Housekeeping is considered as the backbone of a hotel and has always relied on human efficiency. The advancement of technology has assisted backend operations in a way that it has increased human efficiency in all functions, including housekeeping By Saloni Bhatia
New technology in housekeeping is not only assisting the staff with its operations but also increasing their efficiency. The end result is that the given task is completed well within time and technological assistance is eventually adding to the experience of the guest. Due to an efficient system at the backend, the staff directly informs the guest the time when their room will be ready. Consequently, the guest does not have to wait in the lobby. Garima Nagpal, executive housekeeping, The Imperial, New Delhi, says, “Technological assistance has definitely increased work efficiency in housekeeping operations. The cleaning after check out and check in are all handled by the team and the the update is done on the computer which makes it easy to analyse later.”
There is also a system for maintaining team updates and specifying which room needs a specific change. Once updated on the system, an automated message reaches the respective person and they can carry out the procedure without any further delay. “We also recently introduced a system where the lost essentials by the guests are reported by the housekeeping team. Once reported, the same information is added to the desktop system. So when the guests reaches out, the team can immediately check the system for their last check in details and track the item they left behind. Technology has not only made it easier for us to access the data but also to make important changes at a faster pace,” she adds.
Software provider, Hotelogix offers similar solutions for mid scale properties or small budget hotels with smaller room keys. The housekeeping module by Hotelogix works in complete sync with the front desk, to keep it simple. It is a single-screen snapshot with the most-current room information, organised neatly in a tabular format. There are simple point and click controls to work directly on a single table. The system allows the owner to maintain the list of the housekeeping staff wherein they can be assigned rooms based on block/ floors or sort them based on their status to manage division of work. There is also a task list that includes the daily tasks to be completed which is easy to print out and makes the work easy to divide and distribute. The tools to filter and sort rooms based on blocks, floors and status makes it easy for operations.
In case the rooms are undergoing maintenance or any upgrades and are not available for certain dates, it can be easily marked and managed with DNR (Do Not Reserve/ Release) for these select periods. The added advantage of using the system is that the housekeeping staff need not log into the system.
The system allows assigning of rooms amongst the staff members and print their daily task list to get going with their work. The progress can be updated and reported centrally over the day.
Prabhash Bhatnagar, founder, Hotelogix further explains, “We deal with small and mid size hotels, so housekeeping is not a very big function for them. But we do have a module in our system that can take care of the operations to the extent that they would want to. In our case we have a basic app for the hotel that facilitates the operation. Information about whether the room is clean or dirty or if there is anything missing in the room is updated on the app and then attended to by the staff. If there is a room that is about to be checked in, it is immediately marked for an inspection on the system. All these things are built into the system which essentially allows the person who is taking care of the property to have control over these functions.”