Hotel Online Reputation Management Solution in Middle East

For hotels across Middle East, it is very important to maintain a positive online brand value/reputation in order to attract both repeat and new guests. For hotels, preserving a strong online reputation has become an operational necessity as today’s tech-savvy traveler reads others' opinion before selecting a hotel. Online reviews written by guests (both positive and negative) have the potential to influence a buyer’s booking decisions as a majority of travelers are using the Internet to plan and book their travel. In this scenario, a smart and intuitive hotel online reputation management solution in Middle East can help hoteliers to the maximum extent. 

Today, hundreds of websites and apps help a guest to read and write reviews for hotels. With the increase in the number of mobile devices, a guest can even write and share his/her review at anytime from anywhere in the world. While good reviews definitely help a hotel attracting more guests, bad reviews can have very adverse impact on a hotel’s brand and business. Read More

By: Dinkey Elayadath

Published in: IDS Next Middle East

Are Luxury Hotels in India Harnessing Right Hospitality Technology?

The luxury hotel segment in India is growing at a steady pace. The country is attracting an increasing number of foreign tourists as the government has introduced e-visa for 113 countries. The country has a large millennial population too, who are enjoying new found adventure in travel and sightseeing.

Here is peek into some numbers

India had received over 7 million foreign tourists by August 2015. According to the World Tourism Organization, the country will welcome over 15.3 million foreign tourists by 2025. Now let us take a look at the accommodation sector, or the hotel industry. Do they have enough high-end rooms to offer the growing number of foreign nationals? The answer is ‘Yes’ and here’s why – Around 29,000 luxury hotel rooms are under development and they will be added to the existing nation-wide inventory over the next 6 years. Metro and tier 1 cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Gurgaon will grow to 6,500 hotel rooms by 2016. Read More

Published in: IDS Next

By: Myra Allen

 

IDS Next Makes Impressive Growth Strides in 2015

For any company in the hospitality industry, each year brings new challenges and opportunities. The hospitality industry is currently bristling with innovation, and offers wonderfully interesting learning and insights to growing companies. These insights enable hotels to continuously set benchmarks of enhanced guest service. At IDS Next, we also go through the same process of improvement and enhancement.

In August, we celebrate our foundation anniversary and this year has been one of many achievements in terms of rolling out new products and initiatives. Here are some of the key highlights -

Acquired over 4000 customers

In FY 2014-15, we crossed the 4000 client’s milestone. We acquired new customers in all the geographies we are present in, namely South East Asia, Oceania, Indian sub-continent, Middle East and Africa. Armed with our world-class Hotel ERP and a seamlessly integrated Hotel 360 solution set, we look forward to aggressive expansion in the coming year. Read More

Published in: IDS Next

By: Lilian D'Costa

Does Your Hotel PMS Vendor Provide Quality Training & Support?

Buying a Hotel PMS is not an easy task, especially when the market is inundated with options. As an hotelier, you need to buy hotel software that best suits your need. Apart from reviewing the robustness of the hotel software and its in-built modules, you also need to ensure that you get ample training and quality technical support from your software provider.

Questions to ask your Hotel property management system vendor

While buying a Hotel property management system (PMS), you not only purchase software, but put your money on something that would help grow your hospitality business. Thus, it is necessary to ask these questions to your Hotel Software provider – 

• Will you provide training to our hotel staff as per requirement?
• How fast is your customer support / technical assistance?

According to a recent survey, over one-third of Hotel software buyers say that they would select a vendor if they get quality product training and post-installation technical support. Read More

Published in: IDS Next Middle East Microsite

By: Dinker Elayadath

Things to Consider Before Investing in a Hotel Property Management System

Hotel Property Management System (Hotel PMS) is a technology platform that has gained immense importance as hotel operation has become quite complex these days. Hotel management software automates operational processes from check-in to finance and inventory management, while assisting hotel staff to centrally track and analyze vital information real-time. Hotel PMS adoption has become a strategic necessity in order to offer quality guest service, too.

What Drives Hotels to adopt Hotel Property Management System?

