How are hoteliers dealing with staff shortages and attracting top talent? Many of them are onboarding new tech to ease the strain on guests and staff.
Over 80% of hoteliers say that technology makes them more efficient.
In this article, we’ll explore one of those technologies: front desk software. We’ll go over why modern hotels should use it and the most important features to look for.
How the Front Desk Drives Memorable Guest Experiences
The front desk is the first point of contact with guests and the face of the hotel. Front desk staff are responsible for making guests feel welcome by being friendly and approachable.
It’s this warm welcome that’s at the heart of hospitality.
But you know this already. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading an article about modern front desk software.
However, something you probably don’t know is that over half of hoteliers want to implement technology that improves or eliminates the front desk experience.
Why get rid of an experience that provides the human touch that makes hospitality services what they are today?
What if there could be the best of both worlds?
You can use technology to enhance and optimize your front desk operations.
What Is Hotel Front Desk Software?
Hotel front desk software is a technology that helps hotels, resorts, and other hospitality establishments streamline operations and enhance guest services.
The software typically exists on a unified platform where you can manage guest interactions and administrative tasks. As a result, your staff can handle various aspects of guest stays.
8 Features to Look for in Front Desk Software
Here, we discuss the must-have features to consider in a front desk software solution.
1. Integration With Other Systems
Good front desk software should be able to easily connect to or even integrate with your existing hospitality tech stack. This will allow two-way data sharing with different solutions, such as:
- POS systems: Point-of-sales (POS) systems are key in helping hotels process transactions and manage sales. A front desk solution that integrates with POS software allows you to synchronize guest charges and payments.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) software: Using CRM, your hotel has the ability to oversee and handle interactions and connections with guests. It helps you collect and organize guest data, preferences, and communication history. A front desk system that integrates with your CRM helps you easily access guest profiles, preferences, and communication records. This allows you to offer personalized services and targeted marketing campaigns.
- Reputation management software: A front desk platform worth its salt should also integrate with reputation management software. That way, you can track guest reviews and feedback directly within your operations system.
- Channel managers: Being able to manage room inventory, rates, and availability across multiple online distribution channels makes channel management solutions valuable to improving hotel operations. Front desk software that offers this integration gives you the chance to synchronize room availability and rates in real-time across various booking channels.
- Hotel administration software: Hotel administration software covers a range of back-office functions, including accounting, HR, reporting, and inventory management. Integration with hotel administration software will help you improve speed when registering guests and processing requests. It’ll also give staff to have all the necessary information at their fingertips.
- Property management systems (PMS): 86% of hoteliers say that their property management system (PMS) is the most important technology for their day-to-day operations. Why? Because it acts as the central hub for managing hotel operations, including reservations, check-ins, checkouts, billing, and housekeeping tasks. So, front desk systems that integrate with PMS software help you seamlessly exchange guest and reservation data. This ensures accurate room assignments, billing, and inventory management across the property.
- Revenue management solutions: If you’re using a revenue management solution to optimize pricing strategies, forecast demand, and optimize revenue, make sure your front desk software provider offers this integration.
Alternatively, you can find a front desk solution that acts as an all-in-one platform for your hotel management needs.
Cloudbeds is one example. It offers a suite of unified tools, including a PMS, channel manager, booking engine, revenue management tool, and more. Plus, with dozens of integrations, it truly becomes a one-stop shop.
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Guest Communication
CRMs and guest communication features in a front desk platform will allow you to maintain positive guest relationships and improve the overall guest experience.
Here are the key components of guest communication within front desk software:
- Guest profiles: The best front desk platforms use a centralized database where you store guest information. This includes their contact details, past stays, and special requests.
- Communication channels: With modern front desk software, you can integrate different communication channels like SMS, email, and in-app messaging. This helps you seamlessly communicate with guests before, during, and after their stay.
