PMS Link
One of the main functions of the hospitality service on the 7.00 is to integrate with a property management system (PMS) via a serial or TCP/IP connection so that the PMS can control the status of room mailboxes and, possibly, be kept up-to-date on voice message and maid status for each room.
Use of this connection is optional. If your site does not use a PMS or the PMS cannot integrate with a PBX or VMS, then you can configure the hospitality service not to use a PMS link.
Integration between the 7.00 and a PMS requires the use of a communication protocol that both systems can support. The 7.00 only supports a limited number of protocols, and not all protocols support all features. For example, some protocols allow the PMS to schedule a wakeup call for a room on the 7.00, but most do not. Consult your authorized 7.00 reseller for the most up-to-date details on which protocols and features are supported.
Operation
PMS integration is handled by the hospitality service, which runs in the background (that is, there is no GUI window).
The service configures and opens the serial or TCP port at startup (if configured to do so) and handles all communication with the PMS. It also handles communication via TCP/IP with various client applications, such as PMS Monitor and InnDesk. PMS Monitor provides a GUI window that displays link activity being handled by the service in near-realtime (depending on network traffic and system load, there may be some delay between an action occurring and the associated log statement showing up in PMS Monitor). InnDesk is a web-based application for monitoring and managing room status and wakeup calls.
Logging
In addition to the information logged to the PMS Monitor client application, hospitality actions (such as check in, check out, etc.) are logged in more detail in the regular hospitality service log files, while the raw link activity is logged in the PMS link logs.
Multiple PMS Support
The 7.00 system can support up to 99 separate PMS links, with a separate instance of the hospitality service running for each one.
When using multiple PMS instances, consider the following limitations:
| Limitation | Description |
|---|---|
| Profile assignment | Each PMS instance must be assigned to at least one profile, and may be assigned to more than one. However, a given profile may only have one PMS instance assigned to it. |
| Max number of PMS instances | No more than 99 PMS instances can be created. This is the absolute limit; hardware resources in a given system may further limit the number of instances that can be supported before system performance is compromised. The practical limit will vary depending on a number of factors, including but not limited to:
Some factors may only be significant if one or more of the instances represent a sizable number of guest rooms. Such factors may include but are not limited to:
|
| PBX link support | Each PMS instance can be assigned to one or more profiles (but each profile can have only one PMS instance). Profiles are then assigned to each guest mailbox. This means that a given PMS can communicate with more than one PBX, but a single PBX Link cannot be shared by multiple PMS instances. |
| Mailbox database | The mailbox database is shared across all profiles and tenants, meaning no two profiles (and no two tenants) can have a mailbox with the same number. This also means that no two PMS instances can use the same room numbering plan unless one of them uses a translation table to ensure unique mailbox numbers. The 7.00 can be configured to translate from room numbers to mailbox numbers (and perform reverse translation when sending messages to the PMS). Regardless of how they are entered in the configuration, all translations are stored as simple substitutions. That is, room R maps to mailbox M, and vice-versa. Whether translations are used or not, the resulting mailbox numbers must be unique across all PMS instances. |