PMS & Channel Managers: What is the difference?
If you are reading this you are probably wondering what PMS and Channel Managers are. So let's start with the basics!
What is a PMS?
PMS stands for Property Management System. These systems solve everything related to the management of temporary rental properties in one place, facilitating administrative tasks related to reservations, such as managing the calendar, scheduling rates, sending messages, etc.
Originally, these systems emerged with the purpose of managing hotels, but they have now diversified and there are specific PMS for the short-term rental of apartments and houses. Do you want to learn more? We invite you to read our post about PMS: "What is a PMS?"
What is an OTA?
To work, PMS need to be connected to Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), platforms, such as Airbnb and Booking.com, that bring together the services that guests require to rent an apartment for a short term and the services that property managers need to carry out all their tasks. Learn more about OTAs by reading the following post: "What is an OTA?"
And this is when Channel Managers come in handy.
What is a Channel Manager?
Channel Managers are software that can automatically update rates, availability, and reservations in several agencies at the same time, which facilitates calendar management and avoids duplicate reservations for the same property at the same moment, which would happen if two guests choose to book the same apartment through two different agencies. Channel Managers also provide performance reports that help make decisions about marketing and sales strategies.
In addition to saving time and avoiding the risk of overbooking, Channel Managers increase the number of online reservations and considerably increase revenue. Read our post "What is a Channel Manager?" to learn more.|
So...
What's the difference between a PMS and a CM?
Property Management Systems are software that makes it easier to manage tasks such as sending messages, managing the calendar, and updating revenue, unifying them in one place. On the other hand, Channel Managers are the software that allows all this information stored and managed by the PMS to be shared with Online Travel Agencies, and in this way, you don't have to manually update prices and the calendar OTA by OTA or check for overbookings, which becomes a tedious task over time.