- Automated messaging: The CRM functionality within front desk systems allows you to automate guest communication. For example, you can automatically send booking confirmations, pre-arrival messages, post-stay surveys, or promotional offers.
- Guest feedback management: Look for front desk software that lets you collect and manage guest feedback, including surveys, reviews, and ratings.
- Personalization tools: By finding a platform that offers CRM capabilities, you can personalize the guest experience. For example, you can use your customer data to tailor recommendations, offers, and services based on individual preferences and past behavior.
3. Guest Check-In, Checkout Functionality
According to an Oracle survey, an impressive 96% of hotel managers are investing in contactless technology.
You can achieve this by using a front desk platform that automates check-ins and checkouts. This can create a frictionless experience for guests and help your staff save time.
Some key features include:
- Mobile check-in and checkout: Guests can use their mobile devices to check in and out of their rooms.
- Keyless entry: Guests can simply tap their mobile devices on a compatible door lock to gain access to their rooms.
- Express checkout: Express checkout allows guests to review their charges, make necessary adjustments, and complete the payment process without having to visit the front desk.
- Self-service kiosks: With self-service kiosks, guests can complete the check-in and checkout process independently.
4. Back Office Management
Look for a front desk software solution that enables you to manage administrative tasks and operations behind the scenes.
This includes:
- Employee scheduling and timekeeping
- Financial reporting and accounting
- Procurement and purchasing
- Document management
- Inventory management
- Payroll processing
- Task management
Centralizing these administrative tasks within front desk software will allow you to streamline operations, reduce manual errors, and focus more on delivering exceptional guest experiences.
5. Housekeeping & Maintenance Management
Front desk solutions should also include a housekeeping and maintenance management module. This is where you’ll be able to mark hotel rooms as clean, untidy, or out of order.
This helps you easily assign tasks to housekeeping teams and manage the status of rooms.
As for maintenance management, your front desk software should allow guests or staff to submit maintenance requests directly through the platform.
That way, you can manage and prioritize work orders, schedule maintenance tasks, and provide workers with instructions and information about each maintenance job.
This organized system allows you to resolve issues as quickly as possible.
6. Booking Engine
With an online booking engine, guests can book stays at your hotel through a website or app.
So, when guests come into your hotel, they can check into their rooms seamlessly and without friction because your front desk software includes their information in the booking engine.
Consider tools that offer a tour management feature so that your staff can effortlessly book tours for guests and elevate their overall experience.
For example, a hotel in Normandy, France, could easily book guests on a Band of Brothers tour or a trip to Mont Saint Michel — all within the same platform. This streamlines operations and fosters a more enriching stay for visitors.
7. AI-Powered Guest Services
Integrating contact center software into front desk software can elevate your customer service experience.
These advanced AI-powered tools streamline traditional front desk operations and enhance customer interactions through intelligent automation and predictive analytics.
Other AI-driven features that you might want in a front desk solution are chatbots or virtual assistants. These AI agents can provide quick responses, handle booking requests, and offer 24/7 assistance to guests.
8. Advanced Security Measures
Your hotel’s front desk serves as the first line of defense for your business. Beyond physical threats, you also want to consider cyber threats.
To protect your guests’ sensitive data, choose software vendors that integrate security solutions like CWPP (cloud workload protection platforms) for proactive threat detection and monitoring.
You might also consider features like multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA verifies a user’s identity by requiring two or more pieces of evidence or “factors.”
These factors could include passwords, codes, fingerprints, or other unique identifiers.
Front desk software that uses MFA can provide an additional layer of security. This makes it even more difficult for unauthorized individuals to gain access.
What Features Matter Most to You?
Modern front desk software offers a wide range of features to help you streamline hotel management processes.
But just because you come across a tool that has seemingly endless functionalities doesn’t mean it’s going to be right for your hotel.
Consider your needs. Strongly think about the different features and whether you’re going to use them. Then, narrow down your search to front desk software providers that most closely align with your goals.
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