: Nandika Udupihilla

Published in: IDS Next Sri Lanka Microsite

IDS Next Timeline

IDS Next is celebrating its 27th Anniversary on 27th of August this year. Take a look at the evolution of IDS Next during these years to become a Global IT Major in the domain of hospitality technology solutions

 

IDS Next and ATIS Partner to Offer Software to Hotels across Ghana

IDS Next Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a global leader in providing Hotel ERP and software solutions to hospitality and leisure industries, today announced their partnership with Ghana based ATIS. IDS Next plans to leverage this affiliation to offer world-class hospitality technology solutions to hotels across Ghana.

Headquartered in Accra, ATIS is a leading information technology company whose core business includes IT maintenance and support. The company deals with IT outsource, server/domain implementation and support, firewalls, IT security and audit, computer repairs, remote IT support, web hosting and designing, data back-up and restore solutions. The company’s latest agreement with IDS Next enables them to add a comprehensive, integrated world-class Hotel ERP and other value-added hospitality solutions to their list of offerings. Read more

Published in: IDS Next Africa Microsite

Innovative Hotel Software for Personalized Guest Experience

In a 24/7 guest facing industry like hospitality, positive guest experience holds the key to success. However, hoteliers can find themselves pushed to the edge to provide personalized guest experience while keeping costs in check. It is here that a good hotel software can play the role of a reliable partner.

Importance of personalized guest experience
In an era when competition is so stiff that hotels find it extremely hard to distinguish their offering. Personalized guest experience can be a key differentiator. Guests increasingly view their hotel as a home away from home. They like to be recognized and addressed by name, if they have visited a hotel before, they expect the hotel staff to know they paper they like to read, how they like their coffee, and the type of pillow they use.

This need not be a difficult process for a hotel. Good hotel software, with a robust guest history and a few other solutions can do all this and more. Personalizing a guest’s time at the hotel is a fantastic opportunity for a hotel to brand itself for quality service and ensure they build loyal repeat customers. Read more

Published in: IDS Next Blog Section

Robust Hotel ERP Empowers Manuallaya Resort

A good hotel software is key to any hospitality business. Guests are increasingly turning to the internet to locate hotels and make bookings and when they arrive at a hotel, they expect free Wi-Fi, mobile apps and the like.

Besides using technology for the customer facing process, hotels use technology to manage the back end too. From ensuring that the bed is prepared the way the guest requested the last time, to sending out a Birthday greeting to the guest, or creating a special offer based on the guests spend, a robust hotel software plays a vital role.

Back in 2003, when hotels in India were still holding back from fully trusting technology to do a reliable job in this hitherto people-driven service industry, Manuallaya, a 25-year-old 5-star property located in the valley of Manali was a step ahead of its competition to appreciate the usefulness of a robust, integrated Hotel ERP. And, Manuallaya, the resort spa in the Himalayas has been using IDS Next Fortune Hotel ERP for over a decade to efficiently streamline its operations and serve guests better. Read more

Published in: Articler

Adopt FortuneNEXT 6i Suite of Hotel ERP and You Don’t Have to Shut Down Your Hotel Operations during Night Audit

Night Audit is one of the most important aspects of a hotel operations that plays a major role in reconciling and aggregating daily financial activities. However, hospitality properties using outdated hotel management softwares have to shut down their entire hotel operations during the process of night audit. This problem causes inconvenience to guests as the front desk manager may not be able to assist them in checking-in due to system shut down. Here is a way how hotels can deal with this problem:

Hotel Management Software for Independent and Boutique Hotels

Being a part of the 24/7 guest facing, highly complex and competitive industry, hotels need to focus on streamlining operations, optimize manpower usage and serve guests better to drive revenue. And to do all these, hotels should have a robust Hotel Management Software (HMS) in place. But, are all the HMSs capable of helping hotels to achieve the above mentioned goals?

No, not all the HMSs available in the market are proficient enough to assist hotels in realizing the desired result in terms of automating maximum number of processes. It is mainly because, not all of them are developed by a single vendor and are not highly integrated.

So, in this scenario, it's advisable that hotels should look for a robust and integrated Hotel ERP that would enable the management to efficiently map the entire hotel operation including front office, financial accounting, payroll, inventory and engineering, sales and marketing, banquets and conferences and other aspects of back of the house. Read More

Published In: SYS-CON MEDIA

By: Debi Prasad Sarangi

Hospitality Technology For India's Emerging Mid-market Hotel Industry

This is the most happening time for Indian hotel industry as large hotel projects seem to be in the pipeline. A recent report by HVS noted that the current hotel inventory which stands at 122, 298 in 2013/2014 is likely to touch 184, 745 mark in 2019/2020 with a CAGR of 8.6%.

When we review the status of the Indian hotel industry, one area that draws our attention is the emergence of mid-market and budget hotel segment. Both seem to be on a growth trajectory even as the industry as a whole is looking for an upturn. According to the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), in order to achieve the 12th Plan target of 1452 million Domestic Tourist Visits (DTVs) by 2017, India needs to add 1, 20, 000 rooms in the budget and mid-market category.

Industry experts and business heads of several leading hotel chains are also looking to capitalize on the growing mid-market and budget hotel segment. Read more

Published in: ArticlesXpert

By: Myra Allen

Speed Up Your Hotel Business with an Integrated ERP Software

In the face of intense competition, it is imperative for hotels irrespective of their size, location, and type, to adopt a smart and integrated Hotel ERP. This is a rather new concept and a comprehensive hotel ERP software takes care of end to end hotel property management along with distribution, business intelligence, revenue management and online reputation management. It also provides the management of a hotel much needed critical and crucial support for seamless functioning of all the hotel processes.

For new and existing hotels that are not using an ERP, selecting a Hotel ERP can be little tricky. Reasons for replacing the manual methods of operation by adopting Hotel ERP Software, can vary greatly. According to Hotel Management Software Buyer View 2014, 72% hotels desire a robust Hotel ERP that can improve overall efficiency by automating day-to-day tasks. While 18% of hotels want to go ‘electronic’ by adopting a Hotel ERP, 9% say they want a Hotel Management Software to keep up with the growth of their business. Read More

Published in: articler
By: Myra Allen

IDS Next clients featured in the list of ‘Top 25 Hotels to Do Business In’

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has ranked India as the world’s 10th largest business travel market and predicts that the country’s business travel spending will grow at an annual rate of 13.5%. Additionally, a 2013 joint survey conducted by Expedia and Egencia indicates that around 44% Indians undertake a minimum of 5 business trips a year.

Taking a cue from this positive growth trend, Hotelier India Magazine in its April 2014 issue compiled a list of ‘Top 25 Hotels to Do Business In’.

Fortune Landmark and The Pride Hotel are both located in Ahmedabad and use FortuneNEXT 6i Suite, A hotel ERP Software from IDSNext. Though both hotels have state of the art business centres, meeting rooms, banquet and conference halls, and a wide variety of cuisines that have helped them make it into the list, credit also goes to the robust and integrated Hotel ERP which plays a critical role in ensuring smooth operations at the hotel property. Read more

By: Myra Allen

Published in: IDS Next Blog