Hotel PMS has become the central nerve system of hotel operations. However, many hoteliers use different parameters to gauge the usefulness of hotel software before buying. According to recent industry findings – Read More

Published in: IDS Next ASEAN Microsite

By: Sandeep Menon

IDS Next Becomes Preferred Technology Partner of LAYA Hotels, Sri Lanka

IDS Next Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a global leader in providing Hotel ERP and software solutions to hospitality and leisure industries has announced that it will install their enterprise class Hotel ERP for Sri Lanka based hospitality chain, LAYA Hotels.  The group has 4 luxury resorts namely, Laya Leisure, Laya Safari, Laya Beach and LAYA WAVES.

LAYA Hotels, which gets its name from the Sanskrit word ‘Laya’ - a state of tranquility and peacefulness has earned the reputation for offering authentic Sinhalese hospitality. In the increasingly competitive hospitality industry in Sri Lanka, they have also emerged as the desired hotspot for travelers looking to experience an exotic holiday in an offbeat, calm locale. Read More

Published in: IDS Next

Enhance Transparency in Hotel Operations with Financial Management

While front office management is the core of guest facing Front Office operations, Financial Management is the heart of back of the house hotel operations. This module is gaining increasing prominence as hotel managements begin to increasingly focus on numbers. In a service based hospitality environment, bottom line is a culmination and reflection of the success of numerous hotel functions and when management needs to take an actionable decision, it is the financial module that plays a critical role.

Few if any hotel software providers offer this critical module, preferring to integrate with generic finance software instead. However, IDS Next has built all the modules of their Hotel ERP from the ground up. Each module is developed for the niche needs of hoteliers, and the same applies to financial management. Read More

Published in: IDS Next Blog 

By: Ronnie Sarkar

In the hospitality industry, your online reputation is everything, more so as it can directly impact your hotels occupancy. Medallia, a customer experience management firm claims, hotel properties that actively engage with social media reviews grow occupancy at double the rate of properties that don’t. To be more precise, hotels that respond to over 50 percent of reviews written on social media platforms witness a rise of 6.4 percent in their occupancy compared to those hotel that ignore reviews. Know your potential guest

In 2015, India is slated to have around 118 million active social media accounts, of these 8.4 million travelers are likely to book their hotel rooms via online platforms. A majority of them will rely on guest reviews written across social media and review sites. If prospective guests find negative feedback on your property during their pre-travel research, they are very unlikely to book into your hotel. Rather, they would consider booking their stay at a hotel which has garnered positive guest reviews. Practically speaking, manually managing social media and review sites is a tough task as hotel staff has several critical tasks to perform. So, how is online reputation managed? A tried and tested, reputed online reputation management software could be your answer. Read More Published in: IDS Next Blog By: Myra Allen

Why Choose Hotel Software from IDS Next?

Hotels, resorts and other hospitality properties undertake numerous complex and diversified operations as part of their day to day activity. All these tasks need to be executed in a synchronized manner to ensure better productivity at the hotel. Ensuring that operations across departments are running in a coordinated manner necessitates a smart and robust Hotel Property Management System (PMS).

IDS Next’s Hotel ERP is one of the best hotel software available globally. Over 3500 hotels in 40 countries use its Hotel ERP. Let us hear it from Mr. Kamatchi Nathan, Regional Sales Manager, South about why hoteliers should adopt IDS Next’s hotel management software to ensure smooth hotel operations.

You might be already using a property management system (PMS) but is that an all-in-one integrated hotel ERP? IDS Next enterprise class solution consists of 12 modules seamlessly integrated so that there is a single look and feel across the hotel departments. Since the software runs on a single database, data is also shared across departments. Making your hotel ERP more robust is a large number of software and hardware interfaces to a host of third party solutions. Read More

Published in: IDS Next Blog 

By: Myra Allen 

The Ultimate Property Management Software for Small and Budget Hotels - PAX

If you are a small and budget hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, serviced apartment or gated community and looking for a good yet cost-effective hotel management software, PAX will definitely meet your needs and will surely exceed your expectations. PAX is designed to manage your limited operations in the most affordable and user-friendly way. This software has been developed by IDS Next, pioneer with nearly three decades of expertise in software development. PAX, the property management system for small hotels has all the necessary features to enable you to take your hospitality business to the next level. 

