Missing link

Computerised billing systems have been a boon to the hospitality industry, taking much of the drudgery and inaccuracy out of administration. But despite their wizardry, it seems that even after two decades systems are only just learning to talk to each other.

Lack of communication can be a big problem for hotels. For example, to put a bar sale on to a guest's bill, a member of staff must write a chit, take it to reception and key it in to the property management system (PMS).

Although it is possible to transfer this information at the touch of a button via an interface with the electronic point of sale system (EPoS), this is not an easy connection to set up - as many have discovered.

When Colin Cassels Brown took over some years ago as managing director of Elizabeth Hotels in East Anglia, he arrived just as new restaurant and guest billing systems were being installed. The supplier had told his predecessor that the two systems would work together, but Cassels Brown quickly found this wasn't the case.

Eventually, after a joint venture that took two years and a lot of effort, an interface was established. The supplier realised there would be a market for it and, on that basis, agreed that Cassels Brown could recover the cost as long as he installed it in all his hotels.

The system worked well until a member of staff tried and failed to enter a long-term booking stretching into the new millennium. Cassels Brown discovered to his horror that the supplier had not made the program 2000-compliant. However, the supplier balked at doing any more work on the system and the relationship broke up in acrimony.

Cassels Brown had to start from scratch, and, since no one could offer an affordable integrated system, he bought an EPOS from MCR, and a PMS from Guestline. Luckily, the two companies have co-operated well on developing an interface, he says, and he expects it to be fully operational within months. "We had to sell them the idea, saying we didn't mind being the guinea pig but didn't expect to have to pay for it," he says.

Guestline is doing most of the work, and the arrangement is that Cassels Brown pays £1,000 up front, on the understanding that he will get the investment back when the device comes to market.

But why do situations like this even arise? "Hotels' needs are very specialised, and systems have traditionally been made by different people," explains Susan Welch, chairman of the Hospitality Information Technology Association in Europe. "Things have mushroomed. I talked to a hotel manager recently who said she had 20 different systems and was having huge problems getting them to work together."

One problem is that companies make money from interfaces, so it is not in their interests to standardise, Welch argues. However, frustrations have reached such a pitch that a new effort has been launched to establish industry standards.

A new international organisation, Hospitality Industry Technology Integration Standards, is developing standards that will enable PMS systems to connect to anything. So far, six different standards have been designed but only one is being tested, and Welch expects it will be a while yet before harmonisation is achieved.

"I am not convinced suppliers will leap to co-operate," she says. "If you have sold someone a PMS system, it is easier to sell them your EPoS as well, as long as there remain difficulties in linking to another supplier's."

Even if the standards are welcomed with open arms, there will still be a time lag of at least five years for development, adds Welch.

However, Guestline technical director Phil Jones argues that an interface is not just a money-maker; it also helps a company sell its systems. "It can be quite a lot of work sometimes, but if you don't have the interface to link your system to ones that a hotel already has or is buying elsewhere, then it can be very difficult to get a sale," he says.

Development is relatively straightforward, he adds, as long as companies co-operate. In the case of Elizabeth Hotels, he says, MCR has been exemplary in providing Guestline with the necessary information.

Jones puts the cost of an interface to a hotel at about £2,000-£3,000, although a complex one might cost as much as £10,000.

Another problem is that the hospitality sector is always among the last to benefit from new developments, says Olivier Delaunoy of Oxford restaurant operator Rhatigan Delaunoy. He and partner Simon Rhatigan, both technology whizzes, have designed their own restaurant system and they hope to offer it to hotels soon.

"A lot of systems were originally developed for airlines and adapted to hotels," he explains. "It's very rare that people who run hotels are involved in the design."

Delaunoy advises hoteliers to buy a system that is already integrated, although he admits this requires a scale of investment that small companies might not be able to afford.

At the top of the tree, it's a different story. Most of the big operators favour Micros Fidelio, widely regarded as the market leader and well ahead when it comes to providing integrated billing systems.

Affordable solutions are also starting to appear from other leading companies, notably AremisSoft, which is supplying a combined EPoS and PMS to Luxury Hotel Management's five outlets in the West Country. "Integration is their problem, not ours," says the hotel chain's managing director, Nicholas Dickinson.

He would not consider for one minute going to different suppliers. "It's infuriating when something goes wrong and each one blames the other. You end up having to pay both of them to come down on the same day and watch while they squabble about who sorts the problem out."

Many bigger hotel companies will also want their combined system to link to all kinds of other devices, such as central reservations and the telephone switchboard. Once again, only the major suppliers can provide that kind of capability at the moment.

At Hilton Hotels a combined Micros Fidelio PMS and EPoS had to be integrated with central reservations and the revenue management systems, as well as switchboards from three different suppliers. According to Mike Jones, vice-president of distribution services, the interfaces already existed but were customised to suit the company's needs.

Among AremisSoft's clients are Forte, Jarvis and Quality Friendly Hotels. It says much of its recent success is down to the modular systems it has developed over the past few years, which link PMS and EPOS seamlessly. But if a company only wants to buy one part and link it to its existing system, an interface can usually be arranged.

According to AremisSoft's corporate sales manager, Nigel Allport, interfaces already exist to cover about 80% of clients' needs, and they cost about £1,500. However, the company will work with other suppliers to provide a total solution. This could take between five days and three weeks to develop, and might cost as much as £5,000.

In the long term, things can only get easier, as system manufacturers make greater efforts to ensure their products integrate with rival systems. But in the short term, when you invest in new technology, make sure the necessary interfaces already exist and that suppliers fully understand your needs. n