Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

General

How much does it cost to use PMS? Our software is sold as a service. We offer monthly, six monthly and twelve monthly pricing plans, making our system affordable no matter what your budget.
Please contact us directly for pricing.
Can I trial PMS? We provide a FREE demo/trial version, which allows you to see exactly how the system works and allows you to have a good play with the features.
Note that the demo/trial version is limited to 20 reservations and does not update websites in this mode.
Does PMS run on my computer or is it web-based? All our services are web based. This means that you can have as many staff accessing the system as you want. All you need is an internet browser - so you can run the system from tablets, PCs, Apple Macs and even smartphones.
Will I have to pay for system updates? No. We sell the PMS as a service so you are always running the latest version of the system.
Why is PMS so much cheaper than the competition? Simple - we don't have the large overheads of our competitors. We don't have fancy offices, just a small team of dedicated, hardworking people delivering a quality product.
The other key part of our services is that we have deliberately spent a lot of time making sure that our software is designed to be really easy to use, with lots of support material available for those people that need it. This means that we have to spend less time providing training and support.
What is the minimum/maximum recommended property size for PMS? There are no real constraints on the size of property. A single room B&B should find the software useful (especially the automatic channel management), whilst we already have some very large hotels using our PMS system (especially in London).

Setup

Can you import data from my existing system into PMS? In most cases, this is possible as long as the system you are currently using allows you to export your customer and reservation data in a sufficient level of detail or we can gain direct access to your database.
We would recommend importing historical customer and reservation details into PMS only if you have a significant amount of data that you wish to keep. For many smaller properties, it may take you only a couple of hours to manually enter your forward reservations into the system (which will also give you good experience using the system!). A number of our customers have used students to do the data entry for them; this has proved to be a cheap and effective way of importing data.
Note that we charge our standard hourly rate to import data from other systems - we will be happy to provide a cost estimate once we see samples of the data that needs importing.
How long will it take to setup PMS for my business? PMS is designed so that you can easily setup and manage the system yourself; However we will assist you in setting-up the system and provide you with training to get you up and running.
The setup process involves 3 steps:
1. Entering all of the details about your property, rooms, rates and deciding how you want to use the system.
2. Entering all forward bookings. These can (in most cases) be imported from your existing system, or manually entered.
3. Setup channel management and synchronising systems.

Channel Management

Do I have to use channel management? No - although it is highly recommended.
Which websites/sales agents does PMS interface with? Please see our Channel Management page for a full list of every system that we interface with.
Note that this list is subject to change at little or no notice depending on the availability of third party services that are outside of our control.
Do I have to pay commission or any per reservation fees on bookings from systems updated by PMS? No. We do not charge any additional commission, charges or fees (commonly called 'distribution fees'). You only pay the commission (if any) set by the websites / sales channel.
Does PMS link up with GDS/CRS systems? PMS does not link with the global distribution systems (GDS) or central reservations systems (CRS) used by some companies and travel agents, as this type of link is very expensive to setup and for the majority of New Zealand properties is unlikely to be cost effective.
Why does PMS not link up with more websites/systems? PMS links only with the main popular websites/systems - there is no point in linking with websites which are likely to give you 1 or 2 bookings a year (if any).
For most UK properties, the websites/systems that we link with equate to approximately 99.5% of their online bookings.
Does PMS guarantee no overbooking? Whilst PMS will significantly reduce the occurrence of overbooking compared to manual updating of websites/systems, we cannot guarantee it will never happen.
No system can guarantee 100% no overbooking as we are reliant on 3rd party systems that are outside of our control.
PMS does display warnings whenever updates to a website are delayed or cannot be made - this at least alerts you to take additional care before accepting bookings.
Does PMS support all features on websites/sales channels? As there are few standards in how websites/sales channels work, and some features of systems are not made available to us, PMS does not offer all functionality that websites/sales channels offer.
For instance, some websites do not allow us to access your reservations, so in such cases we cannot automatically import reservations and display them on the booking sheet - you will have to manually enter reservation details from faxed or emailed reservation confirmations.
The level of detail provided by some websites/systems about customers in particular is often extremely limited. PMS attempts to automatically import as much information as possible, but is limited of course by what is made available.
Our help system contains details of any known limitations.
What is your linking policy? PMS will generally link with websites/systems that meet the following criteria:
1. Generate sufficient reservations to make it worthwhile for our customers.
2. Provide a freely available interface to allow the two way link between systems to work.
3. Have reasonable policies/terms and conditions.

Telephone / Internet Systems

Which PABX / Telephone systems does PMS interface with? PMS links to most common PABX / Telephone systems. Please email us through the make/model of your PABX to see if your system is compatible. Does PMS offer a managed wireless internet system? PMS does not currently offer this facility, primarily because there are already a good number of providers of good quality services available.
We are also following with interest the overseas trend of accommodation providers offering this service free of charge for their customers. If this gains in popularity (as it has in the USA and in many parts of Europe) then you may not be able to charge a premium for these types of services.

Support

Is PMS properly supported? We have made a significant effort to ensure that our services are properly designed and tested, so that they do not cause you any problems. This includes comprehensive help and FAQ information so that in many cases you should be able to find the answer yourself - especially helpful if you hit a problem late at night!
If you do have any issues or require any help or training, then we offer full UK based support. If you would like to report a problem or book training then please do this via our online support ticket system.
If you don't know how to do something with our software then the first 10 minutes of training (during office hours) is free. If you would like additional training, then this is available on a hourly basis.
If the problem with the system is our fault, then the resolution is (as you would expect) free of charge. If the problem is due to a fault with something at your end, and is outside of our control, then we may charge you.
If you would like us to re-install Windows PMS on your computer (or transfer onto another computer) then a 1hr minimum charge applies.
Please see our Pricing page for full details about our support/training hourly rates.
Is support available out of hours? Support is available 24/7 for urgent problems (eg you cant startup windows PMS or can't logon to our website). Support is available on a best endeavours basis - i.e. we will do our best to help you out whenever we can.
Note that if you are using Windows PMS, the system automatically backs-up your booking sheet so that even if the system for whatever reason cannot be started you will still be able to check-in/out guests and take bookings. This means that you are not left stranded with no system.
Does the system include backup features? As the system is web-based we automatically backup your data onto multiple servers across multiple geographic locations to ensure your data is safe even in the event of a major disaster.
I have some suggestions/comments to make about your software.. Fantastic - we truly love to hear from our customers as to how we can improve our software.
In fact, many of the best features of our software originated from suggestions made by our customers.
While we can't guarantee that we will add your suggested feature, if it is likely to be popular with the rest of our customer base and it is not too technically difficult to do then watch out for it in a future release!
Please Contact Us with all of your ideas, suggestions or comments.

Security

Is PMS PCI-DSS Compliant? The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) require all of the systems that store/process card data electronically in your business to be secure and robust. Some banks may refuse to offer your merchant facilities if you are not PCI DSS compliant.
Strait.PMS gives you the choice whether you want to store card data in the system or not.
Card data is stored in our purpose-built secure online vault. Card data is automatically destroyed 7 days after the customer has competed their stay.
Our system is PCI compliant to the latest 3.2 standard.
We recommend that businesses avoid storing card data whenever possible.