At IDS Next, we understand that budget hotels desire to stay low on manpower costs, have limited software requirements, need to generate reports quickly and simply. “This is where PAX, small budget hotel software plays a decisive role. We are trying to help hoteliers in the sub two star hospitality segment optimize on their resources by leveraging a software tailored for their specific needs.” says Mr. Ronnie Sarkar, Senior Vice President – Sales & Operations at IDS Next. Read More 

Published in: APSense

By: Myra Allen 

Is Your Hotel Management System Delivering on Reports

One of the key aspects of a hotel ERP is to store data. This data generates the many reports required by the management. Hotel management system reports are important in that they offer much needed intelligence and facilitate precise decision-making.

An enterprise class solution like an ERP has a large number of modules and each of these modules stores an expanding quantity of information.

IDS Next Hotel ERP has 12 modules, with a number of other solutions plugged into it. IDS Next’s enterprise class hotel software has a report engine built into it. A unique aspect of our software offering is the hundreds of hotel management system reports that our users can view, spool and analyze.

Reports in Hotel Management System

While all ERPs come built with a predetermined set of reports, large hotels, especially chains, may have their own report formats that have been developed and adopted over years. Thus hoteliers are most often looking for a smart hotel ERP that lets them customize and generate as many reports as they wish. Read More 

Published in: IDS Next Blog

By: Lilian D'Costa 

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

Smart Hospitality Technology Solutions for Restaurants in India

Technology has impacted the restaurant industry in many ways. In their quest to deliver high quality service, seamlessly manage operations, curb wastage, grow revenue, enhance loyalty and optimize use of manpower, restaurants are increasingly turning to robust, feature rich software. 

Technology can become a part of the Indian restaurant growth story

In India, the restaurant industry is growing at a remarkable rate of 17.5 percent since 2013. Research estimates that the industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 10.9 percent from 2013 to 2018, thus offering an opportunity for more restaurant brands to make their way into the country. These growth indicators are being propelled forward by the increase in disposable income and changing food habit among domestic diners. 

Operational challenges that can be addressed with technology

The food industry is a people centric industry and though it requires a strong personal touch, this can also be the cause of errors and dissatisfaction among customers. It is here that some of the operational challenges can be addressed by technology. For example, by streamlining dining operations, introducing e-menu options, avoiding manual billing process, automating tracking of sales and inventory. Additionally, restaurants also have to ensure that they have the right technology platform that enables them to increase their manpower efficiency to serve their patrons better. Read More 

Published in: APSENSE.COM

By: Myra Allen

I have never thought of changing my job during the last 12 years

Vidhya’s story is a perfect tale of ‘rising through the ranks’. Her commitment towards work and zeal to accomplish her tasks, has earned her accolades at IDS Next. This week, meet Vidhya Srinivasan, a native of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, she holds a BSc degree in Biochemistry and is the Associate Manager in the Credit Control team.  

From a Receptionist to Associate Manager:

Vidhya’s journey with IDS Next started in 2003 when she joined the company as a receptionist. Her educational qualification, prior work experience, communication skills, commitment and spark drew the attention of the then head of credit control.

“At that point of time, credit control was a two person team. It has been 12 years that I am part of this team, and as an associate manager, I now oversee a team of eight people. My work at IDS Next leaves me fulfilled and the thought of working anywhere else never came to mind in all my time here,” Vidhya says.

In her current capacity, Vidhya and her team along with customer engagement group (CEG) are responsible for driving the collection process of all receivables from clients spread across India. “The challenge in our job is to be persuasive and collect the receivables from our clients on time,” Vidhya explains.

Mastering the Tradecraft:

According to Vidhya, her team’s success depends on how well it puts up a finely coordinated effort. We deal will all kinds of clients, small and big hotels, city hotels and leisure resorts, chain hotels and restaurants, all of them have varied expectations from our software and we connect with them with this nuanced sensitivity. We need to be patient and persistent, helping the customer harness maximum value from the software and connecting them with internal teams when necessary” she says.

When asked what she has learned from IDS Next so far, she says, “This company and team has taught me the importance of teamwork, how to coordinate among both internal and external stakeholders and how to stay calm, even when responding to an irate customer. We never take the customer personally, and look at how we can address their concerns quickly,” Vidhya maintains.

Professional versus Personal Life:

Besides a hectic work schedule, Vidhya is also an able manager at home. “I start my day at 5 am and by 7 am, I am done with preparing breakfast plus other household chores. After my husband leaves for office and my son for school, I take care of the need of my aged in-laws. Weekends are with my family and when free, I enjoy (more) cookingJ. I especially like trying my hand at North Indian style food. I also love reading,” Vidhya says with a smile and signs off. 

IDS Next Gives Me Ample Opportunity to Travel

Syed has an MBA in IT and has been part of IDS Next family for the last 10 years. His career at IDS Next has traversed from being a product support executive to Manager, hospitality business solutions.

Tell us a little about what you do in the Hospitality Business Solutions Team

I have extensive exposure to all the versions of our FortuneNEXT6i Hotel ERP, and my core responsibilities in the Hospitality Business Solutions are to conduct product demos and do implementation for clients especially in South East Asia, Asia Pacific and Africa. In case, a potential client requests for a product demo I do it either online or visit the hotel. On an average, I conduct 10 to 12 product demo a month.

Apart from this, I have more than 60 product implementations to my credit in India and 16 in international regions including Sri Lanka, Africa, Thailand, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Bhutan. We approximately take 30- 40 days per implementation. But, sometimes the time frame goes beyond that depending on the size of the property and number of add-on solutions the hotel wants to adopt. Also, if a hotel is migrating from a different hotel management software to our FortuneNEXT 6i Hotel ERP, we need extra time to move the legacy data.

Additionally, if a client gets in touch with me for tech support, I do provide that too. But, that is only limited to the implementations done by me. Initially, before the inception of 24/7 TSC, I was the single point contact for international support for regions including Middle East and Africa.

How do you ensure a hassle free and successful product implementation?

During the product implementation process, my entire focus is always on how to make sure that the user makes best use of our Hotel ERP. To ensure this, I conduct a weekly or if necessary a daily audit about the functionalities of the product. I also have regular meeting with IT Heads and other Department Heads of the hotel to take their feedback. In short, I listen to them patiently and try to put myself in their position to understand their requirements. The support from our head office during the implementation process matters a lot. 

Tell us something about your achievements. 

I had joined IDS Next as a Product Support Executive in 2004. I started my career here. I would say that this place has given me a lot during the last 10 years. I have been promoted 6 times. My job responsibilities have made me a product expert. I know our Hotel ERP inside out.

For me, the best part is product implementation, especially the international ones as I get to visit new countries. I love travelling and IDS Next gives me that opportunity. Working for IDS Next has earned me lots of international exposure. During implementation, I develop good rapport with clients as I spend almost 30-40 days with them. This has also helped me polish my interpersonal skills as well. Extensive travelling has also taught me how to pick up new languages. I always like to learn new languages and that’s how I can now speak proper Sinhala language.  I can even manage things to some extent in languages like Thai and bit of French.

Would you like to share any memorable experience with us?

Last year, I was asked to implement our Hotel ERP at Grand Pacific Hotel, Fiji. I enjoyed working with their staff as many of them were ancestrally Indian but their forefathers had migrated from this country a few centuries ago (I hope you remember your history). The Grand Pacific Hotel is magnificent and its suites are the ultimate in luxury, it also has a very rich history and Queen Elizabeth stayed there when she visited the country in 1953.  More interestingly, when the Prime Minister of India visited Fiji a couple of months ago, he stayed there too. So it makes me very proud to have installed our product at such a prestigious and iconic hospitality property.

Would you recommend IDS Next to your friends?

Of course, I would. IDS Next is led by a team of highly motivated and seasoned leaders. Managers are always willing to help. Work environment is great and this place is the most happening place. Join us to feel the thrill!